A website can look perfect on launch day and still be difficult to find in Google.
The good news? Many SEO problems are much easier to prevent than to fix later. A solid SEO foundation should be part of development from the very beginning.
Here are 10 essential steps to take before launching a website:
- Plan your site structure: organize pages into a clear, logical hierarchy.
- Research your keywords: understand what your potential customers are actually searching for.
- Set unique page titles: every important page should have a clear, relevant title.
- Write meta descriptions: make your search snippets informative and compelling.
- Use proper heading structure: H1, H2 and H3 headings should help both users and search engines understand the content.
- Create SEO-friendly URLs: keep them short, descriptive, and easy to understand.
- Set up internal linking: connect relevant pages to make navigation and crawling easier.
- Optimize images: use descriptive file names, alt text, and appropriate image sizes.
- Check technical SEO: mobile responsiveness, loading speed, canonical URLs, sitemap, robots.txt, and indexing settings all matter.
- Connect analytics and Search Console: start collecting data from day one so you can measure and improve performance.
The goal here isn’t just to make your website “SEO-perfect” before launch. You should build the right foundation so you don’t have to rebuild it six months later.
At YHB, we can help with SEO setup both for new websites and existing projects – from technical foundations to ongoing optimization. Get in touch – we will be happy to help!