Launching a new website for your small business? You’ll want to make sure search engine optimization (SEO) is baked into your strategy from the start. Proper SEO implementation will help customers find your business online and drive qualified traffic to your site.
But with so many moving parts to coordinate, it can be tricky to know where to begin when optimizing a brand-new website.
That’s why I’ve put together this comprehensive 9-step checklist to help you get your new business website off on the right foot when it comes to SEO.
Follow this step-by-step guide, and you’ll have a solid SEO foundation in place to support organic growth and success.
Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Lay the Groundwork for SEO
Before you even begin building out your website, there are a few key tools and platforms you need to set up. These will provide the underlying infrastructure to monitor, manage, and optimize your SEO efforts going forward.
Google Search Console
The first thing you should do is register for Google Search Console. This free tool offers key insights into how Google views and interacts with your website.
In Search Console, you can:
– See which pages Google is indexing and track new pages as they get discovered
– Identify and correct indexing issues or crawler errors
– Check performance for target keywords
– Access data on clicks, impressions, and position for search queries
– Submit new content to be crawled
– And much more
This data will be incredibly valuable for monitoring the health of your site and guiding your SEO strategies.
Bing Webmaster Tools
Along the same lines, you’ll want to sign up for Bing Webmaster Tools. This will give you useful data on how your site is performing specifically within Bing’s search results.
Since Bing powers Yahoo search as well, this gives you a more complete picture across multiple search engines.
Google My Business / Google Business Profile
If you have a local brick-and-mortar business, make sure you also claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. This will help you rank for searches related to your business name, location, and services.
A complete, accurate GMB profile with good reviews and photos is a key factor in local SEO. So invest time upfront to make sure your listing provides value to searchers.
Plugins and Tools
Depending on what CMS or platform you use for your website, there are likely useful SEO plugins or extensions available.
For WordPress sites, essential plugins would include Yoast SEO or RankMath. These make SEO optimization like crafting meta titles and descriptions much easier.
For Shopify stores, extensions like SEO Manager by Hextom can help enhance your on-page SEO.
Look for solutions like these that align with your platform and will simplify implementing important SEO fundamentals.
Step 2: Configure Site Settings for SEO
Once your site is ready to launch, the next step is making sure the technical SEO configuration is airtight. This ensures search engines can easily crawl and index your pages.
Remove Noindex Tags
First, double check there are no “noindex” tags present on any pages you want to appear in search results. These noindex directives tell search bots not to include a page in their index.
You may intentionally keep noindex on certain pages, like contact forms or checkout pages. But make sure any important content intended for search is indexable.
Review Robots.txt File
Your robots.txt file instructs search bots which pages they can and cannot crawl on your site.
Take a look at this file and confirm the settings are allowing all your main pages and content to be crawled. You don’t want to accidentally block search bots from discovering your great content.
Run a Site Audit
Use a crawl-based SEO site audit tool like Screaming Frog to analyze technical SEO elements site-wide. This will detect and flag issues like:
– Duplicate content
– Pages with thin content
– Broken links or images
– Non-responsive pages
– Pages blocked by robots.txt
Fix any major problems uncovered that could hinder search visibility.
Optimizing these technical components early creates the SEO foundation for your website.
Step 3: Facilitate Indexing of New Pages
Once search engines start crawling your new site, you want to help facilitate getting pages indexed quickly so you can start ranking.
Submit Sitemaps
In both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit an XML sitemap. This provides search engines with a list of all your website pages to help them discover new content.
You can easily generate a sitemap using plugins like Yoast or Sitemap Generator for WordPress sites. Upload this file within your Search Console and Webmaster Tool accounts.
Also add an HTML sitemap page to your site’s footer, linking out to all your main pages. This assists search bots in crawling your content.
Manual Submission
Within Search Console and Webmaster Tools, you can manually submit URLs for specific pages you want to prioritize for indexing.
Start by submitting your home page and other high-priority landing pages. As you publish blog content and other new pages, submit each URL here as well.
Expedited Indexing Tools
For larger sites with extensive content, there are paid indexing tools like Tag Parrot that can accelerate getting new pages indexed. These use technologies like page fetch and renders to get URLs directly on Google’s radar.
Monitor Progress
Check Search Console and Webmaster Tools regularly to see how many pages are discovered and indexed. Troubleshoot any crawling errors or issues that pop up.
Proper indexing is key for new pages to start ranking, so stay on top of it.
Step 4: Implement Analytics Tracking
Understanding your website traffic and visitor behavior through analytics is crucial for shaping your SEO efforts.
Install Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager on your site to access powerful and in-depth analytics capabilities.
Google Analytics will help you track:
– Traffic sources sending visitors
– Visitor locations
– Pages visited and time on site
– Bounce rates
– Conversions and goal completions
This data will expose what’s working well and what needs improvement. You can then tailor your keyword targeting and content strategy accordingly.
Google Tag Manager makes it easy to deploy additional tracking like:
– Facebook pixels
– Custom event tracking
– Heatmaps and scroll tracking
– And more
Without analytics set up from the start, you’re essentially optimizing your SEO strategy blind. So this step is essential.
