As a solo developer, getting traffic without spending money is the hardest part. Here is exactly what I did to get 108 pages indexed by Google in 2 weeks.
Step 1: Google Search Console
- Verify your domain (HTML file upload)
- Submit your sitemap.xml (108 URLs)
- Request indexing for key pages
Step 2: Bing Webmaster Tools
Bing has a cool feature: import directly from Google Search Console. One click, done. Your 108 pages are submitted to Bing too.
Step 3: Dev.to Articles
Each Dev.to article includes a canonical_url pointing to my site. This creates backlinks that search engines follow.
Published 5 articles so far:
- Tech stack breakdown
- SEO matrix strategy
- Tarot card explanations
- Solo dev workflow
- This meta-article about getting indexed
Step 4: Internal Linking
My homepage links to all 12 zodiac signs, 22 tarot cards, and 9 numerology numbers. This helps Google discover pages that might not be in the sitemap yet.
Step 5: OG Tags and Social Sharing
Added Open Graph tags and Twitter Card meta tags. When someone shares a link, it shows a nice preview image.
Timeline
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Site deployed on Vercel |
| Day 2 | Google Search Console verified |
| Day 3 | Sitemap submitted (108 pages) |
| Day 5 | Bing Webmaster Tools imported |
| Day 7 | First pages appearing in Google |
| Day 14 | 85+ pages indexed |
What Did NOT Work
- Reddit: New accounts need 7-14 days to build karma
- Twitter: Could not log in (API issues)
- AI directories: Most have Cloudflare protection, cannot automate submissions
Total marketing spend: $0
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