#123: How Long Will It Take To See Results From SEO and Online Advertising

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

One of the questions we hear from many people we talk to is: how long until I see results?

If you’ve clicked on this video, you’re probably looking for the answer too. So let me answer it for you! If you don’t know me, I’m Huyen Truong, the founder and Search Marketing Director of Online Marketing for Doctors. I’ve been working in medical marketing for over a decade now, helping clinics across the world reach new patients through digital marketing.

So, let’s talk results. Very simply, here’s the answer:

• SEO is a long-term activity with long term rewards. Results start within 12 months, but typically compound over time.
• Online ad campaigns such as Google ads and Facebook and Instagram or Meta ads start working within a few weeks, but of course they’re more expensive to run.

We find that combining these two is the best recipe for growing your clinic, but that’s not the full picture. Let’s talk about this.

How long until I see results from my SEO campaigns?

SEO is a powerful tool for medical practices, but it takes time to start seeing results. Our clients typically start to see results within 6 to 12 months, which can depend on a number of factors.

We like to view SEO similar to compound interest: the more time and effort you put into it, the greater your rewards are over time.

Here’s a great example. We’ve been working with one of our clients for just over 2 years. In the first month we started working with them, they were getting around 350 visitors to their website, and under 30 web conversions.

After 12 months, they were seeing an increase in traffic and conversions. Their traffic had more than nearly quadrupled to 1300 visitors, and our work on their website through that first year was helping to convert a higher percentage of those visits into leads.

But it wasn’t until 18 months that things really took off and they started achieving over 5,000 visitors a month. Three months later, they hit 10,000 visitors, and now at 24 months they’re consistently reaching around 15,000 visitors a month to their website from organic channels. Last month they saw over 440 conversions on their website.

So from month 1 to month 12, we took them from 350 visits to 1300. A 270% increase.

And from month 12 to month 24, we took them from 1300 to 16,400. An increase of over 1100%

In podcast number 109, we delved more into the benefits of SEO for medical practices via the topic 5 Must Know Benefits Of SEO For Getting More Patients Consistently

If you want to check it out, I leave the link in the shownote.

So, while we’re waiting for our SEO initiatives to bear fruit, what do we do? Our advice is to supplement the results with paid ads. Here’s what you can expect:

How long until my ads campaigns start driving results?

To drive shorter term results, online advertising with Google or Facebook and Instagram are great places to start. These don’t take long to set up, and you can start seeing results within a few weeks.

Meta and Google ads platforms use powerful algorithms to connect your campaigns to the best prospects. The longer your campaigns run, the more data the platform gathers and the more effective your campaigns will be. We typically find that ad campaigns start delivering their best results after 3 months.

As long as the ads and landing pages are set up properly and you have enough of a budget to run enough ads, you should see consistent results after this. At this point you can start testing new ad formats or creatives.

Something to consider across both SEO and online advertising is that there are many factors that can impact performance. You could have a great ad campaign, but if you’re directing traffic to your homepage rather than a bespoke landing page then you won’t convert as many users. Similarly, you could have great SEO optimised content but if your website is slow and not mobile optimised then this will impact your rankings.

If you want to learn more about Online Marketing For Doctors offers and how our team can help you generate more new patients and referring doctors via SEO for medical clinics or online advertising, please reach out to us and book a 15-minute discovery call with us.  Our team of experts can conduct a free audit and consult you on next steps.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us.

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