Get started with SEO for a new website

New website SEO tips

When embarking on the journey of search engine optimisation for a new website, it’s crucial to establish a solid foundation. Start by conducting thorough keyword research to identify relevant keywords that align with your target audience’s search queries. Utilise tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to uncover keyword ideas that can guide your content creation. Next, focus on building a solid site structure that helps search engines understand your website’s hierarchy and enhances user experience, particularly through well-organised blog post categories. Implement on-page SEO by optimising title tags, meta descriptions, and on-page elements to ensure they reflect the search intent of your target customers.

Incorporating regular blog posts can further enhance your SEO efforts by providing additional content that targets specific keywords and topics.

Setting up Google Search Console and Google Analytics will enable you to monitor your website’s performance and make data-driven adjustments to your SEO strategy. By laying the groundwork with these essential steps, you’ll be better equipped to tackle the challenges that may arise, such as the reasons why your new website might not be ranking on Google.

Setting up your website

Setting up your website is the first step in optimising it for search engines. This involves choosing a domain name, selecting a web hosting service, and installing a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. When choosing a domain name, make sure it is unique, memorable, and concise. It should also be relevant to your target audience and include your primary keyword. For example, if you are a dentist in New York, your domain name could be “newyorkdentist.com”.
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When selecting a web hosting service, consider factors such as speed, reliability, and customer support. A fast and reliable web hosting service can improve your website’s search engine ranking and user experience. Finally, installing a CMS such as WordPress can make it easy to create and manage content on your website.

Conducting Research
Conducting research is an essential step in optimising your website for search engines. This involves researching your target audience, competitors, and keywords. When researching your target audience, consider their pain points, goals, and questions. This can help you create content that resonates with them and addresses their needs.

When researching your competitors, analyse their website’s structure, content, backlinks and keywords. This can help you identify gaps in the market and create content that is better than theirs. Finally, when researching keywords, use a keyword research tool such as Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant and high-traffic keywords. This can help you create content that is optimised for search engines and attracts more organic traffic.
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Structuring Your Website
Structuring your website is crucial for search engine optimisation. This involves creating a clear and organised site structure, using header tags, and optimising images. Large image file sizes slow websites down. When creating a site structure, consider the following:

• Navigation: Make sure your website’s navigation is clear and easy to use. This can help users and search engines find what they are looking for.
• Content hierarchy: Organise your content in a logical and hierarchical manner. This can help search engines understand the relevance and importance of your content.
• Page organisation: Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to organise your content and highlight important keywords.

​8 reasons why a new website isn't ranking on Google

​1. Your website is still to new

If you have just launched a new website the simplest reason why it might not be showing in Google is because it takes time for Google to discover and index brand new sites. To see if Google has indexed your website connect the website to Google Search Console or search: site:yourwebsite.co.uk to see a list of indexed pages.
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​If you don't see any results it means Google hasn't indexed the website yet.
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2. Your website has 'No Index' tags in Google Search Console

A 'no index' meta tag is HTML code that tells Google not to index the website or certain pages on the website. This can sometimes be left in place by developers working on the site, before it's ready to launch they should remove any 'no index' tags. This can be found in Google search console within the coverage report.

3. Other indexing issues

Common mistakes with new website indexing issues can be, duplicate content, incorrect re-directs, thin content (not enough words), not being mobile-friendly, and lacking links from other websites. Google now works as a mobile-first search engine so if your website isn’t responsive on mobile it may not be indexed at all.

4. You are in a competitive industry 

The industry you work in could be highly competitive, for example for a new website to rank highly for, insurance, health care or SEO software it would take a huge amount of time and effort. Most of the websites on page 1 of Google are over 10 years old. Not to worry, new websites can still get to the top of Google, we just have to put in a little more effort to get the top rankings.

5. Your website has a Google penalty

For genuine website owners, search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial to avoid penalties, but Google can and will de-index your website for things like unnatural links to/from your site, spam, cloaking redirects, thin content, hidden text, and keyword stuffing.

6. To much affiliate promotion

If your website has too much affiliate promotion, it may be seen as spammy by search engines. This can negatively impact your search engine ranking and user experience. To overcome this, focus on creating valuable and informative content that is not overly promotional. This can help you build trust with your audience and improve your search engine ranking.

7. The website isn't optimised 

If your website isn’t optimised for search engines, it may not be visible in search engine results. This can make it difficult for users to find your website and can negatively impact your online business. To overcome this, focus on optimizing your website’s content, structure, and keywords. This can help you improve your search engine ranking and attract more organic traffic.

8. Not using keywords in correct places

After in-depth keyword research has taken place the top picks need to be implemented throughout the content and in the correct areas of the website. An old SEO technique not to be used today is adding the main keyword too often, this will have negative results and will be seen as keyword stuffing which is bad.

​Don't do this a new website...

​For new websites, it’s crucial to avoid unnatural SEO tactics that can trigger penalties. Building too many backlinks too quickly, keyword stuffing, thin or duplicate content, and over-optimised anchor text all raise red flags. Buying links or using private blog networks (PBNs) is risky and violates Google’s guidelines. Poor internal linking, slow page speed, lack of mobile optimisation, and unedited AI-generated content can also hurt your rankings. To stay safe, focus on creating unique, valuable content, building links naturally, optimising for users first, and ensuring a solid technical foundation for steady, organic growth.

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Author: Dean

Founder of Smart SEO Cornwall. I will be sharing some useful posts on SEO and how to grow your business in Cornwall. Connect with me here on LinkedIn.