Week one: crawlability
Confirm one canonical host, HTTPS, and a sitemap that lists real URLs—not staging ghosts. Our Sitemap Generator helps when you are static or small enough that a hand-maintained XML file drifts. Robots.txt should block admin paths, not the whole site because of a typo.
I have seen indie launches with `noindex` left on from a password-protected beta theme. View source on the homepage before you tweet the link.
Avoid blocking CSS in robots.txt; crawlers need to see a real page to judge usefulness, not a naked HTML skeleton.
Pick one www or non-www host and stick to it; mixed hosts split signals and confuse analytics for months while you wonder why traffic looks flat.
Week two: titles and descriptions
Every important page needs a unique title and meta description that match intent. Use the Meta Tag Generator for consistent Open Graph tags, then the Title & Meta Length Checker so snippets do not truncate mid-promise.
Keywords in paragraphs matter less than clear language humans click. Write for the search result preview, not for density calculators.
One strong guide beats ten thin pages with duplicate intros—internal links should help humans navigate, not trap bots in circles.
Indie sites win on specificity: a tool page that names the exact job (“resize apk icons”) outranks a generic “free online tools” paragraph every time.
Week three: speed and structure
Run a lightweight speed check, compress images, defer non-critical scripts. Headings should outline the page (`h1` once, logical `h2`s). Internal links between related tools or posts help more than footer keyword soup.
Schema is bonus points for articles and products; do not block ship on rich results day one. Honest content beats markup gymnastics.
Our Page Speed Checker is a sanity pass, not a vanity score—fix the largest image and the worst script before chasing perfect hundreds.
Week four: measure and iterate
Search Console property verified, sitemap submitted, top queries reviewed. Fix pages with impressions but lame titles. Publish one useful post or guide that answers a real question your users ask support.
SEO for indies is maintenance, not a launch fireworks show. We bundle the boring generators so you spend time writing, not guessing tag syntax.
Month two is for content that answers support questions, not for buying link packages that age poorly and scare Google.
Track a handful of URLs in Search Console instead of obsessing over every tool page on day twelve—momentum beats perfectionism for solo maintainers.