SEO for a New Website: 10 Simple Steps to Start Ranking from Scratch

“We’ll deal with SEO after launch.”

We hear that all the time from new site owners.

But here’s the thing: SEO isn’t something you bolt on later. It’s how people find you, from day one.

We’ve helped dozens of clients launch new websites. 

The ones who invested in SEO early saw consistent traffic and conversions. 

The ones who didn’t? They spent months playing catch-up.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to implement SEO for a new website, step by step. It’ll help you:

• Set up your technical foundation
• Find keywords you can realistically rank for
• Create search-optimized content
• Build authority and track what works

 

How to Set Up SEO for a New Website

The importance of SEO (search engine optimization) cannot be overstated. Unlike paid ads, it delivers relevant traffic even after you stop paying. 

Google handles over 14 billion searches every day, and this number keeps growing. That’s a huge opportunity you don’t want to miss.

The key? Having a clear execution roadmap.

We saw it firsthand when our client achieved over 50x growth in organic traffic. All thanks to a tailored SEO strategy and consistent content optimization.

Let’s walk through the key steps to build an SEO-friendly website.

1. Prepare Your Site’s Foundation: Domain, CMS, Hosting, and Security

Your website’s technical foundation acts as the backbone of your SEO strategy. This includes: 

• Selecting the right domain name
• Choosing an SEO-friendly content management system (CMS)
• Setting up quality hosting
• Implementing proper security measures

Choose the Right Domain Name

Start by choosing a domain that’s simple, brand-friendly, and built to last. Look for something that is:

• Easy to spell, say out loud, and remember
• Brandable, meaning it sounds like a real name people can associate with your business
• Clean, without numbers, punctuation, or unusual spellings

For example, our domain is short, memorable, and clear, using the brand name as its foundation. 

It also uses a .io ending (called TLD)  — a popular alternative to .com in the tech and startup space.

To select and purchase a domain, opt for platforms like Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Hostinger. 

All you need to do is enter your domain idea and check what’s available. 

Once you find an option you like, you can register it in just a few clicks, with prices varying depending on your selection.

Select an SEO-Friendly CMS

Your website platform choice affects how easily you can apply SEO best practices and grow your website long term.

Most websites use a content management system (CMS), which lets you manage web content without coding. 

Here are the main options to consider:

• WordPress: Highly flexible and SEO-friendly CMS, ideal for blogs and content-heavy sites
• Shopify: Fast, mobile-optimized, and built for eCommerce SEO
• Wix: Beginner-friendly with limited SEO features

For new websites, WordPress provides the best balance of SEO functionality and ease of use. 

“We usually recommend well-established, widely supported, and secure platforms such as WordPress. Due to its popularity, WordPress offers an extensive library of ready-to-use plugins and easily scales. It also supports many SEO plugins like Yoast, All in One SEO Pack, Rank Math, and SEOPress.

Platforms like Wix and Tilda are popular, but we don’t recommend them for serious SEO work.

They offer limited code control, limited flexibility in URL structures, technical SEO problems, and may suffer from performance constraints.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

WordPress is extremely easy to navigate, and the core SEO settings are right where you need them.

Set Up Proper Web Hosting

Hosting is the service that stores your website files and makes them accessible to visitors.

It directly affects how quickly and reliably users can access your site, sending positive (or negative) signals to Google.

“We recommend using a VPS or dedicated server for new websites looking to grow SEO. They provide higher performance, better boot times, and more configuration control than virtual hosting.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

To set this up, use a reputable hosting provider like Kinsta, Hostinger, or SiteGround.

Secure Your Site with SSL

Finally, you’ll need to protect both your website and the people browsing it.

An SSL certificate secures your website by encrypting data between your site and visitors. 

It’s changing your URL from http:// to https:// and showing a padlock icon in the browser.

This also helps your SEO. 

Google treats HTTPS as a ranking factor. Browsers also warn people when a site isn’t secure, which can drive visitors away. 

The good news is: Most hosting providers include a free SSL certificate and apply it automatically when you launch a new site.

2. Set Up Analytics and Webmaster Tools

Next, set up tracking to measure your new website’s SEO performance.

These are the key SEO analytics tools we prioritize for newly created websites:

• Google Search Console
• Google Analytics (GA4)
• Google Business Profile for local businesses

Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool that reveals how your site performs in search results. 

