Imagine you’ve just launched your first website and spent hours crafting content, perfecting the designs, and hitting publish. Then, after a few days pass, you check your website and wonder, where are all the visitors? That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in!
Understanding SEO is important if you want to succeed in the digital marketing field. To help you get started, this blog’s SEO checklist will guide you on how you can improve the ranking of your website on search engines.
Whether you’re working on an academic project or personal blog or preparing for a future digital marketing career, mastering SEO can help you drive organic traffic to your website and improve its online visibility.
Basic SEO Checklists
1. Set Up Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool that allows website owners to track search performance, monitor traffic, and identify issues that could prevent ranking.
2. Set Up Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides insights into how people interact with your website. With Google Analytics, you can analyze visitor behavior to understand how they engage with your website after arriving through a search engine.
3. Set Up Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager (GTM) simplifies managing tracking codes (tags) on your website or app without needing to modify the code manually. Testing and publishing ensure that your tags work without disrupting your website’s functionality.
4. Install Yoast SEO if You’re Using WordPress
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that makes it very easy for you to create SEO-friendly content. You can use Yoast to update your web page’s title, meta description, slugs, canonical tags, no-index tags, and sitemaps.
5. Set Up Bing Webmaster Tools
Bing Webmaster Tools is a free Microsoft service that lets you add your website to the Bing crawler. Setting up Bing Webmaster Tools helps improve the visibility of your website on Bing search results. To set up, open a free Bing Webmaster account by going to the sign-up page, then add and verify your website to appear in Bing search results.
Keyword Research Checklists
6. Understand Search Intent
If you want to provide answers to people’s questions, you need to begin by understanding what people are searching for. Understanding search intent is perfect for getting a positive ROI from SEO. To learn more about the search intent behind a keyword, you can search and check out the results that show up on Google.
7. Understand How Keywords Fit Into Your Sales Funnel
Not all keywords will have the same value. Some keywords will attract more traffic, but others will be more likely to convert users. So, use keywords wisely. If you don’t, you might remove keywords with lower search volumes that are more likely to convert visitors into customers.
8. Understand Search Volumes
For keyword strategy, you’ll often use search volumes as one of the main metrics to prioritize new content ideas and optimize your website. What you’ll find in most keyword research tools is an estimate of the monthly search volume, i.e., how many times a certain keyword is searched for each month.
9. Understand Keyword Difficulty
If you find a relevant keyword, the next step is to figure out if you can compete for its traffic. Higher difficulty means that you will need to work harder to rank for that keyword – writing better content than competitors, building more links, and fixing technical issues.
10. Understand Head Terms Vs Long-Tail Keywords
Head terms are keywords that have a high search volume, a high difficulty score, and are very broad. Long tail keywords are the opposite of head terms. They have a low search volume, are easier to rank meaning they have a low difficulty score, and are very specific. However, your web page could rank for both head terms and long-tail keywords.
11. Find and Fix Keyword Cannibalization Issues
Keyword Cannibalization occurs when multiple web pages compete for the same keyword intent. To resolve this issue you need to identify overlapping content or optimize pages to improve search visibility. This will help search engines rank the most relevant web page, improving the overall authority of your website.
12. Consider SEO Tools
SEO tools can help you keep up with algorithm changes, analyze keywords, track rankings, identify technical issues, and monitor backlinks. There are many paid and free SEO tools that you can use. Paid SEO tools: Moz, Ahrefs, Semrush, and Keywords Everywhere. Free SEO tools: Keyword.io, MozBar, Surfer SEO Chrome plug-in, and Google Ads Keyword Planner.
On-Page SEO Checklists
13. Include Your Target Keyword in the URL
Search engines like Google crawl all the URLs of your web pages even before the content. By putting keywords in your URL, you are signaling to Google what type of information your web page provides to searchers.
14. Keep Your URLs Short
Research shows that shorter URLs tend to rank higher than longer ones. Avoid stuffing your URLs with keywords. Here are some examples of good and bad URLs – Good Example: www.yourwebsite.com/red-running-shoes | Bad Example: www.yourwebsite.com/cheap-red-running-shoes-nike-shoes-discount
15. Add Your Keyword To Your Title Tag
A title tag is what people will see when they search on Google. That is why you should include your target keyword in the title tag. In general, try to include your keyword closer to the beginning of the sentence and keep the entire title under 50-60 characters.
16. Optimize Your Title for Organic CTR
If more people click on your web page vs other websites on the SERPs, it gives Google’s algorithm an indication that your web page might be better for answering people’s questions than those other websites. This is called the organic click-through rate (CTR)
CTR is the percentage of people who click on your web page divided by everyone who sees it. That’s why it’s not enough to just include the keyword. Your title tag needs to be eye-catching and attract searchers to click on it.
