Most websites are designed first and “SEO’d” afterwards, which usually means expensive changes to a site that’s already live. An SEO-ready site build reverses that. The structure, templates, schema, speed and linking are planned around how people search before anything is built, whether I build the site or your developer does.
The cheapest time to get search right is before the first template is built. Everything after that is a retrofit.
What an SEO-ready build is
An SEO-ready site build is a website planned and built so search engines and AI systems can find, understand and trust it from the day it launches. It covers the site structure, URL patterns, page templates, structured data, breadcrumbs, internal linking, speed, indexing settings and the launch set-up in Search Console. It applies to any platform, and to builds I do myself or specify for another team.
Who it’s for
This suits businesses that:
- are planning a new website or a full rebuild
- are working with a designer, developer or agency and want the SEO specified properly
- have been burned before by a new site that lost traffic
- want a site that can grow into hundreds of pages without becoming a mess
What gets designed in
| Area | What’s planned before building |
|---|---|
| Structure | Every page has a parent hub, sits within three clicks of the homepage, and targets one search |
| URLs | Short, descriptive and stable, with a consistent trailing-slash convention |
| Templates | One H1, logical headings, space for an answer passage near the top and a visible FAQ where it helps |
| Structured data | A connected schema graph by page type: organisation, people, services, articles, FAQs and breadcrumbs |
| Breadcrumbs | Visible on every page except the homepage, matching the schema |
| Meta data | Hand-written titles and descriptions for every page, never platform defaults |
| Internal linking | Minimum links in and out for each page type, so nothing is orphaned |
| Speed | Lightweight templates, sized images and scripts loaded only when needed |
| Indexing | What’s indexed and what isn’t, including archives and internal search |
| Launch | Sitemaps, robots.txt, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and analytics set up before go-live |
How it runs
- Search research. What customers search for, and which pages the site needs to meet that demand.
- Structure and URL plan. The full page tree, parents and URLs.
- Template specification. Headings, content areas, schema and linking for each page type.
- Build or review. I build it, or review designs, templates and the staging site built by your team.
- Pre-launch checks. Every template checked for headings, schema, speed, mobile layout, indexing and links.
- Launch and monitor. Search Console set up, sitemaps submitted and the first weeks watched closely.
What you get
- A site structure and URL plan
- A template specification covering headings, schema, breadcrumbs and linking for each page type
- A pre-launch checklist, completed and signed off
- A built site, or a reviewed and approved build by your team
- Launch set-up in Search Console and analytics
An example of the standard
This site follows exactly this standard: every page has breadcrumbs and schema, every article has a visible FAQ, titles and descriptions are written by hand, and no page publishes until at least two other pages link to it. The same approach built River Bend, a brand new site that reached over 8,000 daily impressions within 75 days.
Limitations
An SEO-ready build gives a site the best possible foundation, but foundations don’t rank on their own. Content, authority and time still decide how far a site goes. Where another team builds the site, the result also depends on the specification being followed, which is why the staging site is checked before launch.
What it won’t solve
A new build that replaces an existing site also needs a migration plan to protect current rankings, covered by site migrations. And the content that fills the structure is covered by content strategy.
Talk to the person doing the work
There is no account manager here and no team to be handed to. If you get in touch, it is me who reads it, me who looks at your site, and me who does the work if we go ahead.
Get in touch, or start with a free assessment.
Engagement and price
There are no list prices here, and that is deliberate. What a piece of work costs depends on the state of the site, how much of it there is and what you actually need, none of which I know before looking at it.
So it starts with a free analysis. I look at your site, your Search Console and who you are really competing with, then come back with what I would do first and what it would cost to do. No obligation attached, and if the honest answer is that you do not need me yet, I will say so.
How the work gets done
Specifications and checks use the schema toolkit, sitemap toolkit and technical SEO checks, and every build is reviewed by me. This service is part of web development, and applies to WordPress websites and Shopify development. For more, which schema types still matter and why sites lose traffic after a migration are useful reads.
FAQ
What makes a website SEO-ready?
An SEO-ready website has a planned structure where every page has a clear parent, fast mobile templates, hand-written titles and descriptions, breadcrumbs and schema on every page, internal linking that leaves no page orphaned, and sitemaps and Search Console set up before launch. Content then has a solid base to rank from.
Can SEO be added to a website after it’s built?
Some of it, yes: titles, descriptions, schema and content can usually be improved later. Structural decisions are harder to change once a site is live, because moving pages means new URLs, redirects and a risk to rankings. Planning structure before building avoids that cost.
Do you work with other developers and designers?
Yes. Many clients already have a designer, developer or agency. In that case I set the SEO requirements, review designs and templates before they’re built, check the staging site before launch and monitor Search Console afterwards, so the build team can focus on the build.
Build it right the first time
Get in touch about your new site, or start with a free assessment of your current one.