How long does SEO take?

How long does SEO take and when can the first results be achieved?

In SEO, there can be only one answer to this question:

It depends …

In the following post, dear reader, you'll learn what it depends on until the desired results are achieved, and why that isn't so easy to answer.

How long does SEO take?

Before the first results become visible, it usually takes at least six, often even twelve months. Various SEO factors influence success: Depending on the size of the keyword set, the strength of the competitors, and the implementation of the optimizations, it can sometimes take even two years before presentable results become visible.

How Google Works and Why SEO Results Take Time

Only if you know how a website is indexed and how a ranking comes about can you also understand the duration from the start to the effect of SEO measures.

So-called crawlers move from page to page in the WWW (World Wide Web) and follow the links between the web pages in order to find further documents (content).

In the first step, the documents found are collected as a kind of copy in the “Local Store”. Here the raw material for the index is stored.

The so-called indexer has the function of sorting and preparing these raw materials accordingly so that they are optimally searchable later.

Afterwards, a kind of representation is created for each document, and these are sorted into categories. Then the “Searcher” comes into play; in the end it has the mediator role between the stored information and the user.

If a user then enters “How long does SEO take” into Google, the searcher can, thanks to the index, draw on the stored information and display the right search results in a list (Google SERPs).

So much for the theory – but what does that now mean for the duration of search engine optimization?

Quite simply: It can take a while until Google has crawled a domain and categorized it accordingly and places a certain amount of trust in the content.

Every single day, Google has to exclude tens of millions of spam websites from its index in order to be able to deliver search results in its usual high quality. That's why every domain first has to prove itself. This process alone takes time and is an important reason why SEO simply needs time.

You can find more details on how Google Search works in this video: “Trillions of Questions, No Easy Answers: A (home) movie about how Google Search works”

Now that we've learned why SEO needs time, we have to think about the Goals of SEO.

Goals of SEO

By setting goals for SEO, we can outline a time frame for achieving them. Common goals in SEO can be:

• More organic traffic
• Better rankings
• More visibility
• Building the brand / increasing brand awareness
• More conversions, leads, customers
• and much more

As a rule, all goals are connected with one another: What good is a lot of organic traffic and a better ranking if this doesn't trigger the desired reactions on the website, such as more inquiries from new customers.

But the path to these goals varies in length: Decisive factors here are the industry and the competition of the website. Also important are the search terms, or the keyword-set for which the website should be found better via the search engine. Are these information-driven keywords that have relatively low competition, like “How do I remove chewing gum from a sweater?”, or are these highly competitive transactional keywords, like “buy women's handbag”?

Once the question of the desired keyword set has been clarified and an assessment of the industry and the competition has been made, a time estimate can be made more readily.

But there are further factors, such as the “history” of the website. What has been “optimized” on the website so far? What has been done so far to achieve the desired goals (which apparently still weren't reached anyway)?

What past does the website have – were there SEO agencies that have already tried their hand at it, or did the site operator themselves (with good intentions) try to “optimize” the website? Such information is always helpful in order to be able to assess the previous optimization status in advance.

If quite a bit has already been optimized, sometimes not much more is needed to achieve first successes. However, if too much was optimized (keyword: spam or black hat SEO), the domain may have to be freed from a Google penalty before it can rank normally again.

Age of the Project

Quite clearly, a website that is only two months old and still looks like a construction site will often take longer until the desired goals are achieved. A web page that, by contrast, is already older than a year and has already built up quite a bit of content and backlinks usually has significantly better chances of quick success here.

But at this point it's still too early to be able to give a concrete time estimate. Beforehand, further questions should be clarified in order to be able to assess a realistic time frame …

Previous Optimization Status

There's no way around it: A detailed SEO audit is an absolute must. Here the website is taken apart down to the last URL in order to identify optimization potential.

Only after the creation of an SEO audit can a time frame for the optimization effort be determined.

Trust from Google

Because Google needs time!

