Free Checklist · Updated 2026-10

The 30-Point SEO Launch Checklist for New Websites

Six groups, five checks each. Pause, tick, move on. One of them can hide your whole site from Google.

Thirty checks to run before and right after a new website goes live, grouped so you can do them in one sitting. Tick them all and your site is ready for its first customer search.

For: Founders, freelancers and small teams launching or relaunching a website, especially one a developer just handed over.

1. Setup: Search Console, Bing and analytics · 5
2. Indexing: sitemap, robots.txt and noindex · 5
3. Pages: titles, headings and one job per page · 5
4. Trust: about, contact and consistent business info · 5
5. Speed and mobile · 5
6. Launch day and week one · 5

How to use it

Work top to bottom. Groups 1 and 2 matter most.
Tick each box only after you've checked it on the live site, not staging.
Repeat group 2 after every redesign or migration.

1. Setup: Search Console, Bing and analytics

Google Search Console set up as a Domain property
A Domain property (DNS verification) covers http, https, www and all subdomains. Keep the DNS record in place or you can lose verification.
A second verification method added
Google recommends more than one method in case a template change removes your tag.
Bing Webmaster Tools set up
Import from Search Console in a few clicks. It also gives you a free AI Performance report (preview) for Copilot citations.
Google Analytics 4 installed and recording
Open the Realtime report and visit your own site to confirm it's counting.
Analytics linked to Search Console
So you can see search queries next to what visitors did on the site.

2. Indexing: sitemap, robots.txt and noindex

No leftover noindex tag on live pages
Developers often add <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> on staging. If it ships, Google won't show your pages. Check page source and the X-Robots-Tag header.
robots.txt doesn't say 'Disallow: /'
That blocks crawling of the whole site. Also, Google can't see a noindex on a page robots.txt blocks.
XML sitemap exists with full https URLs
Google crawls sitemap URLs exactly as written, so use absolute URLs. Max 50,000 URLs or 50MB per file.
Sitemap submitted in Search Console and listed in robots.txt
Add a 'Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml' line. Submission is a hint, not a guarantee.
Only one version of the site resolves
http, https, www and non-www should redirect to one version so Google picks one canonical.

3. Pages: titles, headings and one job per page

Every page has its own title tag
Google says to give every page a distinct, descriptive title and avoid vague ones like 'Home'.
One clear H1 per page
Google recommends making the main heading prominent, such as the first visible H1.
Each page has one job
If two pages target the same thing, Google has to guess which one to show.
Short, readable URLs
Google's Starter Guide recommends descriptive words in URLs, like /services/roof-repair.
Unique meta description on key pages
Google sometimes uses it for the snippet. Keep it short and specific to the page.

4. Trust: about, contact and consistent business info

Real About page: who runs this and why you know your stuff
Google's helpful content guidance asks 'Who created this?' and says trust matters most in E-E-A-T.
Contact page with phone, email and address (if you have one)
Customers and Google both look for a real business behind the site.
Name, address and phone match everywhere
Same details on the site, Google Business Profile and directories, so every mention points to one business.
Google Business Profile claimed (if you serve customers face to face)
Free, and it's how you show on Maps. Online-only businesses aren't eligible.
Organization or LocalBusiness schema passes the tests
Check it in the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator. Keep it matching the visible page.

5. Speed and mobile

LCP under 2.5 seconds
Google's 'good' threshold for loading, measured in PageSpeed Insights.
INP under 200 milliseconds
Google's 'good' threshold for how fast the page responds to taps and clicks.
CLS under 0.1
Google's 'good' threshold for layout jumping around while loading.
Site works on a real phone
Tap every button and form on your own phone. Menus and forms break more often than desktop.
Images compressed and have alt text
Big images are a common LCP problem, and Google uses alt text to understand images.

6. Launch day and week one

Redirects in place from any old URLs
If you replaced an old site, 301-redirect old pages to the closest new page so links and rankings carry over.
No broken links
Crawl the site with Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) and fix every 404.
Homepage and key pages submitted with URL Inspection
Request indexing in Search Console for your most important pages.
site:yourdomain.com checked after a few days
Google's own way to see if your pages are in the index.
Search Console Pages report reviewed after week one
Look at 'Why pages aren't indexed' and fix anything that should be indexed.

Unlock the full checklist

Everything above, plus the branded PDF to keep.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What should I check before launching a website for SEO?

First, that Google can index it: no leftover noindex, no 'Disallow: /' in robots.txt, a submitted sitemap and Search Console set up. Then unique titles, clear contact details and mobile speed.

How do I know if my site is blocked from Google?

Search site:yourdomain.com, check robots.txt, search your page source for 'noindex', and use URL Inspection in Search Console.

How long after launch will Google index my site?

Google doesn't give a fixed time. It can be hours or weeks. A sitemap and URL Inspection help Google find pages, but indexing is never guaranteed.

Do I need a Google Business Profile?

If you meet customers face to face, yes. It's free and puts you on Google Maps. Online-only businesses aren't eligible.