Two ways to show your products or services in Google search results

– Google Ads – immediate and clearly visible effect, but displayed only during the promotional campaign,
– SEO – an effect that you have to wait for, but the obtained results are longer than the duration of a standard Google Ads promotional campaign. In the long run, it is the cheapest method of acquiring customers from the search engine.

How long does SEO take – can I check the waiting time?

Yes and no. Paraphrase-Online.com, a group of SEO experts providing data from the Google world, analyzed search engine traffic on the basis of 23 most important industries and over 250,000 key phrases. The results of the analysis are presented in a simple table. However, although the report deals with specific numbers, it all depends on individual calculations and many variables.

What are the general conclusions of the Paraphrase-Online.com report?

No surprises, the main principle of SEO, mentioned above, has been confirmed: you have to wait for traffic from the search engine! In order for the product to be visible, it must be worked on.

Fun fact: The main problem of SEO agencies is explaining to customers who expect organic results that SEO is a process, not an immediate action.

How long does SEO take?

Various analyzes can be found on the web, depending on the industry, website, selected keywords, competition, etc. And why is this happening? Imagine you are offering a “Miami Car Service” service. What if you still offer the same service in New York. Will the customer entering the phrase “car service + given town” see your website in the same position in the search engine? No.

On the basis of numerous campaigns carried out by Paraphrase-Online.com, we join the claim that in order to position the keyword we need a minimum of:
2-3 months for less popular phrases,
4-8 months for moderately popular phrases,
over 9 months for very popular phrases.

How is the positioning process shaped depending on the industry?

The shortest time for the effects, i.e. entering the TOP10, is in the Business and Law and Politics categories – just over 2 months, and the longest in the Style & Fashion category – it takes over 5 months for the result to appear in the top 10. The average for all categories is 105 days.

It is also worth paying attention to the Career or Hobby category. Both, despite the fact that you had to wait over 4 months for the effects, the positions obtained remain in the TOP10 for about 2.5 years!

Important: Our results show us arithmetic means for given categories, which were calculated on the basis of several thousand keywords. If we look at the deviation column, we will see that in all categories, positioned sites wait much longer or much shorter for effects than the third column shows.

Let’s also look at the Sports category. The average transition from TOP50 to TOP10 of search results takes a minimum time of about 3 months, however, the high value of the standard deviation – 566 days indicates that these differences between individual phrases may differ radically from each other.

What affects standard deviations?

The waiting time for the effects of positioning may be shortened or extended by several factors which, depending on the category of the website being positioned, are more or less important. How long seo lasts consists of, among others:

– the number and position of competition,
– industry in which the company operates,
– modernity of the website – in terms of technical and content optimization,
– having good-quality content,
– changes in the Google algorithm,
– knowledge and experience of SEO specialists,
– budget,
– speed of introducing optimization changes.

How can we accelerate the appearance of positioning results?

The basic activity that must be performed before positioning an existing website is an SEO audit. On its basis, detected errors can be eliminated and the indicated shortcomings can be filled.

What is important for a properly conducted phrase positioning process:

– qualified and experienced positioners, constantly improving their qualifications and being up to date with introduced changes in algorithms,
– technical optimization of the website,
– the quality of the content and its uniqueness,
– elimination of indexing errors,
– adapting the website code to the requirements of search engines,
– internal linking,
– proper selection of keywords,
– valuable links coming from external websites,
– getting to know the target market and direct competition,
– an appropriate budget for the implementation of SEO activities,
– patience.

PR + SEO = SEO PR

Simply put, SEO PR is a combination of search engine optimization and public relations activities, which is enriched with SERM, i.e. managing reputation in the search engine, by promoting positive materials about a selected brand and responding to negative ones.

SEO and PR combine primarily content, or content. They are needed for both activities. In order to combine SEO with PR, it is necessary to create valuable content for these two areas of marketing. It is not difficult, but requires the development of detailed guidelines and is more time-consuming than creating typical “pretzels”. The development of such content is associated with higher costs, because you need to write a virtuoso of a pen who will understand the issues of building image on the web as well as the principles of search engine optimization.

SEO PR – why is it important?

The issue of SEO PR is considered increasingly popular and important, and all because the creation of a positive image on the web is a key issue for most companies. It is supposed to bring benefits to both SEO and PR activities – the combination of these fields strengthens SEO activities and helps in positioning public relations materials.

