The usual advice is to finish the website, then “do SEO” once it is live. That delay is how sites launch with thin pages, vague titles, and no search plan, then spend a year trying to catch up.
SEO should be part of the website build, and kept in the site from day one. That is why Brandspace offers both a website management service and SEO packages. The website plans have on-site SEO baked in. The SEO add-ons are not an afterthought. They cover off-site work the website plan does not, and they work best when they run at the same time so the site can actually grow.
Why SEO belongs in the build
Search is not a coat of paint you add when the design is done. The pages you launch, the headings you write, the services you choose to give a URL, the way proof and enquiry paths are structured: all of that either helps people find you, or makes it harder.
If you wait until after go-live, you are often asking search to promote a site that was never shaped for it. Titles get rewritten in a rush. Service pages that should have existed from month one appear six months later. Redirects are an afterthought on a rebuild.
Building SEO into the website from the start means the core is already organised around how buyers search, while it is also built to convert. That is marketing-led web design, with search in the brief rather than parked for later.
Launch timing still sits in how long a new website takes. The search work starts in that same window, not after it.
What is baked into the website plans
A Brandspace website management service already includes the on-site side of SEO as part of how we design, write, and build:
- Service and location pages structured around real search demand, not only internal jargon
- Titles, headings, and copy that explain the offer clearly to people and to search
- Technical basics: speed, mobile, indexing, clean URLs
- Internal links and a site shape that can grow
- Ongoing on-site improvement as pages and offers change
That work lives inside the website plan. You are not buying a pretty brochure and a separate “SEO setup” invoice to make it findable. The fuller bundle is in what’s included in a managed website plan.
What the SEO packages add
Website plans do not cover the off-site work that helps you show up and stay visible beyond the pages themselves. That is what the SEO packages are for, and they are meant to run alongside the site, not wait for a second project.
The SEO plan typically includes:
- Link building: earning relevant mentions and links so the site can compete
- Entity building: helping search engines understand your business as a real, recognised operation, not a thin new URL
- Google Business Profile management: the local listing, categories, posts, and review momentum that sit outside the website
Those activities are not part of the website plans. They are the demand work that feeds the site you are already building and improving. Detail and pricing live on SEO packages. Local readers can also see SEO in Swansea.
Why they should run at the same time
On-site SEO in the website plan gives you pages worth ranking. Off-site SEO gives those pages a chance to be found. Doing one without the other slows both.
If you only build the site, you wait longer for organic demand. If you only buy off-site SEO onto a weak or unfinished site, you send people to pages that are not ready. Running both from the start means the build, the on-site optimisation, the links, the entity work, and Google Business Profile all point at the same commercial goals.
That is the intended Brandspace path for ambitious service businesses: Growth or PRO for the website, plus an SEO plan in the same period, so growth is designed in rather than bolted on after launch.
Rebuilds and sites you already have
If we are rebuilding or substantially reworking your site, SEO still belongs in that work from day one. We plan redirects, keep useful URLs where we can, and shape the new core for search as well as conversion. Rankings can still move when a site changes. Starting the off-site SEO plan at the same time gives the new pages support instead of a silent gap after launch.
You can run the website plan on its own. Plenty of owners start there. Visibility grows faster when the SEO package is in from the beginning, because the off-site work has a site that is already being built for search.
We’re based in Swansea and work with service businesses across South Wales and beyond. For local search specifically, see SEO in Swansea. For local web design, see web design in Swansea.
If you are planning a new site, build SEO into it from the start. Look at the website plans for the on-site work, and the SEO packages for the off-site work that should run alongside. Most ambitious service businesses choose Growth or PRO for the site, with an SEO plan in place at the same time.
FAQs
Can we do both at once?
Yes. That is the better path. The website plan carries on-site SEO. The SEO package carries off-site work such as link building, entity building, and Google Business Profile management. They are designed to run together.
Is SEO included in the website plan?
On-site SEO is baked into the website management service: structure, copy, technical basics, and ongoing on-page improvement. Off-site SEO is not. That sits in the SEO packages.
Will a rebuild reset my rankings?
It can, especially if URLs change and redirects are not planned. We handle redirects as part of a proper rebuild, and we treat search as part of the new build rather than a later phase.
Do I need an SEO package if I rely on referrals?
The website still needs to be built for search, because referred buyers look you up. An SEO package is how you grow demand beyond the network you already have. You can start with the website plan alone. You will grow faster with both running.
Can I add the SEO package later?
You can. You will have lost time. The site will have launched without the off-site support that helps it get found. We would rather start both together.
I’m a marketer based in Wales, UK. I love working with ambitious small businesses and helping them unlock the full potential of proper marketing. I created Brandspace as the starting point for doing this, and while we focus on websites and search, I can provide full strategic marketing support for your business.