10 Steps You Should Take to Rank a Newly Launched Website

Launching a new website is exciting, but ensuring it ranks well in search engines is crucial for attracting visitors and achieving your digital marketing goals. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the important element in getting your website seen by search engines and potential customers.

In this guide, we’ll cover the essential steps you need to take to improve your site’s ranking and visibility. By following a structured approach, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the complexities of SEO and achieve success online.

Step #1
Conduct Thorough Keyword Research

Keyword research is important for any successful SEO strategy. It involves a detailed process of identifying and analyzing the search terms and phrases that potential visitors use when looking for information, products, or services related to your website.

Understanding these search terms allows you to craft your website content to match your audience’s needs and preferences, enhancing your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

» Importance of Keyword Research

Effective keyword research helps you know what your audience is searching for and ensures that your website content is aligned with those queries. By identifying the appropriate keywords, you can attract relevant traffic to your site, improve engagement, and ultimately drive conversions.

» Tools for Keyword Research

Managing local SEO for multiple locations comes with its own set of difficulties, including maintaining consistency across listings, creating location-specific content, and handling reviews. These challenges can be mitigated with a well-structured approach and the right tools.

• Google Keyword Planner: This is a free Keyword Planner tool that helps you find new keywords, showing search volume, competition, and trends. It’s applicable for both Google Ads and organic search.
• Ahrefs: Offers detailed keyword research with difficulty scores, search volume, and click-through rates. Its extensive database and advanced filters help identify high-potential keywords and evaluate competition.
• SEMrush: Provides a comprehensive keyword research toolkit, including difficulty analysis, search volume trends, and competitive insights. It also reveals keywords your competitors are targeting, highlighting opportunities and gaps in your strategy.

» Choosing Relevant Keywords

• Search Volume and Competition: Target keywords with high search volume and manageable competition. High volume shows popularity, while low competition indicates easier ranking. Use tools to find keywords with substantial volume but low competition.
• Relevance to Your Niche: Choose keywords that align closely with your website’s content, products, or services. For example, a digital marketing blog might target terms like “SEO strategies” or “content marketing tips.”
• Long-Tail Keywords: Use longer, more specific phrases with lower competition and higher intent. For example, “best SEO tools for small businesses” is more targeted than “SEO tools.”
• User Intent: Identify the intent behind keywords—informational (seeking knowledge), navigational (specific site), or transactional (purchase intent). Craft your website content to complement the intent of your targeted keywords.

» Can I Rank a Website Without SEO?

While it’s technically possible to rank a website without traditional SEO practices, it’s doubtful that you’ll achieve high rankings or significant traffic without them. SEO helps search engines comprehend your site and ensures that your content is relatable to users’ search queries. Without SEO, your website may struggle to appear in search results, limiting your visibility and potential audience.

Step #2
Optimize Your Website’s On-Page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing various elements on your site to enhance search engine ranking and user experience. By focusing on these key areas, you can help search engines determine and index your content more effectively.

» Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Both title tags and meta descriptions are vital for both search engines and users. Create unique, compelling titles that incorporate relevant keywords to make your pages more discoverable. The meta description should provide a short but brief summary of the page’s content and include primary keywords, as they appear in search results and can influence click-through rates.

» Headers and Subheaders (H1, H2, H3)

Headers classify your content and make it easier for search engines and audiences to recognize the structure of your page. Use H1 tags for your title, and H2 and H3 tags for subheadings and sub-subheadings. Include relevant keywords into these headers to highlight the key topics of your content and improve keyword relevance.

» URL Structure

A clean and descriptive URL structure helps search engines and users explore your site more effectively. Use short, meaningful URLs that include relevant keywords and avoid unnecessary parameters or complex structures.

For example, a URL like www.example.com/digital-marketing-tips is more user-friendly and SEO-friendly than www.example.com/page123.

» Internal Linking

Internal links bridge different web pages on your site, helping users find related content and improving overall navigation. They also help distribute page authority throughout your site. Link to other relevant pages within your web content using descriptive anchor text, which can boost the visibility of other pages and improve your site’s overall SEO.

» Image Alt Text

Alt text (alternative text) provides an interpretation of the images on your website, which helps search engines determine the content of the photos. Use descriptive and keyword-rich alt text for each image to improve visibility in image search results and enhance accessibility for users.

As an example, instead of “image1.jpg,” use “digital-marketing-strategy-infographic.”

Step #3
Create High-Quality, Engaging Content

When it comes to SEO, your content is highly vital. Crafting high-quality, engaging content is essential for attracting visitors, retaining their interest, and improving your search engine rankings.

