Technical SEO Checklist Before Relaunch — Safe Traffic

Full SEO crawl and issue log

• Run a full site crawl (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or equivalent).
• Export: redirects, status codes, canonical tags, meta titles/descriptions, hreflang, and the full URL list.
• Log all current 200/301/404 pages and flag known problematic pages.
• Developer handoff: staging access + crawl exports + a prioritized issue list (so fixes don't get lost in "we'll do it later").

Analytics baseline (top pages, traffic sources, conversions)

• Export the last 90 days of: organic sessions, landing pages, conversion events, and top referral/backlink pages (GA4/UA, Search Console, and your backlink tool).
• Save the CSVs and dashboard screenshots somewhere your whole team can reach quickly after launch.
• Acceptance test: SEO confirms exports are stored in the project repo (or agreed storage) and are accessible to both dev and SEO owners.

Indexation & coverage checks (Google Search Console)

• Export: Coverage report, a sample set from URL Inspection, and the current Sitemaps list.
• Note what's indexed, what's blocked by robots, and any manual actions.
• Handoff requirement: confirm the SEO team has verified ownership of the relevant Search Console properties before the release window.

Export content inventory and canonical mapping

• Build a content inventory with: current URL, title, main keyword, traffic volume, backlinks, and canonical.
• Tag high-priority pages (top traffic, revenue-driving, and/or pages with significant backlinks). These are the pages you protect first when timelines get tight.

Create new URL map and 1:1 mapping rows

• Produce an old → new URL mapping CSV, one-to-one wherever possible.
• Add a "reason" column (moved, merged, removed). It forces clarity—and prevents accidental "redirect everything somewhere" decisions late in the process.
• Developer handoff: provide an importable CSV/config for your redirect system (nginx, rewrite rules, Netlify redirects, etc.).

Generate and validate updated XML sitemap

• Build new sitemap(s) that reflect the new structure.
• Validate via an XML linter and a local crawl to confirm only intended, indexable URLs are included.
• Plan to submit the updated sitemap to Search Console immediately after launch.
• Additional reference for sitemap staging tips:
  https://www.olymaris.com/blog/technical-seo-checklist-for-a-traffic-safe-relaunch

Build a 301 redirect CSV for every old→new URL

• Use 301 redirects for moved content to preserve link equity.
• Avoid mass redirects to the homepage. They're rarely a clean replacement for a relevant page.
• Include mappings for parameterized URLs and mobile/AMP URLs if they exist in your setup.
• Developer handoff: implement redirects in staging and provide a staging redirect table for verification.

Test redirects in staging and via crawlers

Acceptance tests:

• Use curl -I to verify HTTP status codes and Location headers for a representative sample.
• Run a crawl to confirm there are no redirect chains and no "old URLs returning 200."
• If you need a deeper redirect strategy reference, use:
  How to Do Redirects Right? A Complete SEO Guide
  https://www.olymaris.com/blog/how-to-do-redirects-right-a-complete-seo-guide

Implement hreflang and canonical tags for multi-language sites

• Ensure the hreflang matrix is complete.
• Confirm canonical tags point to the final canonical version (especially important when templates change).
• Test using Google Search Console URL Inspection and hreflang validators.

Measure lab (Lighthouse) and field (CrUX) metrics

• Run Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights on representative templates and top landing pages.
• Check CrUX / Chrome UX field data for historic performance where available.

Optimize images, critical CSS/JS, and Largest Contentful Paint

• Defer non-critical JS.
• Inline critical CSS.
• Use font-display: swap.
• Compress and serve next-gen images.
• Enable caching and a CDN where appropriate.
• Acceptance tests: Lighthouse should show LCP and CLS improvements (or at minimum, no regressions) on priority pages versus your baseline.

Test on multiple devices and networks

• Smoke test mobile on mid-tier devices and slow 3G emulation.
• Validate viewport meta, touch targets, and layout stability.
• Coordinate with the PM to approve performance acceptance criteria before deploy—so you don't argue about "good enough" under release pressure.

Preserve analytics property IDs and event tracking

• Keep GA4/UA and GTM IDs consistent across environments.
• Re-deploy tag configurations exactly, or migrate server-side tagging if planned.
• Developer guardrail: don't remove analytics code or change event names without a matching tracking spec.

Confirm GA4, consent, and server-side tagging where applicable

• Verify cookie consent flows still allow measurement and don't break essential analytics.
• Acceptance test: GA4 real-time shows test events on staging and again on production after deploy.

Verify Search Console property and resubmit sitemap after launch

• Re-verify ownership if needed.
• Submit the updated sitemap.
• Request indexing for critical landing pages through URL Inspection.

Smoke tests: crawlability, status codes, canonical/redirect checks

In the first hour after launch, run a focused crawl of:

• your top 200 landing pages,
• a sample set of redirects,
• canonical tags across key templates.
• Use curl, Screaming Frog, and site: queries to confirm intended pages are indexable.

Acceptance checklist:

• no unexpected 5xx errors,
• no mass 404s on high-value pages,
• no redirect chains.

24–72 hour monitoring: traffic, indexation, crawl errors, ranking alerts

Monitor:

• organic sessions (real-time and day-over-day),
• top landing pages,
• Search Console Coverage,
• crawl errors,
• and a shortlist of keyword rankings.
• Define alert thresholds in advance (traffic drop per SLA) and confirm exactly who gets notified and how.

Defined rollback and hotfix procedures with owner and SLA

• Assign a single release owner (PM/tech lead) and an SEO owner, with clear SLAs for hotfix response.

Rollback triggers:

• critical pages returning errors,
• traffic declines beyond agreed thresholds,
• redirect/coverage failures that can't be hotfixed quickly.
• If rollback is chosen, follow documented steps and retest—don't assume the rollback "automatically fixes" everything.

Developer + SEO handoff: acceptance tests checklist

Shared repo (or agreed shared location) includes:

• crawl CSVs,
• redirect CSV,
• sitemap,
• analytics exports,
• tracking spec,
• performance targets.

Acceptance tests include:

• sample curl checks,
• crawl validation,
• GA4 real-time event verification,
• Lighthouse reports,
• Search Console sitemap submission.
• Final step: both the release owner and SEO owner sign off before DNS changes or production deploy.