SEO Best Practices During a Website Launch

2024 / 2025 SEO best practices during a website launch.

www.v9digital.com

https://www.v9digital.com/insights/seo-website-launch-checklist/

1. Protecting Your SEO
During a Website Project
www.V9Digital.com

2. YES
We will send a recording + a copy of the slides to all
registered webinar attendees, so you don’t have to
take crazy notes :)

3. Another Note
We can’t predict every situation you *might* be in (CMS,
length of website launch, domain consolidation, etc.) -

so please ask us questions throughout!

4. Hello,
We are a Denver-based digital marketing
agency that has had the opportunity to help
brands & marketers grow organically for almost
two decades.
SOCIAL MEDIA SEO CONTENT ANALYTICS

6. SEO During a Website Launch
Why this has consistently been one of the top reasons we
get new clients for the last decade…

7. Google Hates Relaunches Without SEO Best
Practices
This Ecomm brand went from 4
million organic users to 2
million after a relaunch - this
represented MILLIONS in lost
revenue
This is when they finally
hired us.

8. Google Sandboxes a lot of New Websites
This ecomm site with 50+
products launched here (all
unique content)
Google finally started indexing
the website here

9. Google’s Real Fussy About Website Launches
In Short

10. How SEO Fits into the Process
Where does SEO fit in the traditional website launch
timeline?

11. The Typical Website Process
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing

12. When to add SEO…Ok But Not Great
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing
Dev Site Crawl 2-4
weeks ahead of
launch

13. …Better (at least 60 days from launch)
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing
Dev Site Crawl 2-4
weeks ahead of
launch
SEO gives input on Wireframes
& Design
+

14. …Best
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing
Dev Site Crawl 2-4
weeks ahead of
launch
SEO gives input on
Wireframes & Design
+
SEO involved on scope &
content strategy &
architecture
+

15. Really Not Ideal
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing
Crap! Our SEO
tanked, let’s get
someone to
figure out why

16. Annnnd….Don’t Bother
How SEO Fits Into the Process
RFP & Firm
Selection
Content
Structure &
Review
Wireframes Design Dev Site
Launch &
Testing
Crap! Our SEO
tanked, let’s
ignore it for now
Hey it’s been a year since
the website launched, let’s
do the post-launch SEO
stuff now

17. Let’s get to the guts of it!
Launch Support Checklist

18. A Lot of Text On Slides Is Forthcoming…
Fair Warning

19. Launch Support Template
Gift For you!
https://www.v9digital.com/
launch-checklist/

20. Include into Your Scope
Launch Support Checklist
-SEO basics (metadata optimization, etc)
-Blog / resource section (even if it stays in draft for now)
-301 redirect mapping
-Sitespeed/performance optimization (e.g. minified scripts)
-SEO Plugins (e.g. SEO by Yoast for Wordpress)
-Site security best practices
-Plenty of support the week of launch for troubleshooting & fixes

21. Before you Sign the Contract…
Launch Support Checklist
-Have a clear understanding of who is
responsible for content strategy and new
content development
-Account for 4+ weeks for dev site reviews
and feedback
-Try to avoid a custom CMS over more
standard technology like Wordpress,
Hubspot, Shopify, Big Commerce etc. unless
there is a compelling technological need
-Ask about their SEO background, ask for a
site you can checkout for how SEO went
through the launch.

22. During the Redesign Process
Launch Support Checklist
Review new content architecture to ensure old content isn’t lost
and new content isn’t too similar to existing

Ensure design allows for text on pages

Ensure there is a full & clear navigation
○Don’t let critical content get buried

URLs are clean, straightforward & don’t change unless necessary

Technical SEO crawl of the dev site

23. Pre-Launch (7-21 Days Before)
Launch Support Checklist
Full crawl of current site for backups (URLs, titles, metas)
Title and meta description check on the new site
Google Analytics installed on new site (<24hrs prior to launch)
Copy of Robots.txt file
Copy of any existing redirects
Copy of existing alt image tags
Copy of existing structured data
Page speed insights check of major page

24. Day Of Launch
Launch Support Checklist
Check robots.txt for index blocking
Check for no-index
Run full crawl of new site (compare to old)
Check title tag/metas
Manually check a few redirects
Check for Google Analytics properly tracking
If applicable, submit new sitemap in GSC
Annotate new site launch in Google Analytics
Page speed insights check of major pages
Pause paid traffic sources until migration is complete, update ad
destination URLs before relaunching
Make sure the dev site isn't live or indexed

25. Post Launch (4 Weeks After)
Launch Support Checklist

GSC monitoring for drops in impressions/clicks
GSC monitor for drop/increase in indexed pages
Monitor for rankings drops
Monitor for traffic drops
Full crawl to monitor for any changes
For domain migration, fill out GSC change of address form

26. AKA, please don’t do these
Pitfalls We’ve Seen

27. Rush from Dev Site V1
to Launch
Pitfalls
2 Weeks Is Not
Enough Time

28. Using a boatload of
modules & plugins
Pitfalls

29. Indexing the Dev Site
Pitfalls

30. Pitfalls
Indexing the Dev Site
Also No-Indexing the New Site

31. 301 Redirects That only
Point to the Homepage
Pitfalls

32. Forget Tracking Scripts
Pitfalls

33. Missing SEO basics
(page titles, meta
descriptions, image alt
text)
Pitfalls

34. Over reliance on a
simple, free or cheap
crawling tool
Pitfalls

35. Using Headers as
Design Elements vs
Content Hierarchy
Pitfalls

36. A Bunch of iFrames
Pitfalls

37. Clean / REALLY simple navigation
Pitfalls
Homepage
-All our Services (1 page)
-About Us
-Contact

38. Doing all dev
reviews on a
desktop vs.
mobile device
Pitfalls

39. Forgetting an XML
sitemap & robots.txt
Pitfalls

40. Things that have come up more in our
more recent launch support projects
Newer Stuff

41. Angular & Headless CMS
Newer Stuff
-Moving the source of source
code
-Efficient and fast
performance
-Challenge: Reviewing code
where code no longer exists.

42. GA4 Tracking
Newer Stuff
●Use Google Tag Manager
●Troubleshoot week of
launch to ensure it’s on
all pages
●Plan to re-setup key
events
●Test in the development
environment if possible

43. AI Content
Newer Stuff
●Yes you can use AI to help think up and craft content.

●No, it’s not a good idea to let AI take the wheel and
just write all of your content.

44. Tools That Can Help
Parting Gift!
●Semrush - tracking rankings & a simple crawl

●Sitebulb- bigger tech SEO crawl

●Free SEO GPT, Bramework (for stuff like meta data)
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-iXjKAAIkY-bramework-seo-booster

ALSO

●Google Tag Manager / Google Search Console / GA4

45. Contact Us
NEXT STEPS
[phone]
[email protected]
www.v9digital.com