How Long Does SEO Take to Work for Local Service-Based Businesses (and What To Expect Along the Way)
If you’ve ever thought about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your business, one of the first things you have probably wondered was how long does SEO take to work for local service-based businesses. And that is a reasonable question. You are putting time, money, and trust into something that you might not know much about, so of course you want to know when the rewards will come.
The truth is that SEO takes time. But you can start seeing some results in as little as 90 days. SEO works in stages for the most part and knowing what those stages are can make the process a lot more comfortable.
What Happens During the First Few Months of SEO
Most of the work in the first one to three months is referred to as “on page” SEO. This is where your website’s layout, service pages, and Google Business Profile are all looked at and optimized for the keywords that your clients are using to find businesses like yours in Google. During this phase, technical problems are addressed, local signals are strengthened, and your content is tweaked to encourage conversions. You may not get a lot of new inquiries at this point but Google will start to have a better idea of what your business is all about so that they can begin showing your business to potential clients.
When You Can Expect to See Real SEO Results
During the next phase of the project which is between three and six months, this is when businesses begin seeing results with respect to increased website traffic and inquiries. This usually stems from better placement in the search engines, improved exposure on Google Maps, or higher rankings your services.
At this stage, we need to keep the momentum going. The more noticeable results from SEO usually start to show up after six months. And your placement in the search engines can fluctuate in the early days of an SEO campaign to it’s important to continue feeding the fire to ensure more long-lasting results. By this time SEO may start to overtake your other forms of marketing. It’s not unusual for our clients to see SEO become their number one traffic source, beating out both social media referrals and leads from paid ads. Every business is different and it depends on a lot of factors including how competitive your market is.
Why SEO Results Don’t Always Follow a Straight Line
People often think that SEO is a straight line, which is not true. Progress can actually change from month to month. Your keyword rankings can go up and down. And some of your pages that target specific keywords can completely drop out of the search engine rankings altogether (but they usually come back again in a few days or weeks). Once you reach the first page of Google, the competition for that space is a lot tougher. And from time to time, Google changes its algorithm. The most important thing is the general trend over time and whether your target audience is getting in touch with you or not.
SEO works best when you have realistic expectations. It is a long game, and I generally recommend sticking with it for at least 12 months to allow the results to settle in. But some clients continue even after 12 months because they love the results and want to expand into other geographic markets or other services.
The good news it that even though it can take a while to start seeing those results, once they come, they are usually long lasting. I have clients from 10 years ago who still show up very well in the search engines even though I haven’t done any SEO work for them several in years. SEO builds on itself when done right. The effort you do today will help your business for months and possibly years to come.
As an SEO Specialist in Waterloo, I help local service-based businesses in the therapy, health and wellness, and home improvement industries. These types of businesses depend on trust and reputation. Various studies have found that customers trust businesses that show up well in the search engines. It shows a commitment to the business and the customers they serve.
If you would like to learn more about how SEO can help your business grow, schedule a free discovery call. I look forward to speaking with you soon.