Hello everyone, I'm currently building a new football content website called LAWANBOLA. Website: https://www.lawanligacompany.net The website focuses on football news, match previews, schedules, statistics, tactical analysis, and educational football content for Indonesian football fans. The site is still relatively new, so I'm trying to build long-term organic traffic through Google Search rather than relying only on social media. So far I've completed the following: ✔ Google Search Console verification ✔ XML Sitemap submitted ✔ Robots.txt configured ✔ SEO-friendly URLs ✔ Optimized title tags and meta descriptions ✔ Internal linking between related articles ✔ Mobile-friendly and responsive design ✔ Regular content publishing ✔ Social media distribution (Facebook, Pinterest, Mastodon, Blogger, Medium) Now I'd like to ask for advice from experienced SEO professionals. My questions are: 1. If you were launching a brand-new website in 2026, what would you focus on first? 2. Is it better to spend more time publishing content or building quality backlinks? 3. How long did it take your website before Google started sending consistent organic traffic? 4. What are the biggest SEO mistakes new website owners usually make? 5. Are there any technical SEO improvements that many beginners overlook? I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations from experienced members. Thank you!
1. Creating content. 2. Both but content comes first. 3. 6 months. 4. Quiting too early. 5. Internal linking as it helps Google crawls your website better.
I’d focus on building topical authority first. For a football site, I wouldn’t try to cover everything from day one. I’d pick specific areas like match previews, team analysis, or local football news and create really useful content around them. Backlinks definitely help, but I wouldn’t chase them too early. If the content is not strong enough, links won’t do much. I’d spend the first months creating a solid content base, improving internal links, and watching which pages start getting impressions in Search Console. For a new site, patience is probably the hardest part. I’ve seen sites sit almost invisible for months and then start growing once Google understands the topic and finds enough signals. Consistency matters more than trying every SEO trick.
-------------- I looked at the site before answering, and I want to flag something important: lawanligacompany.net is a sports betting platform, not a football news/content site. The homepage is built around match predictions tied to betting markets (Mix Parlay, Asian Handicap, Over/Under, Correct Score), with live "DAFTAR" (register) and "LOGIN" links to a betting platform, deposit/withdrawal details in IDR, and betting promotions — all targeted at Indonesian users. That's a different thing from the "football news, statistics, and educational content" site described in your message.
To help a new football website rank faster on Google, focus on targeting long-tail keywords, building topical authority, and ensuring fast technical performance
Thank you, MarkDon. I really appreciate your detailed advice. I'm now focusing on creating more useful football content instead of publishing many short articles. I've also started improving internal linking and monitoring Google Search Console to see which pages receive impressions. Your point about topical authority makes a lot of sense. I'll continue building content consistently and be patient with the indexing process. Thanks again for sharing your experience.