Search Engine Optimize Early, Win in the End

Anyone who has played a sport in their youth knows that it takes many years of training to reach their very best. The same goes for your website: well-executed search engine optimization pays off again and again.

Just like many people here in town insist that the local hockey team should invest more in youth development to build tomorrow’s stars, rather than buying old NHL pros as a quick fix, search engine optimization works the same way. By building thoroughly and correctly from the beginning, you can reap the benefits for many years to come. This applies to virtually all aspects of SEO, but today we’ll focus especially on links.

What you build now will still matter in five years

One of the most important parts of a site’s SEO is its authority. A website gains authority mainly through links from other sites. The more and stronger the sites linking to it, the higher the authority. Moreover, there is no advantage for new links over those that have been in place for ten years. To some extent, older links are actually more valuable. This means that the work you do with links today can continue to pay off five years from now.

Good SEO also tends to amplify itself: those who rank well in search results are more likely to receive future mentions and links. Someone doing research for an article and finding your site high in the results might link to you as a source. Admittedly, the volume of links generated in this way (often called organic) has decreased in recent years. Where people once linked from their sites, they now often share on Facebook or send out a tweet. The chance has diminished, but it still exists.

Start sooner for greater rewards

The takeaway is clear: the sooner you start, the more you stand to gain. In a self-reinforcing system, the first mover wins. That said, it’s not too late—there is still plenty of search traffic in Sweden that is not being fully utilized.