You want to be on the first page of the Google search engine results page. Your competitors want your Google ranking to be on the first page. We want to be on the first page (oh wait – we are). Everyone wants to be first – on the first page and first in the list of first.
This is a lot of firsts, and we’re here to tell you that it can happen. It’s just not going to happen as quickly as you’d like. Your website with its updated SEO and content is great – it reads well, the keywords are spot-on, the design looks good, the links work, and the overall design is smart.
But guess what? There are a lot of other websites with the exact same characteristics. These websites have got smart people (like us) working behind-the-scenes, running data analysis, crunching keywords and user wants/needs, creating content, and generally making the website pretty close to perfect.
So, yeah, it’s hard to get noticed. It takes time to catch the attention of Google and be first. The key to all of this is patience and trust. Know that the right things are happening to get your website ranked and found. It just takes time. It’s a crowded Internet out there.
The Data Doesn’t Lie
Like us, the team at Ahrefs has been asked countless times about Google page rankings and time. So, the team crunched the numbers and found out how long it really does take to get that first page ranking. Let’s take a look at the data and see what the research shows.
- The average top 10 ranked page in Google is over two years old.
- The pages that rank in the top position are on average three years old.
- Only 22 percent of the pages ranked in the top 10 were created within the year.
As you can understand, your brand-new content is going to have to be patient. It has to weather a few storms and Internet upheavals – this means you need to keep working on it, refining the content, updating the backlinks, monitoring the keywords, and staying up-to-date with the latest search trends. Time, patience, focus, hard work – these really do pay off in the long run.
Okay, back into the data again. This time it’s all about the length of time it takes for your page to be ranked in Google. Hold on here and brace yourself – you might be in for a surprise or five.
- Of a random two million pages, only 5.7 percent ranked in the top 10 of search results within one year for at least one keyword.
- Pages with a high domain rating ranked much better than pages with a low domain rating. (Backlinks are important here for the domain rating.)
- It took those pages in the 5.7 percent to reach the top 10 positions in on average 61 to 182 days.
- Remember that 95 percent of all pages didn’t ever make it into the elusive top 10 in that same timeframe.
- Based on keyword analysis of this 5.7 percent, only 0.3 percent ranked in the top 10 for their high-volume keyword in under a year.
This data also showed that it’s easier to rank higher in a short period of time for low-volume keywords but – this only applies to the lucky 5.7 percent….
Adding It All Up
Now we don’t want you to be discouraged. You need to remember that there is a process and actual science behind getting your website and its pages ranked. While the numbers don’t lie, we don’t want you to throw your hands up in the air and walk away.
No, you (and us) need to keep at it. We keep focusing on what we do best – your SEO, content, and digital marketing. You focus on growing your business and thinking of great new products and services.
It will happen. Just not as fast as you want it to. Unfortunately, there is no express shipping option or next day delivery when it comes to Google page rankings. The cream of the crop rises to the top – and to do this it takes a smart, balanced, rational approach. Panic is not going to help – in fact it will only hurt your website ranking.
Hard work. Focus. Attention to detail. Patience. Confidence. These attributes really do make a difference. We’ve got them in spades and we’ll make sure your website does as well. (Hint: test your SEO strategy with our handy little tool. This is the first step towards improving your Google ranking. No time like the present to move forward on that ranking.)