To set it up, head to search.google.com/search-console/ and sign in with your Google account. 

Click “Add property” and choose the “Domain” option rather than “URL prefix.” 

The Domain property type provides more comprehensive data by including all subdomains and protocols (http, https) in one view.

Next, the tool will ask you to verify your domain ownership. 

Google will provide you with a TXT record: this is a short piece of text that proves you own the domain. 

Add this to your domain’s DNS settings, which you can access through your domain registrar (the company where you purchased your domain).

Once verified, Google Search Console will begin collecting data about how your site appears in search results. 

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google Analytics (GA4) complements Search Console by showing what visitors do after they arrive on your site. 

This lets you understand content-level performance and build an effective SEO content strategy. 

To set up GA4, head to analytics.google.com and click “Start measuring.”

First, create an account that can manage one or more properties. 

Enter an account name (e.g., “My Business Analytics”) and choose your data sharing preferences.

Next, set up a property, which is where your website data will be stored.

Give the property a name like “mywebsite.com,” then select your time zone and currency. 

From here, create a data stream by selecting Web, entering your website URL, and naming the stream (e.g., “Main Website”).

If you’re using a CMS, select your website builder and follow the instructions.

Once the tag is live, visit the Real-time report in GA4 to confirm tracking is working. Data will begin to populate automatically within minutes.

Google Business Profile (For Local Businesses)

Local SEO helps your business show up in Google Maps and local searches.

Got a coffee shop or offer services in several different cities? 

Then this is right up your alley.

Related Content: Small Business SEO Guide: Expert Tips to Optimize Your Website

To manage it correctly, create a Google Business Profile. It’s a free listing that appears in Google Maps and local search results. 

For example, here’s a business listing for a coffee shop in Miami:

Start by visiting google.com/business and clicking “Get started” 

Enter your business name and choose your category.

Next, specify whether your business has a physical location customers can visit.

If you do have one, the tool will prompt you to enter your address and find a specific location on the map.

From here, add a few extra details like whether you provide deliveries, and verify your account using your phone number. 

After verification, enhance your profile by adding:

• Business hours and special hours for holidays
• A detailed business description
• Photos of your products, services, team, and location
• Services or products you offer, with descriptions and prices
• Answers to frequently asked questions
• Posts about promotions, events, or updates

3. Research Your Audience and Organic Competitors

Next, conduct SEO research to understand your audience and spot early opportunities.

When launching websites for our clients, we always prioritize this step to:

• Ensure we’re targeting the right users with the right content 
• Establish realistic performance benchmarks
• Generate data-driven ideas 

Profile Your Ideal Visitors

Many companies dive straight into SEO tools and start chasing random traffic goals.

Our approach is different.

Instead, we recommend creating detailed profiles of your target customers and documenting their:

• Pain points
• Language and phrasing
• Goals and motivations

This helps you understand how your audience searches, so you can choose keywords, topics, and messaging that drive business results.

Here are some ideas on sourcing this information:

• Sales call transcripts and support tickets: What questions do prospects consistently ask? What problems do they describe in their own words?
• Reddit, Quora, and niche forums: What challenges are people discussing? How do they describe their needs or frustrations?
• Social media: What language do your customers use when they talk about your product or competitors? What pain points or desires come up in comments and DMs?

Imagine you’re launching a website for a new organic pet food brand. 

You could start by analyzing questions people ask in relevant Reddit communities — and using those to plan your content:

Analyze the Top-Ranking Competitors

Every industry has established players dominating the search engine page results (SERPs). 

You can learn a lot from what they’re doing right and what they’re missing. Start researching:

• Keywords they’re ranking for 
• Content that brings them the most organic traffic
• Gaps in their SEO strategy: keywords, topics, and pages they’re overlooking

Let’s continue with our organic pet food brand example. 

You can simply Google relevant terms for your industry, see which websites pop up, and review their content.

However, manual research won’t give you access to real-world search and traffic data. 

To tackle this, we use specialized SEO software when setting up projects for our clients. 

Here’s how it works.

