When it comes to investing in SEO, there are tons of questions that individuals and businesses often ask. One of the most common questions is “how long does SEO take to start working?” While this seems like an easy question, there is no straightforward answer to it. Despite this, we will shed more light on the things you need to know about this question.

When can you start seeing the results of your SEO?

Source: Search Engine Land

There is no one-size-fits-all method to determine when you can start seeing the results of any SEO strategy. This is because certain variables are instrumental in determining when you will start seeing the desired results. In many instances, web content, keywords, web design, geographic location, baseline traffic, competition, domain age, and lots more play a key role in the whole results. Therefore, irrespective of who you have hired for SEO services, if some of these variables don’t work in your favor, you may not see the results of your SEO strategy as quickly as expected.

Having said this, if your SEO is done correctly, you may start seeing the desired results within 6 months. Also, it may get more traction over time; hence, you may see an improved result after one year.

What are the roles of these variables in how long SEO takes to start working?

For a better understanding of when you should start expecting the results of SEO, we will consider the roles of some of the variables.

• Content

Without a doubt, the content on your site goes a long way in determining how long it will take SEO to start working. As long as the content is concerned, Google and other search engines focus on quality.  In this regard, you need high-quality content that is long enough to make visitors stay on your site for some periods without making them lose interest in it.

Another factor that can make SEO to start working early is publishing content on your website regularly. This makes Google’s spiders crawl your site from time to time; hence, it tends to speed up the SEO result.

• Competition

Generally, if you are competing against well-established web pages for SEO ranking, it will take a long time before SEO starts working. This is because the owners of those established web pages have invested heavily in their pages; hence, it will be difficult for you to outrank them.

For instance, if you are offering real estate services to individuals in a small town, you will not face as much competition as a real estate company serving the whole country.

Notably, you can easily and quickly outrank the lower pages that belong to the same niche. However, the case will be different for the top-ranking sites with seasoned SEO experts. This is usually because of the experience of the SEO experts as well as their consistent efforts at ranking in the first few pages.

• History of your site

Based on the past activities on your site, Google will determine its trust score. This trust score considers the trustworthiness and reliability of your site to rank it in the search engine. If your trust score is high, your ranking in the search engine will be high. Inbound links are some of the important elements that can aid the trust score of your site.

In addition, if your site has been penalized in the past, it may affect your ranking in the search results. Manipulated page ranking, backlinks from spammy websites, plagiarism, and overuse of keywords are some of the factors that can have an impact on your web ranking.

As a result of these malpractices, Google can rank you lower in the search result as the search engine doesn’t trust your site again. It will take some time to regain the trust of Google; therefore, you will have to wait for a long time before SEO starts working on the site.

Considering all these factors, you should not expect your website to jump to the first page of the search results. By not having unrealistic expectations, you can avoid any disappointment. So, you should always bear it in mind that it will take some weeks or even months before SEO will start working on your site.