I really does not matter what your niche is or the keywords you are trying to rank for, SEO for any new website is going to take time. In fact, in some cases and industry niches up to a year. This is the reality of the SEO space and if you feel that your website is better looking or flashier than your competitors, therefore it should rank faster, this simply won’t happen. Trying to speed up the ranking process is a really bad idea and will only end up with a Google penalty.
There is the temptation to try and do anything you can to boost your rankings and there are businesses out there who will have will not believe this and try to do their own SEO. But, at the end of the day, the only way you are ever going to solidify and cement your online position is to do your SEO slowly and ethically.
The frustration is huge. You can see that your new website is sitting on page ten or in some cases has not even been indexed by Google and you think that by buying a few links you are going to somehow improve the situation. This is never going to happen. You may see a slight bump in your position, but nothing like you hope it would be.
How long does it take to rank on Google for new websites?
It can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to start to see rankings on Google. As stated above this is only for new websites. For aged websites, the case s different and rankings will start to climb almost immediately if you implement ‘on page’ amends. There are a lot of sites that have never looked at their actual site and it may take only a few tweaks of the content of the home page to see positive improvements.
For brand new websites the wait is far longer. Trust and authority need to be established and this can only be done by constantly adding content over time as well as building links. Then and only then will your site start to rank. It is a waiting game and you are at the mercy of Google’s ranking algorithms.
Let me also add that if your in a really competitive industry where the first page of Google is dominated by Government, education and established businesses, the wait could be many years.
This is a curse for so many businesses who have gone to the effort of designing a website but no one is seeing it or visiting the site.
To get abetter idea of how websites get to the front page of Google we first need to take a closer look at how Google indexes website pages.
How Does Google Find my Website?
Google has ‘Googlebots’ or what are commonly known as spiders that are constantly indexing new content throughout the web. There are billions if not more pages being added the whole time and it’s the job of these wipers to collate this information and add it to Google’s index. If your site is able to be read easily by these spiders, chances are it will get indexed very quickly. In some cases maybe a couple of weeks.
To learn more about Google and how the search engines work take a look at the video by Matt Cutts who heads up Google’s spam team.
When it comes to finding your website there are about 200factors that Google takes into account which means your site has got to be compliant. It’s not all about back linking as some SEO companies might try to tell you. There are many small changes you can do to your site to help improve it’s overall quality which will make it easier for the search engines to index
How to Improve your websites overall quality
There is no silver bullet that will instantly push you to page one. But following are some really quick wins you can implement on your site to help the whole indexing process.
– Website Speed. Look at your websites loading times. Speed is an important ranking factor. Get rid of large graphics, pop ups, or videos that will slow your load times.
– Page titles. Correct web page titles and descriptions will help Google index the page based on the topic.
– Quality content. Having quality content throughout your website is a major ranking factor. Writing creative copy is what attracts those Googlebots to your site and if your consistenty adding fresh, new, informative content these its will be visiting your site regularly. Over time this will add trust and therefore higher rankings.
– Website structure. Your site has to be easy to navigate and a clean web interface that helps visitors get around your site easily is vital. Complicated menus will not only confuse your customers but will also make it harder for Google to index your site.
– SEO. Try to find and SEO agency you can work with who will be able to implement all this for you.
– Include alt tags and title tags. These are placed on all images of your website to help Google learn more about your web pages as the bots cannot index images. Have a read of this article for a better understanding of this important ranking factor.
Local SEO rankings – quick wins
If you have a just started a small business and have a new website then your probably going to want to attract local customers. Competing on a larger geographic scale is no use to you and this is where local SEO becomes the focus. Ranking newer websites for local SEO business will take time and in many cases up to 6 months, but there are ways in which you can help Google find your site.
– Google My Business. Register with Google My Business immediately. If you have a legitimate address and local phone number this should be the first thing on your list. Click here.
– Local Content. With content that is focused on your local area.
– Maps. In the contact us section of your website add a Google maps clearly sowing that your a local business.
In summation:
When it comes to your Google rankings you really have to think long term; 6 months to a year to start seeing a return on your website investment as well as decent traffic to your site. Some less competitive keywords will rank quicker than others and this is where you will start to see a trickle of traffic flow though. But, patience is the key here. Unfortunately, for most businesses who need to see a cash flow from day 1, this is not ideal. There are however other marketing platforms (social media, Adwords) your can try to generate traffic and these should be explored in conjunction with the Google waiting game.
