How Long Does It Take to Rank on Google? Data from 40+ Clients & Strategies

A web page can rank on the first-page of Google for a given keyword overnight, or it might take 6+ months. In some cases, a page may never rank. So, how can you predict if and when a page will achieve a top position?

In this guide, we address that question using data from over 40 clients. 

First, it’s important to recognize that many factors affecting rankings aren’t easily quantifiable (e.g., writing style, topic coverage). Therefore, we start by examining easily measurable factors — such as time, number of published posts, and domain rating — to understand how they influence first-page rankings.  

Next, we explore various other, less quantifiable factors and explain our approach to handling them.

Table of Contents

• How does time affect the likelihood of ranking on the first-page of Google?
  
  
• Does domain authority matter?
  
  
• What are the key factors for high rankings and how can I achieve them quickly?
  
  
• What can I do to drive leads while I’m waiting for rankings to take hold?

How Time and Domain Rating Affect First-Page Rankings

(Note: The data presented here reflects results from our specific process. If you take a different SEO approach, your results may vary.)

To understand the impact of time and domain rating on achieving first-page rankings, we first analyzed the average number of first-page rankings our clients have achieved each month while working with us.

(Note: Many Google results now feature infinite scroll, meaning there isn’t a traditional “page one.” So, when we refer to page one, we simply mean the top 10 results.)

The graph above shows the average number of top 10 rankings our clients achieve over time. The x-axis represents the number of months we’ve published content for them, and each blue dot represents the average number of top 10 rankings our clients have achieved by that time. 

For example, tracking from month 10, you’ll see that our clients typically have about 20 first-page rankings. That indicates that, on average, after 20 months of regular publishing, clients rank on page one for over 50 keywords.

The key takeaway is a clear upward trend: The longer clients work with us, the more blog posts they have ranking on the first-page, with an average of over 100 first-page rankings after three years. 

While that’s great news, you can argue that the more content you’ve published, the more likelihood you have at first-page rankings. Naturally, a client with 50 pieces published will have more first-page rankings than one with only five. (For most clients, we publish 3 articles per month, each targeting a single SEO keyword. You can read more about our process here.)

From here, we wanted to isolate the effect of time on rankings by controlling for the number of pieces published. This led us to ask:

Does time alone affect rankings? And if so, how long does it take to rank on the first-page of Google?

To answer this, we used the same data from the graph above but adjusted it by dividing the number of first-page rankings by the number of pieces published for each client. 

In this new graph, a y-axis value of 1.00 indicates that the client has one first-page ranking for every unique blog post we published.  

By examining the overall shape of the data in this graph, we observe that around month 15, each post averages close to one first-page ranking. 

(Note: This value can exceed 1 because some posts rank for multiple target keywords.)

This analysis answers the question, “How long does it take to rank on Google’s first-page?” On average, it takes us a little over a year for each piece of published content to reach page one on Google. 

As expected, the number of first-page rankings increases as more content is published.

Domain Authority Does Help Pages Rank Faster

Website authority is a widely recognized SEO term that refers to the strength of your presence on Google’s search engine. Different SEO tools use various metrics to assess this authority. For example:

• Domain Rating (DR) by Ahrefs which evaluates backlinks and the strength of those backlinks to determine overall site authority.

• Domain Authority (DA) by Moz predicts how likely a website is to rank, although the specific factors considered aren’t readily available.

Both tools provide a score ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater authority. However, it’s important to note that each tool measures different metrics.

Since many marketers rely on these scores to gauge their content’s ranking potential, we analyzed our data to see if it supports this idea. And it does. 

This graph shows the number of first-page rankings per post over time for two groups: 

• Clients with a Domain Rating (DR) above 50
• Clients with a DR below 50

For clients with a higher DR, the data reveals that they achieve around one first-page ranking per post just over a year after we begin publishing content for them.

In contrast, clients with a lower DR see about 0.6 first-page rankings per post at the same point in time. It’s important to note that the trend for the <50 DR group is still on the rise and hasn’t yet leveled off. This suggests that websites with lower DR could potentially reach the same number of first-page rankings as those with higher DR, but it would take longer. However, we currently lack the data to confirm this hypothesis.

Main Takeaway: It Takes Just over a Year to Achieve One First-Page Ranking per Post on Average

The key insights from this data are: 

• Time is the most crucial factor in determining whether a post will rank on Google’s first-page.

• On average, it takes a little over a year to achieve one first-page ranking for every post you’ve published.

• Website authority does play a role, but it’s not as significant as time. 

It’s important to note that this analysis focuses solely on time and domain strength as ranking factors. But many other factors influence rankings. 

To maximize your ranking potential, regardless of your domain rating or how long you’ve been publishing, you need to get these other factors right as well. 

In the following sections, we’ll explore the most important factors for ranking high on Google, based on our experience of helping over 80 clients rank for high-value keywords since 2017.

