If you’re a new blogger, you might be wondering how long it takes for your new blog take to rank on Google and start getting organic traffic.
Ranking on Google is important for bloggers because it can help them reach more potential readers, generate more leads, increase their authority and credibility, and grow their income.
But how long does it take for a new blog to rank on Google?
The answer is not simple or straightforward.
There are many factors that affect how long it takes to rank a new blog on Google, such as:
- Domain authority
- Content quality
- Keyword difficulty
- Competition
- Backlinks
In this post, we’ll talk over each of these factors in more detail and offer some advice on how to hasten a new blog’s ranking process.
We’ll also show you how to measure your ranking progress for a new blog using some tools and metrics.
Let’s get started!
What determines how long a new blog take to rank on Google
Domain authority
A statistic called domain authority (DA) gauges a website’s overall reputation and dependability based on factors including its age, popularity, size, and link profile.
DA is calculated on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
The average DA of the top 10 Google results is 55, according to research by Ahrefs.
This means that if your new blog has a low DA, it will be harder for you to rank on Google compared to older and more established websites.
This does not exclude you from ranking a new blog on Google, though. You must put in more effort and think strategically to increase your DA gradually.
Some of the ways to increase your DA are:
- Publish high-quality and relevant content regularly
- Enhance the functionality and user experience of your website.
- To market your content and raise brand recognition, use social media.
- Avoid spammy and low-quality links that can harm your reputation
Content quality
Content quality is another crucial factor that affects how long it takes to rank a new blog on Google.
The greatest and most pertinent solutions to consumers’ questions are Google’s primary focus.
Therefore, it rewards websites that publish high-quality and user-friendly content that matches the search intent and satisfies the user’s needs.
- Writing properly and utilizing proper language and spelling are just two aspects of content quality.
- It’s also about providing value, originality, depth, accuracy, and freshness to your readers.
- Some of the ways to improve your content quality are:
- Do keyword research and find low-competition keywords that have high search volume and user intent
- Write catchy and descriptive titles and meta descriptions that entice users to click on your blog posts
- Use headings and subheadings to structure your blog posts and make them easy to read and scan
- Write in a conversational and engaging tone that connects with your audience
- Use images, videos, charts, graphs, and other visual elements to enhance your content and make it more appealing
- Provide facts, statistics, examples, quotes, and other sources to support your claims and arguments
- Use internal and external links to provide additional information and resources to your readers
- Use a call-to-action at the end of your blog posts to encourage your readers to take action or leave a comment
Keyword difficulty
Keyword difficulty (KD) is a metric that measures how hard it is to rank for a given keyword on Google based on the competition and authority of the existing results.
The higher the KD of a keyword, the more difficult it is to rank for it.
- KD is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the most difficult and 0 being the easiest.
- According to Ahrefs, only 0.3% of websites with a DA of less than 50 can rank in the top 10 for keywords with a KD of more than 20.
- This means that if you’re a new blogger with a low DA, you should avoid targeting keywords with high KD as they will be too competitive for you.
- Instead, you should focus on finding low-difficulty keywords that have high search volume and user intent.
- These are keywords that have less competition but still have enough demand from users who are looking for information or solutions related to your niche.
Some of the tools and methods to find low-difficulty keywords for new blogs are:
Use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer or other keyword research tools to generate keyword ideas based on your seed keywords or topics
Filter the keyword ideas by KD, search volume, clicks, CPC, etc. to find the best ones for your new blog
Analyze the SERPs for each keyword idea and look at the DA, content quality, relevance, and backlinks of the top-ranking results
Choose keywords that have low DA results, low content quality or relevance, or few backlinks as they will be easier to outrank
Use long-tail keywords or phrases that are more specific and less competitive than short-tail keywords or words
Competition
Competition refers to how many other websites are targeting the same keywords or topics as you and how well they are optimized for SEO.
The more competition there is for a keyword or topic, the harder it is to rank for it.
Some of the ways to analyze and outrank your competition are:
- Use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or other SEO tools to audit your competitors’ websites and see their strengths and weaknesses in terms of DA, traffic, backlinks, content quality, etc.
- Identify gaps or opportunities in their content strategy where you can provide better or more comprehensive information or solutions to your target audience
- Use Ahrefs’ Content Gap or other content analysis tools to find keywords or topics that your competitors are ranking for but you are not
- Create content that covers those keywords or topics in a more in-depth, unique, or engaging way than your competitors
- Use Ahrefs’ Content Explorer or other content discovery tools to find popular or viral content in your niche that you can use as inspiration or reference for your own content
- Create content that adds value, originality, freshness, or a different perspective to the existing popular or viral content in your niche.
Backlinks
Creating Backlinks are one of the most important factors that affect how long it takes to rank a new blog on Google.
