A single page's on-page optimization—title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, keyword placement, internal links, and image alt text—takes 2 to 4 hours for someone who knows what they're doing. If you're learning as you go, double that. For a 10-page site, expect 20 to 40 hours spread over 1 to 2 weeks. A 50-page site can stretch to 3 weeks or more, especially if you're also fixing technical issues like broken links, redirect chains, or bloated code. The implementation timeline is one thing. The results timeline is another. Google typically recrawls and reindexes updated pages within 2 to 8 weeks, depending on your site's crawl budget and how often you publish. Low-competition keywords might show ranking improvements within 3 to 4 weeks. Competitive terms in markets like Toronto real estate or Ottawa legal services can take 3 to 6 months before you see stable movement, because on-page alone won't carry you—backlinks and content depth matter more in those fights. What slows teams down is scope creep. You start optimizing titles, then realize your content is thin, so you rewrite 300-word pages into 1,200-word guides. That's the right move, but it turns a 3-hour task into a 12-hour project per page. At Ottawa SEO, we batch on-page work: audit everything first, prioritize pages by traffic potential and conversion value, then execute in sprints. High-value pages first, long-tail clusters second, archive pages last or never. Also consider maintenance. On-page isn't one-and-done. Search intent shifts, competitors update their content, and Google's algorithm evolves. We revisit high-traffic pages every 6 to 12 months to refresh stats, add new sections, and tighten keyword targeting. If you're managing 200+ pages, that becomes a rolling calendar item, not a project with an end date. Budget time accordingly, and don't expect instant results—on-page SEO is foundational, not a silver bullet.