In a tool like Semrush’s Organic Research, add the competitors’ domain (e.g., www.weruva.com for our pet food brand). Then, analyze:

• Their overall performance in organic search
• Patterns of their top-performing pages (e.g., what product categories get the most traffic) 
• Keywords that drive the most visitors
• Content formats that perform well (guides, comparison articles, etc.)

For example, we noticed that Weruva’s site ranks for 14.4K keywords and gets around 30K monthly visits. 

But most of their traffic comes from branded searches, with only around 6K visits from generic terms.

We also saw that the product pages promoting pet food brands generate the most traffic.

In contrast, content formats like blogs or free tools don’t seem to be yielding significant results.

This points out one important idea: This competitor has several content gaps you could cover in your strategy. 

For instance, by publishing high-quality blog posts to attract users actively looking to learn (more on that below).

4. Research Keyword Opportunities

Next, start planning content that will generate traffic to your website.

When building keyword strategies, we focus on three core steps:

• Using insights from competitor analysis
• Aligning topics with audience needs
• Prioritizing keywords based on business goals

Create Your Initial Keyword List

Start by reviewing your audience research and listing broad topics they care about.

For example, if your audience is pet owners, topics like “dog diet” or “cat diet” are a good start.

Input these high-level queries into your SEO tool (like Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder) and generate a list of related search terms.

You’ll quickly find phrases like “raw diet for dogs” or “diet dog food”, all solid content opportunities.

Each of these keywords has intent behind it — the reason someone types it into Google. These fall into three main types:

 

Informational	Users looking for answers or advice (e.g., “how to manage kidney diet for dogs”)	Works well for content formats like blog posts.
Transactional	Users ready to make a purchase (e.g., “buy dog diet food”)	Perfect for product pages.
Navigational	Users searching for a specific website or brand (e.g., “Hill’s science diet dog food”)	Best suited for your homepage or branded landing pages.

 

Matching your content to the right intent improves content relevance and rankings.

Once you’ve built your initial list, use your tool to prioritize keywords by:

• Search volume: How many times a keyword is searched per month. Higher search volume means more people are looking for that topic. But it may also be more competitive.
• Competition (keyword difficulty): Target keywords that are realistic for a new site. Low-difficulty keywords are easier to rank for and help you start building traffic faster.

We usually recommend starting with long-tail keywords. 

These are specific, lower-competition phrases that better match what your audience is searching for.

“When selecting keywords for a new site, we recommend focusing on less competitive and usually low-frequency long-tailed keywords. However, it is important to remember that low frequency does not always mean low competition. So you should also analyze search queries and sites that already rank for these keywords.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

For instance:

Source: Semrush

Map Keywords to Your Future Pages

Finally, assign each keyword to a specific page based on its intent. 

For example, a transactional keyword like “diet cat food” fits a product page designed to showcase and sell specific items.

Here’s a sample keyword mapping for our fictional brand:

 

Page	Keyword
Homepage	“Premium natural pet food”
Dog food category page	“Natural dog food”
Cat food category page	“Organic cat food”
Sample blog article	“Diet for dogs with kidney disease”

 

5. Lay Out Your Website Architecture

From here, start organizing your website pages.

The key? 

Making sure both search engines and users can navigate them easily. 

Build a Keyword-Driven Architecture

A clear website structure is essential for SEO on a new website. It helps search engines find and rank your pages more effectively.

To do this, give each page a unique target keyword with a specific search intent.

If you use the same keyword on multiple pages, they’ll compete in search results. It’s a common SEO mistake called keyword cannibalization.

Google gets confused, and your rankings suffer.

Instead, approach it like this:

Once you’ve mapped each keyword to a specific future page, structure your site in a logical pyramid. 

For example: Homepage → Category → Pages/Posts.

This hierarchy funnels authority from your homepage to more specific pages, placing high-volume keywords at the top and long-tail terms further down.

Prevent Orphaned Content with Strategic Linking

Google discovers pages primarily through links. 

Without internal links pointing to a page, search crawlers may never find it, no matter how good the content is. 

These “orphan pages” effectively don’t exist to search engines.

Source: Semrush

How to avoid this issue?

By implementing careful internal linking, where every new page connects to at least one existing page:

• When you publish a new page, make sure users can reach it within a couple of clicks from the homepage.
• Link each new page from other relevant pages, and add links back to them as well.

