What to Expect from an SEO Agency in the First 90 Days

SEO is not magic. It’s a structured process that connects strategy, execution, and results. Many businesses invest in a website or digital marketing, hoping for instant traffic and sales, only to find little improvement. The truth is, SEO success comes from planning, consistent effort, and a clear roadmap. That’s why working with a professional SEO agency is also crucial.
The first 90 days set the foundation for sustainable growth. During this period, the agency focuses on understanding your business, optimising your website, and implementing SEO strategies that will drive measurable results. Knowing what to expect during this period helps you set realistic goals, track progress, and ensure your investment is building long-term value.

What is an SEO Onboarding Process?

Before any optimisation work begins, a structured SEO onboarding process ensures alignment between your team and the agency. This phase establishes objectives, responsibilities, and timelines. Typical activities include:

• Discovery workshops to understand business goals, target audience, and growth priorities.
• Competitor analysis to identify market gaps and opportunities.
• Technical audits to uncover issues such as crawl errors, slow site speed, or broken links.
• Establishing baseline metrics for current rankings, traffic, and conversions.
• Roadmap planning to outline tasks, timelines, and ownership for the first 90 days.

A strong onboarding process ensures clarity, transparency, and focus. It sets the stage for effective execution and measurable results.

How Does a 3-Month SEO Plan Look?

Once onboarding is complete, work is broken into actionable phases to ensure sustainable growth over three months. A structured SEO plan for 3 months breaks down work into actionable phases to create sustainable growth.

Month 1 – Foundation

• Conduct a full technical SEO audit to remove crawl and indexing barriers.
• Perform keyword research and map search intent to align content with user needs.
• Analyse existing content for gaps and optimisation opportunities.
• Set up analytics and monitoring tools to track progress.

Month 2 – Implementation

• Execute on-page optimization, including meta tags, headings, internal linking, and page structure.
• Begin content optimisation to improve relevance, depth, and usefulness.
• Initiate authority-building activities such as ethical outreach and partnerships.
• Track early results through SEO deliverables and refine strategies accordingly.

Month 3 – Refinement

• Review metrics and optimise pages based on engagement and conversion data.
• Improve site usability and technical performance for better search visibility.
• Begin preparing reports and strategies for preparing for the next 6-12 months of SEO.
• Consolidate SEO reporting to show clear progress and deliverables.

What Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track

Once your SEO plan is in motion, tracking the right metrics ensures that efforts translate into results:

• Organic traffic growth
• Keyword visibility improvements
• Click-through rate (CTR)
• User engagement metrics, such as time on site
• Conversions assisted by organic traffic
• Technical health indicators like site speed, crawlability, and errors

Regular KPI tracking ensures transparency and highlights areas that require optimisation, keeping your SEO strategy aligned with business goals.

What to Expect in Results (By Day 90)

By the end of the first 90 days, the structured execution of your SEO plan should start delivering visible and measurable outcomes. The work done in Months 1–3, audits, keyword alignment, on-page optimisation, content improvement, and authority-building, lays the foundation for these results:

• Improved crawlability and technical site health.
• Initial visibility gains for targeted and long-tail keywords.
• Better user engagement, including longer sessions and lower bounce rates.
• Completion of core SEO deliverables, such as optimised pages and content updates.

It’s important to maintain realistic SEO results expectations after 3 months. These early improvements set the stage for sustained traffic growth and more significant performance gains in the following months.

Red Flags to Watch in the First 90 Days

While executing your plan, be aware of warning signs that indicate poor SEO management:

• Vague or incomplete SEO reporting
• Promises of guaranteed rankings
• Missing or superficial audits
• Lack of transparency in processes or unclear ownership of data

These are the red flags to watch in the first 90 days. Early detection ensures that your SEO effort is focused on building sustainable growth rather than chasing quick, short-lived wins.

Preparing for the Next 6-12 Months of SEO

The first 90 days set the foundation, but SEO is an ongoing process. Preparing for the next 6-12 months of SEO involves:

• Scaling content production and optimisation
• Strengthening domain authority through ethical link-building
• Refining strategies based on initial results and analytics
• Maintaining a clear schedule for SEO deliverables and reporting

By transitioning from foundational work to ongoing optimisation, your SEO plan evolves from early gains to long-term, measurable impact, ensuring that your website continues to grow in visibility, engagement, and conversions.