Other Factors That Affect Rankings (and How to Rank Faster)

In this section, we delve into the most critical factors that influence search engine rankings — factors that we focus on extensively for each client’s articles. While these elements are challenging to quantify and don’t lend themselves easily to correlation analysis, we believe they are essential for achieving higher rankings.

We will also briefly discuss routine tasks that are necessary but don’t provide a competitive edge on their own because they are standard practices (e.g., on-page SEO, mobile friendliness).

The Three Most Important Factors for Ranking on the First-Page of Google

1. Choosing Keywords Where You Have Topical Relevance

Topical relevance means that Google’s algorithm prioritizes sites that are authoritative on a specific topic, not just those with the highest number of backlinks. Essentially, Google wants to rank sites that it deems most relevant and knowledgeable about a given subject.

This concept has been widely discussed in SEO, including a nice example in the Ahrefs blog where niche cast iron cookware sites outranked a site with far more backlinks.

In our experience, we frequently see our clients’ posts outranking competitors with higher DA. This reinforces the idea that our client results are more influenced by relevance and time rather than just domain authority.

For instance, take a look at our client Cognitive FX, detailed in this case study.

They’re an awesome, cutting edge concussion treatment center in Utah that heals people who have been suffering from concussion symptoms for decades. 

Despite their impressive work, their Ahrefs domain rating is only 51, which is relatively modest.

We rank #1 for a lot of concussion keywords for them, and for most of those keywords, we’re outranking many medical sites with higher DR.

For example, look at the first-page results for the keyword “memory loss after injury”:

Despite having the lowest domain rating among the top four search results, we’re ranking #1 — outpacing sites like Mayo Clinic, which has a domain rating of 92.

Even in terms of backlinks, our specific page isn’t leading. We have no backlinks to that page, while #2, #3, and #4 results have 137, 40, and 1,417 backlinks, respectively.

So how are we achieving the top spot? Topical relevance.

Disclaimer: Of course we don’t know this for a fact. No one knows the exact “why” behind the results of Google’s search algorithm, but we can make educated guesses and we strongly believe this is true for our client results based on everything you’re reading in this post.

Our hypothesis is that Google recognizes Cognitive FX’s domain as being solely focused on concussions, which likely contributes to its high ranking.

In contrast, at the time of writing:

• The second result, MSKTC, provides rehabilitation for spinal injuries and burns, not just concussion rehabilitation.
  
  
• The third result, Headway, offers emotional support resources for a variety of ailments.
  
  
• The fourth result, Mayo Clinic, is one of the largest medical centers in the country, covering a wide range of medical services from complex surgeries to routine check-ups.

Cognitive FX, on the other hand, is highly-specialized in concussion treatment. This specific focus gives them a significant edge in topical relevance for concussion-related keywords, a trend we’ve observed consistently not just with Cognitive FX but with many other clients as well.

To summarize, while domain authority does play a role, it’s not the only factor. Focusing on bottom of the funnel keywords — those closely related to your niche and products — can help you compete effectively against higher DA sites. 

Topical relevance can be a powerful advantage.

If you’d like to learn more about topical relevance, check out our interview with Bernard Huang, the founder of Clearscope.

2. Matching Search Intent

Google’s algorithm prioritizes web pages that best fulfill the user’s search intent. If you meet that intent more effectively than other results, you’ll have a strong chance of ranking highly. 

While this might seem straightforward — like providing a list of accounting software for the keyword ‘accounting software’ — it can often be more complex.

Take the keyword ‘data visualization tool,’ for example. At first glance, you might think users are looking for a list of tools. But if you examine the SERP, you’ll notice different types of results:

• The top result is a list of tools.
• The second result offers definitions and examples.
• The third result is a product page.

So, which type of content should you create? Is the primary search intent for a list, informational content, or details about specific solutions? 

Moreover, the search intent can vary depending on the user’s role and industry. For example: 

• A data analyst with advanced technical skills might be looking for ways to enhance job efficiency.
  
  
• A business professional with limited technical expertise might need to present ideas to a corporate audience.
  
  
• A marketer might be seeking tools to create detailed reports for clients. 

Determining which persona to target involves understanding these layers of intent. 

To effectively address search intent, you need to conduct a thorough SERP analysis, which you can learn about here: How to Do SERP Analysis: Going Beyond the Basics. 

Once you understand the intent, the next step is to create content that meets those needs, which brings us to our next point. 

3. Writing Unique, High Quality Content

As the header suggests, writing great content involves two key aspects: uniqueness and quality. Let’s break down each component:

Uniqueness can manifest in several ways:

• Sharing original data: Provide fresh insights or data that others haven’t covered. 
  
  
• Offering a different perspective: Approach the topic from a new angle while still fulfilling search intent. 
  
  
• Interviewing experts: Incorporate insights from subject matter experts to add depth and authority.
  
  
• Discussing your product/service: For bottom of the funnel (BOTF) keywords, highlight how your product or service addresses specific pain points. 

If you want to write something unique, you can’t have AI write the article for you. The way AI works is that it pulls from existing material and creates something similar (i.e., it’s the opposite of creating unique content). 

