Website Launch SEO Checklist: 20 Things to Check Before Going Live

Many websites lose traffic at launch because of a missed setting. Use this website launch SEO checklist before and immediately after going live.

Indexing and crawling

1. Remove "discourage search engines" or any noindex tag left from development.
2. robots.txt allows important pages and points to your sitemap.
3. XML sitemap exists and lists only pages you want indexed.
4. HTTPS works everywhere, and HTTP redirects to HTTPS.
5. One version of the domain (with or without www) redirects to the other.

Redirects (for redesigns)

1. Old URLs redirect (301) to the most relevant new page.
2. No redirect chains or loops.
3. Broken links fixed inside the site.

On-page

1. Unique title tag on every page, roughly 50–60 characters.
2. Unique meta description on every important page, roughly 120–160 characters.
3. One clear H1 per page and logical H2/H3 structure.
4. Descriptive image alt text.
5. Internal links from the homepage and menus to every important page.

Structured data and sharing

1. Organization or LocalBusiness schema with name, logo, address and contact details.
2. Breadcrumb, Article, Service or Product schema where relevant, tested with Google's Rich Results Test.
3. Open Graph tags so links look good on WhatsApp, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Performance and mobile

1. Mobile-friendly layout checked on real phones.
2. Core Web Vitals in the good range, or close to it.

Measurement

1. Google Search Console verified, sitemap submitted, key pages inspected and indexing requested.
2. Google Analytics 4 and conversion tracking for calls, forms and WhatsApp clicks.

After launch

Check Search Console's Pages report weekly for the first month, watch for 404 errors and compare traffic with the previous site.

Every website we build passes this checklist before launch. See our website development and SEO services.