It has already been explained that no one can say how long it takes for the Google crawlers to have processed a domain. The trust that Google places in a page, on the other hand, can be influenced. The following points increase and decrease the trust from Google and thus the time until optimizations can take effect:

• The size and the number of information and URLs
• Was there a penalty in the past due to over-optimization? Such web pages need more time, because they first have to be freed from the penalty and then high-quality backlinks have to be built.
• Were/are there many technical errors that prevent indexing by Google? Setting noindex-tags prevents indexing; too many URLs on a website with thin content (contentless URLs) or duplicate content also make a website look bad on Google.
• Quality of the content: Lifeless walls of text that no human can read also don't go down well with Google & Co. – only web pages with high-quality content receive a lot of trust from Google.
• User signals: Do users find what they're looking for, or do they immediately bounce again? Many web pages drop off again over time because they simply don't think about their users and only optimize for the search engines. That's exactly the point: An optimized website that answers users' questions and needs will receive positive user signals, and these make a website rise in the ranking.

Only technically clean websites that have good content and a strong link profile can receive enough trust from Google to rise in the ranking and reach their SEO goals. Pages that have some errors and are over-optimized have a hard time getting ahead on Google in the long term.

An example can illustrate how long an SEO campaign can run.

Example: How Long SEO Takes Depends on Many Factors

In order to be able to better estimate the duration, it makes sense to first map out the complete process of SEO support by an agency:

1. Kickoff:
   During the first information meeting, the goals are recorded. After that, the agency can already make statements about roughly when the first goals can be achieved – without a guarantee, of course, since new Google updates, etc. can repeatedly bring about changes in the rankings.
2. Audit, keyword research, create strategy:
   After the goals have been adopted, the foundation of the SEO campaign has to be laid – with an audit of the website, keyword research, and the SEO strategy. Here it's recorded what the current optimization status of the website is, which keywords should be optimized for, and with which catalog of measures the SEO successes are to be achieved.
3. Monthly implementation:
   After the strategy has been approved by the client, the agency can carry out the implementation measures. The client's cooperation is often required here too, such as approving texts, research work, and much more.
   Important: There can of course be different processes when you commission an SEO agency or link-building agency.
4. Review of the previous results:
   Only now is there an answer to the question “How long does SEO take”: By reviewing the previous successes, it becomes clear how the rankings are developing. No matter how experienced the agency is, every domain is a new challenge, and when the SEO measures take effect depends on Google's acceptance.

If a website is technically clean and filled with good content as well as provided with a clean link profile, the first results can be achieved within a few months.

However, it always depends on the keyword set. If there are still many problems to fix on the website (which is unfortunately usually the case), the optimization itself often already takes several months – depending on the size of the website and the number of errors.

Until the optimizations then take effect and a website receives new trust from Google, it can take a few additional months.

The Collaboration Factor

SEO is teamwork. Blockages between departments or approval processes that are too slow are often the biggest brakes on SEO success.

Google Can Always Throw a Wrench into the Rankings

To make matters worse, Google constantly builds new updates into its search algorithms (the famous “Google algorithm” ;-)) and thus throws the ranking criteria into disarray. What still led to success a few months ago can be wiped out by a single update.

Therefore, a precise time estimate is simply not possible. There are simply too many uncertain variables that prevent a correct assessment.

Summary: How Long Does It Take Until SEO Measures Take Effect?

How long does SEO? It depends … (*pullingheadawayandrunningawayquickly*). Specifically, on the following points: SEO success depends …

• on the age of the project: New websites simply take longer.
• on the goals: For which keywords should the website be found? Depending on the competition, the duration can vary.
• on the history: Has optimization already been attempted? Did something go wrong and now there's a penalty? Then the optimization costs additional time.
• on the optimization status: What current optimization potential does the website have? What prevents optimal indexing? Based on these questions, the duration of a complete optimization can be estimated.
• on the trust from Google: A web page needs trust from Google in order to rise in the ranking. That's why new pages have a harder time getting ahead quickly. If a page is error-free and well optimized, Google can also place trust in it and let it rise in the ranking.
• on Google updates: New updates by Google can thoroughly mess up a schedule.

Very roughly, the following can be said: Before the first results become visible, it usually takes at least six, often even twelve months.

SEO Is a Never Ending Story

What many forget: Search engine optimization never stops! Even if a page has been completely optimized, a one-time optimization often doesn't achieve all the desired goals (depending on the keyword set), and so it's often necessary to test in order to detect changes (positive and negative) and to keep optimizing accordingly. In addition, the rankings still fluctuate due to new competitors, Google updates, and much more.

SEO is therefore a NEVER ENDING STORY and requires continuous support.

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