SEO is one of the best investments you can make for your business, but also one of the most time-consuming. You put in the time and effort, and eventually, you’ll see the fruits of your labor. But when exactly will that be?
Understandably, you'll start to have doubts if your traffic suddenly goes flat for an extended period. But please don't take it out of proportion. This is more common than you think, so just take a step back and evaluate the position you're in. Take a look at your website and make sure it's lined up with the keywords you want to be associated with most, and most importantly understand SEO is a long-term investment. Here are some quick tips on what to do if your SEO is not effective.
Understand that SEO is a slow process
SEO has the second-best digital marketing ROI but the thing is -- it's slow. You may get amazing results, but those results may take months to get. So don't hit the panic button if you haven't seen effective results for 3, 6, or even 9 months. However, it's different for everyone depending on your industry and how much competition you have. While SEO can take time to get you visible results, the long-term benefits are worth it. By optimizing your website, you can increase your site's visibility and attract more visitors.
Audit your website
Are your keywords matching what can be found on your website? If not, you already have a problem. Auditing your website and making sure it is SEO-friendly is a crucial step in ensuring that your efforts are not going to waste. Make sure all of your website's content is easily indexable by Google, and consider using optimization tools to help you out so you can figure out what keywords work best for your business. I like to use Answerthepublic, Ubersuggest, and Google Search Console, to name a few. Neil Patel is also an amazing resource if you don't have much knowledge on the subject.
Also consider deleting old or irrelevant content that isn't producing any results, like blogs for example. If you have content that is irrelevant to the keywords you want to use, Google is will have trouble associating your site with these keywords, ultimately hurting your rankings. Doing this helps Google have to crawl through less content on your site.
Research what's best for you
Once you decide to do your research on which keywords to target, ask yourself two simple questions to get you started:
What product or service do I offer?
Where am I right now?
It will also help you to take a page out of competitors' books and look at what they're doing. What are they ranking high in? This can give you a better understanding of what words you should be targeting.
Get rolling
Whether you did your own research or hired someone to do it for you, it's time to get your new strategy rolling. SEO is a long-term process, so no need to worry if you don't see results right away.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a successful SEO strategy. In order to see results, you need to be patient and consistently work on improving your website. This means regularly publishing high-quality content, optimizing your website for key search terms, and building links from other websites. It takes time and effort to see results from SEO, but it's well worth it in the end. If you're patient and don't give up, you'll eventually start to see your website rise in the search rankings.
In the case that you're looking for someone to take on the daunting task of managing SEO for your website, Marketing Empire Group deals with SEO, no matter your location. Grow in the ranks with us, and get to building your empire!