Think Of SEO As An Exercise Program…

Sometimes I think of SEO like an exercise program.  There’s a lot of exercise programs out there that promise results in 30 days and you won’t have to work hard, and similarly there’s a lot of SEO companies out there that promise results in 30 days and you won’t have to pay a lot.
But in reality, there’s no miracle weight loss program and there’s also no miracle SEO service either.  Both weight loss and SEO require time, energy, and effort.
The best weight loss program out there is going to require you to do multiple things: eat well, eat less, work out, take care of yourself.  And it’s also going to require time — probably 3-6 months — before you see any sort of substantial results.
The same goes for SEO.  SEO requires an adequate budget, content creation, website restructuring, link building, research.  And it’s also going to require time — depending on the keywords anywhere from 2-12 months — before you see any sort of substantial results.
So many people turn to weight loss, SEO, and a wide variety of other things in search of that easy fix.  No matter how many times we search for that easy fix, purchase a product or service, and get burned, we still never seem to realize at a society that the results we’re looking for don’t have an easy fix sort of solution.
Sometimes the best things are those that we work the hardest for, spend the most money on, or wait the longest for — and I think that truly applies to SEO.  Some of the most successful SEO campaigns I’ve managed have been with clients who are fully invested in SEO and are realistic with their expectations.  They understand that SEO is a medium to long term marketing strategy, they understand that they need to invest before they see that ROI, and they understand that SEO isn’t a miracle program.  These campaigns typically do well because they are complete — that is the client doesn’t get skiddish and cancel after 2 months, or become antsy and hire another “SEO service” that promises rankings in 2 weeks.
I’ll be honest — I’ve managed dozens if not hundreds of client’s websites and SEO campaigns, and when we go about their campaign the right way — quality content, quality link building, and taking the right amount of time to do things the right way, we ALWAYS see results.  We don’t even work with clients who are pushy and want results immediately anymore because we know that’s just a toxic business relationship right from the get-go.
So next time you decide to lose some weight — or market your website with SEO — just keep in mind that those are long term strategies and goals and there’s nothing out there — no matter how attractive it sounds — that will get you overnight results.