SEO Checklist for a New Website
A new site starts with no authority, so technical correctness is the only lever you fully control on day one. Work through this list before and after launch.
Before launch
Fix these while the site is still on staging — retrofitting them after indexing is slower and messier.
- Unique title (under 60 chars) and description (under 160) on every page
- One H1 per page, matching the page's actual topic
- Canonical tag on every URL, one preferred domain (www or non-www)
- robots.txt allows crawling; no leftover staging noindex
- XML sitemap listing only indexable, canonical URLs
- Structured data: Organization, and Service or Article per page type
- Images compressed, sized, with descriptive alt text
- Mobile layout and Core Web Vitals checked on a real device
Launch day
Verify the property in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit the sitemap, request indexing for the homepage and top pages, and confirm analytics is firing on every route.
First 30 days
Publish depth on the two or three topics you actually want to rank for, link new pages from existing ones, fix every coverage error Search Console reports, and earn a handful of real citations — directory profiles, a business profile, genuine mentions.
What new sites get wrong
Chasing high-volume head terms, publishing thin near-duplicate pages, leaving orphan pages with no internal links, and ignoring Search Console errors for months.
Frequently asked questions
How long before a new website ranks?
Indexing can happen within days. Meaningful rankings for competitive terms typically take three to six months of consistent publishing and link acquisition.
Do I need to submit my site to Google?
Google can find it via links, but verifying in Search Console and submitting a sitemap is faster and gives you the diagnostics you need.
How many pages should a new site launch with?
Enough to cover your services properly — usually 8–15 substantial pages beats 60 thin ones.