I love answering my clients questions. Being asked questions, and asking questions in return, is how we ultimately help our clients. There is one question, that to be honest, makes me cringe a bit when I hear it: How long will it take for my site to rank in first place on Google?
One of the unfortunate things about SEO is that there simply is no timeline. In reality, time needs to be removed from the strategy all together. SEO isn’t like an NFL game with a set and agreed upon rulebook. SEO is a constantly changing and evolving game. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, your site won’t rank in first place on Google in a day either. With SEO, we aren’t playing by the NFL rule book, we’re simply looking to make our sites better and better each day, each week, each month, each year. We aren’t competing against meerly 31 other teams and 11 players on the other side of the ball, rather, we’re competing against the billions of other websites on the world wide web. The other sites you’re competing against, could have been launched long before yours, with a different set of keywords, with a different audience, with any number of different factors.
Instead of focusing on time with SEO, you should focus on your commitment, your dedication, your general stick-to-it-ness. As I mentioned, SEO is all about making your site better by providing better content. SEO isn’t a Ron Popeil “Set it and forget it” type of thing – it is a lengthy commitment. During this lengthy commitment, focus on the great quality content you can create more than anything. Yes there are things to focus on specifically like keywords and keyword usage and site structure, but it all comes back to the quality of your content.
One other thing I’d advise with SEO, is to not check your stats too often. In early 2020 my 401K took a hit when the markets slumped due to COVID-19. After a few months, my 401K was at an all time high again. Had I checked it daily, I would have likely had a number of heart attacks. SEO results are the same. There will be great days, good days, down days, neutral days, and more. Instead of checking daily, check monthly and review the full date range to see and focus on the trends. In between checking the stats, it’s all about quality information.
There’s no easy way around it, ranking #1 on Google is a bit of a waiting game. It’s never fun to have to answer a question by saying “I honestly don’t know,” but when clients ask me how long it will take for their site to rank, that’s the best answer I can give. If you’re looking to improve your site ranking, we’re always here to help!