SEO for beginners: your first month, one hour a week

A clean Google Search Console, a sitemap that works, and pages that can be crawled and indexed. Two new or fixed pages aimed at real searches. Internal links that help Google find and rank them. One or two external links that point to you. A simple way to check impressions, clicks and signups from search.

You set the ground so Google can find and understand your site. This removes unknowns and speeds up discovery.

1. 1

   Verify Search Console

   Add both versions if you have them: https and http, and with and without www. Use DNS if you can. Search Console shows nothing until verified and crawled.

2. 2

   Submit your sitemap

   Make or confirm /sitemap.xml. It must list canonical URLs you want indexed. In Search Console, open Sitemaps, submit the URL, and fix any errors it reports.

3. 3

   Check index coverage

   Open Page indexing. Scan the reason groups. Expect non-canonical and redirects to be excluded. Investigate ‘Excluded by ‘noindex’’ and ‘Blocked by robots.txt’.

4. 4

   Fix crawl blocks

   Check /robots.txt for Disallow rules that should not ship. Remove any noindex meta on live pages. Staging flags in production cause silent no-shows.

5. 5

   Set titles and canonicals

   Give every page a unique title that fits in about 60 characters. One rel=canonical per page that points to itself, unless it is a known duplicate.

6. 6

   Test a key URL

   Use URL Inspection. If ‘URL is on Google’, read the rendered HTML and screenshot. If not indexed, click Request indexing. Quota is small, use it for the two pages you ship.

How Google Search works as of 2026 decides this order. Googlebot crawls from links and sitemaps, then renders, then indexes some pages, then ranks them. You remove blockers first so the rest of the month pays off.

A fixed site at this point: yourproduct.com loads over https on mobile, has a working /sitemap.xml, and Search Console shows at least your homepage as indexed.

Pick targets you can win. Read the results pages to see what Google is serving and why. You shape your pages to match the intent.

1. 1

   List seed topics

   Write 10 to 20 phrases buyers might search. For a SaaS: “sql client for mac”, “postgres visualiser”, “connect postgres to excel”. For a shop: “wool running socks”, “merino trainer socks”.

2. 2

   Use Google itself

   Type each seed. Note the autocomplete, People also ask, and related searches. These give variants and questions with demand. Capture the wording users use.

3. 3

   Check the intent on the page

   Open the top results. Are they product pages, category pages, tutorials, comparisons, or tools? If the top ten are guides, you ship a guide, not a product pitch.

4. 4

   Pick two targets

   Choose one bottom‑funnel page and one guide. Example: a refined /pricing page for “yourproduct pricing”. A new /guides/postgres-to-excel for “connect postgres to excel”.

5. 5

   Draft titles and slugs

   Make a clear slug and a straight title. Example: /guides/connect-postgres-to-excel and “Connect Postgres to Excel, step by step”. Keep the main phrase early.

If you have Search Console data, open Performance, filter by Country, and sort queries by impressions. Strike any branded terms you already rank for. Mark non‑brand terms with clicks under 10 and average position between 8 and 20. These are fast wins.

You publish or fix two pages. One commercial, one informational. Each must answer the query better than your current page does. Keep it tight and fast to load.

1. 1

   Commercial page example: /pricing

   Target “yourproduct pricing” and “yourproduct cost”. Title: “Pricing for YourProduct”. H1 matches title. Show plans and what each includes. Add FAQs users search, e.g. billing cycles, limits. Link to signup. Use JSON‑LD for SoftwareApplication if you have reviews.

2. 2

   Guide page example: /guides/connect-postgres-to-excel

   Target “connect postgres to excel”. Open with a two‑line summary. Add a numbered tutorial with clear steps. Show screenshots. End with a small CTA. Add FAQ schema if you answer direct questions.

3. 3

   On‑page checklist

   One H1. Descriptive H2s. A unique title and meta description that fit in the limits. Plain URLs. Image alt text that describes the image. Internal links to and from related pages using natural anchor text.

4. 4

   Speed basics

   Aim for LCP under 2.5 seconds, CLS under 0.1, INP under 200 ms. Compress images. Preload the hero font or use a system font. Remove unused scripts.

