How long does SEO take?

The title question is one of the most (if not the most) discussed in the context of SEO. There is nothing strange about it. When we put a lot of time and effort into positioning, also money, it is natural that we want to see results. So when can you expect them?

What does the time of website positioning depend on?

One thing is for sure — SEO is (at best) a matter of a few months. In the most favorable situation, you can wait 3-4 months for the first increase in visibility in Google (i. e. getting a higher position in search engine results), but sometimes it can take even a year or more.

The differences in time to achieve results in the positioning of websites are due to the fact that Google’s algorithms analyze a great number of elements throughout the positioning process.

The most important factors determining the time of the SEO process are:

• popularity of phrases,
• industry competitiveness,
• technical condition of the website,
• number and quality of external links leading to the page.

The good thing is that we can have influence over each of these elements. The more general and popular the phrases, the harder it will be to break through your competition. The same goes for the industry you’re in. If the profile of our business allows it, you can start positioning using local phrases – because they gain higher positions much faster than general ones. Therefore, it will be very useful – not to say, crucial – to choose the right keywords, by using which we will further rank in the SERPs.

Of these three elements, the easiest and possible to implement in a reasonably short period of time are in-page website changes. The biggest change to reach the highest ranks have, of course, those pages that are well-optimized.

What can I do to speed up the SEO of my website?

Content optimization on the website

A key element that a lot depends on is high-quality content on your website; both technically (linking, using Hx headers and keywords) and substantively. If you run a website that is positioned locally, you operate in a niche industry that is not very competitive. You make sure that the texts on the subpages and the company blog meet customer’s needs. You can win a lot, even with the content alone. In this case, increased traffic and change invisibility can be noticed even after 2 months. Operating in a not very competitive industry or ranking for not very competitive keywords make things easier.  In that case, you should post 2-3 blog articles per month, in the more competitive industries – it should be about 4-6 articles. Remember to advertise these articles on social media, in your newsletter, and elsewhere.

Technical aspects of SEO

Apart from content, we should take care of the technical aspects of your website: the right structure, internal linking, a responsive website template, SSL certificate, structural data, or optimization of images and describing them with ALT attributes. If your site is built on WordPress, then Yoast SEO or Rank Math plugins will be very helpful. Following their guidelines will greatly improve your website speed and help with SEO.

External links, meaning link building

Getting links from other websites that will direct to your website is also an important factor when doing effective SEO. A popular way is to publish sponsored articles, posts on forums in your area of expertise or do guest posting— if the formula of our industry allows it. Very important fact: Google is very much focused on link quality, not link quantity. Make sure you get links from quality, well-known websites.

Remember that all these actions do not work on an on/off basis — if we publish an article, it will not change our position overnight, but will “work” for weeks or even months. Likewise with other activities.

How to check your rank in Google?

The answer to this question is so obvious as it might seem. A common mistake is to check the position of your website by simply typing your business name into Google. When we search for our own site, the result will be misleading. The best way to check the visibility of our site is to use tools like Ahrefs or Semstorm. A free tool here is Google Search Console – we will find out also exactly using which keywords your website is ranking for.

Reaching a high website rank in Google vs. maintaining it

However, once gained, the position must be constantly maintained. It is not given to you once and for all. All the time you should work on the condition of your website, on your content, or external linking. Every now and then, do an SEO audit of our website that will show its weak points and give you information on how to fix them. In addition to the standard audit, examine the site in Google Page Speed Insights and implement the tips mentioned there.

You should also be aware that Google’s algorithm changes practically all the time. You should keep track of the announced changes and adapt your site to them. They are getting bigger and bigger every year. This happens for the benefit of the customer, and if we provide content that satisfies the customer, our site will gain visibility too. The good news is that high ranks in search results are not to be lost overnight – just as they are not gained like that. Simply — observe your position in SERPs from time to time and keep your hand on the pulse.