Website SEO Checklist Before Launch: 25 Checks to Run Before Your Site Goes Live

Before a website goes live, run 25 checks across five areas: whether search engines are allowed in (robots.txt, noindex, sitemap), whether each page is clearly labelled (titles, descriptions, headings, schema), whether it works on phones and loads fast (Google’s “good” thresholds are LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds and CLS under 0.1), whether old addresses redirect, and whether Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and your Google Business Profile are connected. Every check below can be done with free tools in an afternoon, and skipping the first group can keep a site out of search entirely.

Why run an SEO check before launch rather than after?

Because the worst mistakes are invisible. A site can look perfect to you and your customers while telling search engines to stay away. A common example: a developer sets the site to “do not index” while building it, and nobody switches it off. The site launches, the owner waits for enquiries, and three months later someone notices it has never appeared on Google.

Fixing problems before launch also protects anything you already have. If you are replacing an old site, its pages may already rank. Launching without redirects throws that away overnight.

The 25 checks at a glance

Checks 1–5: can search engines get in?

• 1robots.txt allows crawling. Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt. A line reading “Disallow: /” under “User-agent: *” blocks every search engine. A live business site should normally block only private areas such as an admin login.
• 2No page carries an accidental noindex. Open the page source of the home page and a service page and search for “noindex”. If you find it in a robots meta tag on a page you want found, remove it. Many site tools have a “discourage search engines” setting; make sure it is off.
• 3An XML sitemap exists and lists only real pages. Usually at /sitemap.xml. It should include every page you want indexed and none you do not, such as thank-you pages or test pages.
• 4Every page loads over HTTPS. Type the address with http:// and check that it jumps to https:// with a padlock and no warning. Mixed content, such as an image still loaded over http, can trigger browser warnings.
• 5Only one version of the domain answers. With and without “www” should end up at the same address. Pick one, and make the other redirect to it permanently, so search engines do not see two copies of every page.

Checks 6–12: is every page clearly labelled?

• 1Each page has its own title tag. It is the blue headline in search results. Lead with what the page is about and the place: “Emergency Plumber in Leeds | Smith Plumbing” beats “Home”. Google cuts long titles by width, so roughly 50–60 characters is a practical guide.
• 2Each page has its own meta description. One or two sentences, around 140–160 characters, that tell a searcher what they will find and why to click. Google sometimes writes its own, but a good one is often used.
• 3One H1 per page that matches the title’s meaning, then H2s for the main sections. Write H2s as the questions customers ask, which also helps readers scan on a phone.
• 4URLs are short and readable. /services/boiler-repair is better than /page?id=482. Decide them before launch; changing URLs later means more redirects.
• 5Images have alt text that describes them. “Kitchen extension in oak, finished 2026” helps people using screen readers and gives search engines context. Do not stuff keywords into it.
• 6Structured data describes the business. For a local business, Google requires name and address in LocalBusiness markup and recommends opening hours, telephone, website address, price range and a map location with at least five decimal places. Make sure the markup matches what the page visibly says.
• 7Pages link to each other. Every service page should be reachable from the menu or the home page within a couple of clicks, and related pages should link with descriptive words, not “click here”. Google lists internal linking among the basics that still help in its AI features guidance.

A note on FAQ markup: Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search from 7 May 2026, so FAQ structured data no longer produces those expandable answers under your listing. A visible FAQ section is still worth having, because it answers real questions for visitors in plain text that any reader, human or machine, can use.

Checks 13–17: does it work on a phone, and is it fast?

• 1The layout works at phone width. Open the site on an actual phone, not just a narrowed desktop browser. Nothing should scroll sideways, and text should be readable without zooming.
• 2Buttons and links are easy to tap. Phone number, WhatsApp and booking buttons should be large, spaced apart and visible without hunting.
• 3Images are sized for the web. A 6 MB photo straight off a camera is the most common cause of a slow small business site. Resize and compress before upload, and use modern formats where your platform supports them.
• 4Core Web Vitals pass. Run the home page and one inner page through PageSpeed Insights. Google’s “good” thresholds are Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1. Google says these are part of what its core ranking systems reward, not a single on-off switch.
• 5Fonts and scripts are lean. Every chat widget, tracking script and decorative font adds weight. Remove anything you do not use before launch; it is harder to justify removing later.

Checks 18–20: are old addresses and broken links handled?

If this is your first website, you can skip 18. If it replaces an older site, it is the single most important check in this list.

• 1Every old URL redirects to its nearest new page with a permanent (301) redirect. Make a list of the old site’s pages before it is switched off, from its sitemap or from Search Console, and map each one. Do not send everything to the home page.
• 2There are no broken links. Click every menu item and every button, including the footer. Check phone links open the dialler and the WhatsApp link opens the right number.
• 3A helpful 404 page exists. When someone lands on a missing page, show a short message, your phone number and links to the main services, not a blank error.

Checks 21–25: are the right services connected?

• 1Google Search Console is verified and the sitemap is submitted. Then use URL Inspection on the home page to request indexing. Search Console is also where Google tells you about errors later.
• 2Bing Webmaster Tools is set up. Bing had 9.89% of US search in September 2026 according to StatCounter, and around 6% in the UK. Bing lets you import your site straight from Search Console, so this takes minutes.
• 3Your Google Business Profile links to the new site, with the same name, address and phone number. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and its AI features guidance tells businesses to keep Business Profile information current.
• 4Analytics or a visitor report is working. You cannot improve what you do not measure. Respect cookie consent rules in your country before adding tracking scripts.
• 5AI search crawlers are not blocked by accident. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its OAI-SearchBot will not appear in ChatGPT search answers. Some hosting and security defaults block unfamiliar bots, so check robots.txt and any firewall settings. Blocking a training crawler is a separate choice from blocking a search crawler.

What should I check in the first week after launch?

Launch is the start, not the finish. In the first seven days:

• 1Search for your exact business name on Google and Bing. If the home page does not appear within a week or two, inspect it in Search Console.
• 2Check Search Console’s page indexing report for pages marked “Excluded” that you expected to be included.
• 3Fill in a contact form and send a WhatsApp message from the site yourself. Confirm the enquiry arrives where it should.
• 4Look at the visitor numbers. A sudden zero usually means a tracking script failed, not that nobody came.

Do not panic if rankings take time. A new site on a new domain usually needs weeks to months to settle, depending on competition. What you can control is that nothing technical stands in the way.

Can I run this checklist myself, or do I need an SEO specialist?

You can run all 25 checks yourself with free tools if you are comfortable viewing page source and logging into a few dashboards. Allow an afternoon for a five-page site, longer if redirects are involved. Basic SEO set-up as a paid service is often quoted separately, and one set of published UK price guides puts it at £300–1,000.

With Adyft Sites, the basics behind many of these checks come with the build. Every page is written for you, the site has the secure padlock and is built to be fast on phones, it is set up to be found on Google for your area and services and readable by AI assistants, and you get a monthly visitor report. If you want to know how a specific item on this list is handled for your site, ask us and we will tell you plainly. Starter is $1,499 plus $69 a month and goes live in under seven days. If you already have a developer you trust, hand them this list instead; it is the same standard either way.

Sources: Google, Core Web Vitals — https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals · Google, AI features and your website — https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features · Google, LocalBusiness structured data — https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business · Google, FAQPage structured data — https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/faqpage · Google Business Profile, local ranking — https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en · OpenAI, crawlers — https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots · StatCounter, search engine share US (Sept 2026) — https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/united-states-of-america