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SEO for a new website: the first 90 days

SEO for a brand-new website starts with the boring, load-bearing basics: get indexed, claim your Google Business Profile, publish a few real pages, set clean titles, and start collecting reviews. For a local service business, the Business Profile and reviews move the needle fastest in the first weeks, while your website pages build trust over the following months.

We've launched new sites for our own cleaning and HVAC companies and for clients, so we know the early curve. Here's a realistic 90-day plan, the mistakes that quietly kill new sites, and why patience is the strategy.

The first-90-days plan

  1. Wk 1

    Confirm the site is indexable (no leftover no-index flag), submit it in Google Search Console, and claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile.

  2. Wk 2–4

    Publish your core service pages with clean titles and descriptions, add real photos and your license, and make your name, address, and phone consistent everywhere.

  3. Mo 2

    Start a review routine, ask after every job, and add a couple of useful pages like a local cost guide.

  4. Mo 3

    Keep publishing, keep collecting reviews, and watch Search Console for which pages are getting impressions so you know what's catching.

What a new site has to overcome

A fresh domain starts at a disadvantage, and it helps to know why:

Expect three to six months for competitive terms, longer in crowded markets. Your brand name and easy long-tail searches can rank within weeks.

The mistakes that kill new sites

When you should not pay for SEO yet

A brand-new site doesn't always need a paid SEO engine on day one. Do these free things first:

How we launch new sites

We build the site indexable and fast from day one, set up the Business Profile and Search Console, and ship the foundational pages — then, on the $597/mo plan, publish researched pages and manage reviews every month so the new domain compounds instead of stalling. Meanwhile the site plus AI lead capture brings in leads from week one while SEO ramps. It's how we launched our own companies.

Plans: $249/mo (site, AI lead capture, hosting), $597/mo (adds the SEO content engine and attribution), and from $1,750/mo (adds a custom CRM and reputation automation). Month-to-month, you own everything, free working demo in 48 hours.

Related: how long SEO takes, why a site isn't ranking, on-page SEO, SEO for home services, and local SEO cost.

We don't post stock testimonials. On a 15-minute call we screen-share the real dashboards behind our own businesses — live leads, rankings, and the exact page that produced each one. See the proof →

Common questions

How long until a new website ranks?

Usually three to six months for competitive terms, longer in crowded markets. Easy, low-competition keywords and your brand name can rank within weeks. Google needs time to find your pages, trust a new domain, and weigh you against competitors.

Is there a Google sandbox for new sites?

Google doesn't officially confirm one, but new domains behave as if on probation, ranking poorly while signals gather. Either way the takeaway is the same: publish consistently and be patient, because results compound over months.

What's the biggest new-site SEO mistake?

Blocking the site from search — often a leftover no-index from the build — and quitting after a month. Check that you're indexed, then keep publishing and collecting reviews instead of stopping early.

Launch a new site the right way

Send your company name and city — we'll confirm your market is open and build a working demo within 48 hours. Free, no card, no commitment.

Prefer email? [email protected]

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