Posted by admin on Wed, 02/13/2008 — 21:10

One more introduction topic to start this SEO eBook, and then we will start to get into the good stuff.

We know how important an SEO strategy is, and we know what some of the basic ideas are, but how long is this whole ordeal going to take? First, let me say that a question like that means you are likely thinking of SEO or Internet marketing as a plug in for your site, and not as a permanant aspect. Try to get around that as quickly as possible.

You SEO/SEM/Internet Marketing campaign needs to be a part of your long term strategy. There are no quick and easy returns in this environment, and chasing such goals will leave you spinning your wheels. However, the idea of the question is not a bad one, we just need to word it a bit differently. Successful people don’t have all the right answers, they ask all the right questions.

How long will it be before you see results? This depends on your goals. With strict regard to SEO and rankings, it’s often not as bad as most people might think. When you start looking at conversions, ROI, and profit margins, things get a little thicker. Because I want to try to keep this eBook as beginner oriented as possible, I’ll try to focus on the rankings/traffic aspect. But even with that, there are a few factors.

Brand New Sites
If you just started a site (less than a month ago), you’re in a situation where you will see the most waiting time. First, the search engines have to find and index your site. A brand new site can usually be indexed within a week. At the time of my writing this page, I am seeing indexed sites within a few days.

Once indexed, the site has to rank. With proper optimization and promotion efforts you should see «results» within about 3 weeks. «Results» is in quotes because though you may see something happening, the site’s success is far from fruition. You might see a few more indexed pages, or rankings for your search terms within the first 10 — 15 pages of the results.

At about 3 months, you should see a few terms within the first 5 pages of a search engines results for desired search terms At 6 months you should see a few page 1 terms, and perhaps a recognizable flow of traffic. By 9 — 12 months, you should see good rankings across the board, large chunks of page 1 rankings, and a steady flow of traffic.

Aged Sites
If you have a site that’s been up for a while, and it’s not indexed, then there’s a whole new issue. There may be technical problems with the site, or there may be a ban or penalty in place. Either way, if we have an older site not indexed, the site is going to need some attention. We will be going over these issues later, so don’t worry too much.

Assuming there are none of the issues above, aged sites that are indexed will see results much sooner than newer ones. A simple title/internal link/keyword research overhaul could indeed do wonders. With proper optimization and promotion efforts, you can usually cut the time it takes to see results for newer sites in half.

Now, looking at these timeframes, you may be thinking that this is just way too long. To that, I ask you to consider how long you plan on being in business. Do you not plan on running a successful business 5 or 10 years from now? You Internet marketing campaign should be a part of that success the whole time, so the first year will breeze by. It’s a long term process for long term successes.