How long does local SEO actually take?

It depends almost entirely on where you start

A site on page three for its main phrase usually needs a nudge rather than a rebuild. A site that does not appear in the first ten pages at all is a different job and sometimes it is not a job worth taking, which we will say.

Expect it to move oddly at first

This surprises people, so it is worth saying in advance. A site will often jump onto page one within a week or two, sit there for a couple of days, then fall back, sometimes further back than where it started. A few days later it reappears on page two, then page one again, and settles.

That pattern is normal. It is the search engine re evaluating where a site belongs rather than anything going wrong. It is also exactly why we count fourteen consecutive days before invoicing rather than declaring victory on the first good morning.

The ninety day cap

If your site is not on page one within ninety days, the agreement ends and you owe nothing. Even if it arrives on day ninety one. We would rather have a hard line that costs us occasionally than an open ended arrangement that quietly bills you forever.

And then it is a year

Reaching page one is not the end of the work. Competitors respond and results drift. For the twelve months of the agreement we check your position every morning, and if you drop off, your clock stops until you are back.