The use of public relations in SEO pays off for every brand. Benefits will benefit both a little-known brand that just wants to promote, and a large company wanting to prevent and control image crises. SEO PR is also useful when you want to build an expert position on the market and fight for high-end clients.

How to use PR in SEO?

SEO PR often reaches for companies in a crisis situation, when, for example, a lot of negative information about the company appears on the web. In such a situation, campaigns are often one of the solutions often used, during which a number of positive image messages are published. The effect is to reduce the visibility of adverse content. However, SEO PR should be implemented in a marketing strategy in times of prosperity. It will be an effective tool that will help promote the company and its products, and at the same time build consumer confidence and e.g. an expert image. Thoughtful actions will also allow you to obtain valuable links in a natural and quite safe way, and often (importantly) free. For valuable content, the portal may agree that the press release be included for free with the link.

In summary, using public relations in SEO activities,
– A positive image of companies is created,
– Increases search engine visibility,
– Increases organic traffic on the site,
– Increases sales,
– Builds a group of new recipients.

How to make PR valuable for SEO?

SEO RP activities should be conducted in accordance with current Google recommendations and naturally fit in with strategies to build the company’s image. If you want to conduct them, remember to avoid “artificial” actions at all costs – search engine algorithms are more and more sensitive to them and capture them better. Therefore, it becomes necessary to prepare an analysis for UX and plan the creation and distribution of content. In order not to get lost in these activities, it is recommended to create an SEO PR strategy that will determine, among others target group, task calendar, topics covered by SEO PR, issues related to SEO optimization (e.g. list of dedicated keywords, content structure, structural data encouraging clicking on the message), content distribution and promotion tools.

It should be remembered that even the best prepared and implemented SEO strategy will not bring results if you do not constantly monitor and control changes. For SEO PR, good timing and upcoming trends are important. The need for quick response means, with SEO PR, it is worth combining with real time marketing. Orientation in the current situation will allow to use them in favor of the promoted brand or product. You can even use Google Trends to analyze trends.

If you want to use PR in SEO activities, you should not forget to build correct relations with the media. In an era when the Internet is saturated with content, you cannot delude yourself that you will send a low-level text to the portal with a link, and it will place and promote it. To get the press information to a widely read medium, PR should be conducted at a high level and create attractive, unique, timely, correctly substantive content, interesting from the point of view of the reader (and not the company) that you want to reach. At the same time, you cannot expect the publisher to always publish information for free with a dofollow link attached. To avoid disappointment, publication conditions should be set in advance, with links only when the article enforces it. An active link in a PR message should be an integral part of the content, e.g. redirect to content sources, examples, solutions to a given problem, etc.

Tools for SEO PRs

It is also difficult to talk about the effectiveness of SEO PR if you do not use the tools available on the market. They will help in obtaining data, monitoring effects and changes, building image in search engine. SEO PR tools that are worth paying attention to are:

– Keyword analysis applications – they will help you choose the right phrases that will be used in published PR materials; both the free Google keyword planner and free applications can be used to search for keywords;
– Network monitoring tools – their task is to inform about mentions that appear about the brand; this allows for a quick response to them, and also indicates where to place bulilding links; SEO tools can be used to monitor the network.
– Applications that monitor search results;
– Content and content publishing platforms, as well as Google Ads and Facebook As promotion tools that will increase the visibility of produced content;
– Internet forums – can be used not only for “whispers”, but also for substantive statements of the brand, in which he will give extensive statements on the topic in which he wants to specialize; in these statements, you can add a dofollow or nofollow link naturally (if possible);
– Brand ambassadors – cooperation with influencers is an increasingly popular solution; it turns out that the correct definition of its rules can have a positive image effect, as well as increase visibility in search results;
– Applications for running a virtual press office – they will enable easier management of databases of cooperating journalists and faster sending them of press releases; many platforms for running e-press offices also allow the journalists with whom they cooperate to retrieve information.

The brand’s reputation in the 21st century is the most expensive currency. Positive opinions and the image of an expert can be won even with a larger competitor that offers cheaper products / services. SEO PR will ensure both the visibility of the page in the search engine and put the brand in a good light. Importantly, thanks to activities carried out effectively, brand visibility on the web will grow rapidly, and Internet users will easily find published content even by asking Google general questions related only to the long tail of search. Entrepreneurs who wondered whether investing in SEO PR should dispel their doubts.

How to use SEO PR articles?

