How long does it take for SEO to work? This is a question that many people ask when they first start their search engine optimization journey. There’s no easy answer, but we can give you an idea of the average timeline and what to expect as far as initial success goes.
The Average Timeline for Seeing Initial Results
The first factor to consider is how complex your site’s SEO needs are. If you’re a local business targeting one city, the search engine optimization process will be simpler than if you’re a large company with hundreds of locations that want to rank for thousands of keywords.
Larger companies may see results in as little as two weeks (after initial on-page optimization is complete) due to their volume of content, while smaller businesses may need to wait up to three months.
Keep in mind, these timelines are just averages; you may see some results sooner or later than this depending on your competition and the specific keywords you’re targeting. How long it takes SEO to work is highly individualized.
When You Might Notice Bigger Changes
In most cases, SEO takes time to build up authority and rank for keywords. You definitely won’t be ranking first or even in the top ten results overnight, so don’t expect immediate success when you first start your search engine optimization efforts.
However, there are a few times where it’s possible to see bigger changes within a shorter period of time:
- When you have an established presence and high-quality links pointing to your site
- If you’re targeting a very competitive keyword that has low competition
- If you make significant changes to your site (such as adding new content or changing the URL structure)
So, how long it takes SEO to see results can be sped up, but only by a bit.
Maintaining Your SEO Efforts for Long-Term Success
Once you see some initial success from your SEO efforts, it’s important to keep up the good work if you want to continue ranking well.
Simply put, SEO is not a set-and-forget process; you need to continuously optimize your site and make changes as needed in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make the process easier:
- Use keyword research to determine which keywords to target
- Optimize your site for those keywords
- Create high-quality content that will attract links
- Submit your site to directories and other online listings
- Use social media to promote your content
These are just a few tips. For more detailed information, be sure to schedule a consultation with SEO Guru Atlanta—your SEO company in Atlanta. To learn more about how we can help, read: What Do SEO Specialists Do?
