How to review a new website's SEO after launch

Publishing a site, getting pages indexed and winning customer enquiries are separate milestones. Review each with the evidence available instead of treating a successful deployment as proof of search performance.

Verify the public site first

Check the production domain, important pages, navigation and enquiry route. Review canonical addresses, accidental index restrictions and sitemap coverage. Fix technical failures before interpreting a lack of search traffic as a content problem.

Keep a page register

Record each useful page, its purpose, publication date and relevant service or customer question. Mark whether its live version has been checked. A page derived from a keyword idea is not proven to have that keyword's volume; keep research metrics and actual performance separate.

Use owner-authorised data when ready

Google's Search Console guidance describes checking search performance and indexing through an owned property. The owner can verify the property and inspect reports when they choose. Until that access exists, mark indexing and query data as unverified. A public site search can offer clues but should not be used as a complete indexing inventory.

Read outcomes in order

First investigate whether important pages can be discovered and indexed. Then look at which queries produce impressions and clicks. Finally, compare suitable enquiries with the site's intended customer task. Few clicks may reflect demand, relevance, ranking or presentation; distinguish the possibilities before rewriting every page.

Choose a specific next change

If readers repeatedly ask what a package includes, improve the scope explanation. If a useful article is hard to find, fix its internal links. If a page is technically excluded, correct the intended settings. Keep a dated note of the change and the question it is meant to test.

Review over sensible comparable periods and note external influences. There is no guaranteed ranking deadline. This site has not connected Search Console as part of this launch; the guide describes a future owner-led review, not verified indexing or traffic results.

Practical guidance with illustrative examples. Read our editorial standards or send a correction.