5. 5

   Publish and request indexing

   Ship both pages. Add them to the sitemap. In Search Console, use URL Inspection and Request indexing for each. Link them from your homepage or a hub page.

A fixed page looks like this: the title shows the main phrase, the first paragraph states the answer, headings match the steps users expect, and links point users forward.

You add links so Google can find and judge the new pages. You set up a light measurement loop so you know what worked.

1. 1

   Add internal links

   From your homepage, features and docs, add 1 to 3 natural links to each new page. Use anchors that make sense, like “Connect Postgres to Excel guide”.

2. 2

   Earn a couple of safe external links

   Update your GitHub README, product docs, and relevant partner pages to link to the new guide. Ask one customer to add you to their stack page. Avoid paid links.

3. 3

   List on one relevant directory

   Pick one quality place users search, like a niche community page or an open source showcase you belong in. Fill a complete profile and link your best page.

4. 4

   Tag signups from these pages

   Add UTM parameters to links you share now. In analytics, create a landing page report and a simple segment for organic search. Track signups for the two target pages.

5. 5

   Check Search Console

   Open Performance. Filter by Page. Review impressions and clicks for the two URLs. Expect impressions first, then clicks as rank improves.

Google has said links are one signal among many. A handful of relevant links and solid on‑page work beat a pile of low‑quality links.

You check two places each week. Search Console for impressions, clicks and average position. Your analytics for signups from organic search. It should take five minutes.

• Search Console, Performance: set Date to Last 28 days. Filter Page to each new URL. Note impressions, clicks, and average position.
• Search Console, Performance: switch to Queries. Note the exact phrases that show. Rare queries are omitted, so totals will not match.
• Analytics: open a landing page report. Filter by Default channel group, Organic Search. Note sessions and signups for each target URL.

Remember the Search Console rules. An impression counts when your link appears on a loaded results page for web search, even if not scrolled. Average position is the mean of the highest link per page view. Data lags about two days.

This is normal in month one. New pages get tested. You will see impressions before clicks. Average position may hover between 15 and 40 at first.

• Your title does not match intent. Fix the wording to match the query.
• You rank for the wrong country. Check Search Console’s Countries tab and adjust content or hreflang if global.
• You appear under a large feature. Featured snippets, videos, or an AI overview can push links down.
• You have no internal links. Add them so Google can judge the page in context.

Fix one thing at a time. Start with the title and H1. Then add a short intro that answers the query in one or two lines. Then link it from a stronger page.

• Buying links and mass guest posts. Risk without payoff for a new site.
• Chasing exact word counts. There is no target number.
• Meta keywords. Google ignores them.
• Obsessing over “200 ranking factors” lists. Folklore, not a plan.
• A site‑wide ‘domain authority’ score. Google does not use a single score.
• Huge audits. Fix the pages users will see this month.
• Changing your whole URL structure. Save it for a planned migration.

Work in order. You will find the cause faster and avoid rabbit holes. New sites can take days to weeks to index, and months to rank on harder queries.

1. 1

   Run a site: search

   Search site:yourproduct.com. If nothing shows, you are likely blocked or too new.

2. 2

   Check Page indexing

   In Search Console, open Page indexing. Look for ‘Excluded by ‘noindex’’ and ‘Blocked by robots.txt’. Fix and request indexing.

3. 3

   Inspect the exact URL

   Use URL Inspection. If Google chose a different canonical, check your rel=canonical and internal links. ‘Alternate page with proper canonical tag’ is fine if that is on purpose.

4. 4

   Confirm the sitemap

   In Sitemaps, open your submission. It should list the two new pages. If not, add them and resubmit.

5. 5

   Check links

   Make sure at least your homepage and one other page link to each target. If no external sites link to you yet, that is common. Keep building.

6. 6

   If traffic drops

   Compare last 28 days to the prior 28 in Performance. Split by page and query. Check Google’s status dashboard for updates on those dates. Check your deploys for redirects, canonicals, and noindex. Compare to the same period last year for seasonality.