🛠️ Technical SEO & Launch PBI: FireBootCamp (Vercel) 🚀 #4
Description
Objective: Connect the main domain (firebootcamp.com) to the Vercel deployment, and complete all essential technical SEO setup to ensure the site is crawlable, indexable, and trackable.
| Dependency | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Site deployed on Vercel staging URL | [Dev] | Done |
| Main Domain Access (Registrar) | [Dev/Ops] | To Do |
✅ Task List
1. Vercel Domain Connection & DNS
- Configure Vercel: In the Vercel project settings, add the custom domain (
firebootcamp.com) and thewwwsubdomain (www.firebootcamp.com). - Retrieve DNS Records: Obtain the required A Record and/or CNAME Record values provided by Vercel for connecting the domain.
- Access Registrar: Log into the domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.).
- Update A Record: Point the root domain (
firebootcamp.com) to the Vercel IP address (the Vercel A record). - Update CNAME Record (Recommended): Point the
wwwsubdomain (www.firebootcamp.com) tocname.vercel-dns.com(or follow Vercel's specific instructions). - Verify Connection: Confirm the domain is successfully connected and showing as "Ready" in the Vercel dashboard. (Vercel automatically handles SSL and CDN)
2. Site Configuration & Files
- Generate XML Sitemap: Create a complete and valid
sitemap.xmlfile listing all production pages. - Create
robots.txt: Create arobots.txtfile that allows access and explicitly references the location of thesitemap.xml. - Deploy Files: Ensure both the
sitemap.xmlandrobots.txtfiles are deployed to the root of the project so they are accessible at the main domain (e.g.,firebootcamp.com/robots.txt). - Verify Canonical Tags: Ensure the static site generator or codebase enforces canonical tags (
<link rel="canonical"...>) on every page, pointing to the final, preferred HTTPS version of the main domain URL.
3. Google Search Console (GSC) Setup
- Add Property: Navigate to Google Search Console and add the site as a Domain Property using the root domain (
firebootcamp.com). - Verify Ownership: Follow GSC instructions to verify ownership, typically by adding a DNS TXT record provided by Google to the domain registrar's DNS settings.
- Submit Sitemap: Use the Sitemaps report in GSC to submit the path to the sitemap (
/sitemap.xml). - Check Coverage: Monitor the Coverage report for initial successful crawling and indexing.
4. Tracking Implementation & On-Page SEO
- Implement GA4 Code: Embed the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking code snippet into the
<head>or<body>section of all pages. - Test Data Flow: Check the Realtime report in GA4 to confirm site visits are being recorded.
- Review Title Tags: Ensure every page has a unique, descriptive Title Tag (under 60 characters).
- Review Meta Descriptions: Ensure every page has a unique and compelling Meta Description (under 160 characters).