Likewise, we advise against handing freelancers a brief and having them do their own research to write the article. We call this a “Google research paper” because the writer reads through the top results of Google and produces something similar to what already exists — it’s essentially the human version of what AI does. 

Creating high-quality content means delivering valuable information that aligns with the needs of the search term you’re targeting.

For BOTF keywords, high-quality content should not only rank well but also convert. You have to understand your audience’s knowledge level and position your product as the solution to their specific problem.

Here are some articles to help you write great content:

• Customer-Content Fit: A framework for producing content that attracts customers 
  
  
• The detail principle for writing good blog posts
  
  
• How to write great blog introductions (and why most are bad) 
  
  
• The Specificity Strategy: How to turn generic posts into stand out content
  
  
• Why your content needs “Originality Nuggets” to be effective

The Bare Minimum Tasks Needed to Rank

Lastly, here are three essential tasks often discussed in SEO that we consider basic “tickets to entry” for your site or your pre-publication checklist. 

(Note: If you’ve already handled these, feel free to skip to the next section.)

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO involves several factors beyond just fulfilling search intent, including:

• Using the keyword in the title
  
  
• Adding a meta description
  
  
• Internal link building
  
  
• Following URL best practices, like using the keyword in the URL
  
  
• Incorporating relevant keywords throughout the content
  
  
• Using relevant headers
  
  
• Ensuring your website has a clear, logical, and crawlable structure

While these tasks are important, they’re relatively straightforward compared to deeply analyzing search intent, crafting content to convert, and some of the other strategies we discussed earlier. These on-page SEO elements should be “checked off” for everything you publish.

User Experience (UX)

Another basic SEO housekeeping item is ensuring a good user experience (UX) and decent page load speed. Once this is setup properly, you shouldn’t worry about it too much. 

You can check your site’s performance with Google Page Speed. A high (or “green”) score isn’t necessary for most sites to rank well, but if your score is very poor, consider making improvements. 

Just don’t obsess over page speed. While it’s important for extremely competitive keywords (e.g., “buy flowers online”), for most companies targeting a wide range of SEO keywords, factors like topical relevance, matching search intent, and quality content are far more crucial. Instead, focus on whether your content fulfills search intent and the number of links it has.

Finally, make sure your site is navigable, modern in appearance, and both desktop- and mobile-friendly. 

Two Popular Pieces of Advice That Have Little Effect on Rankings

Update Content Regularly

Many marketers will tell you to update your content on a regular schedule because Google rewards content updates. In our experience, you only need to update content if the intent behind the keyword changes (or if you have something like a new feature to talk about that’s relevant to the keyword). Updating content solely for the sake of updating doesn’t necessarily lead to better results and often isn’t worth the effort. 

Build Lots of Backlinks

While backlinks do help improve rankings, they aren’t always essential. We often wait several weeks after publishing a piece to see how it performs on its own. 

If it ranks well right away or is steadily moving up, we’ll often leave it alone and focus our attention on other posts. However, if we want a specific post to move up faster or it doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction on its own, we’ll start building one or two links per month until we get the rankings we want.

How to Get Leads While You’re Waiting for Rankings to Take Hold

Although time is an important factor for ranking as we covered above, there are a few things you can do to drive leads temporarily while you’re waiting for high rankings:

• Paid ads can be a great way to drive traffic to your articles while you’re waiting for them to rank organically. In this article, we talk about common mistakes we see many marketers make that cause them to waste ad spend on hollow traffic that never converts. We also talk about what we do differently to improve ROAS.
  
  
• Social media can be an effective lead generation channel for B2C businesses because these buyers typically make decisions based on personal preferences and immediate needs. However, in our opinion, social media is less effective for B2B lead generation (with the exception of disruption stories, which we’ll cover below). B2B buying decisions are typically driven by specific needs (e.g., outgrowing a CRM) and often require a significant process change (e.g., company-wide training on a new CRM).
  
  
• Disruption Stories focus on highlighting the core problem your business was created to solve. Unlike SEO content, which is designed to rank for a specific keyword, disruption stories don’t target a specific keyword. Instead, they’re designed to be highly shareable on social media and to catch the attention of potential buyers who aren’t actively searching for a solution like yours. 

How to Work with Us or Learn More

• Work with our agency: If you want to hire us to create and execute an SEO strategy by identifying your best keywords, creating content that is laser-focused on ranking and driving conversions, and link building to improve your ranking positions, you can learn more about working with us here.
  
  
• Join our team: If you’re a content marketer or writer who wants to do content marketing in this way, we’d love to have you apply to join our team.
  
  
• Learn our methods in our content marketing course: Individuals looking to learn our agency’s content strategy and become better marketers, consultants, or business owners can join our private course and community, taught via case studies, and presented in both written and video content formats. We include several details and examples not found on this blog. Our course is also built into a community, so people ask questions, start discussions, and share their work in the lesson pages themselves, and we, along with other members, give feedback. Learn more here.