Without mincing words, the most difficult question in digital marketing, almost without respect to the channel, is “how long will it take to see results?”
A similar (and important question) is “how much return will I get on the investment?”
But let’s keep the scope of this post to the former since that is the one we will break down.
Moreover, there’s only one way the best eCommerce SEO company should answer it.
Why This Question (and the Company’s Response) Matter
This question is contentious because it places a big onus on the person (or company) being asked, and because it is very difficult to give a straight answer.
Search engine optimization entails the adjustment of more than 200 ranking signals, and not all companies, or the campaigns they devise, hit all of these signals.
Moreover, the efficacy of the campaign, and its subsequent success, hinge on the size and domain authority of their competitors, the number of competitors, the number of deliverables of the campaign, and much more.
Plus, SEO is not like PPC or social media advertising, in which you can “pay to play.” SEO is organic, so it takes a lot longer to generate results.
Either way, that’s why the answer is critical. So what sort of answer should the company give?
What Should the Answer Be?
Ultimately, it depends. First, let’s take a look at what no self-respecting company should say.
For one, run from a company that guarantees you results in any amount of time. The truth is, no matter how good the process, there’s no way to guarantee results in SEO, in any window of time.
Any promises at all are a big red flag.
Still, the answer should be some color of this: depending on the number of deliverables, the difficulty of the keywords you’ll be targeting, and the number of competitors in your sphere, the company should say results should take 6 months, or longer, to materialize.
Realistically, results should take 12 months or longer. It takes a lot of courage for a company that’s getting paid to tell its customer this. But it’s also the truth.
SEO is a slow roll, and your SEO provider should make this clear to you. It should also be clear that you shouldn’t expect to see a financial return within that timeframe, either.
As a business’s organic footprint grows, it should get new leads and eventually turn around a profit from its marketing spend. But that takes a long time, and SEO is not for any company that expects to see a big turnaround overnight.
All in all, if you can find an eCommerce SEO company that makes this clear to you – that results will not develop within at least 6 months, and that you shouldn’t be thinking about ROI for that first year – is likely trustworthy.
At the very least, notwithstanding their process, that SEO company has the courage to answer a very difficult question, and to answer it without deceiving you intentionally or sugar coating anything.
Getting Started Looking for the Best eCommerce SEO Company in Your Niche
Make sure you ask this question whenever you’re vetting a provider of eCommerce SEO services, because you won’t want to trust your marketing strategy (or money) with an SEO “expert” that is willing to make promises on which he or she can’t deliver.
Either way, an SEO strategy is considered one of the best organic marketing channels for basically any online store, for generating high-quality organic leads that return value. It’s worth the effort and investment – you just need to find the best provider.
