SEO Isn't Just a Race, It's a Marathon

Starting the Santa Hustle at Cedar Point

Yesterday I donned some gloves, a heavy sweatshirt, and a santa hat as I prepared for the Santa Hustle half-marathon at Cedar Point. It was my third half-marathon, and since my first back in June I found that through training and perseverance I was able to shave over 25 minutes from my initial time. 

It'd be one thing to think that they're getting easier, but is running 13.1 miles ever really easy? In reality, the thing that changed was having more experience — especially knowing how to pace myself.

It got me thinking about how doing well-executed SEO is similar to doing a long run. Often in digital marketing there's a sense of immediacy, that once an update is made the results are quickly obvious. A problem that I find amongst many clients is that they perceive the same to occur with optimizing for search engines. 

The truth however is that most changes will take many months to take effect. Google's algorithms are getting faster at adapting, but you're still competing against hundreds if not thousands of other businesses who are also pursuing their own SEO efforts. 

So it is a race, albeit a drawn-out one. Go into it with a clear strategy and stick to it. Small adjustments are useful but in general it's most important to simply kick off, pace oneself and keep the focus on the ultimate goal. 

Once you've finished, evaluate how you did and jump into the next race — your competitors are gearing up for another round, and there's always room for improvement.

Who doesn't love a good analogy on a Monday?

-Jeff