SEO for a New Website: What to Do in the First 90 Days

Quick answer

For a brand-new website, spend the first 90 days on foundations rather than tricks: verify it in Google Search Console, submit a sitemap, set up a Google Business Profile, give every service its own clear page, then publish a few useful guides and earn genuine local mentions. Expect impressions within weeks and steady enquiries over months.

A new domain starts with no history, no links and no track record, so the order of work matters more than the volume. This guide sets out what to do before launch, in the first fortnight, in the first six weeks and by day ninety, what to measure along the way, and the mistakes that hold new sites back.

What to expect from a brand-new domain

Google has to find a new site, crawl it, decide which pages to index and then work out where they deserve to rank. None of that is instant. Google’s SEO starter guide says some changes take effect in a few hours while others could take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether a change helped.

In practice, a new site often appears for its own business name first, then for long, specific searches such as a service plus a town, and only later for shorter, competitive phrases. That is normal. The aim of the first 90 days is to make each of those steps as easy as possible for Google and as useful as possible for visitors.

Before launch: get the foundations right

Our website launch checklist covers the wider pre-launch checks, from forms to analytics. Do not worry about the meta keywords tag; Google’s starter guide says Google Search does not use it.

Week 1: tell Google the site exists

1. Verify the site in Search Console. Google describes Search Console as a free tool that shows how often your site appears in Search, which queries show it and how often people click, and it lets you fix indexing problems and request indexing of new content.
2. Submit your sitemap. Add it in the Sitemaps report. Google’s sitemap guide is clear that submitting a sitemap is merely a hint, not a guarantee, so links still matter.
3. Request indexing for your key pages. Use the URL Inspection tool for the homepage and each service page.
4. Run a site: search. Search Google for site: followed by your domain. The starter guide says that if you see results pointing to your site, you are in the index.
5. Link the new site from everywhere you already exist. Social profiles, email signature, any directory listing you already have.

If nothing appears after a couple of weeks, our guide to a website not showing on Google walks through the usual causes in order.

Weeks 1 to 2: set up your Google Business Profile

For a local business, the Google Business Profile often brings enquiries before the website ranks at all. Choose the right primary category, add your service area, opening hours, real photos and a link to the website, and make sure the name and phone number match the site exactly. Our guide to Google Business Profile setup costs explains what is free and what is worth paying for, and our Google Business Profile setup and optimisation is £199 if you would rather it was done for you.

Ask your first customers for reviews from day one. A new profile with a handful of genuine reviews looks far more active than an empty one.

Weeks 2 to 6: make service pages that answer real searches

Each service page should answer the questions a buyer has before they pick up the phone: what exactly you do, where you work, roughly what it costs, how long it takes, what happens first and why you rather than the next firm. Use the words customers use, not internal jargon. A page titled Bathroom Fitting in Derby will match searches better than one titled Our Solutions.

Add a short FAQ to each service page from questions customers actually ask. Add photos of real jobs. Link each service page to related services and to the contact page. Thin pages of a hundred words rarely rank for anything competitive.

Weeks 4 to 12: publish your first useful guides

Once service pages are solid, start writing guides that answer the questions people search before they are ready to buy. A roofer might write about the signs a flat roof needs replacing; a bookkeeper about the deadlines a new sole trader faces. Each guide links to the service it supports.

Quality beats volume. Three or four genuinely helpful guides in the first three months are a better start than twenty thin ones. If writing is not your strength, our blog writing and content marketing is £199 a month.

Links and mentions: the honest version

A new site has no links pointing to it, and links remain one of the ways Google judges which sites to trust. The safe route is slow but solid: suppliers or manufacturers who list approved installers, trade bodies you belong to, local business groups, sponsorship of a local club, and the handful of directories that matter in your trade. Each should be a real relationship, not a purchase.

Avoid anyone selling packages of links. Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, and a new site has no history to cushion the damage if it is caught.

Worked example: a bathroom fitter in Derby

Picture a bathroom fitter who launches a six-page site in March. In the first week the site is verified in Search Console, the sitemap is submitted and the homepage and three service pages are requested for indexing. The Business Profile goes live with the same name and number as the site, twenty photos of finished bathrooms and a link to the bathroom fitting page.

By the end of April, each service page has grown from a short paragraph to a full answer: what is included, a typical timescale, a starting price, an FAQ and photos. In May the fitter publishes two guides, one on how long a bathroom refit takes and one on choosing between a shower and a bath, each linking to the service page. Meanwhile the tile supplier adds the business to its list of recommended fitters.

The fitter does not rank for bathroom fitter on its own by June, and should not expect to. But Search Console shows impressions for searches such as bathroom fitting Derby and walk-in shower installation, the Business Profile brings calls, and every caller is asked how they found the business. That is a healthy first ninety days. The timeline here is illustrative; your own will depend on your trade, area and competition.

What to measure in the first 90 days

Impressions come before clicks, and clicks come before enquiries. If impressions are rising, the work is landing; rankings and calls follow.

Mistakes that hold new sites back

• Launching with the discourage search engines setting still switched on.
• One long page for every service, so nothing matches a specific search.
• Changing page addresses every few weeks while Google is still learning the site.
• Copying text from a competitor or a supplier’s website.
• Buying links or reviews to speed things up.
• Judging success after a fortnight and changing everything.

How we help new websites get found

Every website we build, from a £299 one-page site to a £499 custom WordPress site, includes an SEO foundation: schema, meta and a sitemap. For ongoing work, our SEO service is £249 a month and covers rankings, content, technical health, link building and reports. You can check where your site stands today with our free SEO audit, see every price on our pricing page, and order online or email support@luxbranding.co.uk.