.webp){kind=logo}
.webp){kind=logo}
.svg)
The SEO community agrees on the powerful effect of backlinks, as their effects can significantly contribute to improving Google rankings.
But the question is how long does it take until rank improvements are visible through backlinks?
.png)
Which factors determine the duration?
There are various factors that influence how quickly ranking improvements are achieved through backlinks.
I will list and explain the most important ones in the following sections:
#1 The number of inbound backlinks
Both quantity and quality play a role here.
Because the sheer number of backlinks alone is no longer decisive for successful SEO.
The rule is: the more high-quality links I can provide, the faster there can be stronger improvements.
A good backlink profile is characterized by a mix of different links.
The links should be taken into account both from highly authoritarian sites and from smaller, thematically relevant sites.
A common misconception in the SEO world is that accumulating a large number of backlinks will inevitably result in a rapid improvement in rankings.
In practice, however, it has been shown that Google often looks at websites with an unnaturally rapid increase in backlinks with suspicion, as this may indicate manipulative practices such as link buying or link sharing.
Google becomes suspicious in particular when a completely new domain, without a previous track record and without previous backlinks, suddenly acquires hundreds or even thousands of links within a few weeks.
In these cases, a manual penalty and a downgrading of the website's ranking by Google cannot be ruled out.
I therefore recommend that you always ensure a natural, continuous development of the link profile.
Continuity in link building leads to long-term SEO success.
#2 The time of the last crawl
Search engines must crawl the website to discover the backlink, which happens at different speeds depending on the frequency of crawling.
This frequency, also known as a “crawl rate,” can vary from site to site and is determined by search engines based on various factors.
Aspects such as the size of the website, its structure, page load time, the value and timeliness of the content, and the number of new and updated pages play a role here.
Google and other search engines aim to always provide users with the most up-to-date and relevant information.
As a result, they tend to crawl websites that are regularly updated and offer fresh, high-quality content more frequently.
If a website on which a new backlink was placed has had a high crawl rate in the past, it is more likely that the new link will be discovered more quickly by search engines and included in the index.
It's also worth noting that backlinks from pages that are themselves crawled more frequently, such as popular news websites or blogs with high readership, tend to be collected faster and therefore incorporated into the evaluation of a website's link popularity in a shorter period of time.
Webmasters can actively take steps to improve the crawlability of a website and thus support the crawling process.
For example, a clear, logical page structure can help new content and backlinks to be discovered and indexed more quickly.
However, it is also important to note that even after a backlink has been crawled and indexed by the search engines, it can take some time before concrete effects on the ranking of the linked page become visible.
This is due to the complex algorithms used by search engines, which include a variety of factors in the evaluation and are constantly being developed.
Patience and long-term development of a link building strategy are therefore essential.
#3 The initial situation of your own website
Websites on the Internet that already have a solid SEO foundation and a clear structure can feel the impact on the ranking more quickly.
That's because they've already built up a certain level of authority and trust within search engines.
The existing backlink structure also plays a role here.
A site that already has a variety of high-quality backlinks may experience positive change through new backlinks faster than a website that is still at the beginning of link building.
In addition, the relevance and quality of content on the website influences the speed and extent of the impact of new backlinks.
Search engines rate content that is informative, well-written, and relevant to the target group higher.
When such content is reinforced by backlinks, it can help increase the site's visibility and authority in search results.
In addition, the user experience on the website can also play a role.
Factors such as page load speed, mobile design, usability, and overall page accessibility influence how positive the effects of backlinks are.
If users who come to the site via a backlink have a positive experience there, this reduces the bounce rate and can result in better rankings.
#4 The inertia of the Google Penguin algorithm
The Google Penguin algorithm, first introduced in 2012, aims to combat web spam and in particular to prevent the use of unfair link building practices.
With its help, Google is trying to penalize websites that violate webmaster guidelines by downgrading their rankings.
The algorithm's “inertia,” or latency, refers to how long it takes for changes or updates to a website's link profile to be recognized, processed and finally reflected in search results.
Penguin updates used to happen at intervals, which could mean it took weeks or even months before Google noticed the effects of a new backlink (or removal of a harmful backlink).
Since the integration of the Penguin algorithm into Google's core algorithm in 2016, data processing has been carried out in real time.
This means that changes to a website's link profile should be identified more quickly.
However, there is no guarantee as to how quickly the effects of a new backlink will be felt, as this also depends on many other factors.
#5 The trust value of a domain
A link from a trusted domain can be faster and more effective than one from a less trustworthy site.
The trust value, also known as “domain authority” or “domain trust,” refers to the reputation and credibility that search engines attribute to a specific domain.
It is based on a variety of factors, including the quality and relevance of the content, the number and quality of inbound links, and the age of the domain.
Domains with a high trust score usually have a history of providing high-quality, relevant content and a solid, user-friendly structure.
Links from these domains are generally regarded as more reliable and authentic and are therefore rated higher by search engines.
A backlink from a domain with a high trust score can significantly improve your SEO by increasing the reputation of your own site in the eyes of search engines.
Tools to check indexed backlinks?
Today, we, and many other webmasters, use SEO tools to check the effectiveness of backlinks and adjust the strategy accordingly.
The first few months after acquiring new backlinks are crucial to assess their impact and value.
In the following sections, I will list the individual tools and explain their features:
Google Search Console (GSC)
Google Search Console, or GSC for short, is an essential, free tool provided by Google to help webmasters monitor and manage their website's presence in Google Search.
