Why SEO Is a Marathon and Not a Sprint

Most modern businesses understand the importance of search engine optimisation and why they need a strategy that will effectively make them more visible online. Everyone from start-ups to multinational corporates relies on SEO to improve their search engine ranking with the least expenses possible. However, they may have misconceptions or unrealistic expectations about how far SEO campaigns can take them within a specific period.

Many companies make the mistake of believing they’ll shoot to the top of a search engine results page (SERP) within a few weeks or even days. However, SEO is a primarily organic process that can take months or years to show concrete results. It isn’t a sprint where you’ll need to invest all your effort for a short duration. It’s a marathon where you’ll have to persevere, prepare, and readily surrender your time to see the results you want.

A Deeper Look into the SEO Timeline

Why it isn’t feasible to expect solid results from your SEO campaign in days or weeks, you may be wondering how long it will take until your efforts start paying off. The answer differs for everyone, but here is a general SEO timeline you can use to figure out how long the different steps can take:

• Site audit or website analysis: two to four weeks
• Technical changes: two to three months
• Keyword research: one to three weeks
• Content overhaul: two to three months
• Link acquisition campaign: three to four months

Your timeline experience can differ depending on your needs, which means these steps can take longer or move faster. It all depends on your website’s current condition, your budget, and how urgently you need to move. It’s best to stick to these timelines when possible to ensure you’re moving at a good pace.

What Happens in These Steps?

There are many elements in each of these steps that require a lot of time and effort. Here is a brief overview of them:

1. Site Audit or Website Analysation

Before you start optimising your site, you must first know what it lacks. The first step to website optimisation is reviewing your website and content to help you identify areas of improvement. For instance, inspect your site load time, which will significantly impact how long your visitors will stay on your website. If they need to wait longer than three seconds, they’ll likely leave.

You’ll also want to look at your domain authority ranking, as anyone can do a quick search to discover how authoritative your website is. Each site has a domain authority score, and SEO is one of the many factors that decide your score. There are many more elements to tackle under site audit, so it’s essential to work with a digital marketing agency to tackle them all thoroughly.

2. Technical Changes

Once you have your website audit, it’s time to create a comprehensive plan to make technical changes to your website. It’s crucial to ensure all elements on your website function optimally to achieve the best results. Some changes you’ll make are the following:

• Optimise for mobile-friendliness
• Secure your site with an SSL certificate, adding ‘https’ to your website URL
• Decrease page load time
• Identify and remove spammy or toxic backlinks
• Optimise pages for crawlers
• Remove duplicate content
• Fix or remove broken links and pages

Be sure to use feedback from your audit to decide on the technical changes you must make on your website. Completing this part can take two to three months.

3. Keyword Research

Keyword research is a vital part of a sound SEO plan. You must use the appropriate keywords in your content to make it easier for your customers to find you online. However, given the endless number of keywords online, finding the right ones can be difficult.

To help you get started, think of a list of topics related to the products or services you offer. Then, make a list of important words that are chiefly associated with these topics. Type your topics into websites like Reddit, which will present you with various trending threads, giving you rich material to analyse. You can also use Google to find popular keywords and use keyword research tools to refine your research.

4. Content Overhaul

When you’ve figured out your keywords, it’s time to refresh your content. Avoid stuffing your content with keywords, which will affect readability. Prioritise creating valuable, informative content that integrates keywords naturally and adds a call to action, directing your readers toward a specific step.

Get SEO Services to Help

SEO is a long process that takes careful planning and dedication to produce the results you want. By proceeding with each step mindfully and cautiously, you’ll sustainably improve your online visibility.

If you need a trusted SEO agency to provide you with professional SEO services in London, book a growth audit.

Market Jar is a dedicated full-service SEO specialist, prepared to provide professional SEO services to businesses in need. 

Whether your desired reach is local or global, hiring us to help you rank number one in search engine results is the best investment you can make. Contact us today, and let’s get started!