Here’s how to ensure your content stands out:

» Content Quality

High-quality content is valuable, relevant, and well-crafted. Aim to provide in-depth information that addresses your audience’s questions and needs. This means creating content that is not only informative but also insightful and actionable. Avoid thin or superficial content and instead focus on delivering comprehensive answers, useful tips, and unique perspectives that differentiate your content from the competition.

» Types of Content

Diversify your content offerings to engage different segments of your audience. Consider incorporating various formats such as:

• Blog Posts: Regularly updated blog posts can drive traffic, build authority, and address trending topics or common questions in your industry.
• Articles: In-depth articles provide detailed analysis and expert insights, which can position you as a thought leader and attract a more targeted audience.
• Infographics: Visual representations of data or concepts can simplify complex information and increase shareability.
• Videos: Engaging videos can capture attention quickly and provide dynamic, visual explanations or demonstrations of your products or services.
• Case Studies: Real-life success stories and examples can showcase your knowledge and the effectiveness of your solutions.

Step #4
Build a Strong Backlink Profile

Backlinks, or inbound links, are crucial for enhancing your website’s authority. These links from other reputable sites signal to search engines that your website content is informative and trustworthy. Here’s how to effectively build a robust backlink profile:

Also Read: How High-Quality Backlinks Play a Role in SEO Success

» Acquiring Backlinks

To establish a strong backlink profile, focus on strategies that involve earning high-quality links from authoritative sources:

• Guest Blogging: Write and contribute articles to reputable blogs and websites in your industry. In return, you can incorporate a link back to your site within the content, which can drive traffic and enhance your site’s credibility.
• Influencer Outreach: Partner with influencers or industry leaders who can link to your website. Their endorsement can not only provide valuable backlinks but also increase your site’s visibility and credibility.
• Content Promotion: Create valuable, shareable content that naturally attracts links. Infographics, comprehensive guides, and original research can attract attention from other sites wanting to reference or share your content.
• Broken Link Building: Find broken links on other websites and suggest your own content as a replacement. This approach can help you earn backlinks while assisting site owners in fixing their broken links.

» Avoid Black-Hat Tactics

To ensure your backlink-building efforts are effective and sustainable, avoid unethical practices that can lead to penalties:

• Buying Links: Purchasing backlinks from low-quality or dubious sources can lead to search engine penalties. Focus on earning links through genuine and legitimate methods.
• Link Farms are networks of sites designed solely to create backlinks. Links from such sources are typically low-quality and can harm your site’s reputation and ranking.
• Spammy Techniques: Avoid tactics like excessive link exchanges or using automated tools to generate backlinks. These methods can be flagged by search engines and may negatively impact your SEO.

Step #5
Ensure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly

With mobile device usage continuing to rise, having a mobile-friendly website is important for providing a consistent user experience and improving your search engine rankings. Here’s how to ensure your site meets mobile optimization standards:

» Mobile Optimization

Test how well your site operates on mobile devices by using tools such as Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. This tool evaluates whether your site is easy to use on mobile devices, checking for issues like text readability, touch element spacing, and viewport configuration. Address any identified problems to enhance usability and ensure your site meets mobile standards.

» Responsive Design

Create a responsive website design to make sure your site modifies to different screen sizes and devices. A responsive design adjusts the layout, images, and content to fit different screen widths, providing an optimal viewing experience on smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Critical practices for responsive design include:

• Fluid Grid Layouts: Use flexible grid-based layouts that scale seamlessly across different devices.
• Flexible Images: Ensure images resize appropriately without causing layout issues on smaller screens.
• Media Queries: Employ CSS media queries to apply different techniques based on device characteristics, such as screen size and orientation.

Step #6
Improve Website Loading Speed

Your website loading speed is a vital factor that impacts both SEO and user experience. A slow-loading site can lead to an increase in bounce rates, lower user engagement, and diminished search engine rankings. Here’s how to ensure your website loads quickly and efficiently:

» Testing Speed

Begin by evaluating your website’s loading speed using performance analysis tools.

• Google PageSpeed Insights: This tool provides detailed insights into your site’s performance on both mobile and desktop devices. It highlights areas for improvement and offers recommendations to enhance speed.
• GTmetrix: GTmetrix evaluates your site’s performance and generates a comprehensive report with recommendations. It assesses various aspects of loading speed and provides a visual breakdown of performance metrics.

