Settling happens in every home. Later than sooner most of the time. You want to win the gravity war FOREVER--and that's not really a thing.

You need the same footings for the steps.

Same as any foundation: compacting, grade beams, piers, footers... Whatever works for ya.

I''m not a fan of brick steps; I don't like brick on the flat. A properly detailed set of pressure-treated wood stairs that are maintained will last as long. They won't heave and would be fixable if they did.

I live a couple of miles from Colonial Williamsburg where you can see examples of brick and wood steps at the entry to homes. While brick steps do require some minimal maintenance, they have a much, much longer service life compared with wood steps, at least in our coastal Virginia climate.

The footings for steps need to be placed on undisturbed soil with an appropriate bearing capacity or on compacted fill material installed to a depth which achieves the equivalent. For the first option, that will be a reinforced concrete pad at the same depth as the footings for the home's foundation.

compact, compact, compact and when you think you are done, compact some more.

I agree that if you want concrete steps they need proper footing just like a foundation and honestly IMO your house would suit wood stairs more than concrete and I would aslo make them as wide as the front porch entry