“How long will it take for my page to rank number 1, and how will ranking number 1 affect my website’s brand visibility?” These are two of the most common questions new business owners ask. But neither one of these questions has one truly simple response.
In most website owner’s minds, a successful SEO campaign means reaching the top organic spot. And once that number one spot is reached, most businesses start questioning whether SEO is a necessary expense to continue. They suppose that their website is now optimized and will continue ranking no matter what they do moving forward. When in reality, that is simply not the case.
Traffic and Rankings WILL be affected
So what exactly is the outcome if you stop SEO? Do your rankings drop right away? Does traffic to your website start to sink immediately? Well, the short answer would be no – but the long answer is way more complicated.
Although you may notice your rankings staying relatively steady and as a result, your traffic remaining the same during the first couple of months, this pattern is usually temporary. You might even see small amounts of growth depending on the SEO strategies your business was previously utilizing. Nevertheless, a decline in traffic and rankings become inevitable once you discontinue SEO efforts. It only takes a few months of no longer optimizing your website with new, well-formulated content, for your traffic to slip.
Remember, although this process might not appear at the same rate for