SEO Checklist for a New Website: What to Do Before Launch

An SEO checklist for a new website comes down to six blocks: make the site crawlable on one clean address, connect Search Console and analytics, map each page to a search intent, show who is behind the site, set up local listings if you serve an area, and keep the site readable for AI search. Most of it costs nothing and takes a day or two if you do it before launch rather than after. Below is the full checklist with the reason for each item and a link to the official rule where one exists.

Published: 2026-10-16 · 7 min read · Satelo

How to use this checklist

This list is for any new site: a service business, a landing page, a small shop or a company blog. If you are launching a blog specifically, we also have a narrower SEO checklist for a new blog that covers every-post routines.

Go through the blocks in order. The first two decide whether search engines can see the site at all; the rest decide whether they understand and trust it. Copy the summary table at the end into a spreadsheet and tick items off.

Block 1. Technical basics

One address, HTTPS everywhere

Your site can usually be opened in four ways: with and without www, over http and https. Pick one version and permanently redirect (301) the others to it. Google's guide to consolidating duplicate URLs says it prefers HTTPS pages as canonical and recommends redirects plus internal links that point only to the preferred URL.

Remove the staging lock

Many builders and CMSs hide a site from search while you work on it. WordPress has a "Discourage search engines" checkbox; other platforms add a noindex tag or password. Forgetting to switch this off is one of the most common reasons a "finished" site never appears in search. Check the page source of your home page for noindex on launch day.

robots.txt that blocks only what it should

Open yoursite.com/robots.txt. It should not contain Disallow: / for all crawlers. Keep in mind what Google's robots.txt introduction says: the file controls crawling, it is not a way to keep a page out of Google. For that, use noindex or a password.

XML sitemap

Generate a sitemap (most CMSs do it automatically) with only the canonical, indexable URLs. Google's sitemap documentation sets a limit of 50,000 URLs or 50MB uncompressed per file and lets you announce it with a Sitemap: line in robots.txt. A sitemap is a hint, not a guarantee of indexing.

No accidental duplicates

Filters, tracking parameters, print versions and tag pages can create many URLs with the same content. Point duplicates to the main version with rel="canonical" or a redirect, and don't put parameter URLs in your sitemap.

Speed and mobile

Check the home page and one typical inner page in PageSpeed Insights on mobile. You don't need a perfect score; you need to fix what is clearly broken, like huge images or layout jumps. Our guide to Core Web Vitals for small sites explains what matters and what doesn't.

Block 2. Analytics and webmaster tools

• Google Search Console. Verify the domain property and submit the sitemap. This is where you'll see indexing problems and the queries you appear for.
• Bing Webmaster Tools. Verify the site and submit the same sitemap, so you are not relying on a single search engine.
• Yandex Webmaster, if you have Russian-speaking audiences.
• Analytics (GA4 or a privacy-friendly alternative) with at least one conversion: a form submission, a call click or a purchase.

Then run a site:yoursite.com search after a few days. Google's SEO Starter Guide suggests exactly this as the first check of whether your pages are in the index. If nothing shows up after a couple of weeks, open the page indexing report in Search Console before changing anything else.

Block 3. Content and on-page basics

A page for every search intent

Before you write, list the questions and services people search for and give each group of similar queries its own page. Don't create one page per wording; don't stuff unrelated services into one page.

Titles, descriptions, URLs

• A unique, clear title for every page, with the main topic near the start.
• A short, unique meta description. Per the Starter Guide, Google often builds snippets from page content, so the description is a suggestion, not a rule.
• Readable URLs with words, not IDs: /services/roof-repair/, not /?p=123.
• Skip the keywords meta tag: Google states it doesn't use it.

Headings, images, links

• One H1 per page that matches what the page is about.
• Descriptive alt text on meaningful images, placed near related text.
• Internal links with descriptive anchor text from your main pages to every important page. See our guide to internal linking.
• No empty "coming soon" pages in navigation. Launch with fewer, finished pages.

Block 4. Trust signals

Visitors and search engines both want to know who is behind a site. Before launch:

• a real About page with names, photos or company details;
• a contact page with an email, phone or address that actually works;
• author names on articles, with a short bio showing relevant experience;
• privacy policy and, for shops, delivery, returns and payment terms;
• prices or at least price ranges where your industry allows it.

