The tortoise and the hare: SEO edition

Want fast SEO results? It’s easy to wish we could simply make an upfront investment and quickly shoot up to number one in the Google results! Unfortunately, that isn’t really the way SEO works.

Think of the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. The rascally rabbit takes off super fast, burning out before the finish line, and the tortoise slowly plods along, finishing the race.

Search engine optimization isn’t really that different!

Years ago, SEO was different. One-time activities actually had a decent chance of resulting in some long-term benefits! Sure, ongoing activities would have an impact too, but why bother when you could get some great short-term results?

That’s all changed. Now, truly beneficial SEO takes an ongoing effort. Keyword research, writing blog articles, tweaking things behind the scenes on your website, and actively sharing on social media—it all takes an investment of at least time and energy, and potentially money as well.

It’s sort of like working out. Working with a personal trainer can really help you get on the right path. But if you just work with one for a month, then never go work out again, you’re not going to get any healthier.

You have to make an ongoing effort, and the results usually aren’t quick! But consistent effort over time can pay off.

Slow and steady wins the SEO race as well. Create content on an ongoing basis that’s relevant and helpful to your ideal client, and ties back into the services and products you provide. That will help you gain SEO traction.

Honestly, even if you start out with a website that’s not set up as well as it could be from a technical standpoint, ongoing, relevant, quality content will win out over time.