In this solo talk, Melanie Gorman debunks the myth of instant SEO results, explaining that genuine SEO is a long‑term strategy that typically takes around 18 months to show measurable fruit. She illustrates the approach using an eating‑disorder clinic example, emphasizing the importance of creating many small, nuanced articles that collectively teach Google the brand’s focus. Gorman stresses that SEO success comes from depth rather than breadth—producing a deep, topic‑specific content library that gradually climbs rankings as Google recognizes the site’s authority. She warns against common pitfalls such as spreading content too thin, relying on gut‑instinct keyword choices, or producing encyclopedia‑style articles. Instead, she advocates a keyword strategy that tells a coherent story aligned with how potential clients search. If growth stalls, she advises checking keyword relevance and narrative, and offers a complimentary consultation for further help.
Chapters
So a lot of clients come to me and say, I want instant results from their SEO. Let me tell you, if anybody promises instant results, it's not really SEO. They're doing something else. The truth of the matter is that SEO is a long game, but Once you start at the game, if and only if you have the right strategy, will you start to bear fruit down the road. So does it take 18 months? Yes, that's the reality. However, here's what happens. So let's say you are an eating disorder clinic. We're just going to pick that out, Sky. And what you talk about is anorexia, bulimia, disordered eating, binge eating. You talk about all the big topics. When you start, you're going to obviously write articles that are about the who, the what, the where, the when, and the why of each of those different diagnoses. You don't write content that's comprehensive and say absolutely everything because let's be real, that would be a book. What you do is you write small articles about different nuances of each different diagnosis. What that teaches Google is what your brand is all about. The goal of doing this is that you're telling Google the story of who you are, And you're doing it in a unique yet repeated way so that you are an eating disorder clinic. You're not eating disorders and all kinds of different mental health and communication and, and, and. You're eating disorder and the variables that have to do with eating disorders. Now, you've been doing this for a year and you're just like a farmer. You've been planting all these seeds, nothing's coming up, you're starting to get frustrated. Stick with it. The advice is to stick with it because What happens is Google starts to know who you are. And so when you write your 15th or your 20th article, instead of that article starting on page 10 or 20, it starts on page 4. That is how SEO grows. If you're in the middle of an SEO project, you should be seeing progressive growth. You should see articles starting to grow over time faster and faster and faster. The goal is not to be a mile wide and a teaspoon deep. It's to be a mile deep and a teaspoon wide. That is the SEO strategy that wins. If you're in the boat where you're churning and writing and no results and no leads, something is wrong with your strategy. And often that comes down to you're trying to do too many things and you're not focused and doubled down on the topics that your clients really want. Or you don't know what they really want. You're going on gut instinct. None of those things work. If you want your SEO to work, you must know the words that people use and how strangers would look for your product, your services, and frankly, for you. That is how an SEO project works. So if you're feeling frustrated, check to see if your keywords make sense. Are they telling a story? And if they're telling a story, keep Going. If they're telling a dictionary or an encyclopedia, you gotta readjust. And if you need help, reach out. I'm happy to have a complimentary consultation with anyone.
