The technical SEO checklist we run before every launch

A new website is the best chance you’ll get to be found on Google, and the easiest one to waste. Most SEO problems we’re asked to fix were built in on launch day: slow pages, missing redirects, a sitemap nobody submitted. Here’s the checklist we run on every site before it goes live. You can use it on yours.

1. Speed, on a real phone

Google measures how your pages feel to real visitors with three numbers, the Core Web Vitals:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how long the main content takes to appear. Aim for 2.5 seconds or less.
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): how quickly the page responds when someone taps. Aim for 200 milliseconds or less.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): how much things jump around while loading. Aim for 0.1 or less.

Test with Google’s PageSpeed Insights, on the mobile results. The usual fixes are properly sized images in modern formats, fewer scripts, and good hosting close to your customers.

2. Every page reachable and indexable

• An XML sitemap listing every page you want found, submitted in Google Search Console.
• A robots.txt that doesn’t accidentally block the whole site. It happens more than you’d think, usually left over from the staging site.
• No stray noindex tags on pages that should rank.
• Canonical tags, so Google knows which version of a page is the real one.

3. Old addresses redirected

If you’re replacing a site, every old page address needs a 301 redirect to its new home. Old addresses carry the rankings and links you’ve built over years. Without redirects, they turn into errors and that value disappears. Export the old site’s pages before launch and map every one.

4. Titles, descriptions and headings

• A unique title on every page, with what the page is about near the start, around 50 to 60 characters.
• A meta description that reads like an ad for the click, around 150 characters.
• One H1 per page, then H2s and H3s in a sensible order.
• Clean, readable URLs: /services/bathroom-renovations, not /page?id=482.

5. Structured data

Structured data (schema) tells Google exactly what’s on a page: your business name, address, opening hours and services, your products and prices, your articles. It helps Google understand you and can make your listing richer in the results. Use LocalBusiness for a local business, Product for store items, and Article for blog posts, and test it with Google’s Rich Results Test.

6. Mobile first, and secure

• Google ranks the mobile version of your site. Check every page on a phone: tap targets, text size, nothing wider than the screen.
• HTTPS on every page, with no mixed-content warnings.

7. Images that pull their weight

Descriptive file names, alt text that says what’s in the image, and dimensions set so the layout doesn’t jump. Alt text helps people using screen readers, and helps your images show up in image search.

8. Local signals

For a local business, your Google Business Profile matters as much as your website. Make sure the name, address and phone number match your site exactly, pick the right categories, add photos, and ask happy customers for reviews.

9. Measure from day one

Connect Google Search Console and analytics before launch, not after. You’ll want the “before” numbers when you’re judging what worked.

Built in, not bolted on

Every site we build is checked against this list before launch. Technical SEO is part of the build, not an extra. If you want to keep climbing after that, our monthly SEO packages start at $300 a month. See how it works on our technical SEO page, or ask us to look at your site.