A. When entering the company, ask for all company publications available on the Internet. Review them for possible link placement (no matter if Dofollow or Nofollow) – and under the name (brand) put a link to the main page. At the same time, if possible, rebuild a sentence so that you can add one more link, e.g. to a category, product or service.

B. If the customer does not have a list of articles, use footprints to search for articles in the search engine, for example:
– “company xxxx”
– “about company xxxx”
– “at xxxx”
– “by xxxx”
– “by xxxx”
If you already have a list, contact the editors of these articles and try to put a link there.

C. Make sure that all new PR publications contain a minimum of 1 brand link (sporadically brand + keyword) to the homepage.

D. If possible, put several products with links to them in the article, the full name of the product may be an anchor (don’t forget about nofollow, because it may be necessary).

E. Use all possible Social Media channels to promote your brand – positioning them results in queries about the company name, brand, domain name – search results are the company’s URL and profiles. SERM is also part of PR.

F. Remember what keywords you are fighting for above all:
– name + reviews
– name + portfolio
– name + rating
Unfortunately, in the case of phrases such as “name + scammers / bankruptcy” will be a huge challenge.

G. Browse the positioned website – implement all possible extended parts to obtain “knowledge graph” – that is the box describing the company: local business, website, organization.

H. Use PBN platforms to get interesting spots for publishing articles (sometimes it’s cheaper). An interesting option is the publication of the article on portals that are in Google News – there is then a chance for a carousel with such articles to appear on brand queries.

Website positioning for free

Running a professional business is connected with the necessity of incurring many costs. Paying salaries, renting an office, bill payment – these are just the basic expenses to consider. So wouldn’t it be beautiful if some useful advertising tools and forms were available for free? Or maybe you need to put cost-free positioning between cartoons? Before we have to solve the mystery of website positioning for free, it is worth to outline what it really is and what factors can influence the success of our efforts. If you do not spend money on positioning, you will definitely spend on it … your time!

Positioning from scratch

Creating a website is a relatively simple process. Difficulties arise when it is to acquire appropriate coverage and reach a specific group of recipients. The dream of most e-stores is that after the user types a given category or specific product, their platform appears in the first place or at least on the first page in the search engine.

Remember, however, that creating a page is just the tip of the iceberg. Even if it is done respecting the basic principles of SEO, it will still have to work out its place in the search engine.

The task of positioning is to help in this. Everything, however, requires skilful distribution of planned operational activities. Developing a schedule for implementing the necessary modifications allows you to increase control over the process of adapting your site to the requirements dictated by search algorithms. A number of actions necessary to take include optimization of meta tags, content on the page, graphics used and links posted. It may not sound so bad, but when you have an online store and we are talking about optimizing hundreds or thousands of product pages, then it gets interesting.

In addition, you must also remember about other improvements that will allow the smooth functioning of the site (e.g. by eliminating unnecessary duplicates). The list begins to grow as the company begins to increase its reach and becomes more and more popular. When you manage to join the strategic group of market leaders, you should monitor your online presence and respond quickly to any changes.

So conducted SEO activities – or more generally positioning – is a path leading straight to success. However, before you catch up and overtake the competition, you have to spend a lot of time in the peloton of this specific race. The use of cycling metaphor is not accidental, because there are many seemingly imperceptible analogies between these two areas. The best results are achieved by players who have full comfort – they have excellent technical facilities, and the sponsor’s support allows the purchase of high-end equipment. Although cycling is an individual sport, the whole team works hard for individual successes. It is no different in the case of positioning.

The first few laps, or how to overtake the competition?

There are two strategies that can lead to positive SEO results. The first is painstaking individual work. It largely involves independent search for solutions, which means the necessity of using trial and error methods. At the initial stage of business development, a good start is the basis, which is why a large number of mistakes occurring at the very beginning can make the time for prosperity not come. You can put a lot of effort in the process of positioning the page, but without a proper budget and substantive support, it is difficult to obtain positive and long-lasting effects.

It is worth focusing on a second strategy. This is a variant in which the owner of the page asks for help to a professional company, fluent in SEO activities. The solution is beneficial not only during the initial phase of preparing the concept of brand presence on the Internet. At every stage of the company’s activity, you can reach for the experience and knowledge of specialists. This substantive and technological base allows not only to save time, but also money.

