Many things have changed in SEO since Google first came online in 1998. The one thing that hasn’t changed is this: Your organic traffic is directly related to your search engine ranking positions. If you have a prolific number of keywords in the Google index and they appear at or near the top of the search results, boundless traffic will follow.
Conversely, if you have a great website, but no visibility in the SERPs, you are destined to have little if any organic search traffic.
The biggest question when it comes to search engine optimisation is “How Long Does It Take To Improve Google Rankings?”
I’m going to go out on a limb here and give you the definitive answer, “It depends.”
While I recognize this is frustrating and seems like a copout, it’s the truth. SEO doesn’t happen in a vacuum and every situation offers a unique set of variables.
Skill, budget, the level of competition, and how your website stacks up can all play a role in how quickly one can move the dial.
So, bearing that in mind, let’s break it down in a more quantifiable sense and review what you can do to make things happen sooner, rather than later.
During an episode of AskGooglebot in June of 2021, John Mueller, a Google search rep, said it can take “several hours to several weeks” for Google to index new or updated content. He also warned that just because a page gets indexed, doesn’t mean that it will rank for anything right away, if ever.
Due to the number of factors in play, rapid changes in SERPs should not be expected.
Mueller has said in the past that even if you make drastic changes to your website’s design and functionality, it could still take a couple of months or even a year to have an impact on your search position.
This, however, doesn’t mean that you should just sit and wait after you upgrade your site. There are some specific aspects of your website that you can implement to speed up the indexing of your site, which included:
Preventing server overload by making your server and website faster.
Prominently linking to new pages.
Avoiding the use of unnecessary URLs, like category page filters.
Taking advantage of user submission methods like uploading sitemap files, and utilizing the URL inspection tool.
Finally, Mueller reiterated the best way to get ranked is to create high-quality content that searchers will find useful. In his words, make your site “fantastic.”