Backlinks help Google determine the authority, relevance, and popularity of your website and your content.
The more backlinks you have from other authoritative and relevant websites, the higher your chances of ranking on Google for your target keywords.
However, not all backlinks are created equal.
Some backlinks can have a positive impact on your ranking, while others can have a negative impact or no impact at all.
Some of the characteristics of a good backlink are:
It comes from a website that has a high DA and is related to your niche or topic
Uses a relevant and descriptive anchor text that matches the keyword or topic of your content
It links to a specific page or posts on your website rather than your homepage
It is placed in a natural and contextual way within the content of the linking page rather than in the footer or sidebar
The link is dofollow rather than nofollow, meaning that it passes link juice and authority to your website
Some of the strategies to build backlinks for new blogs are:
Guest posting: Writing and publishing articles on other websites in your niche that allow you to include a link back to your website
Skyscraper technique: Finding high-ranking and well-linked content in your niche and creating better content that covers the same topic in more detail. Then reach out to the websites that linked to the original content and ask them to link to yours instead
Broken link building: Finding broken links on other websites in your niche and creating relevant content that can replace the broken link, then contacting the website owners and informing them about the broken link and suggesting yours as a replacement
Resource page link building: Finding resource pages on other websites in your niche that list useful links and resources related to your topic, then contacting the website owners and asking them to include your link as a resource
Testimonial link building: Writing testimonials for products or services that you use or like and asking the providers to feature your testimonial on their website with a link back to yours
How to speed up the ranking process for a new blog
While there is no definitive answer to how long it takes to rank a new blog on Google, there are some ways to speed up the ranking process and get faster results.
Some of the tips and techniques to rank a new blog faster on Google are:
Optimize your site speed
Site speed is how fast your website loads when someone visits it.
- Site speed is important for ranking and user experience because it affects how quickly users can access and interact with your content.
- According to Google, site speed is one of the ranking factors for both desktop and mobile searches.
- According to a study by Backlinko, the average loading time of a page on the first page of Google is 1.65 seconds.
- This means that if your site speed is slower than that, you might lose some ranking potential and user satisfaction.
- Some of the tools and tips to improve your site speed are:
- Google’s PageSpeed Insights or other site speed tools to test and analyze your site speed and get suggestions on how to improve it
- fast and reliable web hosting service that can handle high traffic and load times
- caching plugin or service that can store static copies of your web pages and serve them faster to users
- content delivery network (CDN) that can distribute your web pages across multiple servers around the world and deliver them faster to users based on their location
- Optimize your images by compressing, resizing, cropping, or converting them to more efficient formats such as WebP
- Minify and combine your CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files by removing unnecessary spaces, comments, characters, etc.
- Use lazy loading for your images, videos, and other media elements that can delay your page loading time by loading them only when they are visible on the screen
- Reduce the number of redirects, plugins, ads, pop-ups, and other elements that can slow down your site speed
Use social media
Social media is a powerful way to drive traffic and awareness to your new blog.
Social media can help you:
- Reach a large and engaged audience that might be interested in your niche or topic
- Share your content and generate social signals that can indicate popularity and relevance to Google
- Build relationships and trust with your potential readers and customers
- Encourage social sharing and word-of-mouth marketing that can increase your exposure and backlinks
- Drive direct traffic to your website that can boost your ranking and conversions
Some of the platforms and tips to use social media effectively are:
Choose the right social media platforms for your niche and audience, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.
Create a consistent and attractive profile for your blog on each platform and include a link to your website
Share your blog posts and other valuable content regularly and at optimal times when your audience is most active
Use catchy headlines, images, videos, hashtags, emojis, and other elements to make your posts more appealing and clickable
Engage with your followers and other users by liking, commenting, replying, asking questions, running polls, etc.
Join relevant groups, communities, forums, chats, etc. Where you can share your content and interact with other users who share your interests
Collaborate with other bloggers, influencers, experts, etc. in your niche and cross-promote each other’s content
Update your content regularly
Updating your content regularly is another way to rank a new blog faster on Google.
Updating your content regularly can help you:
- Keep your content fresh and relevant for your readers and Google
- Improve your content quality and depth by adding new information, data, examples, etc.
- Target new or updated keywords that have more search volume or user intent
- Fix any errors or outdated information that can harm your credibility or ranking
- Increase your click-through rate (CTR) and dwell time by attracting more users to revisit or stay longer on your page
- Boost your ranking and traffic by signaling Google that your content is worth ranking higher
Some of the examples and tips to update your content effectively are:
- Update your old or evergreen blog posts that have high traffic potential or user demand by adding new sections, images, videos, links, etc.
