Determining the Optimal Duration for Retaining an SEO Agency During Your Website’s Growth
Launching a new website is an exciting milestone, but understanding how long to engage an SEO agency is often a source of uncertainty for many business owners. A common scenario involves hiring an agency on a short-term contract, such as three months, with the intent to evaluate progress before deciding whether to continue. However, the question remains: how long should you retain an SEO partner to see meaningful results, especially after the foundational aspects have been addressed?
Understanding the Timeline for SEO Results
It’s widely acknowledged within the digital marketing community that SEO is a long-term investment. Organic search rankings are influenced by numerous factors, including website structure, content quality, backlink profiles, and ongoing algorithm updates. Typically, initial improvements in rankings and traffic can be observed within three to six months, but significant, sustainable growth often requires a sustained effort over 6-12 months or longer.
In your case, having completed an initial three-month contract, it’s understandable to seek clarity on the agency’s performance. You mentioned noticing your website ranking for new keywords, albeit in the lower visibility positions (e.g., positions 50-70). This indicates initial progress; however, climbing higher in search results generally takes consistent effort over time.
Evaluating the Effectiveness After the Initial Phase
When considering whether to renew the contract, evaluate what specific goals were set at the outset. Are you seeing improvements in website traffic, keyword rankings, or conversions? Are these results aligning with your expectations given the short duration? Remember, SEO is cumulative, and foundational work often sets the stage for future growth.
How Long Should an SEO Agency Be Retained?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but common industry practices suggest:
- Initial Investment Period: 3-6 months to establish a baseline, implement technical optimizations, and begin content strategies.
- Ongoing Optimization: 6-12 months or more for measurable, sustainable results.
- Long-term Partnership: Beyond a year, for continuous growth, refinement, and adaptation to algorithm changes.
For websites where core technical SEO and content foundations are in place, a shorter-term contract might focus on link building and content promotion, which typically yield results over several months.
Focusing Your SEO Strategy
Given that your technical SEO audit, schema markup, and on-page optimizations are complete, and your current activity involves adding new blog posts, your focus might shift toward content marketing