Most SEO problems on new websites are not content problems — they are technical mistakes made in the last week before launch. A noindex tag left on from staging, a sitemap pointing at the old domain, redirects that chain three times. This checklist is what we run through before every launch. Use it as your own pre-flight list.
Crawlability and indexing
- robots.txt allows crawling of the site and links to the sitemap.
- No stray `noindex` meta tags or `X-Robots-Tag` headers left over from staging.
- XML sitemap lists only canonical, 200-status, indexable URLs — and is submitted in Search Console.
- One canonical version of the domain: www vs non-www and http → https resolve with a single 301, not a chain.
- Every page has a self-referencing canonical tag.
- Custom 404 page returns a real 404 status, not a 200.
Performance (Core Web Vitals)
- LCP under 2.5 s on mobile: hero image preloaded, correctly sized, modern format (AVIF/WebP).
- INP under 200 ms: no heavy JavaScript blocking the main thread on interaction.
- CLS under 0.1: explicit width/height on images and embeds, fonts loaded with `font-display: swap` and size-adjusted fallbacks.
- Static assets served with long cache lifetimes and content hashes.
- Test with PageSpeed Insights on the real production URL, not localhost.
On-page fundamentals
- Unique `<title>` (under ~60 characters) and meta description on every page.
- One H1 per page that matches search intent; logical H2/H3 hierarchy.
- Descriptive, hyphenated, lowercase URLs without parameters or session IDs.
- Every image has meaningful alt text; decorative images have empty alt.
- Internal links from the homepage reach every important page within three clicks.
Structured data
- Organization (or LocalBusiness) schema on the homepage with logo, sameAs links and contact details.
- BreadcrumbList on inner pages, Article on blog posts, FAQPage where you have real Q&A content.
- Validate in Google's Rich Results Test — and don't add types you can't honestly fill (a Review without ratings is an error, not a bonus).
International sites
- hreflang tags on every page pointing at every language version, including a self-reference and `x-default`.
- Language versions are separate URLs (`/en/`, `/de/`), never cookie- or IP-based swaps of the same URL.
- `<html lang>` matches the page language.
AI search readiness (GEO)
- Allow AI crawlers you want citations from (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) in robots.txt.
- Publish an `llms.txt` describing your company and key pages in plain language.
- Write answer-first paragraphs: a clear one-sentence answer, then detail — that's what gets quoted.
Launch day
- Verify the domain in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools; submit the sitemap to both.
- If migrating: map every old URL to its new home with 301s and monitor Search Console for 404s for six weeks.
- Ping IndexNow (Bing/Copilot) with the full URL list.
- Set up analytics with consent handling that complies with GDPR/CCPA.
- Favicon: provide a PNG or ICO at a multiple of 48 px in addition to any SVG — Google's favicon crawler ignores SVG-only setups.
Technical SEO doesn't win rankings by itself. It removes every reason for you to lose them.
This is the list we apply to our own site and every client build. If you'd like a second pair of eyes before your launch, we offer a fixed-scope technical SEO audit.
How long after launch does Google index a new website?
Typically days to a few weeks for the homepage, longer for deep pages. Submitting the sitemap in Search Console and requesting indexing for key URLs speeds it up.
Do I need structured data on a small business site?
At minimum, Organization or LocalBusiness on the homepage. It helps Google and AI systems understand who you are and can unlock rich results.
What is the single most common launch mistake?
Shipping with staging settings: a leftover noindex, a blocked robots.txt or a sitemap with the staging domain. Check all three the hour you go live.
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