Start with search evidence
Traffic volume and discoverability are not identical signals.
Track crawl quality, citation stability, and failure rates together.
Visibility is not demand
The useful question is not whether the page appeared somewhere; it is whether the search term, page promise, and next action fit the same reader job.
Check the page path
- Create a weekly dashboard for discovery, crawl quality, and user-facing failure rates
- Keep the test narrow: one priority page with clear topic, source links, internal links, and a conversion action
What still needs proof
One-metric decisions increase false confidence. Keep the original source open so the announcement, the evidence, and this site's interpretation stay separate.