The SEO Site

Launch Checklist

What is this Who should use it? What does it not include?

checklist good for? The checklist was made primarily for It doesn’t include the steps that website
SEOs overseeing a website’s technical developers take during site launch. It also

Use this pre-and post-launch website health and analytics setup. Developers doesn’t include any non-technical SEO

SEO checklist to avoid indexing errors, should be on standby to fix issues pro- and content strategy tips.

messy links, broken event tracking and grammatically. Digital project managers

other problems! Items are in recom- may also benefit from this resource.

mended order of completion.

Pre-Launch SEO Checklist

Follow these steps after the website is fully staged and URLs are final.

In the CMS: In Screaming Frog or a similar crawl tool:

F Make sure the Google Analytics (GA) tracking script has been F Crawl the staging site, and check that all URLs are accessible
applied to all pages. Skip this step if you use Google Tag to the crawler. Use the crawl data to perform the three tasks
Manager – you’ll set up GA tracking there instead. below.

F If applicable, make sure the correct GTM container script is F Ensure important elements and files are in place: media library
added to all pages – either on the backend or through the CMS content, title tags, H1s, meta descriptions, hreflang tags,
settings. canonical and NOFOLLOW meta tags, etc.

F After the GA and GTM tracking scripts are in place, use the
Google Tag Assistant browser plug-in to confirm correct
implementation.
F Check settings to ensure a “Discourage search engines from
indexing this site” checkbox is not checked.
F Check title tags to make sure custom titles are intact and
default settings are correct.
F Address any 404 errors with 301 redirects or other appropriate
solution.

F Configure search appearance settings (e.g., through Yoast in

WordPress). For example, exclude various Content Types from
search engine results.
Pre-Launch SEO Checklist, cont’d.

In spreadsheets:

F Map 301 redirects, using a crawl of the current (old) site and a
crawl of the staged (new) site.

F Map the redirects in a simple “redirect column A to column B”

format so you can easily implement them in bulk through your
hosting platform, a CMS plugin or your .htaccess file.

F On the staged site:

F Confirm proper implementation of schema markup, where

applicable, using your favorite testing tool.

F Confirm H1s are the first text on each page template. No

other header style should appear above the H1.

F Confirm proper pagination of post archives, such as your blog

or news indexes.

In Google Tag Manager (GTM) or similar event

tracking solution:

F Set up all tags and triggers needed for the new site.

F Set up the Universal Analytics variable, tag, and trigger for

pageview tracking (if not already in place).

F After testing, keep any new tags paused so they don’t

interfere with current tracking before you launch.

F If you already have some tracking and are staying on the same
domain, use GTM preview mode and Google Tag Assistant to
confirm everything (like form tracking) still works.
Post-Launch SEO Checklist
In Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics (GA): On the website:

F Make sure sessions and pageviews are tracking in GA Realtime F Optimize the robots.txt file. (Go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt)
data, in an unfiltered View (triggered by your Universal
F Remove unnecessary Disallows, and add Disallows for internal
Analytics tag).
login pages (like /wp-admin/) and other appropriate pages or
F Un-pause any new tags you created in GTM, and test them yet folders.
again using GTM preview mode, Google Tag Assistant, and GA
F Add a sitemap line at the end of the robots.txt file. (Sitemap:
Realtime data.
https://www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml)
F In GTM, pause or delete tags that were used for your site
F Confirm implementation of 301s by spot-checking URLs. (Or
previously but are no longer needed.
implement them now, if not complete.)
F Add or re-configure Goals in GA, as desired, to correspond
F Check page speed on the homepage, and spot-check speed on
with new or adjusted tags in GTM.
at least one page per template – one service page, one product
page, one blog, one archive page, etc.

In Screaming Frog or a similar crawl tool: F Consider combining a Lighthouse report with another tool like
Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX).
F Crawl all URLs on the live site, crawling the XML sitemap
F If areas of your site are loading slowly, work with your
simultaneously.
development team to resolve issues. For example, optimize
F Export the crawl data to a spreadsheet. Compare it to the pre-
images, minify JavaScript, upgrade hosting and consider
launch crawl to confirm that all pages, files and data are there.
plugins for improving performance.
F Look for any new errors (404, 403) and inappropriate
NOINDEX or NOFOLLOW meta tags.
Extra steps for ecommerce websites:
F Audit and optimize the XML sitemap, ensuring all pages are
present and have proper inlinks. F Integrate your ecommerce solution with Google Analytics by
adding the proper tracking code (UA code) to the settings.

F In Google Analytics, turn on “Enable Ecommerce” and

In Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools:
“Enhanced Ecommerce” in the Admin settings.
F Verify your website in Google Search Console and Bing
F Perform a test purchase on the staged site. 24 hours later,
Webmaster tools.
check Google Analytics Events and Ecommerce data for
F Submit your XML sitemap to both. purchase-related events and conversions.

F After data populates in Google Search Console, resolve any

errors being flagged under Coverage and other on-platform
tools.

Need a Hand with Launching?

Bright Leads Media team would be happy to provide website consulting or become
your full-service agency partner. Our in-house designers, developers, SEOs and
marketing experts are a powerful support system.
Hassan Aanbar | contact@brightleadsmedia.com