4 ms·

The new SEO is really branding just over a long period of time. Expect SEO to take 6 months to 2 years.

by gscott 9y ago

TheRealPomax 9y ago
If it takes you 6 months to 2 years to become prominent in local searches, something has gone very wrong. The answer to the original question is really one of "over how big a part of the internet?" first. Global SEO is a slow process, local SEO should be a matter of months at most, if the site you're optimizing for isn't "yet another one" in a saturated local market.
- gscott 9y ago
  Local SEO can be very competitive depending upon what you are doing. Having a physical address is good and so signing up for a cheaper local listing manager (cheapest I have found is from Vistaprint https://www.vistaprint.com/digital-marketing/local-listings?couponAutoload=1&GP=04%2f17%2f2018+12%3a04%3a38&GPS=4974675686&GNF=0 https://www.vistaprint.com/digital-marketing/local-listings?...) will get someone's website on 20-30 sites with authority immediately. Then having long articles and having keywords that focus on the local market. But depending upon what you are doing that might not be enough... for example local insurance agencies there is a lot of competition sometimes with up to 100 insurance agencies in a tight geographical radius. Time helps to rise above when there is a lot of local competition.
  - LoSboccacc 9y ago
    Could one do that landing users on a facebook page instead of a real site? I got some question from a friend owning a local business but it’s quite outside my competency and was just looking around for info when this hn popped up
    - gscott 9y ago
      Instead of Facebook I would suggest focusing on getting a lot of positive reviews on Yelp. If your friend can get 20 or 30 reviews on Yelp he will totally dominate the whole local market with a number 1 listing organically on Google without hardly any effort.
onion2k 9y ago
How does that work when there are other companies also working on their branding? Why would one company's effort to create a good online brand work better than another company's effort? That is SEO - working out what has a material impact on search rankings and implementing it.
- gscott 9y ago
  There is a Chinese proverb that says there are two best times to plant a tree... 10 years ago and right now.
dx034 9y ago
Is that because you need iterations to figure out what Google values or do they just punish new domains?
- gscott 9y ago
  Being a local authority on a subject matter will overcome anything about a new domain name. For example getting a local paper to write about you and linking to your domain will help you regardless if your domain name is only a few months old. SEO is like a snowball it starts out small and you just build it over years. Eventually your seo can be so strong it only needs minor maintenance.

The new SEO is really branding just over a long period of time. Expect SEO to take 6 months to 2 years.

by gscott 9y ago

The new SEO is really branding just over a long period of time. Expect SEO to take 6 months to 2 years.

If it takes you 6 months to 2 years to become prominent in local searches, something has gone very wrong. The answer to the original question is really one of "over how big a part of the internet?" first. Global SEO is a slow process, local SEO should be a matter of months at most, if the site you're optimizing for isn't "yet another one" in a saturated local market.

gscott 9y ago
Local SEO can be very competitive depending upon what you are doing. Having a physical address is good and so signing up for a cheaper local listing manager (cheapest I have found is from Vistaprint https://www.vistaprint.com/digital-marketing/local-listings?couponAutoload=1&GP=04%2f17%2f2018+12%3a04%3a38&GPS=4974675686&GNF=0 https://www.vistaprint.com/digital-marketing/local-listings?...) will get someone's website on 20-30 sites with authority immediately. Then having long articles and having keywords that focus on the local market. But depending upon what you are doing that might not be enough... for example local insurance agencies there is a lot of competition sometimes with up to 100 insurance agencies in a tight geographical radius. Time helps to rise above when there is a lot of local competition.
- LoSboccacc 9y ago
  Could one do that landing users on a facebook page instead of a real site? I got some question from a friend owning a local business but it’s quite outside my competency and was just looking around for info when this hn popped up
  - gscott 9y ago
    Instead of Facebook I would suggest focusing on getting a lot of positive reviews on Yelp. If your friend can get 20 or 30 reviews on Yelp he will totally dominate the whole local market with a number 1 listing organically on Google without hardly any effort.

onion2k 9y ago

How does that work when there are other companies also working on their branding? Why would one company's effort to create a good online brand work better than another company's effort? That is SEO - working out what has a material impact on search rankings and implementing it.

gscott 9y ago
There is a Chinese proverb that says there are two best times to plant a tree... 10 years ago and right now.

dx034 9y ago

Is that because you need iterations to figure out what Google values or do they just punish new domains?

gscott 9y ago
Being a local authority on a subject matter will overcome anything about a new domain name. For example getting a local paper to write about you and linking to your domain will help you regardless if your domain name is only a few months old. SEO is like a snowball it starts out small and you just build it over years. Eventually your seo can be so strong it only needs minor maintenance.