“One of the most common indexing issues we’re using is overly deep URL structures. If a page is buried more than 3-4 clicks from the homepage, crawlers may not reach it. 

Especially on newer sites with limited crawl budgets.

Duplicate content is another frequent problem, often caused by poor site architecture. 

On eCommerce sites, for instance, a product might appear under multiple URLs if it’s listed in several categories—diluting link equity and reducing indexing priority.

Other often-overlooked issues include weak internal linking, unclear section hierarchy, poor navigation, and orphan pages outside the main site structure.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

6. Help Search Engines Find and Index Your Content

Next, make sure search engines can easily find and understand your website content. 

These are the key steps we always perform for our clients:

• Making the website crawlable
• Submitting a sitemap to Google
• Ensuring proper indexing 
• Implementing structured data

Make Your Site Crawlable

Google uses specialized bots to explore the web and find your content. 

We’ve seen many new websites struggle to generate organic search traffic simply because these crawlers couldn’t access important pages.

To make your site crawlable, start with a robots.txt file. 

This simple text document tells search engines which parts of your site they should access or ignore. For most new websites, a simple setup like this is enough:

User-agent: *

Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml

Place this file in your site’s root directory (e.g., yourwebsite.com/robots.txt) so crawlers can easily find it.

Submit Your Sitemap to Google to Guide Discovery

A sitemap is essentially a roadmap of your website. It tells Google which pages exist and how they’re organized.

It usually looks something like this: yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.

Most CMS platforms generate sitemaps automatically. If you’re using WordPress, plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math create and update your sitemap for you.

For example, here’s ours:

To submit it to Google, log in to your Google Search Console account and click on “Sitemaps” in the left-hand menu.

Under “Add a new sitemap,” enter the URL of your sitemap and click Submit.

That’s it.

Google will start crawling the sitemap and display submission status and discovered URLs in the Sitemaps report.

Ensure Proper Indexing

Being crawled doesn’t guarantee a page will get indexed and appear in SERPs. 

For optimal search visibility, we usually check for a few common indexing barriers.

Accidental “noindex” directives are among the most common errors we encounter. 

These tags explicitly tell search engines not to include pages in search results and often remain from development phases. 

Use the Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool to verify that important pages are eligible for indexing.

If it says “URL is not on Google”, you’ll need to remove the non-index tag from your site’s code.

Once you’ve removed it, click “Request Indexing” from the same tool. This tells Google to recrawl and (re)index the page.

Technical errors like can also cause web content to be deprioritized in search results. These might include:

• Server errors, which prevent pages from loading at all
• Broken pages (like 404 errors), which show a “Page Not Found” message when someone clicks a link

That’s why our technical SEO process includes regular monitoring for these issues before they impact your rankings.

Implement Structured Data

Finally, structured data (schema markup) helps search engines understand what your content means.

It’s a key SEO step that can trigger rich results in search, such as star ratings, FAQs, or product info.

For example, in a client project for Duck.Design, we used structured data to generate rich snippets like star ratings. Which made their pages more appealing and clickable in search results.

“Using structured data—like Article, FAQ, Breadcrumb, or AggregateRating—helps search engines better interpret your content and increases the chances of earning rich snippets. Features like star ratings can significantly boost CTR in search results.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

7. Creating SEO-friendly Content for Your Site

Finally, start publishing quality SEO content that both users and search engines will love.

Remember: Google’s mission is to deliver the most relevant content as quickly and efficiently as possible. Quite literally:

The more helpful and relevant your content is, the higher it can rank.

Match User Search Intent

When planning your website page, analyze what users actually want when they search for your target keyword. 

Look at the top-ranking pages to determine:

• What type of content ranks? Are they how-to guides, product reviews, comparison articles, or something else?
• What are the common structural patterns? Note the content patterns. Do top results use listicles, detailed tutorials, or expert roundups? 
• What level of depth? Do successful pages cover the topic broadly or dive deep into specifics? Do they seem to be targeting beginners or experienced readers?

For example, imagine you want to rank for this keyword: “can dogs eat blueberries.”

Simply Google this term and check pages already ranking on page one. 

You’ll see that these are guide-style articles that provide a detailed answer to the question and offer additional guidance.

While search intent shows you what’s working, you should also look for what’s missing.

