In simple terms, SEO is the set of optimizations that you must make to your web page so that search engines (like Google) show you in their first results when users do a search. However, this positioning does not happen overnight. The precise time can vary according to many factors. Here we explain how long it takes to position yourself on the first page of Google and what are the possible causes of a longer delay.

How long does it take to rank on the first page of Google?

Before that, it is important to answer: why do we focus on Google and not on another search engine? The answer is simple: Google is used by 90% of the market share, according to Statista 2019 figures.

An SEO strategy focused on Google’s algorithms can take an average of 6 months to start showing results. And when we say “on average”, we mean a website with neither very high nor very low competition.

There are very, very specific niches that take less than a month to position themselves. And also, very general and competitive niches that can take more than a year. For example: positioning a web page about recipes can take a long time, but another one targeted to a more specific audience, such as just grills or barbecues, can show results in less months.

For this reason, any professional who knows at least 20% about SEO, will respond with a solid and non-negotiable “it depends”. Mainly because this is not controlled by the SEO analyst, but by the 200 ranking factors that Google has to choose which content to show first.

So … how do I evaluate the performance of my strategy?

There are very basic indicators in SEO that show you signs of the effectiveness of your strategy. Your main ally in this process will be the Google Search Console.

This tool will show you for which keywords you are having impressions on Google , that is, for how many searches your content appears for. Be careful: having impressions does not necessarily translate into traffic, but it is an indication that Google likes your content and wants to see how the audience evaluates it.

With the information that the tool gives you, you can update your content to improve the click-through rate. And the more clicks you earn, the better your CTR and consequently you climb positions. 

After impressions, two other important indicators are bounce rate and dwell time . You can see this in Google Analytics. If your tenure is minimal and your bounce rate is too high, something is wrong. This means that the audience is reaching your website but is leaving in a short time, which Google interprets as a “non-valuable result”. 

This can happen for many reasons: delays in loading speed, broken links, unresponsive website, illegible text, bad content and a long list of reasons that affect the user experience. Search Console itself helps you detect these flaws so that you can correct them in time.

So, if you have an impeccable user experience, good impressions and a good CTR, you have no doubt that your website is on the right SEO path. 

My user experience is optimized … why am I not positioning myself?

It can happen that your web page loads in less than 2 seconds, you have a super intuitive menu, the web design is adapted to cell phones and you have updated your security certificates but … do not upload positions in Google! 

How many other external factors come into play here, which are closely related to how competitive your niche is. The more competing domains you have, the more consideration factors Google brings to the table. We tell you the most important:

First of all, are the backlinks. The more links you have from well-positioned websites, the more reputation your website gains. For Google this works like a referral system: if my VIP portals say you are good, then you are good. So as long as there are web pages with more backlinks than yours, the lower you will be in the results list.

The second is the domain authority , which is the score that Google gives your website. This rating is measured on a 1/100 scale. The closer you are to 100, the more Google wants you. 

The third factor is the quality of your content. It may surprise you at this point, but there is very good content from web pages that do not have good domain authority or many backlinks, in the first place of Google.

A good SEO strategy combines technical optimizations with good content, one does not exist without the other. What Google seeks is that users feel comfortable in the web pages they visit, from the technical to the informative. So, if your technical side is fine and you don’t position yourself, maybe the problem is your content.

How do I improve my content so that my website is positioned faster in Google?

This is where your strategy should begin. The first thing you should do if you want to put together an SEO strategy is Keyword Research. Everything else comes from there: formats, categories, tags, internal link structure, pillar pages: EVERYTHING. 

Just in case you are not familiar with the term, Keyword Research is a study of the keywords most used by your audience on Google. This report shows you local and global search volumes, search trends, and positioning difficulty. 

In this way, you will be able to know what queries they make about products or services aligned with your brand. If you know how to use this information wisely, you will generate a lot of content of real interest to the audience.

If this is the first time you do Keyword Research, we help you with our guide: how to do keyword research in 4 steps

SEO tips to improve your positioning opportunities 

If you are looking to optimize your content, we recommend our SEO Writing Guide. But at this moment, we are going to give you some off-record tips, so that you also take them into account.

✔ To improve your click-through rate, optimize your SERP Snippet. Evaluate your competition, incorporate more keywords to your meta descriptions, check if any key phrase is cut. You must stand out when you have impressions to attract more clicks.

✔ Constantly check the loading time of your website, especially from mobile devices. 

✔ Make sure that the contents are well-read from any device.

✔ That your URL structure is two levels, maximum three. And that all your URLs have the keyword only once.

✔ Update your popular content every so often, Google loves updates.

✔ Make sure you don’t have any broken links on your website.

✔ Do not generate duplicate content.

✔ Pass the information you post on your blog through an anti-plagiarism detector. Google does not like pages that are highly matched to one another.

✔ Make sure your content has more valuable information than your competition.