We have 7 great tips for local business owners just lying about the place! We will be posting a new tip every week for the next 6 weeks. Tune in next week for Tip #2!

How long does it take to start seeing results on search engines? I’m going to give you the best and worst answer… “It depends”.

Ok, you’ve hired an SEO or marketing company. Paid a bunch of money and pretty much handed the keys to your digital image over to someone else. Scary, right? Now what? How soon will you know that you bet on the right horse, so to speak? You want results and you want them yesterday! Hang in there. Building a good SEO strategy takes time.

“SEO is a long game with rules that are constantly changing, but remember what the real end goal is.
It’s not website visits. It’s sales.”

Some SEO companies may promise and even deliver speedy results, but beware. Many times speedy results are gained by using “black hat” tactics and tend not only to be short lived, but can also carry penalties, which can do some serious damage to your domain. (See Jay’s recent blog post on the 8 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Marketing Company for your Local Business)

There are a few things to take into account when trying to understand the amount of time that your site may need to start gaining some traction with search engines.

– The age of your domain. While you can get a new website to rank well, the age of the domain can impact the results.
– Your competition. Where is your competition ranking for key search terms, and how much money are they spending to get high rankings?
– External links and their credibility. Maybe you have over a thousand links coming to your website from hundreds of domains. How credible are those websites and are the links actually hurting your results?
– The quality of your website. If your site isn’t optimized well or updated often, you may as well hang a post-it note on the side of the road and hope someone sees it. Search engines want to find quality and relevant results. An outdated or stagnant website will be passed over more often than not.
– Past penalties. If your site has been penalized in the past, you may have to do some clean up before you can reestablish your domain in search results. If you’ve had other companies managing your website and SEO, you may not even know if you have those penalties.

These are just a few examples of the many considerations that your SEO company will be considering while boosting your rankings.

SEO is a long game with rules that are constantly changing, but remember what the real end goal is. It’s not website visits. It’s visits from your target audience that convert into sales.

Which brings us to Tip #1:
Results and success take time.
Make sure you have the right systems in place and give them a chance to work. – Tweet this tip!

Stay tuned, for:
Tip #2: How to reach your perfect customer
On deck:
Tip #3: How to get the best use out of your time
Tip #4: Putting your health first
Tip #5: Finding and knowing your strengths
Tip #6: Making mistakes
Tip #7: Networking

What are some of your local SEO experiences? Has your site ever been penalized by Google? Tell us in the comments!

“SEO is a long game with rules that are constantly changing, but remember what the real end goal is. It’s not website visits. It’s sales.”

Which brings us to Tip #1: Results and success take time. Make sure you have the right systems in place and give them a chance to work. – Tweet this tip!

“SEO is a long game with rules that are constantly changing, but remember what the real end goal is.
It’s not website visits. It’s sales.”

Which brings us to Tip #1:
Results and success take time.
Make sure you have the right systems in place and give them a chance to work. – Tweet this tip!