How long does SEO take to work?

SEO takes time—results start within a month, but real rankings can take 6 to 12 months. Learn why SEO is a long game and what factors impact your success.

There’s no magic wand when it comes to SEO—just consistent, strategic effort. If someone promises overnight results, be wary. Proper SEO is a long game, but once the foundations are solid, the sky’s the limit.

Patience and consistency are key

You can start seeing some rankings in as little as a month, especially for low-competition keywords. But for decent page positions? Give it at least 6 months. And if you’re aiming for that coveted first page on Google, you’re likely looking at 12 months or more of steady work.

There are loads of factors that affect your SEO success:

Domain legacy – Older websites have a head start because Google’s had more time to crawl them.
How your website is built – This is where we shine. A well-structured, fast-loading, mobile-friendly site gives you a solid base.
Traffic history – Sites with existing, steady traffic tend to perform better.
Written content – Google crawls text, not images. So even if your site looks lekker, it needs strong copy.
Content quality – It must be relevant to what users are searching for and not copied from somewhere else.
Site security – If your site’s ever been hacked or flagged for malware, your rankings can suffer badly.
Hosting quality – A reliable, fast host helps with speed and uptime—key SEO signals.
Mobile responsiveness – Non-negotiable in modern SEO. If your site doesn’t work on phones, you’re already behind.
Previous dodgy SEO tactics – If you’ve been hit with black hat SEO techniques in the past, it can take a while to recover.