python-maze/DEPLOYMENT_SEO_CHECKLIST.md

SEO Deployment Checklist

Before Going Live

1. Domain & URLs

• Replace all instances of "https://yoursite.com/" with actual domain
  • web/templates/index.html (multiple locations)
  • web/static/sitemap.xml
  • web/static/robots.txt
  • web/static/.well-known/security.txt

2. Required Images

Create and place in web/static/images/:

• favicon-16x16.png (16x16 pixels)
• favicon-32x32.png (32x32 pixels)
• apple-touch-icon.png (180x180 pixels)
• icon-192x192.png (192x192 pixels, for PWA)
• icon-512x512.png (512x512 pixels, for PWA)
• og-image.png (1200x630 pixels, for Facebook/LinkedIn)
• twitter-image.png (1200x675 pixels, for Twitter)
• screenshot.png (Desktop screenshot)
• screenshot-wide.png (1280x720 pixels)
• screenshot-mobile.png (750x1334 pixels)

3. Google Services Setup

• Create Google Search Console account
• Verify domain ownership
• Submit sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
• Request indexing for homepage
• Set up Google Analytics 4
• Add GA4 tracking code to index.html
• Configure GA4 events (generate, solve, download, etc.)

4. Technical Configuration

• Enable HTTPS (SSL certificate)
• Set up 301 redirect (www to non-www or vice versa)
• Configure security headers:
  • Content-Security-Policy
  • X-Frame-Options
  • X-Content-Type-Options
  • Referrer-Policy
• Enable GZIP compression
• Set up CDN (optional but recommended)

5. Testing & Validation

• Test with Google Rich Results Test
• Test with Mobile-Friendly Test
• Validate sitemap at /sitemap.xml
• Check robots.txt at /robots.txt
• Run PageSpeed Insights
• Run Lighthouse Audit
• Validate structured data with Schema Markup Validator
• Test Open Graph with Facebook Sharing Debugger
• Test Twitter Cards with Twitter Card Validator

6. Performance Optimization

• Minify CSS (styles.css)
• Minify JavaScript (app.js, visualizer.js)
• Optimize all images (compress without quality loss)
• Enable browser caching (set Cache-Control headers)
• Implement lazy loading for images (if adding more images)

7. Security

• Update security.txt with real contact email
• Set up security monitoring
• Configure rate limiting for API endpoints
• Add CSRF protection (if needed)
• Sanitize all user inputs

8. Social Media

• Create social media accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Share launch announcement
• Post example mazes
• Engage with educational communities

9. Marketing & Outreach

• Submit to web directories:
  • Product Hunt
  • Hacker News
  • Reddit (r/webdev, r/programming)
• Reach out to educational websites
• Contact algorithm visualization communities
• Share on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

10. Monitoring Setup

• Set up uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot, Pingdom, etc.)
• Configure error logging
• Set up email alerts for downtime
• Monitor Core Web Vitals
• Track search rankings weekly

Post-Launch (First Week)

• Check Google Search Console for indexing status
• Review Google Analytics data
• Monitor for errors in browser console
• Check mobile usability report
• Review search queries in Search Console
• Address any security issues
• Respond to user feedback

Post-Launch (First Month)

• Analyze traffic sources
• Review top performing pages
• Optimize underperforming pages
• Build backlinks from relevant sites
• Create additional content (blog posts)
• Improve based on user behavior data
• A/B test different meta descriptions

Ongoing Maintenance

Weekly

• Check Google Search Console
• Review Analytics data
• Monitor site performance
• Check for broken links

Monthly

• Update sitemap if content changes
• Review and update meta descriptions
• Check for SEO opportunities
• Analyze competitor rankings
• Update structured data if needed

Quarterly

• Comprehensive SEO audit
• Update content and documentation
• Review backlink profile
• Update screenshots and images
• Test all functionality

Quick Command Reference

Test Local Development

# Start server
python api/app.py

# Access locally
http://localhost:5000

# Check robots.txt
http://localhost:5000/robots.txt

# Check sitemap
http://localhost:5000/sitemap.xml

Validation Commands

# Validate HTML
https://validator.w3.org/

# Check structured data
curl https://yoursite.com/ | grep -A 50 "application/ld+json"

# Check response headers
curl -I https://yoursite.com/

Success Metrics

First 30 Days Goals

• 100+ organic visitors
• Indexed in Google
• Average session duration > 2 minutes
• Bounce rate < 70%

First 90 Days Goals

• 1,000+ organic visitors
• Ranking in top 50 for primary keywords
• 100+ backlinks
• Average session duration > 3 minutes
• Bounce rate < 60%

First Year Goals

• 10,000+ organic visitors/month
• Ranking in top 10 for several keywords
• 1,000+ backlinks
• Featured in educational resources
• 90+ PageSpeed score

Notes

• Remember to test everything in a staging environment first
• Keep backups of all configuration files
• Document all changes in CHANGELOG.md
• Monitor performance after each change
• User experience is more important than SEO tricks