SEO Basics for New Websites: Everything You Need to Know

Launching a new website without SEO is like opening a shop in a back alley with no signage. You might have the best products, but nobody will find you.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) isn't mysterious or overly technical - it's about making your website easy for search engines to understand and showing them why your content deserves to rank.

This guide covers everything you need to know to set up SEO correctly from day one.

Understanding How Search Engines Work

Before diving into tactics, understand the basics:

The Three Steps Search Engines Follow

1. Crawling Search engines send "bots" to discover and read your website's pages.

2. Indexing They analyse your content and store information about it in their index (think: massive library catalog).

3. Ranking When someone searches, they rank indexed pages based on relevance and quality.

Your job: Make it easy for search engines to crawl, index, and understand that your pages deserve to rank.

Technical SEO: Getting the Foundation Right

Technical SEO ensures search engines can access and understand your site.

1. Site Structure & URLs

Keep URLs simple and descriptive: ✓ Good: yoursite.com/services/web-design ✗ Bad: yoursite.com/page?id=12345&cat=4

URL best practices:

Use hyphens to separate words
Keep them short and readable
Include target keywords naturally
Avoid unnecessary parameters
Use lowercase letters

Example structure:

yoursite.com/
├── about/
├── services/
│   ├── web-design/
│   ├── seo/
│   └── development/
├── blog/
│   ├── category/
│   │   └── article-slug/
└── contact/

Logical, hierarchical, easy to understand.

2. HTTPS is Essential

HTTP vs HTTPS:

HTTP: Unencrypted connection
HTTPS: Encrypted, secure connection

Google confirmed HTTPS as a ranking factor. All modern sites should use HTTPS.

Getting HTTPS:

Purchase SSL certificate from host
Use Let's Encrypt (free)
Most hosts include it free now

No excuses - use HTTPS from day one.

3. Mobile-Friendly is Non-Negotiable

Google uses mobile-first indexing - they primarily use the mobile version of your site for ranking.

Mobile requirements:

Responsive design (adapts to all screens)
Touch-friendly navigation (buttons big enough to tap)
Readable text without zooming
Fast loading on mobile connections
No intrusive interstitials (popups)

Test your mobile friendliness: Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool is free and shows exactly what needs fixing.

4. Page Speed Matters

Site speed is a direct ranking factor. Slow sites also have higher bounce rates.

Target metrics:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): < 2.5 seconds
First Input Delay (FID): < 100 milliseconds
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): < 0.1

Quick wins for speed:

Optimise images (compress, use modern formats)
Enable browser caching
Minify CSS and JavaScript
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Choose fast hosting

Use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify specific issues.

5. XML Sitemap

A sitemap tells search engines which pages exist and should be indexed.

Sitemap best practices:

Include all important pages
Exclude admin, login, thank-you pages
Submit to Google Search Console
Update automatically when adding pages
Include last modified dates

For Next.js:

// sitemap.ts
export default function sitemap() {
  return [
    {
      url: 'https://yoursite.com',
      lastModified: new Date(),
    },
    {
      url: 'https://yoursite.com/about',
      lastModified: new Date(),
    },
  ]
}

Most platforms have plugins or built-in sitemap generation.

6. Robots.txt

This file tells search engines which pages to crawl and which to ignore.

Basic robots.txt:

User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Common exclusions:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Place at: yoursite.com/robots.txt

7. Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Structured data helps search engines understand your content and can enable rich results (star ratings, event info, etc.).

Common schema types:

Organisation - Company info
LocalBusiness - Location and hours
Article - Blog posts
Product - E-commerce items
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
Breadcrumb - Site navigation

Example (Organisation):

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organisation",
  "name": "Your Company",
  "url": "https://yoursite.com",
  "logo": "https://yoursite.com/logo.png",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "telephone": "+44-20-1234-5678",
    "contactType": "Customer Service"
  }
}

Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate.

On-Page SEO: Optimizing Individual Pages

On-page SEO is about optimizing each page's content and HTML.

1. Title Tags

The most important on-page SEO element.

Best practices:

50-60 characters (or it gets cut off)
Include primary keyword
Unique for every page
Compelling (encourages clicks)
Brand at the end

Examples:

✓ Good: "How to Choose a Web Designer: Complete Guide" ✗ Bad: "Blog Post 1"

2. Meta Descriptions

Doesn't directly impact rankings but influences click-through rate.

