Start with the production site
Technical SEO checks help establish whether search engines can discover and understand the pages you intend to publish. They also catch release mistakes such as a production page pointing to a staging address. Run the checks against the final domain after deployment, because preview settings may differ from the live configuration.
Create an inventory of the URLs that matter: the homepage, service pages, articles, and contact page. Assign someone to record the result for each check. This turns launch review into a repeatable process and gives future changes a baseline.
1. Check crawl and indexing controls
Inspect robots.txt, page-level robots tags, and relevant response headers. Remove unintended noindex rules from public pages you want indexed. Keep intentional exclusions documented so they are not accidentally reversed during a later release.
Google must be able to crawl a page to read its noindex instruction. Blocking that page in robots.txt can prevent Google from seeing the instruction, and the URL may still appear in results. Treat crawl restrictions and indexing instructions as distinct controls. Read Google's noindex guidance.
2. Align canonical URLs and redirects
Choose the preferred public URL for each page and inspect any canonical tags your platform generates. Check for staging domains, incorrect paths, and conflicting versions. If you replace an existing page with a relevant new destination, include its redirect in the release plan and test the result.
Google treats redirects and canonical annotations as signals when choosing a representative URL for duplicate or very similar content. Keep internal links and sitemap entries consistent with your preferred addresses. These signals express a preference; Google still selects the canonical version. Read Google's canonical URL guidance.
3. Review page titles, summaries, and links
Give each important page a descriptive title and a concise summary that matches its content. Check the visible heading and introductory text too. A service page should explain the service clearly enough that a visitor can decide whether it fits their need.
Google can draw its result title from several sources, and search snippets may use page text or a meta description. The displayed result is not guaranteed to reproduce your metadata exactly. Review navigation and contextual links so relevant pages are easy to reach. Read the SEO Starter Guide.
4. Validate the sitemap
Open the production sitemap and compare its entries with your intended public pages. Check that the URLs use the correct domain and resolve to the pages you expect. For sites with frequently changing content, plan how the sitemap stays synchronized when pages are added or retired.
Submit the sitemap through Search Console if appropriate for your setup, then check for processing errors. Google describes submission as a hint, so a submitted sitemap does not guarantee crawling or indexing. Read Google's sitemap documentation.
5. Check the experience on real pages
Test representative pages on mobile and desktop, including an article with images and a page with a form. Look for delayed main content, slow interactions, and elements that jump while loading. Keep performance findings attached to the page and action that produced them.
Google's current Core Web Vitals cover loading through Largest Contentful Paint, responsiveness through Interaction to Next Paint, and visual stability through Cumulative Layout Shift. Use development measurements to investigate problems, then review real-user data when available. Read the Web Vitals overview.
6. Verify and follow up after release
Use Search Console's URL Inspection tool to investigate important pages and review the indexing reports as data becomes available. Recheck the sitemap after content changes. Keep a short issue list with a responsible person and a next action for each finding.
This checklist establishes a technical starting point. Continue improving the usefulness and clarity of the content, and evaluate search performance over time. Launch is the moment to begin observing the production site and making informed improvements.