Do new sites rank harder these days?

[olegik1989]

Hey. And where did you buy the links?

[Ruslan G.]

Yes, it is more and more difficult to be ranked by high frequency gambling keys every year because: 1) the niche is more and more competitive 2) more competitors - more links 3)you can't get thousands of white links in a few months 4) if you put black links it will be spam 5) so Google is acting very logically)

[gil.langelaan]

Depends on the competitiveness of niche, but in general, it takes a way longer time to rank a site.

[Alcasino]

Is building back links the only way to improve rankings?

Absolutely not the only way. Simply put, give your visitors what they want and Google will award you for that is how I usually see about it.
If you get backlinks from high authority sites the process is somewhat faster but if they lead to a site that is not what the user is looking for you'll lose that ranking.

[Juicer]

Depends on a lot of factors, but generally with good link building you can expect a new site to break thru the 'google barrier' so to speak after 9-15months.

[Stacey22]

Definitely tougher for new sites, had a few that have got out the sandbox quickly with content being the main focus, unique and regular content will help.

[veikkauskertoimet]

Is building back links the only way to improve rankings?

Not the only way, but quality links do carry more weight than any other ranking factor.