17. Add Your Keywords to Your Meta Description and Make It Compelling
The content of the meta description is no longer used as a ranking signal by search engines. However, writing a compelling meta description and including your keyword in it can help with your CTR.
18. Add Your Keyword to Your H1 Tag, and Make Sure To Only Use One
Even though the value of the H2 to H6 tags have SEO value, it is generally a good idea to include your primary keyword in your H1 tag. However, make sure that there is only one H1 on the entire page and that it appears before any other heading tags.
19. Include Your Keyword in the Body of the Page
Use your keyword at least 3 times in the body of your web page and try to do it once close to the top. This will help search engines understand the relevancy of the content to user queries. Aim to include them in headings, subheadings, and the first 100 words for better optimization.
20. Use Synonyms in Your Copy
Search engines have become better at understanding human language. Using synonyms in your copy enhances SEO by improving content relevance and making it more natural and diverse. This means you can use more natural language and stay relevant to the target keywords you are trying to rank for.
21. Use Semantic Keywords in Your Copy
Semantic keywords in your copy help search engines understand the context of your content. These keywords are semantically related to your primary keyword and help search engines understand what the content of your page is about. For example, the term “New York City” can also refer to “Empire State Building, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty, and New Jersey.”
22. Optimize the Readability of Your Content
To optimize the readability of your content, try to write short sentences instead of long paragraphs, organize your content with headings and subheadings, and include media like images, gifs, audio & video. You can also link to additional helpful resources, like creating external links to top-ranking websites relevant to your niche.
23. Ensure Images Use Alt Text
You need to ensure that your photos appear in image results. To do that, you need to name each image file. Writing descriptive alt text that explains what each image is – a best practice that helps search engines understand image content and make it accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
24. Build Internal Links
When two pages of your website get linked (also known as an internal link), some of the authority from one page passes to another web page. That is why it is a good idea to add links to other pages of your website as well.
Off-Page SEO Checklists
25. Link to Authoritative Websites
Linking to authoritative websites adds credibility and value to your content. Linking high-quality and relevant resources signals to search engines that your web page is informative and well-researched. This practice encourages backlinks from reputable websites thus improving your page ranking.
26. Understand Authority Metrics
To determine which web page ranks highest, search engines rely heavily on the page authority. In SEO, authority depends on links – more specifically, links from other websites to yours. Here’s how you should find out the authority of your web page:
A page with a high UR (short for URL rating (UR) is more likely to rank higher than a page with a lower UR.
If two web pages have similar UR scores, DR (short for Domain rating) can break the tie.
27. Analyze Competitor’s Backlink Profile
By analyzing competitors’ backlink profiles, you can easily identify valuable link-building opportunities for SEO. It reveals websites with high authority. By studying their backlinks, you can improve your link-building efforts. This improves domain authority and enhances search engine rankings.
28. Fix Broken Inbound Links
If you don’t pay too much attention to SEO on your website, then you’re going to find broken links. A broken link occurs when the destination of a link returns an error code.
A URL might be broken for several reasons: content was removed, moved to a new URL, or due to a technical issue. To fix this, your options can be: fix the technical issue, redirect the broken URL to a working URL, and update or republish the missing content.
29. Reverse Engineer Your Competitor’s Links
By reverse engineering your competitors’ links, you can find out about their backlink sources and strategies. Analyzing where their links come from, you can identify opportunities to earn similar high-quality backlinks. Targeting these sources can help you drive more organic traffic on your website.
30. Guest Posts on Relevant Websites
Guest posting is a powerful SEO strategy to build backlinks and increase visibility. If you write high-quality guest posts on relevant websites and organically add links to your site, guest posting can be a great way to build links. However, make sure that the posts align with your niche to attract the right audience.
31. Use Resource Page Link Building
Resource page link-building helps earn high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites that curate useful content. You can reach out to the authors of these resource pages and ask them to include your content or page in it. By getting your website listed on relevant resource pages, you can improve the credibility of your website and drive its organic traffic.
32. Get Interviewed on Podcasts
Podcasts have been growing in popularity, and many people are jumping on the channel. You might not realize it, but it is a massive link-building opportunity. People usually publish their podcast episodes as posts on their websites. Come up with a compelling story that’s relevant to podcasts and pitch it to your host.
33. Get Media Mentions with HARO
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is like a daily newsletter that will send you requests from reporters, authors, and other publishers who want to write stories. If you don’t have time or can’t afford to do Public Relations (PR), then this is an easy way to get media mentions.
34. Provide Testimonials for Your Favorite Tools, Services, or Companies
Providing testimonials for your favorite tools, services, or companies showcases users’ positive reviews that improve credibility and trust. If there’s a tool, service, or company you like that includes testimonials on their website, you can write a review for them.
