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New domain SEO day-one checklist

Published 2026-06-25. Built for founders launching a brand-new domain.

The day-one checklist for DNS, HTTPS, canonical URLs, sitemap, robots.txt, llms.txt, feeds, and proof.

Fast answer

If your goal is to avoid missing the basics on launch day, start with this framing: traffic work fails when the site is not crawlable, measurable, or internally linked. The useful deliverable is a day-one SEO launch checklist.

This page is intentionally conservative. It treats crawler files, URL inspection, feeds, and server logs as discovery and measurement aids, not as guaranteed ranking levers.

When to use this playbook

Use it when founders launching a brand-new domain need a concrete next step and a page that can be linked from a hub, a community answer, a README, or a launch checklist. The page should help someone make a decision even if they never buy anything or contact the site owner.

The strongest pages in this topic cluster have three traits: they answer one narrow question, they include a copyable artifact, and they link to the relevant tool or proof page so the reader can act immediately.

Recommended workflow

  1. Check DNS and HTTPS.
  2. Publish canonical sitemap and robots.txt.
  3. Add llms.txt and discovery feeds.
  4. Verify Search Console and submit the sitemap.

Pre-publish checklist

Copyable working note

Use this as a starting point in a ticket, README, client note, or launch log. Edit it to match the real site before publishing.

DNS, HTTPS, sitemap, robots, llms, feeds, Search Console, proof

What not to count as proof

Do not count this setup as traffic by itself. A submitted sitemap, an IndexNow receipt, a crawler log hit, or an indexing request can show discovery work, but none of them proves rankings, impressions, clicks, conversions, or AI citations. Organic proof should come from Search Console, analytics, qualified referral evidence, or server logs interpreted for the right purpose.

The main pitfall for this topic is: Starting promotion before the final domain is stable.

Related resources

Next supporting resource

Continue the workflow with this related LLMs.txt Kit resource.

/launch-control.html

All free tools

Continue the workflow with this related LLMs.txt Kit resource.

/tools/

Proof dashboard

Continue the workflow with this related LLMs.txt Kit resource.

/proof.html

Sources and guardrails