A new website needs to be easy to find, easy to use and clear about what your business offers. Before announcing your launch, work through these checks on the actual public domain. A preview looking good on your laptop does not tell you whether Google can crawl it or a customer can send an enquiry on a phone.
Start with the pages customers need
Give each distinct service a useful page that answers who it is for, what is included, how the process works and how to enquire. A Nairobi retailer looking for an online store needs payment and delivery information; a professional looking for a portfolio needs examples and an editing plan. Those are different needs, even when the same studio builds both.
Use a descriptive page title and one clear main heading. Write the description as a short explanation of the page, then include examples, limitations and next steps in the body. Avoid creating dozens of near-identical county pages with only the place name changed. Link service pages from the main navigation and relevant articles so visitors can reach them without using site search.
- Open every main navigation and footer link on the public domain.
- Confirm the phone number, email and enquiry button work.
- Use a single preferred HTTPS domain and redirect alternate versions.
Confirm that search engines can access the content
Open /robots.txt and /sitemap.xml on the live domain. The sitemap should list canonical, publicly accessible pages, and robots.txt should allow their crawl. A page can still be excluded from search by a noindex tag even when crawling is allowed, so inspect the delivered HTML too.
Verify domain ownership in Google Search Console, submit the sitemap and inspect the homepage, a service page and an article. Read the reported indexing reason before making changes. A discovered page may be waiting to be crawled; a duplicate may point to another canonical URL. Neither is solved by adding keywords. Follow Google’s developer guidance for the checks that apply to your website.
Test the mobile experience on a real connection
Try the website on a phone using mobile data. Check whether the main message appears quickly, text is readable, buttons are easy to tap and forms can be completed without horizontal scrolling. Test more than the homepage: a photo-heavy project page can behave differently from a short contact page.
Resize and compress photographs before publishing, provide image dimensions so the layout stays stable and load images below the first screen only when needed. Use PageSpeed Insights to identify slow resources, then distinguish its lab measurements from real visitor data. Our website speed guide explains where to start.
Make local business information consistent
Keep the same trading name and contact details on your site and relevant business listings. If you qualify for a Google Business Profile, choose accurate categories, set truthful opening hours and follow Google’s address or service-area rules. An online-only business should not invent a customer-facing office to appear on Maps.
Add genuine work examples and photographs where they help a customer assess your business. Stock photography can illustrate an article, but it should never be presented as a photograph of your team or client. Our local SEO guide covers the relationship between your website and business profile.
Measure the results after launch
Record a baseline for indexed pages, search impressions, clicks and enquiries. When tracking contact forms or WhatsApp clicks, distinguish a button click from a confirmed lead. Ask new customers how they found you and record which services they wanted.
Review Search Console regularly for indexing problems and the queries bringing visitors. Improve a page when its content does not answer those queries, rather than changing its publication date without an actual edit. If you need help with the technical checks or content plan, see our SEO services in Kenya.
Questions people ask
Does submitting a sitemap guarantee rankings?
No. It helps search engines discover URLs. Access, indexing, content usefulness and competition still affect visibility.
Should I add Kenya or Nairobi to every heading?
Use locations where they describe the service or customer need accurately. Repeating them in every heading makes the page harder to read and adds little useful information.
Written by
Founder and lead developer at Ken Designers, the Nairobi studio behind websites, online stores, apps and POS systems for 300+ businesses. Best Software Developer of the Year 2026 (Digitally Fit Awards by KEOnline).
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