{"id":6667,"date":"2019-01-18T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T15:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nortonnorris.com\/?p=6667"},"modified":"2019-01-18T09:24:56","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T15:24:56","slug":"be-the-turtle-not-the-hare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nortonnorris.com\/be-the-turtle-not-the-hare\/","title":{"rendered":"Be the Turtle, Not the Hare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The importance of measuring SEO effectiveness over time.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We live in an impatient world. That\u2019s not much of a surprise\nto anyone. As technology and new possibilities for data mining continue to\nadvance at a dizzying pace, so too do our expectations in terms of achieving\nresults from those advances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such is the case with search engine optimization\n(SEO).<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to improve your website\u2019s position in organic\nweb search rankings by effectively aligning page content with well-planned\nmetadata is obviously very appealing to schools of all types and sizes.\nUltimately, this is what SEO is all about\u2014increasing traffic to your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SEO<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for many schools, they don\u2019t put the necessary resources into SEO. Whether they simply lack the resources, think<\/em> they lack the resources and allocate funds to other areas, or don\u2019t believe in the power of SEO<\/a>, these schools are missing out on a huge opportunity to impact their enrollment and bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To an extent, it\u2019s understandable that some may not trust\nSEO to the point where they throw money into it. It can be a very confusing\nworld, and its emergence over the past decade hasn\u2019t come without having to\nbattle misperceptions that it\u2019s more snake oil\npotion than effective strategic tool.<\/a> Thankfully, that misperception has\nfor the most part gone away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for our purposes\nhere and now, the focus will be on those schools that do invest in SEO.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned earlier, we don\u2019t have a lot of patience these\ndays. We expect results instantly, whether it\u2019s a web page loading, an app\ninstalling, a video playing, or pretty much anything else related to\ntechnology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no different with SEO. And this can be a bad thing.\nBecause one of the most important things to understand when it comes to SEO and\nthe results it can deliver is this\u2014it\u2019s\na marathon, not a sprint.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SEO<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Expecting instant results immediately after optimizing your\nwebsite\u2019s pages is a waste of energy and just not very realistic. When you go\ninto your SEO initiative with the perspective that results\nare best measured month-over-month and year-over-year<\/a>, your expectations\nwill be in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point\u2014the SEO\nresults from one of our clients between the years 2017 and 2018.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The analytics from this client\u2019s SEO performance offer a\npowerful glimpse into what\u2019s possible when you take a strategic approach and\nunderstand that there needs to be a premium on patience. Consider these results\ncomparing the website\u2019s performance in October 2018 with the performance in\nOctober 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n