SEO for a new website: the technical foundations and the first pages that matter

With SEO for a new website, order matters more than volume: first a site that Google can read without obstacles, then a few pages that answer specific searches well, and only then the blog. Many new businesses do it the other way round.

A new domain has no history and no links from other sites. Google needs time to discover it and to come to trust it. That time cannot be bought, but it can be put to good use.

SEO for a new website: what to check before launch

The costliest mistakes are the mundane ones. The working version of the site is kept hidden from search engines, and sometimes the setting stays switched on after launch. In other cases the site answers at four addresses (with and without “www”, with and without HTTPS) and Google does not know which is the real one.

Indexing means Google keeping a page in its database, from where it can be shown in the results. For that to happen, the bot has to be able to reach the page and read it. We check, in turn:

• A single address: all the variants redirect to the chosen one, on HTTPS.
• Robots.txt and noindex: the file and the tag used to block access or indexing, checked to make sure nothing is left over from the test version.
• XML sitemap: the list of pages you want Google to find, generated automatically.
• Mobile: Google assesses the site in its mobile version, so all the content has to be there.
• Speed: compressed images, suitable hosting, no unnecessary plugins.

Keywords chosen by search intent

Search intent is what the person actually wants: to find something out, to compare, to buy, to find a place. “What is a heat pump” calls for an article; “heat pump installation Brașov” calls for a service page, with the area covered, the stages and contact details. The simplest test: search for the term and look at what kind of pages Google shows.

A new site does not compete on general terms from the outset. We choose longer, more specific terms (service plus city, product plus use), where the searcher knows what they want. Each group of closely related terms gets a single page.

The first pages worth writing

Before any article, the site needs the pages that earn money: one for each service or product category, written in full. What you offer, to whom, how it works, what the price depends on, which questions always come up.

Next come the pages that build trust: who you are, with names and faces, the company details, real contact information. Only then come the articles, chosen from the questions you already receive. If you have premises open to the public, we also add a Google Business Profile from the start.

Search Console and how long results take to appear

Google Search Console is the free tool through which Google shows you how it sees the site: which pages it has indexed, which problems it has found, which searches you appear for. We connect it on day one and submit the sitemap.

At first, the good signs are modest: pages enter the index, impressions appear for specific terms, then the first clicks. How long it takes depends on the field, the competition and how often you publish. Nobody outside Google can give an honest timescale, and anyone who promises a particular position is promising something they do not control. In the meantime, the work has a rhythm:

• At launch: the technical check, Search Console, the sitemap.
• Straight afterwards: the service pages, in full.
• Then, steadily: articles drawn from customers’ questions and corrections based on the Search Console data.

Why shortcuts are not worth it

Links from other sites matter, and that has created a market in link packages and paid articles. Bought purely for position in the results, these are what Google’s rules call link spam (advertising labelled as such is a different matter): you risk a penalty or, more often, the links are simply ignored. Either way you have paid for nothing.

The second shortcut is copy produced in bulk, with or without artificial intelligence, purely to cover keywords. Google penalises the purpose, not the tool. We use AI assistants ourselves for research and drafts, but every page goes through a person who knows the subject.

Good links come from real things: partners and suppliers who list you, trade associations, the local press when you have something to say.

This is a typical project description: it shows how we usually approach this kind of work and does not present a project carried out for a particular client. Every real project starts from your company’s situation, and the stages, timescales and price are agreed after the initial discussion.