When to Mark a Post as Draft

TL;DR: Use draft: true while writing. Keep the final slug from day one, preview locally, then flip to false on publish. Avoid indexing half-done pages.

Drafting best practices

• Decide the slug early to avoid redirects later.
• Keep draft: true until the post has a title, description, H2s, and CTAs.
• Preview locally; share a staging link for feedback.
• Publish by flipping to draft: false and submitting the URL in Search Console.

What to check before publishing

• Clear H1 and meta description
• At least one internal link to a service page
• Working CTA (call or booking)
• Image alt text set; sizes compressed
• Updated date if you’ve improved the article

FAQ

Should I delete drafts?
No—keep them and finish later. Deleting drafts can break planned internal links.

Can I publish with “coming soon” sections?
Avoid it. Thin content can hurt trust and rankings.

Next step

• See our Local SEO service
• Contact if you want us to manage your content cadence