To see the backlinks within Google Search Console, you need to do the following:
1. Click “Links” in the left sidebar
2. Then click on the “More” tab under “Top linking sites”
Here you can now see all links that Google has indexed.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an advanced SEO tool that offers a variety of features to analyze a website's backlink profile in depth.
It provides an extensive database of live backlinks and allows users to gain deep insight into a website's link quality and structure.
To get to backlinks within Ahrefs, you need to do the following:
1. Click on “Site Explorer” in the top bar
2. Enter your website's URL
3. Then click on the “Backlinks” tab in the left sidebar
Here you can now see all backlinks and filter them according to the desired metrics.
(This information only applies to the paid version of Ahrefs)
SEMrush
SEMrush is a comprehensive tool that helps SEO professionals collect data on backlinks, keywords, and traffic to make decisions for their SEO strategy.
To get to the backlink data, you must follow the steps below:
1. Click “Backlink Analytics” in the left sidebar
2. Then click on “Backlinks”
You can now see all backlinks.
Can you speed up the indexing of backlinks?
The indexing of backlinks can be accelerated by a few methods.
To make it easier to understand, I will briefly explain the individual methods to you:
1. Have backlinks manually indexed by Google Search Console:
To get your backlinks indexed faster by Google, you can use the Google Search Console's URL inspection tool.
Proceed as follows:
1. Sign in to the Google Search Console tool
2. Enter the URL to which your backlink is linked
3. Click “Request Indexing”
This process signals Google to search the page in question specifically, increasing the likelihood that your backlink will be indexed more quickly.
2. Use Web 2.0:
Web 2.0 platforms allow users to create and share their own content.
This means that these platforms live off contributions from Internet users.
Prominent examples include Wikipedia, social networks such as Facebook and video platforms such as YouTube.
By publishing relevant content on these platforms that matches your site's main theme, you can generate backlinks that get organic traffic and a better search engine ranking over time.
3. Use ping tools:
By using ping tools, you can alert search engines that updates have been made to your site.
By pinging the URL where your backlink is located, you make the search engine bots check that page again and look for what's new.
This helps search engines recognize and index your backlink faster.
One example of such a tool is Pingomatic.
4. Social media sharing:
Posting the URL of a page that contains a backlink to social networks such as Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest can significantly speed up the indexing process.
5. High-quality backlinks:
The quality of a backlink is crucial.
Links from high-traffic websites that regularly publish high-quality content are much more valuable for search engines.
High quality and relevance of backlinks can help Google index them more quickly.
6. Use video sitemaps:
If your site has video content, a video sitemap is useful.
A video sitemap provides Google with detailed information about the videos on your site, which can make indexing easier.
Overall, the speed of backlink indexing can influence a website's ranking and be accelerated by the methods mentioned above.
However, it is still essential to rely on natural link building and organic traffic to achieve the most sustainable results.
What should you do if certain links are simply not listed?
If certain links are not indexed, you don't have many options for action, as backlinks usually come from domains that you don't have direct access to.
However, there are a few ways to rule out certain scenarios.
I have created a step-by-step checklist for you in the next section:
Step-by-Step Checklist
1. Check link status:
Check on the respective page that the backlink actually still exists and has been placed on your website.
2. Manual indexing:
Contact the website owner on whom the backlink was placed and ask them to manually index the page via the Search Console.
3. Quality control:
Check the linking page's spam score
A high score may be a reason why search engines don't consider the link.
4. Check on-page factors:
Make sure that the linked page doesn't have any technical issues.
5. Check relevance:
Search engines prefer thematically relevant backlinks.
Make sure that the content of the linking page is relevant to your page.
6. Check anchor text:
An unnatural or over-optimized anchor text can be considered spam by search engines.
7. Use of backlink tools:
Use SEO tools like Ahrefs or MOZ to see if the links have already been indexed.
Especially with Ahrefs, backlinks are often collected in front of the Google Search Console.
But sometimes it simply takes a while for search engines to recognize and index a link.
However, if a backlink is not indexed despite all efforts, think about finding alternative or additional sources for backlinks.
conclusion
There is no general answer to the question of how long it takes for backlinks to take full effect.
The idea that it always takes exactly 15 days, for example, is misleading.
Nevertheless, my experience in this area shows that it usually takes between two weeks and three months for backlinks from Google to be indexed.
However, their actual effect on rankings often only occurs later.
The time until a backlink has its maximum effect can therefore vary significantly and depends on various factors:
1. Backlink quality
A high-quality backlink from an authoritative and relevant website is likely to work faster and stronger than a link from a less relevant or spammy site.
2. Age of the linking page
A backlink from an established and older site can build trust and authority faster.
3. The freshness of the content
Current and regularly updated content can help backlinks be identified and weighted more quickly.
4. The number and quality of other backlinks on the site
If a page has a lot of high-quality backlinks, this can speed up the effect of a new backlink.
5. Technical factors
The crawl rate and frequency of the website can influence how quickly backlinks are recognized.
It's also possible that certain backlinks aren't recognized at all, particularly if they're from low-quality sites or if Google deems them unnatural or manipulative.
It is therefore crucial to focus on building high-quality and relevant backlinks and not just pay attention to quantity.
Patience and consistency are the key to changing the position within the search results and thus achieving success.
.webp)
.webp)
