Why does effective SEO take so long?

One of the most commonly posed questions we get asked in the SEO Department here at Creare is ‘How long before I'm on page one'. When I hear this on the other end of the phone, I must admit I inwardly groan, and feel like quipping back ‘how long is a piece of string?' - because this is one of the most difficult questions in SEO to answer.

There is no hard and fast answer, it can take a week, or it can take several months. It all depends on several variables, such as the domain age / authority, whether the domain is keyword rich, existing backward links, the competitiveness of the keywords…

Nick and James did a video blog on this back in January, so head over there to watch them discuss this for further information…
Domain Authority

This is important because if a domain has existing authority (trust) in the all seeing, all knowing ‘eyes' of the Big G then it is more likely to rank higher than a brand new domain. This is because Google is there to serve up relevant websites for every single search query - so a known and trusted site is far more likely to answer the purpose than a brand new one. This is not to say it's impossible to optimise a brand new site - course it is, we do that every day, it's just relatively easier with an existing domain.

If your existing domain has a PageRank already then this is definitely beneficial. Although PageRank isn't the ‘be all, and end all' and is less valid as a ranking factor than it was traditionally, it all adds up.

Of course, a brand new domain can end up in the black hole of the Sandbox, especially if you ‘over do' the SEO. So be careful with new domains, treat them gently!
Keyword Rich Domains

I have conflicting views about keyword rich domains - one side of me says, ‘yes, get your keywords in there' - the other side of me says ‘it's better to go with the company name as this looks better on printed advertising, etc'.

Suffice to say, a keyword rich domain will definitely help your SEO, but look at the wider implications of choosing your domain, because it may not be the right choice for your business.
Content is King

Yep, you've heard it all before, but it's still true! Content is really important, it is what your visitors want to consume and what Google's army of spiders crawl through. I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure you provide meaningful and useful content for your visitors, they vote with their feet after all by using your services. This has the added benefit of being great for the search engines.
Current Performance

How your site performs already for the keywords can have implications on how quickly it will be before it reaches the pinnacle. I'm sure I don't need to point out why.
Current Competition

You probably already know who your current competitors are in the ‘real' world… Well, you also have competition online, do a search for your keyword. Look at the first website listed, from an objective point of view you will be able to assess whether your site can ‘beat' the SEO on this one.

Often it's ‘beating' the competition that takes the longest time, if your online competitors are well optimised themselves then it can take a lot longer to ‘beat' them.
Competitiveness of Keywords

Finally, the time it takes to reach that longed for spot is dependent on how competitive your keywords are. To borrow another advertising slogan ‘Good things come to those who wait'.

Obviously it's important to remember that the ‘better' the keyword (generally) the more competitive it will be. So, if your keyword choices are good, then you will have a tougher battle ahead of you, but the rewards will be sweeter.

And Finally…

Remember, SEO is an endurance test, not a sprint!