Setting Realistic Expectations for an SEO Campaign

You want to drive highly targeted organic traffic to your website and also increase your visibility in search results.

As a result,

You’ve decided to run an SEO campaign to boost your website’s organic traffic and also improve your position and relevance in search engine results.

To get the best results, you’ve decided to hire the service of an SEO expert to optimize your website and boost your credibility with search engines like Google.

So, what next?

You’re probably wondering what the campaign will entail. You may want to know how long it will take for your website to rank at the top of Google’s first page for the terms that your prospects are searching for.

In this article,

We will take a look at why your SEO results may be delayed, what you need to consider to set a realistic expectation for your SEO campaign, and the truth that you need to know about SEO and ROI.

By understanding the factors that delay SEO results and how you can set realistic expectations for your SEO campaign, you and your SEO agency will be able to take the same steps that will produce the right ROI.

Search Engine Optimization is a Long Term Process

No SEO campaign can give you quick success.

Also, the results will not be noticed overnight. SEO is a long-term process; it takes time for its effect to be felt. There’s nothing wrong with expecting results from your investment in an SEO campaign.

However, the expectation should not be unrealistic. No result happens overnight in SEO.

To get the expected results from your SEO campaign, your SEO plan must include the following:

• Realistic goals
• A timeline
• A budget, and
• Patience

An increase in ranking may take several weeks, months, and even years for new websites to be noticed.

Factors That Delay Results of an SEO Campaign

The actual results of an SEO campaign may be delayed as a result of the following reasons:

The age of the website

It is believed in the SEO industry that an old domain enjoys a better ranking in organic search results.

Thus,

You need to put in more work if your domain is not old.

Location of the website

The location of your website may improve your website’s SEO.

If the audience that you want to reach and your domain are in the same geo-location, your website will enjoy additional traction; thereby becoming more visible in organic search results.

Unoptimized elements on the website

Some website elements (such as navigation, content, links, UX, multimedia objects, and accessibility) may not be SEO optimized.

These elements may have a direct impact on your website’s performance, thereby delaying SEO results.

Changing trends

No one knows when a current SEO trend will be outdated.

14pt;”>Mass link building was once the biggest factor for ranking a website, but now any website that uses it will be penalized. An unexpected change in trends may harm your SEO campaign expectation; this may delay results.

Unending algorithm updates

Your SEO results may also be delayed if a new set of Google algorithms slows down the SEO activities that you are performing.

Increasing competition

Every day, tons of new websites are published on the internet. This means if the websites are offering the services that you offer, then you are going to contend with fierce competition.

Factors to Consider When Setting Expectations for SEO Campaigns

Effect of traffic on conversions

It is wrong to expect an SEO campaign to directly produce conversions.

The proper expectation is expecting an SEO campaign to produce gradually increasing and targeted traffic.

Here’s why; most of the factors that produce conversions are not within the control of SEO. Here are some things that you need to consider:

• An SEO campaign does not control how easy it is to navigate your website.
• An SEO campaign has no control over how easy it is for your site visitors to fill inquiry forms on your web page, and
• An SEO campaign has no control over how effectively and efficiently your lead follow-up system converts leads from the SEO campaign.

For the first points raised above, a professional SEO agency may provide some recommendations, but it’s left to you to implement them. For the last issue, even an experienced SEO agency will not have the scope, expertise, or insight required to solve issues in your lead follow-up process.

The core result that an SEO campaign delivers is the generation of qualified traffic.

An SEO campaign matches the keywords that people use to search for your services or products with the content on your website.

If the SEO campaign is effective:

• More relevant users will see your content in organic search results.
• More of the users will click through to your site, and
• More of the users will submit an inquiry form on your website.

Effect of keyword research on rankings

If what you expect from your SEO campaigns is solely based on rankings, that’s a wrong expectation.

In the old days, every search engine results page (SERP) looked the same to every user.

Today, d

Different SERPs are seen by every user.

A website’s ranking in search results is now determined by different variables such as the user’s search engine history, type of search conducted, and location.

It is a wasted effort if you rank high for a search term that generates little or no targeted traffic for a website.

Instead of focusing on rankings, you will have better expectations if you focus on boosts in relevant traffic and leads as the KPIs of your SEO campaign.

How do you achieve these KPIs?

By hiring the service of an SEO agency that uses a blend of keywords that have a high chance of driving targeted traffic to your site.

These keywords should be the basis of your SEO campaign.

The keywords will be selected based on different criteria like search volume, how competitive the term is, your website’s current performance on the search term, and the user intent.

Combining the right keywords will result in a campaign that makes your website more effective in being found for keywords that are important to your prospects.

The significance of collaboration and hands-off approach

If you expect to hand over your SEO campaign to an SEO agency and wait for the profits to roll in, you will be disappointed. SEO is now a collaborative effort.

The good news is if you collaborate with your SEO agency, you will be ahead of most of your competitors.

Let’s consider some of the critical areas where collaboration impacts the ROI:

Strategy

The ability of the agency to choose and optimize the right keywords depends on your ability to state the main products and services that you want to promote, the value you offer, critical buying motivators, and main differentiators.

Conversion elements

As a smart client, you need to collaborate with your SEO agency to develop strong calls to action.

The better you execute this, the more leads you will generate.

Content

On-site and off-site content is important to the success of an SEO campaign.

Irrespective of how skilled the copywriting team of an SEO agency is, you need to guide the agency on the appropriate topics and angles to focus on.

Credible and valuable content will inspire your prospects to take the next step.

When to set expectations

The best time to set expectations for an SEO campaign may not be before it’s launched or after the first few months of launching the campaign.

The first thing you need to realize is that it takes time for SEO to yield tangible results.

Google doesn’t react to different types of SEO improvements immediately, irrespective of how well you execute them. Expecting a sudden turnaround in traffic or lead generation within some months is not the norm (even though it may happen).

Also,

An SEO agency will use the data gathered from an SEO campaign to make improvements to increase the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the SEO strategy.

As the agency evaluates your website’s keyword performance and traffic, strong performing keywords will receive greater emphasis while the poor performing ones will be de-emphasized.

The page content and offers will also be modified to boost the generation of leads.

What You Need to Know About SEO and ROIs

Apart from money,

You also need to invest your time if you want to get a good return from your SEO campaign.

If you are patient and also collaborate with your SEO agency, you will boost your website’s presence in Google search results and also attract more targeted website traffic while enjoying an impressive ROI.

There are no shortcuts; you cannot trick, fake, or rush the SEO process.

If you come across any SEO agency that promises you otherwise, they are either not correct or are using unethical tactics that can get you penalized by Google.

Understanding this will save you from any disappointment and also give you peace of mind while the SEO campaign is ongoing.

Partner With the Right SEO Company

At 1stpage Agency, we offer exceptional SEO solutions that yield valuable results.

We work with our clients with transparency and effective communication. We believe that you shouldn’t be left in the dark during an SEO partnership.

While it’s good to trust your SEO partner, you should also remember the role that you will play in achieving the results you desire. An SEO campaign is only effective when you collaborate with the agency.

If you decide to collaborate with 1stpage agency, then we look forward to taking the first step that will help you dominate the search engine results.