When a client is interested in SEO services there are a few questions that they tend to ask, like: “How much is it going to cost us?” or “How long does it take to get to the first page of the results?” or “How to get first page ranking on Google?”. The answer to the second question always depends on the competition, the current SEO value of the current client’s site and the amount of work that needs to be done in the meantime. Also, it is worth noting that results should not be expected in less than 3 to 6 months. Getting to the first page of Google ranking or the first page of Google result can be extremely difficult, but it is not impossible. We have previously looked at how local small businesses can succeed with local SEO, but in this article, we will be looking at how long it takes to get to the first page ranking on Google.
For starters, asking this question is totally and completely justified and logical. However, this question is also not as simple as one would think. Clients want their investments to pay off and make a return on their investment as soon as possible. However, the client also wants to set a point in time when they feel they can judge that things are heading in the right direction. This can be where problems arise because clients have heard the term SEO and they get the idea that SEO is something you can use instantly to show up as the first result in related searches. Some clients may have a more reasonable expectation of showing up in the top five search results. While this desire is more reasonable, it still takes lots of time to reach these results.
AHREFS is a world famous SEO tool that has been utilized to do great research and find accurate ways to answer the question of how to get first page ranking on Google. AHREFS looked at two million randomly selected keywords and pages ranked after those keywords. Let’s take a look at the results.
How old are the pages among the top 10 results?
The average age of pages - by which we mean not the whole site but a site page - ranked in the top 10 is two to three years. The average age for the tenth place site is around one year and ten months. For the first place, the page is approximately two years and 10 months old.
How long does it take for a new page to get to the top 10 results?
To answer this question, two million one-year-old pages were randomly examined. Of these pages, only 5.7% ranked for a keyword in the top 10 results, 19.5% of the pages were ranked for the 10th to 100th keyword, and 74.8% did not rank for any keyword in the top 100 results. Looking at a first page Google ranking or a first page Google result, when we examine the number of searches for keywords on Google, one-year-old pages that were ranked for high-demand phrases (a high number of searches on Google) made up around 0.3% of results, when it comes to medium-high demand phrases - they accounted for 1.3% and low-demand phrases were around 4.8%. Pages on sites that had higher “domain rankings” (AHREFS’ SEO rating) could rank faster among the top 10 results.
Conclusion
There are a few conclusions that can be drawn from this research. First, it should be noted that SEO takes time. Studies have shown that 94% of newly published page will not be in the top 10 results within the next year. If we are looking at keywords with easier competition and fewer searches, you may rank in the top 10 results within the next two to six months. If you are dealing with a “harder” keyword, it is more realistic to expect sites with strong SEO value to achieve faster results compared to newer sites and sites that have lower SEO value. Of course, this all assumes that you do quality SEO on your site.
This timeline should not discourage you. SEO is very necessary when it comes to your site getting “organic” visits (visits driven by Google and other search engines). If your site is very visible on Google, that is more valuable than any TV commercial, and it is worth defending.
If you would like to learn more about SEO, mobile app development, or any other tech topics, consider checking out KitelyTech’s blog to learn more about various tech topics. For example, try reading our post on how to prepare for a mobile app development project.
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, consider reaching out to KitelyTech today to learn more about how we can help you meet your business goals. We have spent many years working with entrepreneurs and small businesses owners to help them realize their tech goals. Contact KitelyTech on (800) 274 2908 today to learn more.