Google's guide to creating helpful content groups these ideas under E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust), says trust matters most, and recommends accurate authorship information such as bylines. Our article on E-E-A-T for small sites turns them into concrete page elements.

Block 5. Local listings (if you serve an area)

If customers visit you or you serve a specific city, create a Google Business Profile. Google's sign-up help requires verification before the profile appears, asks service-area businesses without a storefront to hide their street address, and allows up to 20 service areas. Use exactly the same business name, address and phone on the site and in listings. More in our guide to promoting a local business website.

Block 6. AI search readiness

• Don't block the crawlers of AI search tools you want to appear in (check robots.txt rules for OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and similar).
• Put the key facts (what you do, where, prices, contacts) in plain HTML text, not only in images or scripts.
• Answer common questions directly on the page, in a sentence or two, before the details.

Step-by-step instructions are in how to get your website indexed by ChatGPT.

What not to do at launch

• Don't buy bulk links or join link schemes to "kick-start" a new domain. That's against search engine rules and creates risk, not authority.
• Don't publish dozens of thin or auto-generated pages to look bigger.
• Don't change URLs a week after launch without redirects.
• Don't panic if traffic is near zero in the first weeks; check indexing first.

Launch day: a 30-minute final pass

Settings drift between staging and production, so repeat a short pass on the live domain on the day you open the site:

1. Open every version of the address (http://, www, without www) and confirm each lands on the one you chose.
2. View the source of the home page and two inner pages: no noindex, a self-referencing canonical, a unique title.
3. Open robots.txt and the sitemap on the live domain, not the staging copy.
4. Submit the sitemap in Search Console and request indexing of the home page with the URL Inspection tool.
5. Send a test form, click the phone link and make a test order if you sell online; confirm each one shows up as a conversion in analytics.
6. Open the site on a phone over mobile data, not office Wi-Fi, and read one page to the end.
7. Search for your brand name in a private window to see what people find today; repeat in a week.

Write down the date of launch and of any big change afterwards. When you later look at a traffic chart, those notes save hours of guessing.

The checklist in one table

What to do next

Once the boxes are ticked, get an outside view of where the site stands. Check your site's Quality Score on Satelo: in about 30 seconds you get a 0–100 score with the evidence behind each number, such as Tranco rank, domain age, Common Crawl presence and PageSpeed. It is built mostly from open data, so it's a useful baseline to re-check a few months after launch.

FAQ

What should I do for SEO before launching a website?

Pick one HTTPS address and redirect the others, remove any noindex or password left from development, check robots.txt, generate a sitemap, connect Search Console and analytics, and make sure every key page has a unique title and clear content.

Do I need a sitemap for a small website?

Google calls sitemaps optional, and a small, well-linked site can be found without one. Most CMSs create a sitemap automatically, so it's still worth submitting it in Search Console.

How long after launch will my site appear on Google?

There is no fixed time. New pages are often discovered within days to weeks, but ranking for competitive queries takes much longer. Check indexing with a site: search and the Search Console page indexing report first.

Is meta keywords still needed?

No. Google states that Search doesn't use the keywords meta tag. Spend the time on titles, descriptions and the page content instead.

Should I build backlinks right after launch?

Focus first on a finished site, local listings and genuine mentions from partners and communities. Buying links to manipulate rankings is against search engine rules.

Does a new website need a Google Business Profile?

Only if you serve customers in a specific area or have a physical location. For purely online projects it isn't needed.

Read next

Anchor text for SEO: types, official rules, and how to pick itAnchor text SEO without myths: anchor types, what Google and Yandex actually say, why exact-match anchors look like link schemes, and how to check your own.

Backlink Exchange Platforms in 2026: How They Work and Which Rules They BreakBacklink exchange platforms compared: how swap, credit and ring models work, what each tool publicly says, where Google's link spam policy draws the line.

Best Blogging Platform for SEO: An Honest Comparison by CriteriaThe best blogging platform for SEO is the one that gives you your own domain, HTML control and an easy exit. WordPress, Ghost, Substack and others compared.

Free Website Traffic Checkers Compared: What You Get Without PayingFree website traffic checkers compared: what Similarweb, Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest and Satelo show without paying, their limits, and how to cross-check them.