How to do SEO for a new website: a practical checklist

1. Make sure Google can find and index your site

• Add your site to Google Search Console and verify it. A DNS TXT record verifies the whole domain, every subdomain included. Do the same in Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing’s index is also used by other search tools.
• Publish a sitemap at /sitemap.xml that lists every page you want found, and submit it in both tools. WordPress, Shopify, Wix and most frameworks can generate one for you.
• Check that robots.txt doesn’t block those pages and that they aren’t marked noindex. A “discourage search engines” setting left on from development is a common reason a new site never shows up.
• Run URL Inspection on your home page in Search Console and request indexing. After that, new pages are found through your sitemap and links.
• A few days later, search site:yourdomain.com on Google to see which pages are indexed.

2. Choose searches you can actually win

A new site won’t rank for broad terms like “shoes” or “CRM software” for a long time: those results belong to sites with years of links behind them. Start with specific searches that have fewer competitors: your brand name, your product plus a use (“invoice app for freelancers”), your service plus a place (“bakery in Indiranagar”) and the exact questions your customers ask.

• Find them in Google’s autocomplete, the “People also ask” box, the questions customers send you and, once you have some traffic, the Queries report in Search Console, which shows what people searched before they saw your site.
• Give each important search one page. Two pages chasing the same search compete with each other.

3. Write pages that answer the search

• Title tag: what the page is, main words first, under about 60 characters. Every page needs its own.
• Meta description: one or two sentences, about 150 characters, that make someone want to click. Google often rewrites it, but a good one still helps.
• One H1 that matches the title, then subheadings that follow the questions a reader has.
• Answer the question early, then add the detail: prices, steps, examples, photos of your own work. Specific, first-hand detail is what generic pages lack, and it is what search engines try to reward.
• Short, readable URLs (/pricing, /guides/gst-invoice) and descriptive link text (“see our pricing”, not “click here”).
• Compressed images with their width and height set and alt text that says what they show.

4. Get the technical basics right

• HTTPS and one address. Pick www or no www and send the other to it with a permanent (301) redirect, so links and rankings aren’t split between two copies.
• Mobile first. Google indexes the mobile version of your pages. Test on a real phone over mobile data, not just on a fast laptop.
• Speed. The Core Web Vitals report in Search Console and PageSpeed Insights point to slow pages. The usual fixes are smaller images, fewer third-party scripts and better hosting.
• Text in the HTML. If your pages are built by JavaScript in the browser, use URL Inspection to check that Google sees the text.
• Structured data. schema.org JSON-LD for your organisation, products, articles or local business helps search engines understand the page and can earn richer results. Check it with Google’s Rich Results Test.

5. Get mentioned and linked

Links from other sites are still one of the strongest signals, and the hardest part for a new site. The good ones are earned:

• Launch on the platforms and directories that suit your product (see where to list your startup or product).
• Create profiles on the social networks, app stores and business listings your customers use.
• Make something worth linking to: original data, a free tool or calculator, a template, a detailed guide.
• Partners, suppliers, customers, local press and startup media will link to you when there is a story.

Avoid buying links that pass ranking credit, large-scale link exchanges and private blog networks: Google’s spam policies treat them as link spam, and a penalty is far harder to undo than to avoid. Paid placements are fine when their links are marked rel="sponsored" or nofollow. They bring visibility and visitors, not ranking credit.

6. Own the search for your name

People who search for your brand have usually heard of you and want to check you out: they are your warmest visitors. Aim for a first page of results that is all about you: your site, your social profiles, app store pages, directory listings and reviews. Use the same name, logo and description everywhere, and link to those profiles from your site (and list them under sameAs in your Organization structured data).

A listing on TopCrown gives your product its own page with its name in the title, which can appear in that search next to your own site.

7. Measure, then repeat

• In Search Console’s Performance report, impressions show you are being found; clicks and click-through rate show whether your titles and descriptions work. A page with many impressions and few clicks needs a better title.
• Add UTM tags (?utm_source=…) to links you place on other sites, so your analytics shows which ones send visitors.
• Expect days to weeks for indexing and months for rankings. Keep publishing, and improve the pages that are already close to the first page: that is usually the quickest win.

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Where to list your startup or product in India · How to get the first visitors to a new website