# SEO

## Preparing for Launch or Migration

1. Set your domain name to auto-renew.
2. &#x20;Install [Google Analytics](https://pagely.com/blog/google-analytics-wordpress-guide/).
3. &#x20;Install a[ plug-in](https://pagely.com/blog/yoast-seo-alternatives/) to help with your technical SEO, which includes title tags, meta descriptions, structured data, and sitemaps. Follow [best practices on tags.](https://moz.com/blog/seo-meta-tags)
4. Set up Search Console.
5. &#x20;[Help Google understand the content of a page with structured data](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data?visit_id=1-636507697624367960-3670912478\&rd=1) and test your page with the [structured data tool](https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/u/0/).
6. &#x20;Use a site audit tool, such as [Screaming Frog](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/) to audit SEO for your site.
7. &#x20;Check mobile friendliness. [53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than three seconds to load.](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/data-measurement/mobile-page-speed-new-industry-benchmarks/)
8. &#x20;[Review common mistakes webmasters make when designing for mobile.](https://developers.google.com/search/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/common-mistakes)
9. &#x20;Tell search engines which URL to use. Moz describes this (canonicalization) as a way to [prevent problems caused by identical or "duplicate" content appearing on multiple URLs.](https://moz.com/learn/seo/canonicalization)
10. &#x20;Use https: [Way back in 2015, Google's Gary Illyes said that when pages are otherwise equal, the search engine will favor https, indicating a secure domain](https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/gary-illyes-interview/). In addition to the SEO benefit, it keeps your site secure and is required for [AMP](https://pagely.com/blog/accelerated-mobile-pages-for-wordpress/).
11. Identify images with ALT tags. Search engines cannot see images without the corresponding descriptive text.
12. &#x20;Create friendly URLs. Wouldn't you agree the *<https://pagely.com/blog/yoast-seo-alternatives/>* is much more friendly than *<https://pagely.com/blog/random-words-or-characters-that-are-not-descriptive-08-01-2019>*?
13. &#x20;[Install a working search engine on your site to set up a search box](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/sitelinks-searchbox) that will display on the Google search results page such as the one below.
14. With a site migration, take time to map out pages in advance to lessen the number of 404 pages.
15. Have a critical eye towards usability. Do team members want videos to autoplay on the site? If so, make a case for not doing this. If it prevents people from browsing the page until the video is done.
16. Use contact forms instead of including your plaintext email address on the site to cut down on potential spam.

## After Site Launch

1. &#x20;See how many pages Google has indexed by typing **site:yourwebsite.com** into the search box.
2. &#x20;As changes are made to the site, such as with new content, [ask Google to recrawl your URLs](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6065812?hl=en).
3. Watch for crawl errors in your Search Console.&#x20;
4. &#x20;Update your sitemap by *removing* non canonical URLs and 400-level pages before resubmitting. Also submit your sitemap if the site navigation has changed.
5. &#x20;[Use markup to ](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/99170)[improve search results](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/99170).
6. &#x20;Keep an eye on your [page speed](https://developers.google.com/speed/). It may be be great at launch but if too much is added to the site over time - such as large images - it could impact the speed and overall SEO.
7. Check for broken links with a tool such as Screaming Frog and redirect broken links to an existing page.
8. Check for 404 errors whether in Screaming Frog or Search Console.
9. &#x20;Check mobile friendliness - again! Yes, we said that earlier for your pre-site launch but this is only a bigger deal moving forward with [Google's mobile-first indexing](https://searchengineland.com/googles-mobile-first-index-rolled-site-will-roll-slowly-285590) and plays a part in SEO.
10. &#x20;Check that good backlinks were not lost with a site migration or new design. [Ahrefs](https://ahrefs.com/) is one tool that helps you discover lost backlinks.
11. &#x20;Monitor Google algorithm changes with a tool such as [Signals](https://cognitiveseo.com/signals/), [Mozcast,](http://mozcast.com/) or [Barracuda](https://barracuda.digital/panguin-seo-tool/) to stay alert to changes that may impact your site.
12. Be prepared for the possibility of panicked team members asking about a decline in site traffic. Poor content or low quality backlinks can impact SEO and staying on top of algorithms can help you understand the cause of a decline.
13. &#x20;Use a monitoring tool for site performance and uptime. You can create [custom alerts in Google Analytics](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033021?hl=en) to be notified when *traffic = 0*. Unless your website is very new and zero site visitors is possible in the beginning, a *traffic = 0* alert is indicative that your site may be down.

More about it:

{% embed url="<https://dev.to/pagely/seo-cheat-sheet-for-devs-5h1g>" %}

{% embed url="<https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7451184>" %}

{% embed url="<https://dev.to/nverinaud/comment/ecdn>" %}
