The First 30 Days After Launch Are Critical

Launching a new website is exciting, but from an SEO perspective, it's also one of the riskiest moments for your organic traffic. A poorly handled launch or migration can wipe out months or years of search engine rankings. The good news is that with a methodical approach, you can protect your existing rankings and set your new site up for growth.

This checklist covers everything you need to do in the days and weeks after your website goes live, whether it's a brand new site or a redesign of an existing one.

Day One: Immediate Checks

Verify Redirects Are Working

If you've redesigned an existing site and any URLs have changed, 301 redirects must be in place for every old URL pointing to its equivalent new URL. Check your top 50-100 pages by traffic to confirm they redirect correctly. Missing redirects are the single biggest cause of traffic loss after a website migration.

Check for Crawl Errors

Open Google Search Console and check the Pages report for any crawl errors on the new site. Look for 404 errors (page not found), 500 errors (server errors), and redirect chains (one redirect pointing to another redirect). Fix any issues immediately.

Submit Your New Sitemap

Generate a fresh XML sitemap for your new site and submit it through Google Search Console. This tells Google about your new URL structure and speeds up the process of crawling and indexing your new pages. Remove any old sitemap submissions that reference URLs that no longer exist.

Verify Robots.txt

Check that your robots.txt file isn't accidentally blocking important pages or sections. It's surprisingly common for development 'noindex' directives or staging site robots.txt rules to make it into the live site. A single line in robots.txt blocking your entire site from crawling can be catastrophic.

Week One: Analytics and Tracking

Verify Google Analytics

Confirm that Google Analytics (GA4) is tracking all pages on your new site. Check that your tracking code is present on every page, events are firing correctly, conversions (goals) are set up and recording, and your data streams are active. Use Google Tag Assistant or the GA4 real-time report to verify.

Google Search Console Verification

If your domain has changed, add and verify the new property in Google Search Console. If the domain is the same, your existing verification should carry over. Check that all property versions (www, non-www, http, https) are verified and that your preferred domain is set correctly.

Set Up Monitoring

Set up uptime monitoring so you're alerted immediately if the site goes down. Also set up rank tracking for your most important keywords so you can spot any ranking drops quickly. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even free options like Google Search Console's Performance report can help you track your positions.

Weeks Two to Four: Technical SEO Audit

Run a Full Site Crawl

Use a tool like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs Site Audit, or Sitebulb to crawl your entire new site. Look for broken internal links, missing or duplicate title tags, missing or duplicate meta descriptions, pages with no canonical tags, orphaned pages (not linked from anywhere), duplicate content issues, and missing alt text on images.

Check Page Speed

Run your key pages through Google PageSpeed Insights and check your Core Web Vitals scores. New sites sometimes launch with unoptimised images, render-blocking scripts, or missing caching that drag performance down. Fix any speed issues while they're fresh.

Verify Schema Markup

Check that your structured data is implemented correctly on the new site. Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate your markup. If you had FAQ schema, product schema, or LocalBusiness schema on your old site, make sure it's all present and correct on the new one.

Test All Forms and Conversions

Submit every form on your site to confirm they're working and that submissions reach the right people. Check your contact form, quote request form, newsletter signup, booking system, and any other conversion points. A broken contact form on a new site can cost you weeks of leads before anyone notices.

Check Mobile Experience

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking. Test every page on actual mobile devices (not just Chrome's device simulator). Check that navigation works, text is readable, buttons are tappable, and no content is hidden or broken on smaller screens.

Ongoing Monitoring: The First Three Months

The first three months after launch require active monitoring. Here's what to watch:

• Track organic traffic weekly in Google Analytics — compare to the same period before launch
• Monitor Google Search Console for crawl errors, indexing issues, and manual actions
• Check keyword rankings weekly for your top 20-30 target keywords
• Watch for traffic drops to specific pages that might indicate redirect or content issues
• Monitor your backlink profile to ensure links are pointing to live pages, not 404s
• Check conversion rates — if traffic is stable but conversions drop, the new site may have UX issues
• Review Core Web Vitals data in Search Console as Google collects field data from real users

What to Do If Rankings Drop

Some fluctuation after a launch is normal — Google needs time to recrawl and reassess your site. However, if you see significant drops lasting more than two weeks:

• Check for missing or broken redirects on the pages that lost rankings
• Verify that content on the new pages is at least as comprehensive as the old versions
• Look for accidental noindex tags or robots.txt blocks
• Check that internal linking structure hasn't weakened key pages
• Ensure canonical tags are pointing to the correct URLs
• Verify that your site speed hasn't degraded compared to the old site
• Check Search Console for any manual actions or security issues

Content Checklist

• All page titles are unique and include target keywords
• Meta descriptions are unique and compelling for every page
• Heading hierarchy is correct (one H1 per page, logical H2/H3 structure)
• All images have descriptive alt text
• Internal links connect related pages naturally
• Legal pages are present and linked from the footer
• Contact information is correct and visible on every page
• Blog posts have been migrated with correct dates and author information

Frequently Asked Questions

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

For a site with submitted sitemaps and proper Search Console setup, Google typically crawls and indexes the main pages within 1-2 weeks. Full indexation of all pages can take 4-8 weeks depending on site size. Submitting your sitemap and using the URL Inspection tool in Search Console speeds things up.

Will I definitely lose rankings during a website migration?

Not necessarily. With proper redirects, maintained content quality, and careful technical implementation, many sites maintain or even improve their rankings. Temporary fluctuations of a few positions are normal and usually stabilise within 2-4 weeks.

Should I launch my new site all at once or in phases?

For most businesses, launching all at once is simpler and avoids the complexity of managing two different site versions simultaneously. However, very large sites or those with complex functionality may benefit from a phased approach. Discuss this with your web development team based on your specific situation.

How can I track the success of my post-launch SEO efforts?

Set up proper Google Analytics 4 tracking to measure organic traffic, conversions, and user engagement. Use Google Search Console to monitor ranking changes and indexing status. Compare your metrics to pre-launch baselines to see whether your SEO efforts are paying off.

What structured data should I implement after launch?

Implement schema markup relevant to your business type. Common schemas include Organization (company information), LocalBusiness (if you have a physical location), FAQ (for your help content), and Product (for ecommerce sites). Proper schema markup can improve your visibility in search results with rich snippets.