If top-ranking pages are thin, outdated, or irrelevant, that’s your chance to stand out.

“One effective approach we use for new sites is to find keywords with weak or low-quality results. Then we create content that outperforms those pages in both quality and completeness.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

Build E-E-A-T Signals into Every Page

Google prioritizes content that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

While not a direct ranking factor, it’s used by Google’s Search Quality Raters to assess the credibility and usefulness of content.

These are essentially signals that your content is reliable and created by someone who knows what they’re talking about. 

For example, if you’re writing about traveling to Thailand, having been there yourself makes the content more authentic.

Makes sense, right?

To enhance your E-E-A-T signals:

• Include original insights based on firsthand experience 
• Share specific examples and real-world applications
• Back up claims with credible data and link to authoritative external sources
• Make author expertise clear with detailed bios and credentials

We love how REI.com (a website selling outdoor gear) approaches this. 

REI’s team tests every product in real-world conditions before creating content around it.. For instance:

Add Keyword Optimization

Remember how we said every page should target a specific keyword?

While that’s true, keyword optimization is a bit more nuanced. 

You’ll actually need to find:

• Primary keywords: the main term you want a page to rank for (e.g., “grain-free dog food”)
• Secondary keywords: related variations that support your main topic and share the same intent (e.g., “no-grain kibble” or “grain-free puppy formula”)

Ranking for more related keywords means attracting more relevant traffic. 

In fact, the average #1 ranking page also appears in the top 10 for around 1,000 other relevant keywords.

To find them, enter your main keyword into a tool like Semrush’s Keyword Overview and check the variations and questions.

Then, place your primary and secondary keywords strategically:

• Include your primary keyword in the title, H1 heading, URL, and naturally throughout the content
• Use secondary keywords in subheadings (H2s and H3s) and body text

✅Pro tip: 

Remember: while it might feel like you’re optimizing content for Google, your goal is simply to help it find and understand your page. Not write for it.

Your content should always be created for users, not search engines. Do this by:

• Adding keywords only where they fit naturally and avoiding keyword stuffing
• Using AI for SEO to speed up research and content creation, not replace original insights and human writing
• Prioritizing usefulness and value for the reader above all else

8. Optimize the On-Page Experience

On-page SEO means optimizing individual pages to improve visibility in search and usability for visitors.

It focuses on:

• Content relevance 
• Content quality 
• User experience signals 

Adding Unique Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Your title tag is the blue clickable headline that shows up in search results. 

And the meta description is the short text underneath, giving users a preview of what to expect.

These elements help search engines understand your page and encourage users to click.

Here’s how to write them effectively:

• Keep titles under 60 characters to prevent truncation in search results
• Front-load important keywords (put them early in the title)
• Include your brand name at the end of titles for recognition
• Make meta descriptions compelling calls-to-action (150-160 characters)

For example:

Title tag: “Organic Grain-Free Dog Food for All Breeds | Brand Name”

Meta description: “Explore our full range of organic grain-free dog food made with clean ingredients. See what makes our formulas great for sensitive stomachs.”

Remember to avoid “overoptimizing” your meta tags:

“A common mistake is over-optimizing meta tags for SEO while ignoring what drives clicks. Titles and descriptions packed with keywords or written awkwardly may rank—but they rarely get clicked.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

Structure Your Website Content with Clear Headings

A well-thought-out header structure improves your content’s readability. 

It also helps Google understand what each section covers.

First, define your page’s H1 — your main title — and make sure it includes your primary keyword. 

Then, break up your content using H2s, H3s, and H4s (if needed) to create a logical hierarchy. 

If your page feels like a wall of text, you’re doing it wrong. 

Headings, lists, and white spaces make your content easier to read and improve user experience.

Add Internal and External Links

Internal links guide users to related information and distribute link equity across your site. 

They also create paths for search engines to discover new pages.

Here’s how to implement interlinking:

• Link to other relevant pages on your site using clear, descriptive anchor text
• Instead of generic “click here” links, use keyword-rich phrases that explain what users will find when they click
• Only add links where they actually add value for the reader

For example:

“One of the most common on-page SEO mistakes is poor internal linking. Many beginners rely solely on automated systems or neglect contextual links altogether. Even when added, links often use weak anchor text or appear in irrelevant sections. But strong internal linking is key to distributing PageRank, improving crawlability, guiding users, and reinforcing topical relevance.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

You can also include external links when referencing research, studies, or authoritative sources that support your claims. 

