Having your own website definitely helps in making your business known on a much larger scale. It is an effective way to gain more customers, since you expose your brand and your products in cyberspace, where there are very few — sometimes, none at all — limitations. The only thing you have to consider is how to survive in the tough competition that is the Internet marketplace. This brings the question about how the most popular search engine, Google, ranks pages and other sites. When you type a word on the search bar and click the button, you will see a list of links and search results on the first page. The index goes on until the succeeding pages, which depend on how many links there are related to the keywords typed. It’s amazing to see your website getting top ranking on the search engine results page (SERP), but sometimes it takes Google a long time to index backlinks. Backlinks are categorized into types and each backlink is unique.
So, how long does it take for Google to index backlinks, especially new ones?
The speed with which Google indexes new backlinks depends on a variety of factors. For example, if you have a site that links itself to a well-known website or brand, such as Wikipedia, BBC, or Webster, then your page will be indexed quite fast — maybe even as soon as you publish it — considering the popularity of the link.
Google recognizes links and pages that people commonly visit, and if you link your page to these sites, chances are yours will get indexed quickly. And since Google is always looking for fresh and universal content, these popular links make the cut.
However, if your blog post or page isn’t linked to these pages, or if your site has just been created days ago, you cannot expect Google to find your site immediately. Indexing new backlinks will take a longer time, around two to three weeks — even months, especially since there are thousands of websites and pages being indexed on a daily basis. It is also possible that your page will never be ranked or indexed if it has poor or spammy content.
Another factor that can speed up the indexing process for Google is to link your sites to social media. Linking to SNS (social networking sites) such as Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and the like will get your backlinks indexed within a week at most.
Also, here’s an important thing to remember: According to veteran web owners and SEO strategists, links to a site get updated usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So, keep that in mind when creating new content for your site.
Another option is for you to use automated tools such as a backlink indexer. This will help your site be found by Google, who will then decide whether to index your page or not. Again, the backlink indexer is merely a tool to make Google find your site. This doesn’t automatically mean that your site will be indexed by the search engine. It will still depend on the quality of your website and the content it offers.
Don’t despair if you have just created your site. There are times when Google indexes them quickly — that is, when readers type the exact keywords that appear in your page or the name of your page itself. You can also take note of the factors mentioned above so your new backlinks can be indexed faster.