» Improving Speed

Implement several strategies to enhance your site’s loading time:

• Optimize Images: Large image files can significantly slow down your site. Compress and resize images to lessen their file size without sacrificing quality. Use formats like WebP or JPEG 2000 for better compression.
• Leverage Browser Caching: Configure browser caching to store static files (like images, CSS, and JavaScript) locally on users’ devices. This decreases the need for repeated downloads on subsequent visits, speeding up page load times.
• Minimize Server Response Times: Optimize your server’s performance by choosing a trusted hosting provider and using techniques like content delivery networks (CDNs) to distribute your content closer to users. Regularly track server response times and address any issues that may cause delays.
• Minify and Combine Files: Reduce the size of your CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files by deleting unnecessary characters and merging multiple files into a single file. This minimizes the number of HTTP requests and speeds up loading times.
• Enable Compression: Using Gzip or Brotli compression to reduce the size of your files as they are sent from the server to the browser can significantly cut down on load times, especially for text-based files.

Step #7
Set Up Google Analytics and Search Console

Tracking and analyzing your website’s performance is crucial for maintaining and improving SEO success. Setting up and effectively utilizing Google Analytics and Google Search Console will provide details on how your website is performing and help you make data-driven decisions.

» Setup

• Google Analytics: Create a Google Analytics account and integrate it with your website by adding the provided tracking code to your site’s pages. This tool tracks user interactions, including page views, session duration, and conversion rates, allowing you to understand how visitors engage with your content.
• Google Search Console: Sign up for Google Search Console and verify ownership of your website. This tool helps monitor and manage your site’s presence in Google search results. Once verified, you can submit sitemaps, track indexing status, and receive alerts about possible issues affecting your site’s performance.

» Key Metrics

• Traffic Sources: Identify where your visitors come from—organic search, direct traffic, social media, or referrals. This helps you identify which pages are most effective and where to concentrate your marketing efforts.
• Bounce Rate: Monitor the visit percentage of users who leave after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may suggest issues with content relevance, user experience, or page speed, guiding necessary improvements.
• Keyword Performance: Track how well your targeted keywords are driving traffic and ranking. Google Search Console shows which queries bring visitors to your site, helping refine your SEO strategy.
• User Behavior: Use Google Analytics to analyze which pages are most visited, how long users stay, and their navigation paths. This information helps identify popular content and areas for improvement.

Step #8
Implement a Strong Social Media Strategy

Social media is important for increasing traffic to your website and enhancing your SEO efforts. To leverage it effectively, develop a comprehensive strategy that includes consistent posting, active engagement with followers, and seamless integration with your website.

Use social media to showcase your content and attract visitors, thereby boosting your SEO by increasing traffic and visibility.

Step #9
Ensure Technical SEO is Up to Date

Technical SEO focuses on optimizing your site’s backend to enhance its crawlability and indexability. Key aspects to address include:

• XML Sitemaps: Ensure your sitemaps are updated and submitted to search engines for better indexing.
• Robots.txt Files: Configure these files to guide search engine crawlers on which pages to access or avoid.
• Site Hierarchy: Maintain a clear, logical site structure to facilitate easy navigation and indexing.

Use tools like Screaming Frog and Sitebulb to identify and fix technical SEO issues, ensuring your site is fully optimized for search engines.

Step #10
Monitor and Adjust Your SEO Strategy Regularly

Your website SEO strategy requires regular monitoring and adjustments to sustain and improve your rankings. Utilize tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush to track your website’s performance and pinpoint areas for improvement. Based on the data, make informed adjustments to your strategy, adapting to performance trends and evolving search engine algorithms to keep your site optimized and competitive.

Is it Hard to Rank a New Website?

Ranking a new website can be challenging due to several factors, including competition, the age of the domain, and the depth of existing content. New sites often need more authority and backlinks of established competitors, making it harder to rank initially. However, with a strategic approach to SEO, including thorough keyword research, quality content creation, and effective backlink building, you can gradually improve your site’s ranking.

Also Read: Boost Your Business with Local SEO Strategies to Attract More Customers

How Can I Rank My Website Fast?

While there’s no guaranteed way to achieve rapid results, you can speed up the process by focusing on several key areas:

• On-Page Optimization: Ensure your site is well-optimized with relevant keywords, quality content, and a user-friendly design.
• High-Quality Backlinks: Build backlinks from reputable sources to boost your site’s authority and visibility.
• Content Marketing: Create and promote high-quality content to attract visitors and encourage sharing.
• Technical SEO: Address any technical issues and optimize your site’s performance.
• Local SEO: If applicable, focus on local SEO strategies to improve visibility in your area.

The Takeaway

Ranking a newly launched website requires a comprehensive approach to SEO. By following these ten steps, from conducting keyword research to monitoring and adjusting your strategy, you’ll be well on your way to achieving better search engine rankings and driving more traffic to your site. For a successful SEO campaign, it’s essential to implement SEO best practices and continuously refine your approach.

Don’t wait to improve your website’s ranking! Contact GoMarketing for a free proposal and see how we can help your website rank higher and excel. Call us at 805-413-7893 or email info@GOMarketing.com. We’re here to support your journey to SEO success!