How to audit a new website: a priority-first SEO checklist
Audit a new website in release order: clear discovery blockers, define page jobs, test representative templates, verify performance and measurement, then resolve every P0 and P1.
From this desk
Start with the most useful page
The featured page offers a strong introduction. The remaining cards help readers move through this editorial section without turning the archive into a service menu.
Read the featured guide
Audit a new website in priority order
Clear indexing and template blockers before polishing lower-impact details. The audit framework shows the order and the evidence to record.
Audit
Find the first blocker
Check crawl access, indexability, page jobs, templates, performance, and measurement in a defensible order.
Launch
Release without guessing
Verify redirects, robots rules, canonicals, rendering, analytics, and rollback before a new site goes live.
Architecture
Give every page a distinct job
Build topic clusters around reader decisions, then keep, reposition, merge, or retire pages when their jobs overlap.
Publishing
Keep claims close to evidence
Use a reader job, claim ledger, source hierarchy, information-gain requirement, and maintenance trigger.
Latest SEO stories
Latest SEO articles
Browse the archive in publication order. Each article keeps its evidence, examples, limitations, and next action together.
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Technical SEO launch checklist: what to verify before a new site goes live
Use seven release gates for new sites and migrations: redirects, robots and canonicals, rendering, metadata, performance, measurement, and rollback.
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Topic clusters without keyword cannibalization: a page-job framework
Shared keywords do not prove harmful overlap. Diagnose page jobs, evidence, internal links, and search behavior, then keep, reposition, merge, or retire each URL.
A useful standard
How to use this SEO library
Choose the page that matches the decision in front of you. Each answer distinguishes documented requirements from recommended practice and keeps uncertainty visible.
Exposure before polish
Resolve crawl, index, rendering, and template failures before spending time on refinements that search systems may never see.
One page, one job
Map each page to a reader decision so internal links, headings, and content depth support a clear purpose.
Measure at the right layer
Treat Search Console, analytics, crawls, and experiments as different evidence sources. None proves causation on its own.
References and next steps