Launching a news site is not only about writing. Before the first visitor arrives, a short technical pass decides whether search engines and AI assistants can find, read and trust it.
Prepare the essentials
Check that the domain answers over HTTPS, that robots.txt allows search and AI crawlers, and that the XML and news sitemaps list every article.
Follow the launch steps
- Open robots.txt and confirm Googlebot, Bingbot and the AI crawlers are allowed.
- Open the news sitemap and confirm today's articles are listed with their publication date.
- Open llms.txt and confirm the newest article and the reference pages are listed.
- Run a mobile PageSpeed test on an article page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a launch check take?
About an hour for one site when the checklist is automated.
Does the news sitemap update by itself?
Yes. Every publication should appear in it within minutes.
