Planning 05 — Indexing, Visibility & Crawl Control

This checklist defines how and when content becomes visible to search engines and crawlers. Its purpose is to control discovery intentionally rather than allowing indexing by default.

Visibility decisions made here determine when pages, posts, and taxonomies are eligible for indexing and inclusion in sitemaps.

Checklist Objective

Establish clear, documented rules governing indexing status, sitemap inclusion, and crawl visibility across the site.

Preconditions

• Planning 01 — Site Purpose & Scope Definition is completed and approved
• Planning 02 — Content System & Page Model is completed and approved
• Planning 03 — Navigation & Landing Page Map is completed and approved
• Planning 04 — URL, Slug & Taxonomy Rules is completed and approved

Checklist Steps

1. Define default indexing state.
   • Confirm whether the site is globally discouraged from indexing
   • Confirm default noindex behavior for new pages and posts
2. Define page indexing rules.
   • Identify which page types may eventually be indexed
   • Confirm that planning and placeholder pages remain noindex
3. Define post indexing rules.
   • Confirm posts remain noindex until fully complete
   • Define criteria for removing noindex on posts
4. Define taxonomy indexing rules.
   • Confirm categories and tags remain noindex by default
   • Define conditions under which taxonomy indexing is allowed, if ever
5. Define sitemap inclusion rules.
   • Confirm only indexable URLs appear in sitemaps
   • Confirm taxonomies are excluded unless explicitly approved
6. Define crawl control rules.
   • Confirm handling of robots.txt and virtual robots rules
   • Identify URL patterns to disallow from crawling
7. Review alignment with downstream SEO governance.
   • Read governance titles only
   • Confirm visibility rules align with SEO execution discipline
   • Related governance:
     • Planning 06 — SEO Execution & Governance Rules

Required Output

• Default indexing state for the site
• Indexing eligibility rules for pages
• Indexing eligibility rules for posts
• Taxonomy indexing decisions
• Sitemap inclusion rules
• Crawl control patterns and exclusions

Pause & Lock

Once approved, indexing and crawl visibility rules become locked inputs for SEO configuration and ongoing operations.

Outputs from this checklist are required context for Planning 06 — SEO Execution & Governance Rules .