from 6 impressions a day to hundreds: what it really takes to win with seo

If you're looking at your website analytics and seeing almost nothing, it's easy to feel like SEO (opens in a new tab) is rigged against you. You search (opens in a new tab) the keywords you wish you ranked for and only see giant agencies, big brands, and companies with full marketing teams sitting on page one.

Meanwhile, you're getting six or seven impressions a day. That was Prism.

Today, we're seeing hundreds of impressions per day for the same brand that used to be invisible. It didn't happen because of a hack or a trick. It happened because we stayed in the game longer than most people are willing to.

On this page, I want to:

• Show you what that journey really looked like
• Explain why SEO feels so hard
• Give you a clear, realistic plan you can follow, even if you're just one person

Start by watching the video of our Search Console (opens in a new tab) results, then dive into the breakdown below.

Why SEO Feels Impossible (But Is Still Worth It)

SEO is one of the hardest growth channels to win. Here is why:

• You're competing with big budgets and big teams. A single valuable keyword can be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in revenue, and teams of SEOs and writers treat beating you like their full-time job.
• Only one site can rank #1 for a query. This isn't social where good enough still gets seen; the top few results capture almost all the clicks.
• It takes time for Google and AI systems to trust you. When you're new, your site is a stranger with no history or proof. You earn trust slowly by shipping useful content over and over.
• AI is raising the bar. Systems like Gemini and AI Overviews are trying to understand who you are, what you sell, who you serve, and what customers say about you. If your brand doesn't exist in that ecosystem, you're invisible in the next era of search too.

The bad news: this takes time. The good news: most people quit long before SEO starts to compound. If you don't, you have a real shot.

Our 3-Year SEO Journey in Plain English

When we started pushing Prism online, we were nobody to Google:

• Average position: ~85 (buried on page 8+)
• Daily impressions: single digits
• Organic leads: basically zero

Over time, we:

• Published dozens of focused blog posts
• Posted hundreds of times on Instagram (531+ posts)
• Consistently published on TikTok and other platforms
• Linked everything back to the site so Google could connect the dots

Now:

• We're seeing hundreds of impressions per day in Google Search Console
• We rank around page 1 for many of the terms that actually matter to our business
• Organic traffic is a real, meaningful channel

The graph in the video only shows about the last 16 months. The real journey started well before that. Most founders underestimate the invisible years.

What Actually Moved the Needle (So You Can Copy It)

This isn't magic. You can steal the same approach for your business.

1. Get uncomfortably clear on who you serve and what you sell

SEO is not "write about random topics and hope they rank." Start with clarity:

• Who do you serve? Be specific.
• What problems do you solve that people actually search for?
• What services or products make you money?

You want a tight connection between the ideal customer, their problem, the offer on your site, and your content. If Google or Gemini can't answer "who are you and what do you do?" in a sentence, you have work to do.

2. Build a simple content machine (not a one-off blog post)

SEO rewards consistency, not one heroic article. A lightweight system you can keep up with might look like:

• 3-5 pillar topics tied directly to your services
• 2-4 supporting posts per pillar that answer common questions, show how you think, and help someone move closer to working with you

You don't need 100 posts to start. You need 10-20 very focused ones, published consistently.

3. Use all your channels to send signals back to your site

Those 531 Instagram posts, dozens of TikToks, and a ton of blog posts weren't random. Every time you publish on social and link back to your site, you drive real people to your content, give Google more reasons to crawl your pages, and create a stronger brand graph around your company. Treat your website as the hub and your clips and posts as spokes.

4. Leverage AI tools the right way

Use AI to brainstorm ideas, draft outlines, and repurpose one post into multiple LinkedIn notes, short-form scripts, and an email to your list. But don't outsource the thinking. Your experience, opinions, and stories are what make content rank and convert, not generic AI text.

5. Track the right metrics (so you don't quit too early)

In the video, I call out impressions and average position. At minimum, track:

• Impressions: are more people seeing your site at all?
• Average position: are you getting closer to page one?
• Clicks: is visibility turning into traffic?
• Leads or inquiries from organic: is traffic turning into conversations?

Early on, impressions and position matter more than clicks. They show Google is starting to take you seriously.

How Long Does This Take? A Realistic Timeline

If you're starting from almost zero and committing to consistent content plus basic technical hygiene, here's the rough path:

Months 0-3

• Fix the basics (performance, mobile friendliness, clear navigation).
• Publish your first batch of focused content.
• Impressions are low, positions are bad, and it feels like nothing is happening.

Months 3-6

• Google starts testing your pages for more queries.
• Impressions tick up slowly.
• A few keywords move from "not in top 100" to "position 40-80."

Months 6-12

• You have been consistently publishing and updating content for half a year or more.
• Some posts climb into positions 10-30.
• You see spikes in impressions on certain days and queries.
• You might start getting occasional leads from organic.

Months 12-24+

• Your domain now has history, content, and behavioral signals.
• You start hitting top-10 rankings for targeted terms.
• Daily impressions can go from tens to hundreds or more.
• Organic turns into a real channel.

Could it go faster? Sure. Can it take longer? Absolutely. Expect a 12-24 month journey instead of a 4-6 week miracle so you don't sabotage yourself.

Common Mistakes That Slow Everything Down

• Publishing random content that doesn't tie back to your offers
• Redesigning your site every few months instead of improving it
• Ignoring technical basics like speed and mobile UX
• Quitting right before the graph bends upward

What This Means for You (and How Prism Can Help)

If you're taking your online presence seriously or stuck with a mid website that isn't doing its job, you can change it -- but not by hoping or guessing. You need a site built to convert, a clear SEO and content strategy tied to your offers, and a repeatable system for shipping content and measuring what works. That's what we've been building for Prism and for the founders we help transform their online presence.

Watch the video above to see the actual Search Console results. If you want to go deeper or want us to help you do this for your business, schedule a call through the Prism site, send over your existing URL for a walkthrough of what we'd change, or message with questions we can turn into future videos and posts. SEO is slow and competitive, but if you stay in the game and keep shipping good content for the right people, you will win.