SEO Checklist for New Websites: 20 Steps Before and After Launch

A new website is the best moment to get SEO right. Fixing problems after launch is always harder: pages get indexed with the wrong titles, old URLs break, and tracking is missing for the first months of data.

This is the checklist I use when launching websites for clients. Work through it before you go live and during the first weeks after launch.

Before launch: technical foundations

1. Use HTTPS everywhere. Install an SSL certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS with a 301 redirect.
2. Choose one version of your domain. Decide between www and the bare domain, and redirect the other version to it permanently.
3. Set clean, readable URLs. Short, descriptive slugs such as /services/web-design/ are better than IDs and dates. In WordPress, choose the “Post name” permalink structure.
4. Make sure search engines are allowed in. Staging sites are often blocked with a noindex tag or a robots.txt rule — and that block regularly survives launch. In WordPress, check that “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unticked.
5. Create an XML sitemap that lists only the pages you want indexed, and reference it in robots.txt.
6. Test mobile layouts on real phones. Google indexes the mobile version of your site.
7. Check speed and Core Web Vitals. Compress images, defer non-critical JavaScript and enable caching. My Core Web Vitals guide explains the details.

Before launch: on-page basics

8. Write a unique title tag for every page — roughly 50–60 characters, with the main keyword near the start.
9. Write a meta description for every important page. It doesn’t directly affect rankings, but a clear, specific description earns more clicks.
10. Use one H1 per page that describes the page’s topic, followed by a logical H2/H3 structure.
11. Map one main keyword to each page so your pages don’t compete with each other.
12. Add internal links between related pages, using descriptive anchor text instead of “click here”.
13. Give every image descriptive alt text and a sensible file name.
14. Add structured data (Schema.org) for your organisation or person, services, articles, breadcrumbs and FAQs.
15. Create a custom 404 page that helps visitors find what they were looking for.

Redesigning an existing site? Protect your rankings

16. Map every old URL to its new equivalent and set up 301 redirects before launch. Missing redirects are the most common reason traffic drops after a redesign.

After launch: tracking and indexing

17. Install Google Analytics 4 and mark your important actions — contact form submissions, calls, purchases — as key events.
18. Verify the site in Google Search Console, submit your sitemap and use URL Inspection to request indexing for your most important pages.
19. Set up your Google Business Profile if you serve customers in a specific area. See my guide to ranking in Google Maps.
20. Crawl the live site with a tool such as Screaming Frog to catch broken links, redirect chains, missing titles and accidental noindex tags.

The first 90 days

• Check Search Console weekly for indexing errors and pages “discovered but not indexed”.
• Publish helpful content that answers the questions your customers ask before buying.
• Earn your first links from partners, suppliers, local directories and industry associations.
• Watch which queries bring impressions, then improve the pages that rank on page two.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for a new website to appear on Google?

Pages can be indexed within days once the site is verified in Search Console and has a sitemap. Ranking well for competitive searches takes longer — usually several months of consistent work.

Should I launch with a blog?

It helps, but it isn’t required. Start with excellent service pages, then add articles that answer real questions. Quality matters far more than volume.

Do I need an SEO plugin on WordPress?

Not necessarily. A well-built theme can output titles, meta descriptions, structured data and a sitemap on its own. What matters is that these elements are correct — not which tool produces them.

Launching a website soon?

I design and build websites with SEO built in from the first line of code, so you launch with a fast, indexable, well-structured site. Explore my web design and SEO services, or get in touch for a pre-launch SEO check.