Just make sure they come from trustworthy websites since Google uses this as a credibility signal.

For instance:

Add Engaging Visuals

A recent study showed that 16% of bloggers who use “just one” image per post report strong results, compared to 35% of those using 7–10 images.

Visual elements like images and videos don’t just make your pages prettier. They:

• Increase time on page and improve your rankings
• Break up text for better readability

…As long as they’re relevant and enhance the user experience (and not the opposite).

 

Effective	Less effective
An image that illustrates a concept and helps the user understand the text information faster.	A stock image that covers the entire screen without adding any value.

 

For example, we often include visuals in our long-form content to help readers better understand complex ideas. 

Like this graph, which breaks down the concept at a glance:

Source: AuthorityHacker

✅Pro tip: Add alt tags with clear, simple descriptions of each image. 

This helps Google understand your content and makes your site more accessible for people using screen readers.

You can do it directly from your CMS:

Make Your Pages Mobile-First and Fast

Mobile-friendliness and page speed are critical on-page ranking factors for new websites. 

Google prioritizes sites that load quickly and work well across all devices.

Here’s how we fix it for our clients.

First, we ensure the site uses responsive design, meaning its pages automatically adapt to different screen sizes (from phones to desktops and tablets).

Second, we track and optimize the Core Web Vitals. These are Google’s speed metrics that measure:

• Loading performance (LCP): How quickly content appears
• Interactivity (INP): How fast your site responds to clicks
• Visual stability (CLS): Whether elements shift unexpectedly

You can check yours by using the free PageSpeed Insights tool:

At Ninja Promo, we believe new sites should strive from the start to fully comply with Core Web Vitals. And there are several important reasons.

• First, Core Web Vitals are confirmed as part of Google’s algorithm, according to official documentation.
• Second, these metrics rely on real user data (RUM) collected anonymously via the Chrome browser. That means strong performance from day one is critical to avoid accumulating negative user experience signals.
• Finally, Core Web Vitals directly influence user behavior and conversions: fast, responsive sites deliver better UX and help drive business results.

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

To make sure everything works smoothly, we implement various speed optimizations like: 

• Compressing images before uploading them
• Enable lazy loading so images load only when needed
• Remove unnecessary plugins, scripts, and code
• Use browser caching to store files locally

9. Build Authority Through Backlinks and Mentions

Backlinks are links from other websites to your pages, while brand mentions refer to your brand being named without a link. 

Both are off-page SEO signals of credibility to search engines:

• Backlinks directly impact rankings. A study found that pages ranking #1 have 3.8x more backlinks than those in positions 2–10.
• Unlinked brand mentions don’t pass authority but still boost awareness, which can indirectly support SEO.

Here are some SEO tactics we use to create strong link-building strategies for our clients.

Create Linkable Content

Great link-building starts with content people actually want to link to. It could be:

• Original research and data: Create industry surveys, compile statistics, provide opinionated commentary, or analyze trends with unique insights.
• Comprehensive guides: Develop ultimate resources that cover topics thoroughly.
• Visual assets: Design infographics, charts, and diagrams that explain complex concepts.
• Tools and calculators: Build interactive resources that solve specific problems for your audience.

“We recommend creating valuable content that will, over time, attract backlinks organically. One effective method is to create unique, useful visuals based on your text, then integrate them into blog posts and optimize the images for SEO.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

At Ninja Promo, we often create custom images to support our content.

In our article on SEO for SaaS companies, we designed relevant visuals and optimized them for search.

As a result, they began ranking for our target keywords in Google Images. 

Over time, other sites began using the images in their materials, pointing to us as the source. 

So we got quality organic backlinks without any outreach. For instance:

Work On Guest Posts and Digital PR

Next, focus on getting your brand name and content in front of new audiences outside your own site.

First, try Guest posting. It means writing content for other websites in your industry. 

This helps you build backlinks, improve brand marketing, and reach new audiences.

Many websites openly invite guest posts — all you need to do is suggest a relevant topic. For example:

Another effective tactic is digital PR.

