You’ve done everything according to the rules! You created the site, wrote the content and perhaps even even put your blog up. However, after 3 months, very little traffic, very few calls from Google, nothing.

Sound familiar? It’s a statement we get nearly from all our new clients at Buraq Technologies.

In fact, SEO isn’t a switch that you can turn on and off. It’s not as easy as planting a tree. First couple months are as if nothing has happened. But roots are sprouting underground, When they have once taken root? It can’t be slowed down.

Let’s first clarify how and why SEO takes time and why that is beneficial to your business.

Before getting started, let’s start by understanding how Google works.

There are lot of misconceptions about making the page for their website. It doesn’t.

Google has bots that are searching internet web pages (also called a crawler). When they find your page they read it, then Google indexes it. Search results only include indexed pages. But, just having a website listed in a search engine doesn’t guarantee it will be well ranked.

When your page is indexed, it’s in a competition against thousands of other pages for the same keywords. Google has 220+ ranking factors determining search results. These range from the quality of content, backlinks, page speed, mobile experience and many more to your domain’s age.

It takes time to build the signals. There’s no shortcut.

However, what is the reason for the slow speed of SEO?

However, what are the true reasons behind the delay in SEO?

You are a new Domain to Google.

Consider the following. You wouldn’t want to trust a stranger who says that they’re the best web developer in the city, would you?

Google operates in a similar fashion. A brand new website does not have any history, backlinks, or track record. Google doesn’t just instantly show your site to searchers, it first checks whether your website is a legitimate site, stable and reliable.

The reason older, established websites rank quicker for new content. They’ve already earned Google’s trust. If you have to create a new site, it takes at least 6-12 months of work.

Your content takes time to establish itself.

Did you know that Google doesn’t always trust new content?

Each time a new blog post is added, Google will index it and then observe what happens. Do people click on it? Do they read it or just bounce off of it? Are there other sites linking to it? The “Google Sandbox” evaluation period can range from a couple of weeks to months.

The great news is that when your content is good after it passes the evaluation, it begins to rank. It then continues to attract visitors to your site without you having to do anything. Blog posts that are 18 months old continue to attract leads for clients.

Backlinks Can’t Be Rushed

Backlinks are one of Google’s biggest ranking factors, as they are links coming from other sites to your site. A link is a vote of confidence. When there are more high-quality sites linking to you, the more authority GOOGLE will give to your site.

However, it will take some time to get real backlinks. You need:

• Articles and blog posts that readers would want to share with others, such as their friends. Content truly useful enough to be cited by other websites.
• Relationships with other blogs, publications and websites in your niche
• Article marketing and digital PR, campaigns that take weeks to execute.
• Opportunities to be found, shared and cited naturally

Some quick tips that people use are buying backlinks which is almost always a bad idea. Google can see when links are not natural and will punish you for this. We’ve seen companies lose years of SEO progress in a single day just because of this. Don’t do it.

The algorithm continuously evolves.

Google’s algorithm is updated thousands of times each year. There are some updates which are minor tweaks. Some, such as a core update, can roam entire industries, like the rankings.

SEO is not a one-and-done tactic. It needs constant monitoring, updating of contents and changes. Growth is a trait of the companies that consider SEO a continuous process. The ones that stop? They slowly drop down the ranks until they are replaced by another player.

The Compounding effect is why patience pays off.

This is the part most of the business owners overlook, and it’s the most interesting part of SEO.

SEO compounds. The more you do it regularly, the sooner and greater the results will be.

The process is very similar to this: you obtain some backlinks for your original content. These backlinks provide web pages with authority. The higher it has the higer its ranking will be. The higher your ranking on Google, the more traffic you will have. This is a way of letting Google know that your website is worth their while and a good source of information. This cycle can further improve your ranking and drive more traffic to you.

We have a current client in the Services industry. After 6 months of their SEO work, they were receiving 180 organic visitors every month.At the end of 6 months they were only getting 180 organic visitors per month. After 1 year, at month 14, those visits increased to over 3,800 monthly visits, without any additional costs. That is the compounding effect coming into play.

Paid ads can’t do that. As soon as you cease the payments, the traffic ceases. SEO continues to bring traffic long after.

Is it better to go with SEO or paid ads?SEO or Paid ads, which one is better?

Neither. They have different applications and the savviest firms employ both.

Paid advertising (PPC) leads to leads in no time. They’re ideal for product launches or for quick testing of offers. However, all the clicks are expensive. DROP the payments and traffic just goes away.

SEO, as with other disciplines, isn’t quick, but rather it creates an asset that will continue to yield positive returns for years after. Free leads will come for years if the page is well-ranked.

SEO is owning traffic while paid ads are renting traffic. Rent is a dead tax when you die.Rent is a dead tax when you stop paying. Ownership keeps giving.

A realistic SEO timeline

A general idea of what to expect is as follows:

Months 1-3: Foundation building. Technical fixes, keyword research and on page optimization. Move-ups and move-downs are not significant, but the foundation is important.

4-6 months: Early signs. A few pages start getting indexed.Shows a few pages in search results. There is very light traffic but some growth is starting to take place.

Months 7 to 12: Momentum. Multiple keywords rise in the rankings. Leads from organic traffic start to make a difference. ROI is immensely apparent.

12 months and older: Compounding growth. The number of traffic and leads grows steadily. New content has a faster ranking. It’s very difficult for them to catch up with those who invested in SEO.

What you can do right now

Trust is not something that can be rushed but trust can be something that is not time wasted. These are the things that really matter:

• Regularly post beneficial and consistent content 2-4 times per month.
• Start with your technical base – page speed, mobile, broken links
• Target long-tail keywords early on, less competition means faster rankings
• Optimize Google Business profile for local search
• Create some good backlinks monthly with guest posting or partnerships.
• Update older content every 3-6 months

Most companies that performed SEO and failed did it for either of the following two reasons – they gave up too soon, or they didn’t do it well. It’s about consistency and quality.

The Bottom Line-Why SEO Takes Time But Builds Long-Term Growth

SEO is a process that takes time, and so does trust. Google will not rank a site that it has never seen. This is where the value of the results comes in.

The companies that appear in the top position on Google’s results page are not there by chance. They were consistent with their monthly investments and were patient in the early months. After that, they allowed the compounding to work.

Time to begin… was last year. But today is still miles better than another year!

If you’re not sure where to start or want someone to handle it for you, we’re here to help. Get in touch with our team at Buraq Technologies for a free SEO consultation and we’ll take a look at your site, identify the gaps, and map out a clear plan to grow your organic traffic.