<b>The promotion ladder: how a page earns the index</b>

<b>The promotion ladder: how a page earns the index</b>

Indexing should be earned, not granted at birth. Run every generated page up a ladder.

The rungs (a page sits on the lowest it qualifies for):
— Rung 0 — Rendered, <code>noindex,follow</code>, not in sitemap. Default for every new page. It passes link equity, collects internal links, stays invisible to search.
— Rung 1 — Promote to <code>index</code> + sitemap when: required fields complete AND at least 1 organic impression OR 3 internal inbound links. Gate: both data and demand signals.
— Rung 2 — Add to priority sitemap when the page holds page-2 visibility for any query for 14 days. Gate: sustained, not a one-day spike.
— Rung 3 — Link from the money page when it converts or ranks top-10.

Demotion is automatic:
☐ Field count drops below required → back to Rung 0.
☐ Zero impressions in 90 days → back to Rung 0, remove from sitemap.

Guardrail: the ladder is a nightly job, not a manual review. No page promotes itself.

Ship gate: don't publish until all boxes are checked.