How Long Will It Take For My Website To Rank On Google?

Ranking at the top of Google is a difficult task that does take time. With space for three paid ads and potentially Google’s featured snippets to contend with, it can seem like mission impossible. We get asked a lot by our clients about how long their website will take to rank on Google and the long and short of it is that it depends.

It depends on around 200+ factors that Google takes into consideration when ranking websites.

To get a better understanding of some of these factors, we have included the following list of the ‘top 10’ Google ranking factors below.

Top 10 Google Ranking Factors

1. HTTPS connection
2. Site speed
3. Mobile friendly
4. High quality webpage content
5. Keyword competition
6. High quality backlinks
7. Image optimisation
8. Domain age
9. Schema markup
10. Optimised images

Truthfully, Google is typically likely to rank older websites over new ones. This is because, over time, a website gains authority and trust. However, this does not mean that new websites cannot rank well, it just simply means it will take longer.

According to recent research, if you have a new website, it can take up to 4 months to receive your first organic sessions from Google. But this does not mean your website will be ranking high on Google – that can take years.

What Can You Do to Get Your Website to Rank Better on Google?

1. Make sure your website is HTTPS

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure or HTTPS helps to protect a websites connections. If HTTPS is not present, then it can greatly affect the SEO as Google prefers a HTTPS connection over HTTP. If your website is not HTTPS, we’d recommend speaking to your web developer about installing a SSL certificate.

2. Check your site speed

Site speed is a major Google ranking factor. If your website is slow, then there is little chance that your website will show in a high position. You can check your site speed using Google’s Site Speed Test.

3. Make sure your site is mobile friendly

Over 60% of searches now come from mobile devices, so it’s important that your website is mobile friendly. In 2017, Google introduced mobile site speed to its algorithm, so for sites where content isn’t available on mobile, don’t expect it to rank top of Google. To see how mobile friendly your website is, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. To avoid getting a low score for mobile friendliness, speak to your web developer about using responsive web design.

4. Create high quality content

Having great content on a website is an important asset for SEO. Content that is well optimised and includes relevant keywords that have low competition will help improve rankings, but you also have to think about providing your audience with content they will find useful. When planning content for your website, take a step back and improve your content with keyword research and learn how your audience finds your website.

5. Gain high quality backlinks

Backlinks are links that are directed towards your website. These links are important for SEO because Google gives more credit to websites that have a good number of backlinks from trusted sources. Why not start a link building campaign and make a list of sources where you’d like to have a link and reach out to them providing them with a good reason why they should link to your website.

6. Enlist a reliable SEO agency

The internet is becoming more and more vital for businesses to survive in today’s market. If you want it done properly, then speak to a reliable SEO agency who will outline a strategy that will identify areas they can work on to get your website ranking on Google.

7. Be patient

SEO is not a quick fix solution, as you’ve seen from the above, it takes take so stick with it.

If you’re doing all these things correctly, then you should start to see your website rank on Google. However, as we have discussed, it can take a long time for a website to get top rankings on Google, so don’t give up your SEO efforts after a few months.