How Long Does it REALLY Take For Your Content To Rank?

You hear it all the time: Results from content marketing don’t happen overnight. Instead, someone’s trying to get you on the hook for at least a few months of service. Then, you’ll start seeing some gains.

It’s frustrating, especially for contractors who provide a tangible, in-person service and then get paid once the job gets done.

But, content marketing is a long game. It’s why Comfort Media doesn’t hawk any one service. Instead, it’s one part of our comprehensive strategy to get that phone ringing and keep the leads coming in. 

And, while it can take a while to kick in, it makes a long, lasting impact once that happens. 

We recently found a perfect example that (bad news) shows just how long a great piece of content can take to rank. But (good news), it also shows how well it works for you once it’s up there.

Here’s the story:

In February 2020, we wrote a super-timely article about new federal tax credits for high-efficiency HVAC equipment for one of our clients.

It wasn’t some cookie-cutter blog you’d order up and see on your website in a day. Instead, we made the most of a 72-hour turnaround.

We interviewed a rep from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) about the new opportunities and quoted him in the article. We added direct links to the tax forms people needed. Then, we added information about other rebates and offers.

It became a one-stop guide to paying as little as possible for a new system.

Now, the question we posed in the first place: How long did it take for any of this to make a difference?

The answer: Five months. But, once it ranked, it just kept going. Today, it’s the most popular page, getting even more organic traffic than the homepage.

Here’s how we know. And how we made the most of it.

Let’s start with a seven-year snapshot of both this site’s organic traffic (people who did a search and ended up on the site) and direct traffic (people who clicked through an ad, email, or anywhere else that listed a specific URL for them).

By this metric, the homepage got more clicks. But, the tax credits article, not even two years old, already got double the amount of traffic for older pages.

Now, look at just organic rankings — people who searched for this information and ended up here. The article is more popular than the home page, and it ruined the curve for the other, already-strong numbers.

This is the traffic for just this article. See that soul-crushing flatline starting when we published it in February? It goes on for months before anything happens.

Then, it revs up and takes off. Even when it slows back down, the numbers are still outstanding.

Of the 34,1113 page views in the first ten months, less than 3,000 were direct traffic (people clicking a link). Ninety-two percent was organic (people searching and finding it).

Admittedly, the bounce rate isn’t amazing. Just over 12 percent of readers went on to a second page on the site.

But, remember: this is a local, brick-and-mortar contractor. Only readers within a 20-or-so-mile radius have any reason to hit the “Contact” button. The rest get their information and leave.

Meanwhile, check out that average time-on-page: Over four minutes! People read it till the end.

The results? More leads, more email addresses we captured, and more people who keep making themselves into better leads.

Many users backed out to the homepage and continued their journey from there. Others went right to “Contact Us.”

And, the people who went to the “Learning Library” are now educating themselves by reading up on different HVAC topics solutions. We know that an educated prospect is often ready to buy when they finally call for an appointment. That makes the sales process fast and easy. 

Here’s a closer look at that last group of pages where people landed:

Plenty of readers clicked our call-to-action buttons to read more blogs (the long URLs with “CTATracking” in them), while others checked out financing options and other services.

And, there’s one more notable item:

“Download The Ductless Brochure” is the CTA that gets people’s email addresses. They provide it to get the brochure. Then we send out automated emails leading them down our funnel.

And, it’s all still happening. Here’s 2020 plus 2021 so far:

The article gets even more traffic in its second year. That means this one piece of excellent content is still generating leads 21 months later. 

And, it’s not the only one. 

For years, we’ve been filling this client’s site with great content — not just quick, mass-produced fluff. The blogs, case studies, and videos have all been gaining traffic and getting leads. 

That long-haul authority sets the stage for a unique, well-crafted, and authoritative piece of content like this one to soar.

And, it’s just one example of what we do — and why our clients love us.

We create authentic, informative content that’s useful to prospects and attractive for Google to rank. When you combine that with our other services, the results are more leads from people ready to buy.

That means exponential growth for every client.