How Long Will It Take to Rank on Google Search
A very common question our new clients ask is – How long will it take for my website to rank on Google?
Well… It depends.
We know this is a really ambiguous answer, but there are so many factors at play which affect the timeframe in which your website will begin to rank. It would simply be dishonest of us to throw out claims such as – “guaranteed number one rankings in a month!” (Be very wary of those who make such promises).
How Competitive is Your Niche?
It is difficult to pin down a specific ranking timeframe as it depends on the existing competition in your specific niche. For example, achieving ranking success in the finance/loans niche for a search term like “home loans” would take much longer than ranking your local plumbing business for “plumbers north shore”. This is because there are many more companies competing in this space and much more budget is allocated to the marketing of these websites.
We would need to first analyse the competition in your niche before we can give you any indication of such timeframes.
How Old/Authoritative is Your Website?
If your website has been around for a while, there is a good chance it will hold some authority in the eyes of Google. A key metric of this authority (put simply), is the number, quality, and relevance of other established websites which link to your website. The older your website is, the greater likelihood that such connections exist.
If you do have an old, established domain the likelihood of achieving swift rankings is much greater than if you have a new website. It doesn’t mean a new website can’t rank on Google, it just means it may take more effort and time. A proper keyword strategy and on-page optimisation will greatly improve your chances of achieving high ranking on Google.
How Good is Your On-Page Optimisation?
On-page optimisation is how well your website is “wired” for your target search terms. If the title of your website’s homepage is, “Homepage”, then chances are you won’t be ranking anytime soon.
Your onpage optimisation is afforded by sound keyword research which identifies exactly what people are searching for in your particular niche. With this knowledge you can begin to optimise on-page elements such as copy, headings, title tags, image tags and more.
This clearly signals to Google what your website is about and what search terms it should rank for. Once on-page optimisation is complete, the chances of your website ranking drastically increase. A sound keyword strategy and on-page optimisation is essential to good organic rankings. However, it does take additional time and effort which will affect how long it takes for the website to rank.
Does Your Website Have an SEO Friendly CMS and Are There Any Technical Issues?
Your Content Management System (CMS) is the platform on which your website has been built. Not all CMS’ are created equal – particularly from an SEO standpoint. Popular CMS such as WordPress, Shopify and Magento, are built in a way which allows comprehensive and simple editing of crucial SEO elements. However, if your website was built on a custom system it may be difficult and sometimes even not possible to optimise.
So Are You Going to Give Me an Answer? 🙂
If you’ve made it this far it should be obvious that the answer still remains at the immensely dissatisfying – It depends!
However, for making it this far you do deserve something definitive, so here we go!
Based on our experience we can generally show a good uplift in organic visibility for a client within the first 2-3 months. This includes the background work such as Google Analytics setup, keyword research, on-page optimisation and more. Then it’s followed by a further ranking improvement in the next 3-12 months at which point you’ll notice a significant increase in organic traffic. It is important to note that (like most things in life), the greater budget and resources you throw behind it, the quicker you will see results.
