Free SEO Starter Checklist for a New Website
Search engines do not owe a new website traffic. What they do respond to — over time — is clear pages, crawlable structure and content that answers a real query. You do not need an enterprise suite to get the basics right.
This checklist is the sequence we recommend before you obsess over backlinks or fancy dashboards. Each step links to a free tool on The 360 Tools so you can act immediately.
1. Write a human title and meta description
Every important URL needs:
- A title that names the page’s topic (roughly under ~60 characters when possible)
- A meta description that summarises the promise of the page in one or two sentences
Avoid stuffing every synonym into the title. Write for the click you would trust. Draft tags with the Meta Tag Generator, then preview how a result might look with the SERP Preview Tool.
For description technique, see How to write a meta description.
2. Use one clear H1 and logical headings
Visitors and crawlers both benefit from structure:
- One H1 that matches the page topic
- H2/H3 sections that break the article into scannable parts
- No heading soup (skipping levels for “design”)
If you already have a live URL, run the Header Tags Analyzer and fix missing or duplicated H1s.
3. Make the site crawlable
Before content can rank, it has to be discovered:
- Publish an XML sitemap and submit it in Google Search Console
- Avoid blocking important HTML in
robots.txt - Prefer real links over buttons that hide destination URLs
Generate a starting sitemap with the Sitemap Generator, or inspect an existing one with the Sitemap Extractor.
4. Fix broken and orphaned links
Crawl errors waste crawl budget and frustrate people:
- Remove or redirect dead internal links
- Add contextual links from hub pages to important articles
- Keep navigation boring and reliable
Use the Broken Link Checker and Internal Link Analyzer after bigger content pushes.
5. Run a baseline technical pass
Once titles and structure are in place, audit a homepage or key landing URL. Look for:
- Missing or weak titles/descriptions
- Indexing hints and basic on-page gaps
- Security and hosting signals that affect trust
Start with the free SEO Audit Report — paste a URL, review the scored categories, then download the PDF action list if you need a shareable checklist for a teammate or client.
6. Publish helpful pages, not doorway pages
Programmatic templates only work when each URL adds unique value. Prefer:
- Guides that answer a question fully
- Tools pages that explain how the result is calculated
- About, contact and policy pages that show a real publisher
Thin pages that exist only to capture a keyword tend to underperform — and they create a poor experience for visitors.
7. Measure after you ship
Connect Search Console and analytics, then revisit titles that get impressions without clicks. Improve the promise; do not rewrite the entire site weekly. SEO is iterative maintenance, not a one-time launch ritual.
One-afternoon starter plan
| Step | Action | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Draft title + description for homepage and top 5 URLs | Meta Tag Generator |
| 2 | Preview snippets | SERP Preview Tool |
| 3 | Check headings on those URLs | Header Tags Analyzer |
| 4 | Generate / verify sitemap | Sitemap Generator |
| 5 | Run one full audit | SEO Audit Report |
Keep learning
- 10 proven SEO strategies
- Browse all SEO tools
You do not need perfection on day one. You need crawlable pages, honest titles and content worth bookmarking — then improve from real search data.