It can take anywhere from a few days to a year before you will start seeing results from SEO work.
As with most things in SEO the most accurate answer is “it depends”.
What Does It Depend On?
How long it will take to see results depends on a number of factors:
- The amount of competition in your industry.
- Your budget.
- How well established your site already is.
- If any technical issues are holding it back.
- …and more.
If you are starting with a brand new site that has very little content, no links and only a handful of indexed pages then it will take longer to see results than if you are working with a well-established site that just needs some basic optimisations sorting out.
If you have technical issues, such as pages being noindexed (marked to be removed from search results) which should be indexed, this can be a quick fix and results could be seen within a few days.
However in most cases, SEO will take time, at least 6 months for the average website.
SEO involves 3 key elements:
- Technical SEO – creating a site that works well.
- Content – building topical authority in your industry/niche by producing content that demonstrates your expertise/knowledge.
- Links – acquiring relevant links from relevant trustworthy sources is also helps build topical authority and helps you to rank.
If you’re in a highly competitive industry, such as finance, then you’re going to need a lot more time to produce authoritative content and acquire relevant links at scale before you have a chance of ranking well. Realistically it could take at least a year before you start seeing results.
However if you’re in a lower competition industry such as ‘Leather Repair’ then it is realistic to see results much sooner…maybe even in a couple of months.
Contact Me For SEO Help
If you’re looking for some help with your SEO or would value some 3rd party SEO consulting then feel free to get in touch.