How Long Does It Take To Get A Decent Ranking?

I'm wondering how long it takes for the search engines (especially Google) to index and display a site on a decent page number for its keywords.

The site I'm talking about, is an energy news site that was just started up.

I know that nothing is definitive, but even a general idea of the timeline that I'm looking at would be greatly appreciated.

 

It's too complicated to predict. Search for the main keyword you're targeting and see how much competition is out there. Search for it again within quotes on Google and look at the number of results for that, too. That's a more pure result of how many sites are ranking for that term.

For instance, "energy news" has about 84 million results on Google, which is a staggering number. Page 1 is nothing but BBC, Yahoo News, Forbes, Bloomberg and other authority sites. It's not worth bothering to target that keyword.

 

I should have been a bit more specific perhaps. I'm not just targeting the keyword "energy news", but other keywords such as "crude oil, gas prices, alternative energy, coal power, heating oil, solar power, energy research" etc.

The site deals with all topics of energy and isn't confined to just one specific topic of it.

Thanks for the reply, I'm very new to the world of SEO.

 

New websites are at a disadvantage in terms of seo. There is what is referred to as the 'Google sandbox'. New websites often end up in this waiting stage where they can't achieve decent rankings until 6 - 10 months later. So if your website is brand new, be prepared to wait that long. While you wait, keep working at adding new content and getting quality backlinks.

 

It can take many months or even years to get a good rank with the search engines and for them to find your site as a good information source or as reliable...

The best idea would be to write many articles surrounding your website keywords/ phrases that you have chosen and submit them to many different article websites that are trusted, reliable and have good page ranks.

The only thing that I suggest with doing this, is to only submit each article to one place only, (Google loves original content) , and use different phrases whilst linking (Anchor Text).

If you want to start getting a good ranking, use about 3%-8% of you content on your pages with keywords. Make sure it makes sense and keep it good for visitors. (Google does not like tricks!).

Also, have a good description for each of your website pages and keep them different on each page. (Help people understand what the page in the search results)

I am not so sure about the website hosting options, but choose a web host that has a good uptime. (Google does not like websites that are always down or unavailable)

Do not use redirects/frames so much, and use <h1>, <h2>, <h3> tags, ect...

Keep the titles blunt, and use a domain name that has your main keyword in it.

Try to keep the content with the keywords in, as close to the top of your pages as you can and have a sitemap, (Both .html and .xml)

Good Luck and best wishes,
~ Mike

 

Thanks Mike, I'm going to bookmark this thread so I can always turn to your post as a basic guide for my SEO.

I especially took note of the fact that you said I should submit each article to one site only. Thanks again.

 

As Mike said, on average it'll take at least 6-9 months to start seeing decent rankings.

 

That is fine and thank you for taking note of what I have said. (Sorry I did not reply so soon, I was eating dinner)...

Either way, at 17 I have been known to have a great knowledge of these areas, including website hosting, search engine optimization and website promotion/marketing.

I have a search engine optimization blog, which I have been working on, (I have abandoned it, for now) But it is still full of information which may help you and others who may also be looking for similar information

You can find my blog at : http://thesearchengineoptimizationblog.blogspot.com/

Regards,
~ Mike

 

If your site is new It will take 2-3 months to get a position at Google First Page.

 

The link to my site should now be in my signature. Let me know if there's anything that needs further optimization in the site itself.

Thanks again for all the replies... each and every reply helps.

 

In this post, you quote the words...

.

Yet, my website has been up for over a year and is no where near the front of the search engines.

I am with competitive keywords, such as Website Hosting, Web Space, Domain Names, Web Hosting and various other phrases which are related and I believe this may be why.

But... The above quote is slightly inaccurate; since the correct wording should be...

If your website is new, then it may take up to 2-3 months to get your website indexed by Google and various other search engines.

PS> Sorry to correct you, I like to give and see accurate information for the users of this forum and many other websites.

Thanks and good luck,
~ Mike

 

I like your website and it has a nice design, layout and navigational structure to it.

The Google Adsense, (In my opinion); would be better as an image and not links.

You have some RSS News feeds, which are great for more traffic, and some good internal linking. (Good Job)...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<meta name="description" content="News aggregated from various sources around the web, research, and our own editorials, on all the topics of energy including but not limited to crude oil, gas prices, and alternative energy." />

<meta name="keywords" content="crude oil, gas prices, energy, alternative fuels, renewable, coal, nuclear, natural gas, heating oil, solar power, wind turbine" />

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I see that your website address is http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/

Why not also try getting ranks for the keywords "Consumer Energy" and "Energy Report" also.

These would be some good keywords to work on.

I see you have the SEO pack installed on your Word Press website; (Another good move)

Use these keywords to your advantages and if you feel like it, make a listing of your site at my Free website directory. http://directory.cis-webhosting.com/

Enjoy your day,
~ Mike

 

So I'm screwed for the first few months is what you're telling me. Other than article submission, I won't be able to get a steady stream of visitors. I don't think forum/blog posting adds up to that much, or am I wrong?

 

Thanks!

I thought the same thing and tried it at first, but for some reason it kept returning the same weight loss advert. When I changed the adsense to text, it began returning relevant ads again. I'll have to try it out again soon, perhaps they needed more time to sift through my site's keywords.

On my way....

 

The more content that your website has, and the more quality (Good) websites that are linking back to your website (and its other pages; keep your other pages linked as well for a better overall rank), then the chance of being indexed are much grater than if you do not do it.

NOTE!
Search engines are smart and do not like to be tricked; Be careful and do not over submit to websites, other wise they may place your links into "The Sandbox" (A slow area where they are checked)... and this can make it longer to get indexed and a good rank.

I would say, that an article, here and there, every few days would be a good idea.

Regards,
~ Mike

 

Exactly. There is a waiting period for newbies. Its good. Because we can learn so many things at this point of time. As vansterdam said this time we have to do more content and backlinks

 

Most people don't really know. The vast majority of it depends on your link building and not on Google. If you are doing a ton of link building and getting good solid backlinks to your site, you can expect to see quick results.

 

Great tips. I hope I could apply all the suggestions. How can find to improve ranking about horoscope, in which thread of this forum?

Thanks in advance

 

1 year. Supported by hard work.