Many companies are finally coming to grips with the fact that simply having a website isn’t enough – they need to actively promote it in the search engines in order to see results. But sadly, there is no magic button for accomplishing this. Why? Let’s find out. Here are the top 10 reasons why search engine optimization requires an ongoing commitment:

1. SEO campaigns are complex and have many components. Running a search engine optimization campaign goes far beyond simply writing a few articles and slapping them up on the company blog. A successful campaign is only possible after careful planning involving keyword, market research and many other factors.

2. Promotion must look natural. If you think you can blow your competition out of the water overnight with a massive SEO campaign, think again. Google is hip to manipulative link building and other shady search engine optimization tactics. For the best results, your campaigns must appear to be natural, with gradual gains in backlinks.

3. Sites must age. It doesn’t matter how amazing your brand new site is – it will still take time to rank. This helps Google and the other search engines to maintain higher quality search results, so don’t expect your site to rank overnight.

4. Seniority does matter. All things being equal, it can often be difficult to outrank a competitor’s site if they have a significantly older domain. Not only does an older domain command more respect because of its longevity, but they probably have more backlinks and content.

5. Geographic targeting affects your timescale. If you’re targeting a local market, you can make gains in the search engines much more quickly (in most cases) than if you’re targeting a national or global market.

6. Keyword targeting affects your timescale. Like geographic targeting, keyword targeting also affects your timeline. Ranking for broad terms like "weight loss" take far more time an effort than long tail keywords like "weight loss for pregnant women."

7. SEO campaigns require ongoing analysis and tweaking. Building links and publishing content isn’t enough. In order to get the most out of a search engine optimization campaign, the results must be carefully scrutinized to see what is working and what isn’t.

8. High quality content takes time. Google and the other search engines place an emphasis on high quality content. Not only does it take time to develop that content, but it also takes time for the search engines to find it, index it and rank it.

9. Competition is fierce. No matter what market you’re in, there will always be new competitors entering the market, and more and more will be turning to SEO to help establish an online presence. That means you must also actively promote your business in the search engines if you want to remain competitive.

10. The Internet is constantly evolving. What worked today as far as search engine optimization goes may not work tomorrow. Being successful means keeping abreast of current changes in search engine algorithms and policies that can dramatically affect rankings.