Connect with Search Console
Linking your Analytics account to Search Console provides useful breakdowns of your search traffic data.
You can see queries driving traffic to your site, clicks and impressions for keywords, average rankings, and more.
These insights help you double down on high-performing SEO tactics and keywords fueling growth.
Step 5: Advanced Analytics Configuration
As you become more familiar with your website analytics, there are a few key configuration steps to take:
- – Set up keyword tracking within a tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush. This will let you monitor rankings for target keywords over time.
- – Adjust default Analytics settings like session timeout duration to be more generous. This reduces inflating bounce rates, especially on long-form pages.
- – Apply filters to exclude traffic from certain IP addresses, like your office. This prevents internal visits from skewing data.
- – Build custom reports tailored to your goals and KPIs for easy access to key data.
- – Set up alerts for changes in traffic, conversions, rankings, and other metrics you want to closely monitor.
Optimizing your analytics setup takes some trial and error. But better data leads to better SEO decisions, so it’s worth investing time to get it right.
Step 6: On-Page Optimization
With your site launched and the technical groundwork in place, it’s time to focus on on-page optimization. This includes things like:
- – Page titles
- – Meta descriptions
- – Image alt text
- – Header tags
- – Content structure/layout
- – Internal linking
Proper on-page SEO makes your content more relevant for target keywords, helping pages rank higher.
Let’s look at some best practices.
Titles and Meta Descriptions
Each page should have a unique, keyword-rich title that concisely summarizes the content.
A compelling meta description provides additional context for searchers.
Using SEO tools like Yoast or templates makes optimizing these snippets at scale much easier.
Image Optimization
All images should have descriptive alt text using target keywords where relevant. Optimize file names as well.
Compress images to improve page speed.
Content Structure
Break up long blocks of content with descriptive headers (H2, H3 tags) for improved readability.
Use keyword research to identify terms and themes to focus on throughout your content.
Interlinking and Structured Data
Link out to related content on your site to enable discovery of more pages. This also passes “link juice” to give internal pages more authority.
Add structured data like schema markup where applicable to generate rich search snippets.
On-page optimization never stops as you continually refine and expand your content. But these basics get your new site pages off to a good start.
Step 7: Initial Link Building
Gaining high-quality backlinks is one of the most important ranking factors in SEO. So you need to incorporate link building into your strategy from the beginning.
Here are a few initial tactics to pursue right after launch:
Citations and Roundups
Build citations on directories like Yelp and industry-specific sites relevant to your business.
Getting featured in related local or niche roundups also provides a valuable backlink. Tools like Moz Local can automate and manage listings.
HARO and Terkel Outreach
Leverage outreach through online PR platforms like Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and Terkel. Responding to relevant queries can lead to backlinks from major publications.
Press Release
Distribute an announcement press release on PR Web or other wire service. This places your business in front of reporters and can generate early coverage.
Link building takes persistence, but every high-quality link counts. So activate these initial outreach channels to build early momentum.
Step 8: Post-Launch SEO Monitoring
You’ve optimized and launched your shiny new website. Now the real work begins.
Ongoing monitoring and maintenance is crucial for SEO success after go-live. Here are some best practices:
- – Set calendar reminders to check your key metrics and KPIs at regular intervals. Don’t just monitor once and forget about it.
- – Keep an eye out for technical issues like site errors in Search Console or Ahrefs. Fix problems ASAP.
- – Review goal progress and conversions weekly. If performance drops, investigate why.
- – Check ranking fluctuations, especially for priority keywords. Loss of rankings likely indicates an issue.
- – Request organic search reports from your web developer or SEO agency at least monthly.
- – Re-crawl your site every 1 to 3 months to catch new issues before they escalate.
- – Analyze user search patterns and adjust keyword targeting accordingly.
SEO is an iterative, ongoing process. Consistent monitoring and optimization will ensure your performance improves over time.
Step 9: Plan Ahead for SEO Success
While this checklist will get your new website off to a great start SEO-wise, optimization should begin even earlier in your process.
Here are a few key reminders as you plan out your site build:
- Consider SEO Early On
- Think about target keywords, content strategy, technical needs and more during initial website planning. SEO should inform your site architecture and design.
- SEO Is Not an Afterthought
- Too often, SEO is tacked on right before launch. But to maximize results, it needs to be woven into website plans from the very start.
- Match Site Structure to Searcher Intent
- Make sure your site content and pages align with what users are searching for. Keyword research reveals user intent that should guide your site navigation.
By keeping SEO principles in mind from the beginning, you’ll set your new website up for long-term success.
If you’re preparing to launch a new website for your small business, following this comprehensive 9-step SEO checklist will help you build a solid foundation to drive organic growth.
By laying the technical groundwork, optimizing content for search, tracking analytics, earning backlinks and monitoring progress, you can maximize visibility and eliminate issues before they arise.
While it may seem daunting at first, just tackle SEO one step at a time. Stay consistent with optimization and management after launch.
With the right SEO strategy powering your online presence from day one, you’ll attract and convert more of your ideal customers over the long run.
So don’t leave SEO as an afterthought – make it a core part of your website launch planning and execution. This checklist gives you a proven framework to gain traction and outperform competitors.