Nothing like practicing what you preach … putting your money where your mouth is … doing as we say ….

Such was the case when we recently launched Group3Solutions.com. We’re usually on the other end, launching sites for clients or helping them relaunch an existing site and dealing with the search engine issues that arise from changed URLs. This time, we were the client. And, though Group3Solutions.com is a brand-new site and not a redesign, we there are still lots of things that need to be accomplished to hit the ground running for search engine purposes.

So before going live, we got out the Site Launch Checklist we often use with clients and started putting our recommendations to use. Thought we’d share it with you. Some items deal more with new sites than relaunches, or vice-versa, but it’s all good to know.

1. Create an XML sitemap with the new URLs before the new site goes live. Immediately upon launch, the new sitemap would be uploaded and the search engines notified.
2. Take advantage of blogs to announce the launch. Consider submitting a news release to PRWeb or a similar service to get the information out in an automated fashion.
3. Keep your site’s URL structure as simple as possible, and use keyword-rich words in URLs when possible (if separating words with punctuation, use hyphens instead of underscores). Dynamic URLs with multiple parameters can cause duplicate content issues where identical or similar content has multiple addresses (think “Printer Friendly” pages, for example). Bots may consume much more bandwidth than necessary, or may be unable to completely index all the content on your site.
4. Canonical Tags help tell search engines how you want your domain indexed (Group3Solutions.com vs. www.Group3Solutions.com, for example). Some search engine tools also allow you to tell them which version you prefer.

If your site will stay at the same domain but URLs will be changing, keep in mind that bookmarked pages, deep-links into your site, and URLs in the search index will break. Here are some additional tips.

1. The XML sitemap is very critical here. Make sure the new map with new URLs gets uploaded with your new files.
2. At least for the highest-trafficked pages on your site, create one-to-one 301 redirects to automatically and seamlessly send visitors (and bots) to the page on the new site that they were trying to visit on the old one. The 301 code tells the search engines that the page has moved permanently, so the new page will be added to the database and the old one removed (over time). Links from third-party sites to the old site will continue to mean the search engines try to index the old URL, but the 301 is the best option to eventually straighten out the issue.
3. A custom 404 page offers a softer landing for those pages that don’t have a 301 redirect. The 404 carries the same look-and-feel of your site, but with a structure that allows users to more easily find where they were trying to go. Note: the page does need to return a 404 code, and not a 200, or the sitemaps won’t work for some engines.
4. If possible, notify key sites that link to you. Provide them with the new URL for the page(s) they link to on your site. Good Webmasters don’t like broken links, so most will be happy for the notification.
5. Pause AdWords campaigns during the initial transition (first few days), in case any technical issues come up. During this time, changing both Display and Destination URLs is also required.