Best practices:

150-160 characters
Include primary keyword
Compelling call-to-action
Accurately describes page
Unique for each page

Examples:

✓ Good: "Looking for web design in Bristol? We create beautiful, fast websites that convert visitors into customers. Free consultation available."

✗ Bad: "This is our web design page where we talk about web design and the web design services we offer for web design projects."

3. Headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

Headings structure your content and signal importance.

Heading hierarchy:

H1 - Page title (one per page)
H2 - Main sections
H3 - Subsections
H4-H6 - Further subdivisions

Example structure:

H1: Complete Guide to SEO for New Websites

H2: Technical SEO Foundations
  H3: Site Structure & URLs
  H3: HTTPS Setup
  H3: Mobile Optimization

H2: On-Page SEO Elements
  H3: Title Tags
  H3: Meta Descriptions
  H3: Headings

Include keywords naturally, but write for humans first.

4. Content Quality

Google's algorithm is sophisticated. Keyword-stuffed thin content doesn't work.

What Google wants:

Comprehensive - Thoroughly covers the topic
Original - Unique perspective or information
Useful - Answers user questions
Well-written - Clear, error-free, engaging
Authoritative - Demonstrates expertise

Content length: No magic number exists, but comprehensive content tends to rank better. Write as much as needed to thoroughly cover the topic - no more, no less.

5. Internal Linking

Links between your own pages help search engines discover content and understand your site structure.

Internal linking best practices:

Link to related content naturally
Use descriptive anchor text (not "click here")
Don't overdo it (2-4 per 500 words is reasonable)
Make important pages 1-2 clicks from homepage
Fix broken internal links

Example: ✓ Good: "Learn more about our web design services" ✗ Bad: "Click here to read more"

6. Images

Optimise images for both users and search engines.

Image SEO checklist:

Compress file size without losing quality
Use descriptive filenames (red-nike-running-shoe.jpg not IMG_1234.jpg)
Add alt text that describes the image
Use appropriate file formats (WebP for photos, SVG for logos)
Implement lazy loading for below-fold images

Alt text examples: ✓ Good: "Modern minimalist living room with grey sofa and wooden coffee table" ✗ Bad: "Image" or "living room image 1"

Content Strategy: What to Write About

Having a website isn't enough - you need content that attracts your target audience.

1. Keyword Research

Find what your potential customers are searching for.

Free keyword research tools:

Google Search Console (shows what you already rank for)
Google's autocomplete (start typing, see suggestions)
"People also ask" boxes in search results
Answer The Public
Google Trends

What to look for:

Search volume - How many monthly searches
Competition - How difficult to rank
Intent - What users actually want

Example: If you're a Bristol web designer:

"web designer Bristol" - High value, high competition
"web design cost Bristol" - Good volume, shows buying intent
"how to choose web designer" - Lower volume, attracts right audience

2. Content Types That Work

Blog posts/articles:

How-to guides
Comparison articles ("X vs Y")
Ultimate guides
Case studies
Industry insights

Service pages:

What you offer
Who it's for
Benefits and results
Process/how you work
Pricing (if possible)
Case studies/testimonials

Local pages (if applicable):

City/area-specific pages
Local success stories
Community involvement

3. Content Optimization

For each piece of content:

Target one primary keyword
Include keyword in title, H1, and naturally throughout
Cover the topic comprehensively
Use related keywords naturally
Include internal links to related content
Add relevant images with alt text
Format for readability (short paragraphs, headings, bullets)

Don't:

Keyword stuff (looks spammy, doesn't work)
Write for search engines instead of humans
Duplicate content across pages
Create thin, low-value content

Local SEO (If You Serve Local Areas)

If you serve specific geographic areas, local SEO is crucial.

1. Google Business Profile

Previously "Google My Business" - essential for local visibility.

Set up completely:

Accurate business name
Correct address
Phone number
Business hours
Categories
Description with keywords
Photos (high-quality, frequent updates)
Services/products
Website link

Get reviews:

Ask satisfied customers
Make it easy (send direct link)
Respond to all reviews (especially negative ones)

Reviews are a major local ranking factor.

2. Local Citations

Your business information listed on other websites.

Important directories:

Yelp
Bing Places
Apple Maps
Industry-specific directories
Local chambers of commerce

Consistency is crucial: Name, address, and phone (NAP) must be exactly the same everywhere.

