The time-frame for small businesses is a very important factor when it comes to choosing your marketing strategy.
From an SEO perspective, it usually takes a minimum period of 6 months after implementation before you see any results, especially if you’re a small business without much authority in the industry. But on the other hand, the results that you get after the 6 month period, can last for years without investing even a single cent in SEO after the campaign is done.
With this being said, you have to make a cross-comparison between other marketing channels, such as SEA (Paid ads), Paid Social Marketing, Programmatic Marketing, etc. All of these channels bring instant results after the campaigns are launched, and do not require such a big waiting period.
In some industries such as exclusive or luxury brands that rely more on brand reputation, exclusivity, or word of mouth, where the target audience is already aware of them, usually don’t need additional investment in SEO.
As a rule of thumb, a business model that functions entirely based on their brand reputation, or if it’s a business that requires rapid changes will be better off by using other forms of marketing.
Additionally, some businesses operate almost exclusively offline and use the internet only for basic contact information or hours of operation. Examples might include individual electricians, plumbers, maintenance personnel, etc.
If you’re a very small business that falls into the category of medicine, finance, fitness, or recipe site, then definitely you need to consider your choices. In order to succeed in these fields, it requires years of investment into SEO before you see any major results from it.
Major medical websites such as Healthline.com have been investing in SEO for over 20 years, and they dominate every medical term on the web, which can make it very very difficult for a small business with limited resources to compete with. Same goes for other industries, where there is a shark that has been doing SEO for the past 20 years, and is ranking for almost all terms, sometimes there are even more than 5 of them competing for the top.
But if you don’t fall into this category, then there is definitely something available for you to rank for.
Finally, the most important thing out of all. Profit.
Determining whether or not an SEO strategy will be profitable is the most difficult part out of all. Many factors are put into consideration. This includes, but is not limited to the competition, and the amount of investment you’re willing to do. Too little investing in SEO or too much investing in SEO can impact your profits drastically. It’s always nice to find the sweet spot to maximize your profits.
The easiest way to determine this is to talk with an SEO specialist about your upcoming business goals and targets. An SEO specialist will tell you how realist your expectations are and whether or not you can expect a profit from your marketing efforts.
You can schedule your free consultation call with SEO Represent, where we can further discuss everything you want to know.
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