The website is ready and the design is approved — you want to show it to clients as soon as possible. But if you launch with technical errors, search engines will index it as is, and fixing the consequences may take months. Here are 12 points we check before every launch.

Infographic: 12-point SEO checklist before launch — technical, content, indexing
Save the checklist and go through it before launch

Technical

  • HTTPS and one site address. The website should open only via https and at one address — with or without www. Other variants, trailing slashes and /index.php redirect with 301.
  • Fast loading. Check pages in PageSpeed Insights. Heavy images are the usual culprit — use WebP and lazy loading.
  • Mobile version. Most visitors come from phones: buttons must be tappable and text readable without zooming.
  • No broken links or duplicates. Menu links must not lead to missing pages, and missing URLs must return 404.

Content

  • Unique titles and descriptions for every page: a title up to 70 characters with a key phrase and a description up to 160.
  • One H1 per page, with H2–H3 subheadings for structure.
  • Readable URLs like /services/corporate-websites instead of /page?id=17.
  • Alt text on all images for image search and screen reader users.

Indexing and analytics

  • sitemap.xml and robots.txt list all pages and close service sections.
  • Schema.org markup for the organization, services, breadcrumbs and articles helps get rich snippets.
  • Search consoles. Verify the website in Yandex.Webmaster and Google Search Console and submit the sitemap.
  • Analytics and goals. Track form submissions and contact clicks to see whether the website brings leads.

Important: SEO optimization is a foundation, not a guarantee of top positions. It will not promote a website by itself, but it will not hold back promotion either.

All these points are part of the basic preparation of every website we build. If your website is already live, we can run a technical audit — see SEO optimization.