After creating a new website or online store, the question of its promotion immediately arises. When searching for relevant services, one quickly finds information stating that new websites cannot compete in search results with older ones, and that a new website or online store cannot achieve high positions in the TOP rankings or receive search traffic. Let’s investigate whether this is actually the case.
Promoting a new website is a labor-intensive process, and achieving results may take anywhere from 6 to 12 months (or more). Why is it so complicated and lengthy? A simple example: suppose there is a website that has been successfully selling mobile phones for many years and occupies high positions in the TOP rankings. Suddenly, a newly created online store emerges, vying for a place in search results for similar queries and trying to displace the old, time-tested resource. Such new stores appear by the hundreds every day. Naturally, search engines have long developed immunity to prevent significant upheavals in search results due to the appearance or removal of new websites on the internet.
Is it possible to promote a new website to the TOP?
Of course, it is possible, but achieving results will require time and the correct sequence of actions with the site. Steps for successfully positioning a website in search results:
- Domain and Hosting. The domain name should not have a negative history, and the hosting should have high uptime, fast performance, and preferably have server locations close to the geographical location of the site’s primary users.
- CMS and Template. The content management system should be the latest version (the speed, security, and upgrade possibilities are always higher with current versions of CMS). The site template can be either custom-built or purchased, as long as it suits the theme of the site, does not repel users, and facilitates easy navigation. Free templates are not recommended.
- Semantic Core. This is a list of queries (words and phrases) that are integrated into the texts and meta tags of the website’s pages for further promotion. The most effective option is to create separate pages or categories for each main query.
- Content. The site’s content should be high-quality and useful for users, providing detailed information on the query that brought them to the site. Content can be text, photos, videos, or audio information, depending on the site’s theme.
- Meta Tags. It is important to pay attention to correctly filling out Title, Description, and h1-h6 tags, writing Alt attributes, highlighting text with tags, etc. It should be understood that these tags not only influence search but also carry calls to action—for example, Title and Description appear in search result snippets, affecting the number of clicks to your site.
- Sitemap and Robots Files. These files allow search engines to better index your site. A Sitemap contains a list of all the site’s pages, while Robots specifies which pages and sections to index and which to exclude from indexing. Depending on the CMS, these files can be created automatically and may be open or closed for manual editing. If the content management system does not create these files, they should be created manually and uploaded to the hosting service.
- Broken Links and Duplicate Pages. Neither should exist, as both negatively impact ranking. A broken link is a non-working link that results in an error or leads to the wrong page. Duplicate pages refer to identical pages located at different addresses within the same site.
- Internal Linking. This is a crucial component for successful indexing by search engine robots and for user convenience. Internal linking allows easy navigation from one piece of content to another without going through the main menu.
- Link Mass. It is beneficial when other sites, similar to yours in theme and/or with high authority in search engines, link to your resource.
- Social Factors. Active social media groups not only aid in SEO promotion but also facilitate communication between users and site administration, while attracting additional traffic from social networks.
- User Behavior Factors. This is an important aspect for the search engine algorithm in forming search results. By analyzing user behavior on the site, search engines understand how well the site matches the query that brought the user. Improving user behavior factors can be achieved through quality content and an intuitive site structure.
With successful promotion, traffic from search engines to the new site will begin to flow through low-frequency queries. If the site shows a good user behavior factor for these queries, it will start ranking for medium-frequency queries, and later for high-frequency queries. Simultaneously, there is often a natural increase in link mass, which positively influences ranking.
SEO Specialist Tip: If you are promoting the site on your own, only make changes you are sure about. Always start with a technical audit of the site, then move on to internal optimization, and only then to external optimization. Keep in mind that search engines need time to process information; do not revert changes if you have not seen an improvement in rankings within a short time frame.
