Archiving a URL cohort is supposed to stop credit burn—not create a quiet parking lot that someone reopens on a hunch. When an agency later wants those URLs back in an indexing queue, the restart must be evidence-led: something material changed on the site or in the brief, verification passed, and admission into Standard or VIP is deliberate. This piece is only about restarting after Archive. It is not Archive-vs-Hold criteria, engineering timeboxes, return paths from tickets, or escalation ladders.
What must change before an archived cohort can reopen
Treat Archive as closed until at least one material change is documented. Pick the lane that matches reality:
- Site change — crawl/indexability blockers that justified Archive are gone (robots, noindex, soft-404 templates, auth walls, canonical collapses, thin/duplicate shells). Link the deploy, CMS change, or template fix—not a verbal “we think it’s fine.”
- Brief change — client priority, scope, or commercial urgency changed in writing (new campaign window, product line relaunch, contractual readiness). Archive was process-correct then; restart is process-correct only if the brief now says these URLs matter again.
- Population change — the archived list is no longer the same cohort (dead paths removed, redirects resolved, URL identities cleaned). Restarting an unchanged, still-broken list wastes credits.
If none of those three moved, keep Archive closed. Curiosity is not a restart trigger.
Restart verification checklist (pass all before credits flow)
Use a short packet. Every item needs a named owner and a dated artifact:
| Check | Pass looks like | Fail action |
|---|---|---|
| Archive reason still on file | Original archive reason code + date readable | Reconstruct reason before any reopen debate |
| Material change linked | Deploy/brief/population note with URL or ticket ID | Stay archived |
| Spot-check crawlability | Sample of N URLs returns expected status + indexable signals | Hold sample; do not reopen full cohort |
| Identity hygiene | No mixed hosts, trailing-slash chaos, or redirect loops in the restart list | Clean list first |
| Credit plan | Restart size fits remaining weekly/monthly credit band | Shrink list or wait for next budget window |
| Owner sign-off | Ops lead + account owner both recorded | No single-person reopen |
Fail any row → credits stay off. Partial “mostly fixed” is a Hold conversation elsewhere, not an Archive restart.
Standard vs VIP admission after Archive
Restart does not automatically restore the lane the cohort had before Archive.
- Default to Standard after Archive. The cohort was stopped for a reason; Standard is the re-entry lane for proving process readiness at volume without concentrating VIP spend on a recently closed set.
- VIP only with a fresh exception — named commercial urgency, tiny capped count, and explicit approval in the restart packet. Prior VIP history is not a voucher.
- Split cohorts when needed — URLs that cleared verification go Standard (or capped VIP); URLs that still fail stay archived or move to a separate remediation track. Never reopen the whole archive bag because one cluster improved.
Client-safe restart note (template)
Keep client language process-only. Do not imply Google outcomes.
We previously archived cohort [ID] on [date] for [process reason]. A material change is now on file ([site / brief / population]). Verification checks passed on [date]. We are reopening [N] URLs into [Standard / capped VIP exception] under the current credit plan. Indexing is never guaranteed; we will report crawl/submit activity and labeled observations, not rankings promises.
Send that note before credits flow when the client can see spend, or the same day when the restart is internal-only but billed later.
Stop rules if Archive repeats
If the same cohort archives again after a restart, tighten—do not thrash:
- Two archives in 30 days → require a written root-cause note before any third reopen attempt.
- Same reason code twice → ban “hopeful” restarts; demand a different material change class (site vs brief vs population).
- VIP after failed Standard restart → blocked until Standard restart evidence exists for a smaller sample.
- Unowned restart packets → auto-reject; Archive stays closed.
- Outcome language in client notes (“will be indexed,” “guaranteed”) → rewrite and delay credit spend until language is process-safe.
- Credit plan ignored → cancel the restart batch; reopen only inside the band.
Where Rapid Indexer fits
Agencies that need a fast submit-and-check workflow still separate process readiness from search outcomes. Rapid Indexer is built as the fastest Google indexer and the only indexer with Brave Search indexing—useful when a verified restart list is ready—yet indexing is NEVER guaranteed. Google (and Brave) decide what enters an index. Questions on workflow or credits: support@rapid-indexer.com.
Restart archived cohorts when evidence moved. Keep credits dark until the checklist passes.