- Repurpose your existing content into different formats such as infographics, podcasts, videos, ebooks, etc. and share them on different platforms
- Rewrite or optimize your titles and meta descriptions to make them more catchy or relevant for users and Google
- Monitor your analytics and search console data to see how your content is performing and identify any issues or opportunities for improvement
- Use tools like BuzzSumo or Ahrefs to find trending or popular topics in your niche that you can update or create new content on
How to measure your ranking progress for a new blog
The last step in ranking a new blog on Google is to measure your ranking progress and see how well you’re doing.
Measuring your ranking progress can help you:
- Track and analyze your traffic sources, behavior, conversions, etc.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO strategy and identify what works and what doesn’t
- Find any errors or issues that might affect your ranking or user experience
- Adjust or improve your SEO strategy based on the data and feedback you get
Some of the tools and metrics to measure your ranking progress for a new blog are:
Google Analytics
This is a free tool that helps you measure and analyze your website traffic and performance.
Google Analytics can help you measure:
How many users visit your website from different sources such as organic search, social media, direct, referral, etc?
- How long do users stay on your website and how many pages do they view per session
- How many users complete a desired action or goal on your website such as subscribing, buying, downloading, etc?
- How your website performs on different devices such as desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.
- How your website performs in different locations, languages, demographics, etc.
- Some of the steps and tips to set up and use Google Analytics for your new blog are:
- Create a Google Analytics account and add your website as a property
- Install the Google Analytics tracking code on your website or use a plugin or tag manager to do it for you
- Set up your goals and conversions to track the actions you want your users to take on your website
- Use the reports and dashboards to see and analyze your traffic data and performance
- Use the filters and segments to customize and refine your data and insights
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is another free tool that helps you measure and optimize your website’s visibility and performance on Google.
- How many impressions, clicks, and CTR your website gets from Google for different keywords and queries
- How your website ranks on Google for different keywords and queries
- How your website performs on different devices such as desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.
- How Google crawls, indexes, and renders your website and its pages
- How many backlinks your website has from other websites
- How many errors or issues your website has that might affect its ranking or user experience
Some of the steps and tips to set up and use Google Search Console for your new blog are:
- Create a Google Search Console account and verify your website ownership
- Add your sitemap to Google Search Console to help Google find and index your pages
- Use the performance report to see and analyze your impressions, clicks, CTR, and position data for different keywords and queries
- Use the coverage report to see and fix any errors or issues that might prevent Google from crawling or indexing your pages
- Use the speed report to see and improve how fast your pages load on different devices
- Use the links report to see and monitor your backlinks from other websites
Conclusion
Ranking a new blog on Google is not an easy or quick process.
It takes time, effort, consistency, and patience to build your authority, reputation, and trust with Google and your audience.
However, it’s not impossible either.
By following the tips and techniques we shared in this article, you can speed up the ranking process for a new blog and get faster results.
Below are a few of the key points to keep in mind:
- There are many factors that affect how long it takes to rank a new blog on Google, such as domain authority, content quality, keyword difficulty, competition, backlinks, etc.
- You can speed up the ranking process for a new blog by optimizing your site speed, using social media, updating your content regularly, etc.
- You can measure your ranking progress for a new blog by using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console
We hope this article was helpful and informative for you.
FAQs
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about ranking a new blog on Google:
Q: How long does it take to rank a new blog on Google?
A: There is no definitive answer to this question as it depends on many factors such as domain authority, content quality, keyword difficulty, competition, backlinks, etc. However, according to a study by Ahrefs, the average age of the top-ranking pages on Google is over two years. This means that it can take months or even years to rank a new blog on Google for competitive keywords. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t rank faster for less competitive keywords or topics.
Q: How can I find low-competition keywords for my new blog?
A: One of the best ways to find low-competition keywords for your new blog is to use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. You can enter your seed keywords or topics and filter the keyword ideas by keyword difficulty, search volume, clicks, CPC, etc. to find the best ones for your new blog. Analyze the SERPs for each keyword idea and look at the domain authority, content quality, relevance, and backlinks of the top-ranking results. Choose keywords that have low domain authority results, low content quality or relevance, or few backlinks as they will be easier to outrank.
Q: How can I build backlinks for my new blog?
A: One of the most effective ways to build backlinks for your new blog is to create high-quality and relevant content that other websites will want to link to. Strategies like guest posting, skyscraper technique, broken link building, resource page link building, testimonial link building, etc. To get backlinks from other authoritative and relevant websites in your niche. Use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or Backlink Checker to find and monitor your backlinks and your competitors’ backlinks.
Q: How can I measure my ranking progress for my new blog?
A: You can use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to measure your ranking progress for your new blog. This tool can help you measure and analyze your traffic sources, behavior, conversions, etc. Google Search Console can help you measure and optimize your visibility and performance on Google. You can use the reports and dashboards to see and analyze your data and insights. You can also use filters and segments to customize and refine your data and insights.