I released a new web site - here is the checklist that I followed.

New Sites

You’re all excited. You have a new idea. You’ve built the web site. What now?

Well, you’ve probably gone too far already.

Ideally you’d complete some of this checklist before you build the web site.

Pre-Build

Before even building the website you would ideally:

• grab the domain name you want
• grab the social handles you want
• create a simple landing page with a single page that describes the site to be
• add a newsletter signup with a privacy page to gather interest

I’m guilty. I didn’t do it in this order.

I built a prototype application first, then checked if it worked, then performed the above steps.

In the age of AI I’ll probably be tempted to skip this initial set of steps next time I build something as well. Because it only takes a week to build a full app. Why spend time with the above first.

If you are building something you are convinced is going to work then do the above first.

It focuses your attention on the value proposition and initial branding and that can help with the build anyway.

Grab the domain name

I found the Hostinger.com domain name generator quite useful:

• hostinger.com/uk/domain-name-results

This is a page where you can type a simple prompt, then the form calls some AI LLM and returns with domain name ideas.

But… not just any ideas.

Only domain names that are available.

Then you want to buy the domain name.

Obviously you can use your favourite provider for this.

I’ve started using the hosting site as the place I buy the domain, this way hooking up the DNS is easy because it is done by default.

I hosted my new front end app on Vercel, using the free plans and a .com domain name was only $7.99

Remember: you can easily move domain names later. My aim at this point is to get started as quickly and as easily as possible.

Grab the social handles

Chances are, the social handles you want, have already gone.

So what do you do?

Pick a suffix. If your site is ‘mysupernewsite.com’

You might want to consider handles like:

• mysupernewsitecom
• mysupernewsitesocial
• mysupernewsiteofficial

Most people will follow your social profiles by clicking links on your pages, it’s more important to be consistent than it is ’exactly owning’ your domain.

Landing Page

If you create a landing page and get it out there. Then if focuses your mind on the value proposition.

It helps you define the ‘attitude’ behind your brand and your copy, and this can feed into the build as well.

But… it also means you can start submitting the site to the search indexes and incrementally build what is coming.

Newsletter Sign Up

You haven’t build authentication yet. You don’t have a product.

That doesn’t mean you can’t start gauging interest.

If you’ve written a value proposition, you can add a newsletter sign up, and if anyone signs up before you’ve even built anything then you know you have something people want.

Remember to add a ‘privacy policy’ page to the site. This makes it ‘official’ that you are going to handle the emails in an honorable way.

Build

Sitemap.xml and Search Engine Indexing

You’re probably building using AI now, so you’ll be building and iterating quickly. And this first thing we want to build is a sitemap.xml.

Now we want to submit this to the search engines.

Because if you’re building fast, then by the time the search engines start indexing your site, you might have started creating content.

If you don’t submit for indexing early then your content might not get indexed for several days after you’ve released it. And you’re working it AI speed - two to three days to see your site indexed is going to feel like a long time.

Bing and Google

Register your site on Bing and Google.

• Use Google search console and add property

  • https://search.google.com/search-console
  • this requires access to the DNS configuration for the domain to add a TXT or CNAME entry
  • TXT record leave the name empty and the ‘value’ is the information google provides you wit e.g. google-site-verification=12345...

• Bing webmaster tools https://www.bing.com/webmasters

  • if you have added the site to Google Search Console then you can simply import from there into bing webmaster tools
  • this is the fastest way

Remember that sitemap.xml? Now we submit it to the engines.

• submit site map to Google search console
• submit site map to Bing in the webmaster tools

It takes a few days to get indexed so do this early.

The benefit might seem small, but getting indexed early means you gain insight into anything wrong with your design, including SEO and GEO improvements that are identified in these tools.

Since they are now scanning your sitemap, as you build and expand your site, you can see if there is any impact on the search and rankings in these tools without having built any analytics in the site.

Release

Surprise. You’ve already released.

Now, as you build the site and iterate you’re changes will be picked up by the search engines.

You can already inform people on the newsletter.

You don’t even really need a blog at this point, just add dated content to the front page describing your progress.

But now you can concentrate on developing the app, while developing an online search presence organically.