Start a project
Resources

SEO and AEO website launch checklist

A concise pre-launch quality checklist for crawling, metadata, structured content, measurement, and conversion readiness.

6 min read
Brands Essential / Practical insight
Digital team monitoring a website launch from a rooftop studio

Discovery and indexing

  • Production pages return the intended status codes.
  • Robots rules do not block required pages or assets.
  • Canonical URLs use the final HTTPS domain consistently.
  • The XML sitemap contains indexable canonical URLs only.
  • Navigation and contextual links make important pages discoverable.

Page meaning

  • Every important page serves a distinct search and customer intent.
  • Titles, descriptions, main headings and URLs are descriptive and unique.
  • Copy answers the primary question clearly before expanding into detail.
  • Claims have first-hand or cited evidence and meaningful update dates.
  • Images have accurate alternative text where needed.

Structured information

  • Organisation details are consistent across the site.
  • Article, breadcrumb or service markup matches visible content.
  • Structured data validates without inventing ratings, reviews or FAQs.
  • Social share images and metadata render correctly.

Conversion and measurement

  • Each page offers a logical next action.
  • Forms are accessible, spam-protected and routed to the right team.
  • Analytics records agreed conversions without capturing sensitive content.
  • Consent and privacy handling match the markets served.
  • Baselines and post-launch review dates are documented.

After launch

Inspect priority URLs, submit the sitemap, monitor crawl and indexing patterns, and test real enquiries. A launch checklist reduces avoidable errors; ongoing relevance, evidence and iteration create durable visibility.

Frequently asked questions

Questions, answered

When should SEO be added to a website project?

From discovery. Search intent influences site structure, content, templates, migration and measurement, so it should not be postponed until launch.

Is submitting a sitemap enough to get indexed?

No. A sitemap helps discovery but does not guarantee indexing. Pages still need to be accessible, canonical, useful and internally connected.

Which structured data should a new site use?

Use types that accurately describe visible content and are supported for your use case, such as organisation, breadcrumb and article data. Validate the implementation.

Need a website that earns attention and enquiries?

Turn your expertise into a site people—and search systems—understand.

Brands Essential combines website strategy, design, development, SEO and answer-engine readiness into one focused build.

Keep exploring

More Resources ↗