35. Use Broken Link Building
Broken link building is a powerful SEO strategy that involves finding broken links on relevant websites and suggesting your content as a replacement. This issue happens a lot for larger websites. You can use tools like Ahrefs or Check My Links to identify broken links, then reach out to webmasters with a helpful replacement.
Local SEO Checklist
36. Set Up a Google My Business Profile
A Google My Business Profile is an excellent free SEO tool for local businesses. Start by heading to the sign-up page. You’ll need basic information about your business like name, category, location, and contact details.
Once you finish setting up, optimize your GMB profile to get found in the search engine and connect with customers. One of the key benefits of GMB is that it helps customers find you across Google Search and Google Maps.
37. Consider City-Specific Landing Pages
If you have physical locations of your local business in multiple cities, then consider creating a unique landing page on your website for each city. This makes it easier for your website to rank for each market area without having to build a separate website for each place.
38. Fill Out Your Contact Us Page Thoroughly
Your Contact Us page is important for building trust and attracting local shoppers. A Contact Us page provides information about your business like its name, address, and phone number to your customers. This is crucial and helpful for local SEO.
Technical SEO Checklists
39. Fix Crawl Errors
Crawl errors prevent Google from viewing your content. That is why fixing crawl errors is essential for maintaining a healthy website and improving SEO performance. Resolving these errors ensures search engines can properly index your web pages.
40. Switch to HTTPS
To make the web “safer” for users, Google recommends that websites use HTTPS. If you’re creating a new website, you should use HTTPS right away and save yourself the trouble of switching from HTTP. HTTPS encrypts data, protecting users’ information and improving trust.
41. Make Sure Your Website Doesn’t Have Duplicate Content
The issue of duplicate content can happen when two or more URLs on your website are identical or very similar. This can decrease the SEO value of your content among several URLs. By using 301 redirects, canonical tags, or the Google Search Console tool, you can fix any duplicate content that might be causing indexing issues and penalties for your website.
42. Fix Any Missing or Duplicate Meta Tags
Fixing duplicate or missing meta titles and descriptions can help search engines understand your content and improve click-through rates. Google Search Console is an effective tool to identify issues and update tags accordingly. This will ensure that each page has distinct meta-tags which improves visibility and prevents keyword cannibalization.
43. Fix Bad Redirects
Having incorrect or unnecessary redirects can confuse search engines, dilute link authority, and impact rankings. A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect and passes almost all SEO value from the old page to the new one. A 302 is a temporary redirect used for website maintenance. A 302 redirect does not transfer SEO value to the new destination, as it is considered temporary.
44. Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
Mobile-friendly websites are essential for SEO and user experience. As an increasing amount of web traffic comes from mobile devices, websites that are not responsive to different screen sizes will negatively impact usability, especially for local searches. Moreover, Google deployed the mobile-first index, which means it will use the mobile (not the desktop) version of your website to crawl and index it.
45. Speed Up Your Website
A slow-loading website will increase your bounce rate, as visitors lose patience and leave. To get a faster loading speed for your web pages, start by optimizing images, clearing the browser cache, and minimizing HTTP requests. Google PageSpeed Insights is a perfect tool for analyzing speed optimization opportunities.
46. Create an XML Sitemap and Submit it to Google Search Console
An XML sitemap helps search engines understand the structure of your website and find all the web pages that you want to be indexed. You can use Google Search Console to submit your XML sitemap to Google. If you’re using WordPress, then the Yoast SEO plugin will take care of your sitemap and update it automatically.
47. Create a Robots.txt File
Together with your XML sitemap, the robots.txt file will specify what actions crawlers are allowed to do on each page on your website. This file guides search engine bots by allowing or blocking access to specific pages, preventing the indexing of duplicate content. You can control how a search engine crawls and indexes your website by including a robots.txt file in the top-level directory.
48. Use Schema Markup
Using Schema Markup helps search engines highlight page information and understand the content better. Schema Markup can help you land rich snippets, such as star ratings, FAQs, or product details, to appear in search results, increasing click-through rates.
Tracking & SEO Audit Checklists
49. Set Up Rank Tracking
Whenever you start working on any SEO project, one of the first things you should do is to set up rank tracking. This will allow you to easily monitor your website’s rankings among dozens or hundreds of keywords. Rank tracking lets you know whether your efforts are paying off or not. Different tools like SERPWatcher and Ahrefs can help you track your ranking.
50. Use an SEO Audit Tool to Double-Check Everything
Performing an SEO audit manually is time-consuming and complicated. Luckily, there are various SEO auditing tools that can help you with the process. These tools automate the audit process, identify errors, and offer easy solutions. Here are a few SEO audit tools that you can use:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Moz
- Screaming Frog
Remember that some of these tools can sometimes recommend the wrong things. Always use your judgment when checking the SEO of automated projects.
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