SEO for a new website: the first 90 days plan

Days 1-15: the foundations

Everything that follows rests on the technical layer. Fixing it later costs ten times more, so lock it down first:

• HTTPS everywhere, with automatic redirection from http and a single version of the domain (with or without www, not both).
• Decent speed from day one: compressed images, no unnecessary scripts. Core Web Vitals are a hundred times easier to fix on a 10-page website than on a 200-page one.
• An open robots.txt, including for AI crawlers: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot. Many themes and plugins block them by default.
• An XML sitemap generated and reachable at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.
• Structured data in place: Organization or LocalBusiness on the homepage, with name, address, phone, services. The JSON-LD is a ten-minute copy-paste.
• A clean, final URL structure: short, human-readable, no dates or parameters. You never change a URL afterwards.

Days 15-30: indexing

An unindexed website does not exist. Three actions speed up entry into the index:

1. Open Search Console, verify the domain, submit the sitemap. It is the official channel for telling Google you exist.
2. Request manual indexing of your 5 most important pages via URL inspection. One by one, it takes ten minutes.
3. Create your Google Business Profile if you run a local business, with a link to the website. It is often the site's first external link, and Google follows it quickly.

On day 30, type site:yourdomain.com into Google: your main pages should appear. If not, our article on invisible websites lists the classic blockers.

Days 30-60: content

Now that Google can read you, give it something to read. The essentials fit in three rules:

• The pages that sell come first. One page per service and per service area, each targeting its "trade + city" query. They are the ones that will pay; the blog comes later.
• One target query per page, in the title, the h1 and the first paragraph. Never two pages on the same query.
• Substantial content. Below 600 words, a page struggles to prove anything. Aim for 600 to 1,000 useful words per service page: how the service unfolds, prices or ranges, frequent questions, your proof.

Connect everything: each service page links to neighboring services and the contact page, and the homepage links to everything. Internal linking is free and it is the first ranking factor you control 100%.

Days 60-90: authority

A new website with zero external links stays suspicious in Google's eyes. No need for a campaign: a healthy base is enough at this stage.

• The directories that count: your chamber of commerce or trade association, the professional directories of your industry, two or three serious local directories. Same name, address and phone everywhere.
• Your existing network: suppliers, partners, clients with a website. One natural link from a real business in your ecosystem is worth more than ten directory links.
• Your first two in-depth pieces: a guide or a case study that answers a real customer question. They are what will attract the next links, and what AI engines will cite.

The 4 fatal mistakes

1. Launching the website in "noindex". The forgotten pre-production setting. First thing to check on launch day.
2. Buying links after 3 weeks. A new website with 50 artificial links is a voluntary report to the anti-spam filters.
3. Publishing 30 generated pages at once and then nothing. Google prefers a steady, modest rhythm over a one-time avalanche.
4. Getting impatient on day 45. A new website's rankings move in steps, often around the 2-3 month mark. Our article on SEO timelines gives realistic horizons per query type.