Keywords and phrases are still a key part of SEO and help in the indexing of web pages. However, when implementing SEO and keyword strategies, it’s important to understand that it’s a long-term plan. In fact, it can take up to a year before you start to see measurable SEO results. There is no quick fix or shortcuts when ranking for keywords. So, what do you need to do to rank your keywords? 

An SEO strategy does more than boost keyword ranking. It drives organic traffic to your website and other online channels, optimises your website, increases user experience and helps keep you in front of your competitors. Using keywords and key phrases is an important element of this strategy. When 75% of people never go past the first page of a Google results page, and the first organic search result on Google gets 31.24% of the clicks (on average), it’s clear that keyword ranking is vital to drive website traffic. 

But just throwing a load of keywords into your online content will not help you rank higher in search results. The three factors we mentioned above come into play: 

 

 

But remember, it takes time for your actions to yield the positive, measurable results you’re seeking. 

You can learn about SEO tactics and strategies, but you must also understand how Google’s algorithm works to get the best out of your actions. Google is constantly updating its algorithm, but the basics remain the same most of the time. 

 

It’s designed to promote websites that have worked to build a certain level of ‘authority’ over some time. This means websites that are trusted and respected and have proved their worth to their customers, i.e. they gain a lot of traffic for the right reasons. Some factors that Google use to determine this authority are: 

 

 

Considering all these aspects, it's easy to see why SEO takes time to generate results and returns. 

Of course, any business wants their keywords to rank as soon as possible, but there are three areas to consider: 

 

 

Building website authority can be achieved in a relatively short period, especially if the quality of the website, content and backlinks are excellent. Avoiding Google no-gos is also simpler to monitor. But competitiveness takes more time and effort. 

If you’re in a very competitive marketplace, many keywords or phrases – popular search terms – you’re using will be employed by your competitors, too. Here’s a general rule of thumb to remember: 

 

 

So, you want to aim for keywords and phrases that are less competitive, i.e. a good search volume but low competition. For example, the term ‘website ranking’ has an average search volume of 6,600, making it a highly competitive keyword with an SEO difficulty ranking of 67. However, ‘website ranking by traffic’ has an average search volume of 2,400 but a low SEO difficulty ranking of just 6. A great way of targeting less competitive keywords is through blogs, as they can be used to target your audience who are searching using more specific terms. 

Although we’ve so far skimmed around giving you definitive SEO timescales, we can give you some general time frames for achieving SEO/keyword ranking: 

 

 

But there is a caveat to these timescales; a lot of SEO and keyword ranking success stems from the quantity and quality of any SEO methods, what’s gone before, and your ongoing actions. The moral of the SEO story is – the more time and effort you put in, the quicker and better your website will rank and the more returns you will see. 

At it’seeze, our network of experienced website consultants throughout the UK and Ireland are well-versed in using keywords and phrases and how they should be woven into your website. We help businesses of all shapes and sizes design and build fully SEO and keyword-optimised websites.  

Get in touch with us today to start your it’seeze journey.