How to find new WordPress websites to pitch

To find new WordPress websites, start with new websites of any kind and then check which ones run WordPress. A new site almost always gets an HTTPS certificate when it goes live, and that certificate is written to public logs. Read those logs, or a feed built on them, confirm WordPress in the page source, and you can reach the owner while the site is still days old and the setup is still unfinished.

Why pitch new WordPress websites at all?

WordPress runs a large share of small business websites: plumbers, dentists, cafes, consultants, photographers, local shops. It is free software, so the owner pays for hosting, a theme and maybe a page builder, and then does much of the setup alone or with a friend's help.

So the first weeks after launch are a good time to write. A brand new WordPress site makes a good prospect for three reasons:

• The owner just spent money on it. They care about the site this week more than they will in a year.
• The setup is often unfinished. WordPress leaves a lot of small jobs to the owner, and many get skipped in the rush to launch.
• You are likely to be the first to pitch. An agency that built the site may already be in the picture, but a site the owner made alone usually has no one looking after it.

Compare that with a site that has been live for five years. It may need far more work, but the owner has stopped looking at it, and probably has a nephew or an old agency they feel loyal to.

How can you tell a site runs WordPress?

You will check a lot of new sites, so make this a ten second job. Open the homepage, view the source (Ctrl+U on Windows, Cmd+Option+U on a Mac in Chrome) and search for any of these:

One match on wp-content is usually enough. If you would rather not read source code, a free browser extension that detects site technology, such as Wappalyzer, shows the platform and often the page builder in one click. If you see WooCommerce files, the site is a store, and the checks are a little different; see how to find new WooCommerce stores.

WordPress.com or self-hosted?

There are two WordPress products with nearly the same name:

• WordPress.org is the free software. The owner installs it on their own hosting, on their own domain. This is what most small business sites run.
• WordPress.com is a hosted service built on the same software. A free site there lives at an address like bakery.wordpress.com. Paid plans let the owner use their own domain.

For prospecting, a site on its own domain is usually the better bet. The owner has paid for the domain and hosting, which says they mean business. A free wordpress.com address is more often a hobby, a test, or a blog that will never earn money.

Why the page builder matters

Note whether the site uses a builder such as Elementor or Divi, or the plain WordPress block editor. If you build sites, it tells you whether you can work in their setup or would want to rebuild. If you do SEO or content, it tells you how fiddly a simple edit will be. Either way, naming their builder in your email shows you actually looked.

Where do new WordPress websites show up first?

You want sites that are open, real and only days or weeks old. Here are the places they appear, roughly from newest to oldest.

Public certificate logs

Almost every site now loads over HTTPS, and every certificate browsers trust is recorded in open logs under a system called Certificate Transparency. Most hosts issue the certificate automatically, often on the day the owner points the domain at the host. That makes the logs one of the earliest public signs that a site exists. You can search them yourself for free at crt.sh, but you search by name rather than by date: a search like %dental% returns certificates for domains containing that word.

The catch is the noise. For every new small business site you will find test servers, mail servers, parked domains and subdomains of big companies. You then have to open each real one and check its source for WordPress. It works, but expect to spend most of your time sifting.

Vetted Leads reads those logs for you. It visits each new site, checks that it is a real business, and labels the platform, with WordPress and WooCommerce as separate labels. It also lists what the homepage is missing, such as no meta description, no social preview image, no favicon, images with no alt text, an old copyright year or pages loading over plain http. Every email in the feed has been checked with its mail server before it gets there. As of 3 November 2026 the feed held 76,974 leads, 53,568 of them with a verified email, and 2,347 that launched in the previous 24 hours. You can try it with 3 free contacts, once, plus the newest 50 leads each day, no card needed. Filtering by platform comes with a paid plan; see pricing.

Google searches for leftover defaults

A fresh WordPress install comes with placeholder content, and some owners publish without removing it. Google indexes that content, so a few searches turn up unfinished sites in a niche you choose:

These results are never complete, and many will be years old rather than new. Treat them as a shortlist to check, not a list to email. Under Tools in Google's results, setting the date to the past month pushes more recent pages up.

Local signals

New businesses often announce a website at the same time as a new shop front, a new practice or a new listing on a map. Local Facebook groups, the business pages of local news sites and new listings on Google Maps all surface owners who just launched. These take longer to work through, but you often get the owner's name and a reason to write.

People you already know

Past clients, friends who run businesses and your local business networking group all hear about new websites before Google does. A short note to ten people saying you help new WordPress sites get the basics right costs nothing.

What should you check on a new WordPress site in five minutes?

You are not doing an audit. You want three answers: is the business real, does the site have a gap you can fix, and what one true sentence will you open your email with. Run the same checks in the same order and it soon takes under five minutes.

Minute one: is it real and open?

Is there a business name, a service or product, and a way to get in touch? A Coming Soon screen, a host's default page or a site full of lorem ipsum text means come back later. Note the domain and move on.

Minute two: is the site hidden from search engines?

This is the most valuable check on the list, and the easiest to skip. WordPress has a setting under Settings, then Reading, called Search engine visibility, with a box labelled Discourage search engines from indexing this site. People often tick it while they build, so Google stays away from a half-finished site, and then forget to untick it at launch.

To check, view the source and search for noindex. If you find a robots meta tag in the page head with the content noindex, nofollow, the site is asking search engines not to list it. Google explains what that tag does in its guide to the robots meta tag. For a new business that wants to be found, this is a real problem with a one-click fix, and it is very easy for the owner to verify once you tell them where to look.

One caution: an SEO plugin can also add noindex to some pages on purpose, such as a thank you page. Only raise it if the homepage itself carries the tag.