Before decisions are made regarding the will to cooperate, the recommended action is to audit the website. Some companies offer this option completely free. At a rapid pace, reaching up to 20 seconds, you can check which elements of the current web page are working incorrectly, what to improve, and which aspects do not require modification. We are talking here about automatic audits, which of course operate to a large degree of generalization – if we are serious about positioning and want to allocate more funds to it, then it will be reasonable to order such an audit to a specialist.

Free positioning tools

Once you have successfully carried out the WWW audit, you can start your adventure with positioning on your own. As already mentioned, although individual work brings results only to a certain extent, it is worth at least taking this effort to be better prepared when talking with SEO specialists. The use of free positioning tools allows you to learn the basic concepts and principles on which the whole process is based.

Every day, most Internet users use Google search and only a few remain faithful to solutions such as Bing or DuckDuckGo. This is for a reason, because it is this gigantic company that has several tools in its portfolio, the use of which helps to elevate the site to the highest positions. Here are some examples that are most useful in business:

a) Google Advertising Academy
Before choosing specific solutions, you should familiarize yourself with the entire system of related opportunities that Google offers. Although the Academy of Ads deals strictly with advertising campaigns, it contains valuable knowledge about how to use Google Ads, Google Analytics or the Double Click platform. Completing virtual training gives you a broader understanding of not only positioning, but also any activity in virtual space. Graduates of the Google Advertising Academy receive certificates, which are an additional asset because their possession is appreciated by the best positioning companies.

In Academy for Ads you will not find direct references to the positioning process, but you will learn the specifics of how Google search engine works, how customers navigate and how to use analytics to achieve business goals. That’s why it’s worth it.

b) Google Keyword Planner
This extremely useful tool facilitates selection of key phrases. It is especially useful when circling a product and service promotion plan. Google Keyword Planner allows you to choose the right solution when developing your Ads campaign and of course – for positioning. An additional advantage is the function that provides verification of the number of queries for specific terms entered by Internet users in the search engine.

The clear interface gives full insight into statistics on selected operations performed on queries and forecasts of the effectiveness of operations. The results are given on an average monthly basis, taking into account the relevance of a specific key phrase. To use Google Keyword Planner you must have an advertising account in Google Ads (formerly: Google AdWords). The tool suggestions result from the ongoing analysis of data flowing into the Google database.

c) Google Analytics
A basic tool that should be familiar to anyone who is going to get involved in professional site positioning. From the statistics set you can read, among others at what times the website and specific subpages are most often visited, and in which places in the world there is interest in a given website. Traffic analysis is a key factor in the effectiveness of SEO because it gives an overview of the profile of users interested in the product or service.

What’s more, Google Analytics can indicate how potential customers came to the page. Based on only this one information, you can evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing strategy implemented so far and possibly make new assumptions about communication channels with recipients. In direct translation into SEO activity, this means a change in keywords in the positioning process. Having full control over online marketing activities allows you to better respond to the real expectations of customers.

d) Google Maps
The user types in the search query. When it is possible to find the right company that provides a specific service or has the dream product in the range, the internet user makes the key decision – he intends to visit a point of sale, restaurant or hotel. A business card created in Google My Business points to a specific location.

At this point, Google Maps comes to the rescue. This is one of the most recognizable and most frequently used solutions of the American company. Few people know, however, that it is also a great positioning tool. Integration with the search engine allows not only to find the location on the map, but also to lead the client to the destination. Having a tag with the right name allows you to be among competitors.

e) Google Search Console
Another tool after Google Analytics and Keyword Planner that is hard to do without. It’s a free platform for professionals involved in website administration. Its task is to monitor the site and to control the indexing of pages. Google Search Console is an extensive analytical database which contains information about links to the site, possible errors and keywords contained on the page.

Website positioning for free and the help of professionals

Examples of solutions that have been successfully presented are available for free to every Internet user. However, as any statistics prove, it is not the number of data collected that counts, but the ability to interpret it. In addition, you need to spend a lot of time devoted to product or service development to become familiar with all the features of specific proposals.

Positioning sites for free will certainly prove very time-consuming. So it all depends on whether you can afford it or if you prefer to devote yourself to another part of your business activity.

When a company aims at positioning a website, it is a good idea to report the needs of an SEO agency. Many years of experience and knowledge that specialists have at their disposal allows us to accurately respond to business needs. The advantage of this output is the fact that all the tool is received in the package together with the service provided. This is a huge saving of time and money. Hard to believe? It is worth getting acquainted with the materials available for free on the Paraphrase-Online.com  blog, which prove that it pays to invest in positioning.