Is there a time to NOT do Search Engine Optimization? Yep!
Everyone talks about how SEO is beneficial. It certainly is – there’s no better way to market your business in my opinion! But the conditions need to be right. If any of the following apply to you, then you may want to hold off on SEO (at least for the time being).
1. If You’re Not All In
It’s a hot summer day and the sweat is pouring off your brow. The lake looks cool and inviting, and you can just imagine how refreshing it would be to take a swim. Yet, you choose instead to just dabble a toe in the water or wade in a little way. Even though you know it would feel much better to be submerged , you hesitate.
Just like getting in the lake would refresh you, you must be all in when it comes to SEO to reap the benefits. If you aren’t committed, you will only get partial results or even worse, little to nothing will happen. SEO takes time, and you must be committed to see it through. Results don’t usually happen overnight, so you can’t give up when you don’t see immediate results. That said, our SEO clients are used to getting more website visitors within the first few months. In fact, we’re so confident you will too, we offer a 120-day SEO guarantee.
2. If You’re Looking for a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme
You plant a seed you’re given which you discover is Chinese bamboo. You faithfully water it and give it just the right amount of fertilizer. Checking it often, you see no signs of life. The next year, you follow the same process and nothing appears. You do this again in the third and fourth year, and it appears your efforts are fruitless.
You’re about to give up in the fifth year, but you continue watering and fertilizing. Sometime during this year, the seed sprouts and the Chinese bamboo tree grows 90 feet in just six weeks. What this story implies is that if you are persistent and don’t give up, you’ll see results. This is true of SEO, because it takes time and a lot of watering and fertilizing to have an impact. Will it take five years to start seeing results from SEO? Not at all! Nevertheless, the longer you stick with it, the more you’ll get from it. You must be consistent in SEO, but you can’t expect to get new customers overnight. It’s typical to start seeing results within the first 60-90 days. If you work at it and are all in, you will see results, and they will continue for the long-term.
3. If You Want Complete Control of the Results
The human brain controls every movement and function of the rest of the body. Even when you study biology, it’s difficult to fathom how the brain works. However, you don’t doubt its capability. Everything from a motion of the hand to the complex internal systems are controlled and regulated by the brain.
Just like the brain, SEO can provide results way beyond what you can comprehend. On the flip side, sometimes results are slower than expected. There are countless factors that affect how quickly SEO will build momentum. SEO growth isn’t linear. It’s exponential.
One thing you can be certain of is that SEO will provide results even if it’s not in the way you expect or in a certain time-frame. There are hundreds of ranking variables, many of which are changing every day. You are up against 100s of millions of competing pages and constantly changing demand. Trying to predict exactly how SEO will work and what the results will be is like trying to understand the human brain.
Doing well with SEO isn’t an exact science, but if you’re committed to doing it well and willing to invest for the long-term, you will see results. You will be hard-pressed to find anything that will give you a better return on your marketing dollars.