Pre-launch checklist for blogs, content sites, and small publications.

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Domain registered, with WHOIS privacy if you want to keep contact details private.Avoid putting personal address or phone in public WHOIS.
Logo and favicon in place and consistent across pages.Missing favicon is a common 'looks unfinished' signal.
Author bio with one quality photo, real name (if comfortable), and topics covered.Establishes E-E-A-T from day one.

At least 8–10 substantive posts published (not stubs).Empty-shell sites struggle in search and look unfinished.
Every post has: title, meta description, one or more images with alt text.These are the minimum metadata search engines and assistants expect.
Internal links between related posts.Helps readers stay and helps crawlers understand topical clusters.
'About', 'Contact', 'Privacy Policy', 'Terms', 'Disclaimer' published.Standard expected pages for any new site.

HTTPS site-wide, no mixed-content warnings.Free certs from Let's Encrypt or your host make this trivial.
Google Search Console verified; sitemap submitted.Discovery starts here.
Bing Webmaster Tools verified; same sitemap.Bing's share of AI-assistant grounding makes this worth ten minutes.
Analytics installed (Google Analytics, Plausible, or similar) with a cookie notice.Don't track without disclosure.
Speed test (PageSpeed Insights) shows green or near-green Core Web Vitals on key pages.Fast sites are easier to rank and read.

Spell-check, link-check (no broken internal or external links).Broken links and typos undermine trust faster than anything else.
Read every page on a phone.Most readers will.
Publish a final 'launch' post that points to your three best pieces.Gives early visitors an entry point.