How Long Does It Take to Get New Content Indexed and Ranked?

According to Google it can take as little as hours, to as much as weeks, for new content to be indexed and ranked, with quality being one of the most important factors.

Google’s search relation representative, John Mueller, has posted a video on AskGooglebot, answering the query of “How long does SEO take for new pages?”.

According to John, it can take ”several hours to several weeks”, or even longer if there are any technical issues, for content to be indexed. Lengthier times could also be due to the Googlebot being too busy on other sites considered to be higher quality sites.

Being indexed doesn’t necessarily mean being ranked, so forcing indexing will not result in higher ranking positions, according to Google. He also explained that there is no guarantee that your content will be indexed at all, as no search engine will index every single piece of content on the internet, including Google. The content that will be avoided being indexed is typically, mirrored and duplicate content, as well as irrelevant content that is low in quality.

When it comes to attempting to speed up indexing, Google advise the following:

• Increase the speed of your website and server – this prevents server overload.
• Link your internal pages to your home page.
• Unnecessary URLs should be avoided on your website e.g., filter for category pages.
• Use sitemap files for individual URLs.

Prioritise the quality of your content!

Google will always look more favourably on high quality content when it comes to indexing. The aim is to increase your chances of ranking above low quality sites by providing relevant content for the end user.

In John Mueller’s video, he sums up the reasons why it so important to get it right when it comes to adding new content to a site. He gives advice on how Google views pages and what hurdles you may encounter along the way.

Watch the video here: youtube.com/watch?v=6xtYk8optLc&t=9s