3. Local Content

Create content relevant to your service areas:

"Web Design in Bristol"
"Bristol Business Growth Tips"
Local case studies
Community involvement news

Link Building: Getting Other Sites to Link to You

Backlinks (other websites linking to yours) remain a major ranking factor.

Quality Over Quantity

One link from a respected industry site is worth more than 100 from spam directories.

What makes a good backlink:

From relevant, reputable sites
Contextual (within content, not footer)
Uses natural anchor text
Follows (not "nofollow")
From pages that actually get traffic

Ethical Link Building Tactics

1. Create linkable content:

Original research
Comprehensive guides
Useful tools/calculators
Infographics
Case studies with results

2. Guest posting:

Write for industry publications
Provide genuine value
Include natural link in author bio or content

3. Broken link building:

Find broken links on relevant sites
Suggest your content as replacement
Requires outreach but works well

4. Digital PR:

Newsworthy announcements
Expert commentary
Unique data or insights

5. Local links:

Local news coverage
Chamber of commerce
Local partnerships
Community involvement

What NOT to do:

Buy links (violates Google guidelines)
Link exchanges/schemes
Blog comment spam
Directory spam
PBN (Private Blog Network) links

Measuring SEO Success

You can't improve what you don't measure.

Essential Tools (All Free)

1. Google Search Console

How Google sees your site
Which keywords you rank for
Indexing issues
Mobile usability problems
Manual penalties

2. Google Analytics 4

Traffic sources
User behaviour
Conversion tracking
Audience demographics

3. Google PageSpeed Insights

Performance metrics
Specific optimisation suggestions

Key Metrics to Track

Rankings:

Position for target keywords
Featured snippet opportunities
Local pack rankings

Traffic:

Organic sessions
Pages per session
Bounce rate
Time on page

Conversions:

Goal completions
Form submissions
Phone calls
Sales

Technical:

Crawl errors
Index coverage
Core Web Vitals
Mobile usability

SEO Timeline: What to Expect

SEO isn't instant. Here's a realistic timeline:

Weeks 1-4:

Technical setup complete
Initial content published
Google starts crawling

Months 2-3:

Pages begin appearing in search
Rankings typically outside top 50
Start seeing small traffic increases

Months 4-6:

Rankings improve if doing things right
Traffic increases more noticeably
See which content performs best

Months 7-12:

Established rankings for target keywords
Consistent organic traffic growth
Start seeing ROI

12+ Months:

Strong organic presence
Compounding content benefits
Significant traffic and conversions

Reality: Competitive keywords can take 6-12+ months to rank well. Be patient and consistent.

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

Keyword stuffing - Unnatural keyword repetition looks spammy
Thin content - 200-word pages don't rank
Duplicate content - Same content on multiple pages
Ignoring mobile - Most traffic is mobile now
Slow site speed - Users and Google hate slow sites
No HTTPS - Security is a ranking factor
Poor user experience - High bounce rates hurt rankings
Ignoring local SEO - Missing huge opportunity if local
Expecting instant results - SEO takes time
Not tracking results - Can't improve what you don't measure

The 30-Day New Website SEO Checklist

Week 1: Technical Foundation

Week 2: On-Page Basics

Optimise title tags for all pages
Write meta descriptions for all pages
Structure headings properly (H1, H2, H3)
Add alt text to all images
Optimise image file sizes
Set up internal linking
Add schema markup (Organisation/LocalBusiness)

Week 3: Content & Local

Keyword research for target topics
Create/optimize service pages
Write first blog posts
Set up Google Business Profile (if local)
Claim local citations
Request initial reviews

Week 4: Monitoring & Next Steps

Conclusion: SEO is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Good SEO is about:

Making your site technically sound
Creating genuinely useful content
Earning trust and authority over time
Providing excellent user experience

It's not about:

Gaming the system
Quick tricks or hacks
Quantity over quality
Obsessing over rankings

Do SEO right from day one, be patient, and focus on serving your audience. Results will follow.

Need Help with SEO?

I build websites with SEO best practices built-in from the start - proper technical setup, optimised content structure, and a foundation for long-term growth.

Whether you're launching a new site or improving an existing one, I can help develop an SEO strategy that fits your goals and budget.

Get in touch to discuss your SEO needs. Let's get you ranking.