If you are trying to reach the top of search engine results page(SERP) on Google, you may be wondering how you can actually boost your rankings. Achieving higher rankings in Google is an ongoing process and there is no simple nor exact answer as to how long it will actually take for you to reach top rank results. If an SEO company is guaranteeing you the #1 spot or telling they will get you #1 in an exact time frame then run FAST in the opposite direction.
Google has a complex algorithm that no one can control. You can manipulate the algorithm to the best of your ability if you thoroughly understand it but nothing is guaranteed when it comes to Google’s complex algorithm. In a recent study completed by the UK digital marketing agency “The Website Group” and Ahrefs, an investigation on several companies took a look into what it actually takes to become a top search engine result.
The SEO Top Ranked Results Research
Researchers between the two agencies took a look at 2 million keywords analyzing the top 10 rankings for each one of these keywords. What they discovered is that it often took at least two years to actually rank some of these pages to the number one position. Most of the pages that were achieving number one status in search engine results were at least three years old.
If you have extremely high hopes of reaching a top search engine results overnight, this is an extremely rare and unrealistic occurrence. Your chances of running into a unicorn are probably higher. Only 5.7% of all of the newly created pages on Google are able to reach the top of the list within a period of two-six months. Only 22% of the pages on Google that rank within the first page or the top 10 were created within the last year. This means that it can often take years of work before you will even achieve the front page status that is needed for garnering great traffic from Google.
The majority of pages that were lucky enough to reach a top 10 status within six months, achieved this status within 61 to 121 days of their launch. It seems as though a widely trending article or piece of content could help massively in this effort. Even if you did have a site that went viral, you can expect to wait at least two months before you’ll start to see your page-one rankings.
There are many factors to consider:
The process of reaching a top ranked result on Google often comes down to a series of variables. Companies need to focus in on their competition, their overall website authority and their historical ranking as well. There is no perfect formula for ranking a page but there are certainly some aspects of ranking a page that can boost results for every business owner.
There is no set blueprint for ranking a page and no company can guarantee this result when it comes to achieving a top ranking within a certain amount of time. Because of the number of factors that are associated with ranking a page, it truly depends on every one of these factors hitting for a page to find success.
Low competition keywords assist with top ranking:
The way that many websites are getting their foot in the door with search engine rankings is with the help of low volume keywords. Keywords that receive less than 1000 searches a month will often catapult a page to ranking in the top 10. We also refer to these as long-tailed keywords. For example instead of trying to rank for “personal injury attorney” we will target “St Petersburg personal injury attorney” where the competition and search volume is lower. This will make it more achievable to hit the first page in a shorter amount of time. High volume search terms are often more competitive and can take a much longer time frame to rank on the top.
The good thing about long-tailed keywords is some of the higher search volume keywords are embedded within them. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone. For the long tailed keywords you can potentially rank on the first page between 61 to 121 days. Seeing these trends in data, there are a good number of businesses that are working to rank their pages for long tailed keyword.
It seems as though high-volume and medium volume search terms are favorites for ranking in the long term. If you are a company that counts yourself amongst the long-term SEO strategy, ranking for medium and high volume search terms can be an excellent way to make sure that you will have varied results and ongoing assistance with your search engine ranking.
Keep in mind that adopting a short-term strategy with low competition keywords could be a risky option for SEO. Only 5.7% of these pages are able to achieve a top 10 result within a year. This doesn’t necessarily make for a solid investment strategy.
The Conclusion
With 95% of pages not achieving a top 10 ranking within the first year, it regularly takes ongoing dedication and work to rank your page. Investing in SEO is a process and there are hundreds of factors that search engine rankings use in order to boost pages up search engine results. Some of these factors are link building, onsite SEO, domain age, page speed, and several more. All of these are major factors in influencing Google’s algorithm to rank you higher. It’s fairly common to take several years to achieve a top search engine ranking and this means that by investing in SEO strategy today, you can generate success for your established business in the future.
SEO may be a long term strategy however the pay off is there. People always trust the highest ranking organic sites and always scroll past the paid for advertisements. Once you stop paying for ads you’re back on page 20 and nowhere to be found. If you take an advertisement only strategy you will remain having to pay for the life of your business. You will end up spending more in ads then you will through SEO decreasing your return!
Consider these top findings as you are investing in SEO for your future. If you have questions about your SEO strategy contact us today for a free consultation!!
