InBuild
GuidesApril 14, 20267 min read

SEO Checklist for a New Website: 25 Things Before You Launch

The pre-launch SEO checklist that covers everything Google needs to rank your new site. Technical, content, and schema — in order of priority.

Launching a new website without SEO is like opening a store with no sign. This checklist covers the 25 things Google needs to find, index, and rank your site — in priority order.

Non-negotiable (before launch)

  1. Set metadataBase in your root layout
  2. Unique title (55–60 chars) on every page
  3. Unique meta description (150–160 chars) on every page
  4. Canonical URL on every page pointing to itself
  5. sitemap.xml with all public routes and priority tiers
  6. robots.txt disallowing private routes, pointing to sitemap
  7. HTTPS everywhere with HSTS headers
  8. One H1 per page containing the primary keyword
  9. Mobile-responsive layout
  10. Submit sitemap to Google Search Console

First week (post-launch)

  1. Organization JSON-LD in root layout
  2. BreadcrumbList schema on every non-homepage page
  3. FAQPage schema on pages with visible FAQ sections
  4. OpenGraph image (1200×630) — at least a site-wide default
  5. Twitter card meta tags
  6. Font display: swap on all web fonts
  7. Image optimization (AVIF/WebP, lazy loading below fold)
  8. Security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options)
  9. RSS feed for blog content
  10. Internal linking — every page has ≥3 inbound links

First month (ongoing)

  1. BlogPosting schema on blog posts with dates and author
  2. Per-route OG images for money pages
  3. Core Web Vitals all green on mobile
  4. noindex on private routes (auth, editor, dashboard)
  5. llms.txt for AI search engine discoverability

How to verify

  • Google Rich Results Test — validates all structured data
  • PageSpeed Insights — Core Web Vitals scores
  • Google Search Console — indexation status, errors, enhancements
  • Facebook Debugger — OG image and metadata preview
  • Screaming Frog — site crawl for broken links, missing metadata, orphan pages
  • InBuild's free site auditor — one-URL spot check of items 1–8 above (title, description, canonical, H1, JSON-LD, sitemap, robots.txt, HTTPS) without installing anything
  • InBuild's free canonical checker — traces the redirect chain and confirms the canonical points where you think it does
  • InBuild's free SERP simulator — previews exactly how the title and description you just wrote will truncate in Google
  • InBuild's free sitemap inspector — checks URL count, section breakdown, and missing lastmod dates on item 5 above before you submit it to GSC
  • InBuild's free robots.txt generator — builds item 6 above with a line-by-line explanation, including presets for blocking AI training crawlers

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take Google to index a new site?

24–72 hours after submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console, if the site is reachable and has no blocking issues. Full indexation of all pages takes 1–4 weeks depending on site size and crawl budget.

Do I need to do all 25 items before launching?

The top 10 are non-negotiable. Items 11–25 are improvements you can add in the first week post-launch. A site with the first 10 done correctly will index and rank; the rest accelerate the process.

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