Most SEO work happens after launch, but a few foundations are much easier to get right on day one than to fix later.

This is SEO for new websites: not tricks, just the groundwork that lets search engines find, understand and trust your pages from the start. These are the foundations we set on every site we build, and the ones worth asking any studio about.

Titles and descriptions

Every page gets its own title and meta description, written for the people searching, not stuffed with keywords. They are what people see in the results, so they decide whether anyone clicks.

A good title names the page’s topic first and the brand last, in roughly 50 to 60 characters, so it isn’t cut off. Google may rewrite titles that don’t describe the page well, as its guide to title links explains, so describe the page honestly.

A clear structure

One main heading per page, the other headings in order, and addresses that read like the page: /services/web-design, not /page?id=12.

Structure also means internal links. Each important page should be reachable from the menu or from related pages, with link text that says where it goes. A page that nothing links to is hard for search engines to find, and hard for visitors too.

Speed

Compressed images in modern formats such as WebP, and no heavy scripts the page doesn’t need. Fast pages keep visitors, and search engines notice.

Google measures real-world experience with its Core Web Vitals: how quickly the main content appears, how fast the page responds to a tap, and how much it jumps around while loading. Our note on why a website feels slow on a phone covers the usual causes.

Measurement from the start

Google Search Console, verified.
Analytics, with the goals that matter to you.
An XML sitemap, submitted.

Set these up before launch, not months later. Search Console shows which pages Google has indexed, which searches you appear for and what is broken. Without a baseline from day one, you can’t tell whether anything you change later is working.

The SEO for new websites checklist

Before a new site goes live, we check these on every page:

A unique title and meta description.
One main heading that matches what people search for.
Descriptive alt text on images that carry meaning.
Readable addresses, with no duplicates of the same page.
Mobile layout and speed, tested on a real phone.
Indexing allowed, and a sitemap submitted.
Structured data for the business: name, address, contact details and logo.

What takes time

A new domain has no history, so even a well-built site takes time to be crawled and to earn trust. It is normal for a new site to need weeks before most pages are indexed, and months before it ranks for competitive searches. Publishing useful pages, such as answers to the questions your customers ask, and earning links from real partners and directories, is what moves it forward.

For businesses with a physical location, a complete Google Business Profile often brings local enquiries long before the website ranks on its own.

Questions people ask

How long until a new website shows up on Google?

Often a few days to a few weeks for the first pages to be indexed, once the sitemap is submitted in Search Console. Ranking well for competitive searches takes longer, usually months, and depends on your content and your competitors.

Do we need to pay for SEO tools?

Not at the start. Search Console and analytics are free and cover what a new site needs. Google’s own SEO starter guide is a good, plain-language read.

We are moving from an old site. Does anything change?

Yes: the old addresses need redirects, so the rankings move with you. Our note on moving your old website without losing traffic walks through it.

Good SEO for new websites is part of every site we build, and our digital growth service picks up from there once the site is live.