We’re not going to lie to you; SEO takes a lot of work, wherein you must track its results.
A firm can give its all in an SEO campaign, building links and optimising title tags left and right.
But what good is that without measuring its impact?
Since this tactic amounts to enormous investments in time and energy, it only makes sense to know whether your efforts are paying off.
SEO professionals track everything—from rankings and conversions to faulty links.
This step is vital for improving content value and examining whether the approach needs tweaking. If you see a lack of SEO results, it doesn’t necessarily mean your attempt was in vain.
Conversely, it could mean that you might need to recenter your priorities.
Furthermore, monitoring your ongoing performance is crucial to SEO success, perceived value, and client retention.
How Long Does SEO Take to Show Results?
Ah, the age-old question. It’s also a question with no definitive answer because there are many variables involved.
Aside from the components that contribute to your SEO optimisation, you also have to evaluate them in your competitors’ optimisation.
Still insist on a ballpark? We’ll say about four months to a year.
This estimated range depends on three critical variables that will determine how long SEO takes:
- Competition
- Inbound links
- Content
Even the data behind these variables cannot formulate a concrete answer for this question, and there’s much more to it than you think.
It all comes down to the evaluation of these three variables and how quickly the results will show.
Only then can you extrapolate SEO results to get a substantial idea of how long it will take to rank a particular position.
The Role of Competition
Businesses selling products and services face varying degrees of competition based on industry and consumer demands.
The more oppositional web pages you’re up against, the longer it will take for you to top search engine results.
It might be easier to outrank lower pages, but each subsequent step is bound to take more time and work as you climb higher.
Do take into account that behind every top-ranking page is a team of SEO professionals.
So, if you want to surpass them, you must put in twice the effort.
READ MORE: SEO Checklist: Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Blog?
The Role of Inbound Links
Who knew that links play a part in how long SEO will take?
One key factor is the volume of links to your website.
As you know, more links can help you achieve optimisation more quickly.
However, the numbers are nothing compared to high-quality links from relevant web pages.
Fewer high-quality links have a greater impact on your SEO results, as they are more challenging to earn, making them more difficult for competitors to replicate.
They also tend to last longer than links generated with automated methods.
The Role of Content
We don’t have to give you a lecture on how quality content matters.
The content you publish on your website is integral to how quickly you will see results.
While there is no ideal length for your piece of writing, it should be long enough to provide a solution to your readers’ problem.
There is a myth that users should publish new content slowly; otherwise, the sudden influx will look unnatural to Google.
However, this belief has been debunked by Google itself, and waiting only makes the SEO process longer.
READ MORE: Blogging Benefits: Top 10 Blog Benefits for SMEs Malaysia
How to Measure SEO Results?
Search Traffic
One of the best SEO metrics is organic traffic, as the end goal is to drive more traffic from search engines.
Yes, you should track your Google rankings, but that’s a problem if you’re ranking without getting traffic.
Moreover, looking at rankings alone is not enough. Website rankings tend to move up and down whenever.
Using Google Analytics, you can determine your organic traffic. GA is a free tool equipped with loads of data, allowing you to view traffic to your site by channel.
Additionally, you can view total sessions/users/page views to your site over a set date range, even comparing two separate ranges.
You may also find out how many visits a particular page receives in GA’s Site Content reports, allowing you to evaluate the performance of each page better.
Another free and helpful tool is Google Search Console, which illustrates your click-through rate (CTR).
In other words, it shows the per cent of people who clicked your page from search results, providing insights on your optimisation for page titles and meta descriptions.
READ MORE: How to Plan an SEO Campaign that Works?
Keyword Rankings
This refers to a website’s ranking position for its targeted keywords.
Track your site’s rankings to ascertain whether it’s trending in the right direction, including SERP feature data, ‘People Also Ask’ boxes, etc.
Let’s say your Google Analytics shows that your website’s organic traffic increased by 10%. Your keyword rankings then will help you figure out which web pages were behind that boost.
Nevertheless, it’s wise to avoid vanity metrics like rankings for highly competitive keywords. These keywords may be desirable but often don’t convert as well as long-tail keywords.
You can use Ahrefs to measure both traffic quantity and quality.
Some other online tools worth looking into include Lighthouse Audit (measurement of website performance, accessibility, etc.), PageSpeed Insights, and Mobile-Friendly Test (evaluation of mobile device navigation).
The best practices for measuring SEO results are plentiful, but we won’t get into all of them lest you leave with a headache.
If you wish to relieve this burden from your employees, feel free to contact Walk Production for your SEO needs.
We specialise in complete B2B SEO services, among other B2B branding services and content marketing.
READ MORE: SEO Case Study: 5 Successful SEO Case Study in Malaysia
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