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Over the years, I’ve answered a lot of questions about why a business should invest in SEO-optimized content. My answer is always the same: ultimately, creating more content that your target market is looking for will only help to build your business in the long run.
But even with that response, many people are impatient about how quickly they see results from their commitment to SEO-enabled content. And to that, I say quite simply: SEO is a long-term investment.
SEO is so much more than a “one and done” mentality. It requires patience, strategy, and creativity.
Patience: SEO Is An Ongoing Process
A website’s SEO efforts are never done. The moment you stop putting effort into your strategy, you give your competitors a chance to rise above you in the rankings. Search Engine Land compares SEO to a fitness routine, noting, “If you start skipping your routine — or stop doing it all together — you’re not going to achieve or maintain optimal results.”
Most SEO experts will tell you that it will take roughly 6-12 months to start seeing the benefit of your investment in SEO. And if they tell you otherwise, you shouldn’t hire them. In addition to being a lot like a fitness routine, it’s also a lot like gardening: it takes a little while for the seeds you plant to sprout into flowers.
Strategy: Set Long-term Goals
Sure it’s great to rank for a few specific long-tail keywords, but when you stop to think about the bigger picture when it comes to SEO, you need to set bigger goals. Perhaps your first goal focuses on ranking higher in Google searches for relevant terms, but your second goal can be using the optimized content on your site to help drive leads. Your third goal should even go beyond that and focus on conversions and sales.
Martin Jones, the Senior Marketing Manager with Cox Communications, thinks that SEO should be part of a larger overall marketing strategy. According to Jones, “inbound marketing works best when a marketing team uses SEO in combination with paid advertising methods, public relations and other search engine marketing techniques.” In other words, think how SEO can boost your business beyond keywords.
Creativity: Come Up With A 360° Approach to SEO
You can hire an SEO company to do keyword research for you and put together a competitive analysis, but that won’t solve your SEO problem in the long-term. Google’s algorithm now encourages businesses to take inventory of their branding in its entirety as opposed to just looking at it from the piecemeal perspective of keyword rankings.
Coming up with a creative strategy that allows potential customers not only to find your website in a search, but also to remain engaged with your brand once they have found you is the holy grail of SEO strategy. This means investing in great onsite content, interesting design, compelling blog post content, and educational or informational content marketing collateral.
Luckily, HYC handles all of these things! We’re a one-stop-shop when it comes to building a strong brand as part of a robust creative SEO strategy. Contact us today for a free consultation about your business’ SEO needs.