SEO stands as a cornerstone for sustainable online growth. Yet, businesses often struggle with reaching the long-term rewards of SEO because of the discouraging lack of immediate results.
Illustrated in our SEO Impact report below, we’ll dive into why it’s important to view SEO as a long-term strategy, and the exponential results this will yield with patience, consistency, and a long-term investment.
Let’s jump right into it.
The growth trajectory
We analyzed all of our SEO campaigns from 2015-2023 and over a span of 6 to 24 months, our clients experienced a remarkable 220% upsurge in organic website traffic.
With a 58% average increase at the 6-month mark, the momentum only accelerated with time. At 12 months, the average growth rate climbed to 86%, and then compounded to a staggering 220% at the 24-month milestone.
The data speaks for itself — patience and consistency in your SEO strategy will yield exponential results.
The key factors that drive SEO success
1. Adapting to internal and external changes
Because a lot can change in two years, a lot went into generating the results we see above. The SEO strategy for each client adapted based on:
- Industry factors – like new competition and search intent changes
- Environmental factors – like search engine algorithm updates and SERP user functionality changes
- Internal factors – like a website migration and new business locations
A long-term SEO strategy adapts to these changes while keeping one aspect constant over time: the goal of increasing qualified website traffic.
2. Building a proper SEO foundation
The first 30-60 days of an SEO campaign is crucial to the long-term success of your organic performance. Building a proper foundation with a thorough content audit, keyword research, competitor analysis, sitehealth audit, and backlink audit are just a few of many core SEO components that should be prioritized in the initial phase of your SEO campaign.
Our extensive list of SEO tips and plugins for success provide the foundation you need to create an SEO roadmap that drives long-term results.
Why SEO is a long-term strategy
SEO is not a one-off task but a continuous process that requires strategic planning and investment.
Here are the reasons why you need a long-term SEO strategy:
Thinking short-term halts long-term results
While it’s great to celebrate incremental growth at the 6 month mark, 58% growth in traffic is just getting started in our eyes. 6 months gives adequate time to evaluate on-page and off-page SEO factors contributing to your site’s rankings and traffic to continue to guide the long-term strategy, but should not be the end point of your SEO investment.
The momentum will slow and another 6 months down the road you’ll be faced with new algorithm updates, market changes and content strategies that will put your SEO performance at a standstill.
Building domain authority
It takes time to build the domain authority that search engines trust. A long-term strategy focuses on consistently creating quality content and earning backlinks, which are crucial for improving authority.
Sustainable content development
Quality content is key in SEO, especially with Google’s helpful content update. A long-term strategy ensures there’s a sustainable plan for regular content updates and quality content creation, keeping your site relevant to the answers your audience is searching for.
Staying ahead of competition
Continuous SEO efforts are necessary to not only catch up with but also stay ahead of competitors who are also investing in their own SEO strategies long-term.
Holistic online presence
SEO is one part of a broader digital marketing strategy that includes social media, email marketing, paid advertising, and more. A long-term view ensures SEO efforts are integrated and support overall marketing initiatives.
Compounding returns
A long-term SEO strategy allows for the compounding of returns, as early gains in traffic and rankings lay the groundwork for future growth.
Conclusion
The data speaks volumes. Through analyzing SEO campaigns from 2015 to 2023, we’ve seen clients’ organic traffic soar by an average of 220% over 24 months, reinforcing the critical importance of establishing a strong foundation and evolving with market and algorithm changes in a long-term SEO strategy. Ultimately, a long-term SEO strategy is imperative for business growth.
At seoplus+, our SEO services are designed with a long-term strategy in mind for compounding results.
Ready to see where a long-term SEO strategy can take you?
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