phased-seo-rollout

name	phased-seo-rollout
description	Operational skill for slow multi-wave SEO launches. Use when reviewing phased rollout readiness, launch gating behavior, deploy timing, sitemap release, Search Console follow-up, and non-technical rollout risk.
metadata	{"family":"ops","owner":"ops + seo","last_reviewed":"2026-04-30T00:00:00.000Z","version":"1.0.0"}

Phased SEO Rollout

Use this skill when the site is being launched in controlled SEO waves and the output should help a non-technical stakeholder understand what must happen, what can go wrong, and what to verify before and after each wave.

This skill is operational first. It is not the default implementation skill for metadata or sitemap code changes.

Use When

• reviewing a phased SEO launch plan
• explaining how a launch gate works in practice
• checking whether a wave needs deploy, revalidation, or only Search Console follow-up
• assessing rollout risks for crawl, discovery, and indexation
• producing a launch checklist for a non-technical stakeholder

Do Not Use When

• the task is mainly editing metadata, canonicals, schema, sitemap code, or robots behavior Then use seo-page-rules.
• the task is a general SEO diagnosis not tied to phased launch operations Then use seo-audit.
• the task is URL structure or internal-linking architecture work Then use site-architecture.

Core Review Questions

1. What exactly opens a wave?

   • deploy
   • revalidation
   • request-time runtime logic
   • manual date change

2. What exactly changes at launch?

   • page robots state
   • sitemap inclusion
   • internal-link visibility
   • canonicals or structured data if relevant

3. What still depends on Google after launch?

   • recrawl
   • sitemap fetch
   • indexation lag

4. What must a non-technical operator do?

   • deploy or confirm deploy happened
   • resubmit sitemap in Search Console
   • inspect priority URLs
   • monitor indexing/crawl reports

Repo-Specific Review Points

• launch gating source: src/shared/launch/*
• metadata gate: src/lib/seo/helpers/base.ts
• sitemap gate: src/shared/sitemap/*
• plan docs: docs/launch-plan/*

Preferred Guidance Pattern

For slow phased rollout, prefer:

• pre-launch pages excluded from sitemap
• page-level gating that keeps pre-launch pages out of the index
• preserved internal discovery where possible
• one clearly defined release event per wave
• immediate post-launch Search Console follow-up

Risk Framing

Always separate:

• implementation risk Example: wrong path mapping, wrong canonical shape, wrong gate logic

• operational risk Example: deploy never happened, revalidation never happened, sitemap not resubmitted

• search-engine timing risk Example: Google recrawls later than expected even after everything is correct

Required Output

Return a Phased Rollout Review with:

1. current_gate_behavior
2. what_triggers_launch
3. operator_actions_required
4. seo_risks_remaining
5. recommended_mitigations
6. whether_code_changes_are_needed

Escalation Rule

If the review reveals code problems, hand off to:

• seo-page-rules for metadata/sitemap/robots changes
• seo-audit for broader SEO diagnosis
• site-architecture for internal-linking or discoverability structure changes