Minute three: how it looks in a search result

Search for the business name and read the result. Then search the source for name="description". WordPress does not add a meta description on its own; it needs an SEO plugin such as Yoast or Rank Math, set up for the homepage. Without one, Google writes its own snippet from text on the page, which on a new site can be a menu, a cookie notice or a stray line from the footer.

Minute four: the browser tab and the share test

Look at the browser tab. A blank icon, or the WordPress logo, means no site icon was set. Then paste the homepage link into a chat with yourself. If no picture appears, the site probably has no social preview image. WordPress does not add one by itself, and for a local business whose customers share links in group chats, that is a missed chance every time. To be sure, search the source for og:image.

Minute five: leftovers, images and the decision

Check for leftover defaults: a Hello world! post on the blog, a Sample Page in the menu, an Uncategorized label on posts, or the old default tagline Just another WordPress site, which newer versions of WordPress no longer add. Then right click the main image on the homepage, choose Inspect and look at alt. If it is empty or missing on the main image, that usually means nobody wrote alt text.

Now write one sentence: the gap you would lead with and what it costs the business. If you cannot write it, skip the site.

Your email should describe each gap the way the owner sees it:

Which new WordPress sites should you skip?

Skipping the wrong sites saves more time than any shortcut. Leave these alone:

• Sites behind a Coming Soon page. Check back when they open.
• Sites that already have help. A filled in meta description, a share image, a custom favicon and a designer's credit in the footer usually mean someone is looking after it.
• Big organisations. A new domain can belong to a large company or a franchise with an in house team.
• Personal blogs and hobby sites. No business, no budget.
• Sites that look abandoned. Broken images, lorem ipsum everywhere and a contact address that bounces.

What should you send the owner of a new WordPress site?

Keep it short. Make one true observation, name one gap they can check in seconds, say what it costs them in plain words, and make the reply easy. Do not attach an audit, promise rankings or lean on jargon.

Sample email: the hidden site

Subject: Quick thing on the Fernside Physio site

Hi Laura,

I came across the new Fernside Physio site this week. The page explaining what happens at a first visit is really clear.

One thing worth knowing: the site still has a setting switched on that asks Google not to list it. It is common on new WordPress sites, because it gets ticked while a site is being built. Until it is switched off, Google will not show your site to people searching for a physio in your area.

You can check it yourself under Settings, then Reading, in your WordPress dashboard. If the box that says Discourage search engines from indexing this site is ticked, that is it.

I set up WordPress sites for clinics and small practices. Happy to fix it for you, or just talk you through it if you would rather do it yourself.

Sam

The business and the names are made up to show the shape.

Sample follow-up

If there is no reply after four or five days, send one follow-up that adds something useful:

Hi Laura, following up on the Fernside Physio site. Once that box is unticked, the next quick win is a short description for your homepage, so Google shows what you do instead of picking text itself. Here is the one I would use: Physiotherapy in Fernside for back, neck and sports injuries. Same week appointments. Happy to set both up if you would like.

If that gets no answer, move on.

Why this works

• Laura can confirm it herself in under a minute. She does not have to trust a stranger.
• The cost is in her terms: patients searching and not finding her.
• Offering to talk her through it for free shows you are not just after a sale, and people who could fix it alone often pay you anyway.

If the site is not hidden, swap in the next clearest gap from the table. The structure stays the same: one gap, where to see it, what it costs, an easy yes.

Follow the email rules that apply to you and to the business. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act covers business email: be honest about who you are, use a subject line that is not misleading, make clear the message is an ad, include a valid postal address and a way to opt out, and honor opt-outs within 10 business days. The sample leaves that footer out to keep it short; yours should not. UK and EU rules can be stricter, so check before you write to businesses there.

What should you offer first?

A small, fixed job the owner can see. Someone who just paid for a domain, hosting and a theme is careful with money, and a monthly retainer from a stranger is a big ask. Price it as a fixed fee they can agree to without a call.

The launch check leads naturally into a care plan: a monthly fee for WordPress updates, plugin updates, backups and small edits. WordPress sites need regular updates, and many new owners do not know that yet. One fixed job done well is often how that conversation starts. The find web design clients page shows how designers use new launches to keep those first conversations coming.

What mistakes waste time with WordPress prospects?

• Assuming every WordPress site is a business. Plenty are blogs, portfolios or tests. Check for a real service and a way to buy.
• Pitching speed scores. A low score on a cheap shared host means little to the owner. Talk about what they can see and what it costs them.
• Not rechecking before you send. New sites change daily. The noindex tag you found on Monday may be gone by Thursday, and an email about a problem that is already fixed ends the conversation.
• Claiming what you did not test. Do not say the contact form is broken unless you sent a message through it and checked whether it worked.
• Talking in plugin names. Say what the owner will notice, not which plugin you would install.

How many new WordPress sites should you contact each day?

Pick a pace you can keep. This fits into an hour:

1. 15 minutes: build the list. Twenty new sites from a feed, the logs or local signals.
2. 10 minutes: first pass. About 30 seconds each. Confirm WordPress, then drop the unfinished, the big organisations and the ones already set up well.
3. 25 minutes: five minute checks on the best five.
4. 10 minutes: write three short emails, one gap each.

That is about 60 careful emails a month. Keep a sheet with one row per site: name, address, niche, builder, main gap, second gap, contact, date sent, follow-up date and reply. After a few weeks the sheet will show you which gaps get answers, and you can lead with those.

Where should you start today?

Pick one kind of business you understand, such as clinics, trades, cafes or consultants, and send your first three emails today. Start with the search visibility check, because it is the one owners are most glad to hear about. If you would rather start from sites that launched this week, with the platform labelled, gaps like a missing meta description or favicon already listed, and the emails checked, Vetted Leads gives you 3 free contacts to try it, no card needed.