Website SEO launch checklist.
Before launch, verify that the intended public pages return successfully, can be crawled, describe themselves clearly and link to one another. Check the deployed domain, redirects and index controls in the actual production response, not only in a local preview.
Check what the deployed site actually says.
Illustrative example: a fictional studio prepares a public service website while its domain and contact channel are still undecided. The checks below describe possible release controls, not a client project or a report of completed work.
A preview can expose readable pages with noindex until publication is intentional. A contact action must describe what it really does: downloading a local brief does not send an enquiry. Once a receiving channel exists, test actual receipt before presenting it as a working contact form.
| Release state | Expected response | What the check establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Local build without a domain | Pages say noindex, omit a public canonical and expose an empty sitemap. | The preview does not pretend to be the public site. |
| Indexable build with a test origin | Pages say index and use the configured origin in canonicals and the sitemap. | The publication controls work locally. Google visibility is still untested. |
| Unknown page | Return a 404 response and a useful navigation path. | A missing URL is not presented as successful content. |
| JavaScript disabled | Articles, service descriptions and navigation remain readable. | The essential content is present without client-side interaction. |
| Brief download | A file is downloaded. The page makes no claim that it was sent. | A local preparation action works. It is not a received project request. |
Check eligibility for Google's AI results.
For AI Overviews and AI Mode, a page needs to be indexed and allowed to appear with a snippet. The site's Search Console generative AI setting must also permit inclusion. This makes content eligible; it does not guarantee a citation.
On the public domain, inspect a service page and a guide with URL Inspection. Confirm what Google can fetch, the selected canonical and any exclusion. Check Search Console's generative AI report for impressions once data is available. Keep this separate from received project requests.
A local index setting or a strong lab performance score cannot demonstrate that a website appears in a Google AI response. That needs evidence from the published site.
Give each useful page a stable URL.
Start with the pages that answer a distinct visitor need. A service page explains the work and fit; a guide answers a question; a contact page provides a working next step. Avoid publishing near-identical pages just to repeat keyword variations.
For a redesign, map old URLs to their intended replacements. Preserve useful pages or redirect them to a relevant destination. Sending every missing URL to the homepage makes it difficult for both visitors and search systems to understand what changed.
Inspect the production index controls.
A staging site should not become the version that search discovers. On the final domain, check robots directives, canonical URLs and the XML sitemap together. A copied noindex setting can keep an otherwise finished website out of search.
Google recommends absolute canonical URLs in sitemaps. It ignores priority and changefreq values, while lastmod should reflect a real significant update. Do not refresh every page's date merely because a build ran.
Read the page before inspecting its tags.
The page should identify its subject quickly and answer the main question without a form or animation getting in the way. Clear headings and descriptive links help visitors navigate and make the site's structure easier to follow.
Write a specific title and description for each page. Structured data should describe the content people can actually see. Do not add fabricated reviews, client names or an address just because a markup example includes them.
Test the real experience on a small screen.
Check navigation, forms, text wrapping, keyboard access and image loading. Verify the action after submission as well as the success message. A working appearance is not evidence that a request reached its recipient.
Measure loading, responsiveness and layout stability. Core Web Vitals use LCP, INP and CLS; production field data and a local lab test answer different questions. A strong lab result is useful, but it is not proof of every visitor's experience.
Leave room for post-launch checks.
Once the site is public, verify it in the relevant webmaster tools, submit the sitemap and inspect representative URLs. Watch for unexpected exclusions, broken links and pages competing for the same intent.
AI search visibility shares the need for useful, accessible content. Google explicitly states that special AI text files are not required for its generative search features. Publication, indexing, rankings and citations are separate outcomes; none is guaranteed by a launch checklist.
The checklist.
- Public pages return 200; missing pages return 404.
- Canonical URLs use the final domain.
- Index directives and sitemap agree with publication intent.
- Useful old URLs have relevant redirects where needed.
- Unique titles, clear headings and working internal links.
- Mobile, keyboard and submission flows checked.
- Post-launch inspection and measurement assigned to an owner.
Sources.
Technical references checked on .