It means getting your brand mentioned in publications by offering expert quotes, insights, or pitching story ideas to journalists. 

Google’s own Search Advocate John Mueller has praised digital PR, saying it’s often “just as critical as tech SEO”:

For example, here’s a Forbes article where the author interviewed Ninja Promo and included a link to our agency’s website:

✅Pro tip: New websites can benefit from getting featured in industry directories and relevant business listings. 

Google your category (e.g., “Sage implementation partners in the US”), look for aggregators listing various businesses, and apply to get featured.

Establish Personal or Brand Thought Leadership in Your Niche

Finally, becoming a recognized expert in your field naturally attracts mentions and links. 

This approach takes time but builds sustainable authority. You can:

• Participate in industry forums and answer questions on platforms like Quora and Reddit
• Speak at webinars and industry events 
• Share unique perspectives and original content on LinkedIn and other social media platforms
• Launch digital marketing campaigns that boost your brand’s credibility

Many tech companies grow their audience through founders who post on social media.

For instance, Jeremy Boissinot, founder of Favikon, uses LinkedIn to generate buzz about his brand and drive consistent mentions.

Social media doesn’t directly affect rankings, but it boosts brand awareness and can lead to more backlinks and branded searches.

10. Track and Optimize SEO Performance

Last but not least: regularly monitor SEO metrics and optimize accordingly.

Focus on these KPIs:

• Keyword ranking shifts: Position changes in search results
• Organic traffic growth: Growth in website visits from search
• Conversions and ROI: Leads and sales from organic traffic

Here’s how to track them.

Track Keyword Rankings

Head to Google Search Console and open the Performance report.

From there, filter by Queries and compare different date ranges to see how your keyword positions have shifted over time.

You can also use Semrush’s Position Tracking tool, which gives you a simplified view of all the keywords you want to track.

Analyzing Organic Traffic Growth

Next, check how much organic traffic your SEO efforts are bringing in.

Open Google Analytics (GA4) and navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition. 

Scroll down to find “Organic Search” under the Session default channel group.

This shows how much of your traffic is coming from search engines.

For new websites, it typically takes several months of consistent effort to start seeing meaningful organic traffic growth.

So, be patient.

Focus on building quality content and links rather than chasing quick wins.

“Results vary by niche, but with a solid SEO strategy, you’ll typically see tangible impact within 5–6 months. New sites lack history, authority, and trust signals. So, expecting to instantly outrank long-time competitors is unrealistic.

SEO is a long-term investment that will pay off over time.”

Vadzim Zubelik, Head of SEO at Ninja Promo

Track Conversions and SEO ROI

Ultimately, traffic means little without conversions. 

Want to know if SEO is working for you? 

Look at what people do after they visit your site.

Are they submitting a form? Signing up? Making a purchase?

GA4 tracks these actions as key events.

They let you define custom events or mark existing ones as conversions based on your goals. 

Once set up, use them to analyze performance and quantify the value of your organic traffic.

You can apply these basic formulas:

Value of organic traffic = Organic Traffic x Average Conversion Rate x Average Value per Conversion

SEO ROI = (Revenue from SEO – SEO Costs) / SEO Costs × 100

Launch Your Website Right with Proven SEO from Ninja Promo

Let’s face it: most website owners get overwhelmed trying to handle SEO while juggling other priorities. 

It’s simply too much to manage alone.

The best way to approach setting up SEO for new websites?

Work with a dedicated SEO outsourcing company like Ninja Promo and get a complete SEO department on subscription.

Traditional agencies charge $10,000+ monthly for fancy reports with minimal results. 

We deliver practical value instead. 

You select a monthly package with a set number of expert hours, starting at $3,500 for 40 hours. We then allocate those hours where they’ll have the biggest impact:

• Building a bulletproof technical foundation
• Creating content that signals expertise to both users and Google
• Attracting backlinks that boost your authority
• Making data-driven adjustments based on real performance

And more.

Unlike agencies promising instant guaranteed SEO results (major red flag!), we follow proven SEO principles and deliver long-term growth.

For example, Duck.Design increased its traffic by more than 50x after partnering with Ninja Promo. And that growth is still ongoing.

Want to see the same results?

Book a free call to learn how our SEO subscription works and how to build the right SEO strategy for your new website.