Crafting a Comprehensive SEO Checklist: A Step-by-Step Guide

Following a checklist can help you improve your website.
This checklist covers everything you need to know about SEO, including technical details, content optimization, and keyword research.
It works for all kinds of websites, from blogs to online stores.
But first, let’s talk about how to use it effectively.

How to Use This SEO Checklist

We used this checklist to increase our website traffic by almost 200% in a month.

It also helped us rank for competitive search terms like “on-page SEO“

and “link-building tools“.

Read Now : Top 10 AWESOME Link Building Tools

You don’t have to do everything on this list. Just focus on the parts that are most important for your website.

Here’s how to decide where to start:

If you’re a beginner: Start with the basics of SEO, keyword research, and on-page optimization.
If you have lots of content but little traffic: Focus on improving your content.
If your website is slow or has technical issues: Fix those problems first.
If you have some experience but want more traffic: Work on building backlinks and try advanced SEO techniques.

Let’s start with some SEO basics.

SEO Basics Checklist

1. Set Up Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a potent free SEO tool.

Google Search Console helps you see how well your website is doing in Google search results. It has many tools to help you:

Find out which keywords people use to find your site
Submit your website’s sitemap to Google
Fix any problems with your website
Check your website’s speed and performance

Setting up Google Search Console is a great starting point if you want to improve your website’s ranking in Google. Our guide teaches you how to do it.

2. Install Bing Webmaster Tools

Next, set up Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT).

While Google is the most popular search engine, Bing still has over 100 million active users daily. That’s a significant audience worth optimizing for.

In SEO, data is crucial. If a tool like BWT can provide you with more valuable insights, it’s worth considering.

3. Set Up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the BEST ways to see how people find (and use) your site.

Google Analytics helps you understand how people use your website. You can see:

How many people visit your website from Google
Which pages on your website are the most popular
Whether your website traffic is increasing or decreasing
Where else people are finding your website
How long do people spend on your website and how many pages do they view

Pro tip: Connect Google Analytics with Google Search Console. You’ll see helpful SEO information right inside your Google Analytics account.

If you haven’t used the tool before, check out our guide to Google Analytics.

4. Install Yoast SEO (WordPress and Shopify)

Yoast is a popular tool for improving your website’s search engine ranking. It’s easy to use on both WordPress and Shopify.

Yoast also helps with technical SEO tasks like creating robots.txt files and sitemaps, making it a great choice for beginners who need a complete SEO solution.

5. Identify Your Project’s KPIs

To get the most out of your SEO efforts, it’s important to set clear goals. Here are some common goals:

Increase website traffic: More visitors to your website can lead to more sales and brand awareness.
Improve brand visibility: Ranking higher in search results can help people find your brand more easily.
Build backlinks: Getting links from other websites can boost your website’s authority.
Rank for specific keywords: Tracking your keyword rankings can help you identify areas for improvement.

You can also track more specific metrics like bounce rate, page load time, and sales to measure the impact of your SEO efforts.

6. Set Up Rank Tracking

If you want to track your website’s ranking for specific keywords, you’ll need a rank-tracking tool.

There are many tools available, including options for local businesses. For example, Ubersuggest’s Map Rank Tracker can help you track your local business’s ranking down to the street level.

Tracking your website’s ranking in search results can help you understand if your SEO strategy is effective.

7. Get a Free Ubersuggest Account

One of the first tools you need in your SEO arsenal is Ubersuggest. Even the free version can provide a ton of value.

Here’s why:

You Can Spy on Your Competitors

First off, a free Semrush account lets you peek into your competitors’ SEO strategies.

Analyze their top keywords, backlinks, and organic performance. Find out what’s working for them and use that intel to boost your strategy.

It Helps You Fix Your Site’s Issues

You can also use tools to check your website for technical issues like broken links and slow loading speeds. This can help improve your website’s performance and search engine ranking.

The free account allows you to crawl up to 100 pages, ensuring your site is optimized for search engines and users alike.

Backlink Analysis Tool

Lastly, Ubersuggest’s Backlink Analysis tool is a game-changer. With a free Ubersuggest account, you can analyze your backlinks to understand your site’s authority and identify bad links that could harm your rankings.

Even at the free level, Ubersuggest equips you with essential tools for getting started with SEO. Once you see the value, you can upgrade to unlock even more features.

Pro tip: Use this link to get 14 days of access (for free) to a Semrush Pro subscription. To unlock the full power of these great tools.

Keyword Research Checklist

Keyword Research is the foundation of SEO. And in this checklist we’ll show you how to quickly find relevant keywords that your potential customers search for.

8. Identify Your Target Market

Before optimizing your website for search engines, you need to understand your target audience.

Who is your ideal customer? What are their demographics, interests, and behaviors?
What are their pain points? What problems are they trying to solve?
Where do they spend their time online? Are they active on social media or do they rely on search engines?
What keywords do they use to search for products or services like yours?

By understanding your target audience, you can choose the right keywords to attract them to your website.

9. Discover Long Tail Keywords with “Google Suggest”

One easy way to find long-tail keywords is by using Google’s autocomplete suggestions.

Simply type a keyword into the Google search bar and see the suggestions that appear below.

These keywords, known as “Google Suggest” keywords, are directly from Google. This means that people actively search for these terms, making them valuable for your website’s SEO.

Pro tip: Check out SearchResponse.io. This tool scrapes Google for other searches users make, which makes this process much easier to scale.

10. Find Keywords with the Backlinko Keyword Tool

Keyword research tools can help you find relevant keywords to target with your content. Ubersuggest’s free keyword research tool is a great starting point.

Enter a broad topic related to your business, and Ubersuggest will generate a list of related keywords that you can use to create content.

Complete with metrics like search volume and cost per click.

11. Tap Into Online Communities

Online communities like Reddit, Quora, and forums are great places to find keywords. These communities are full of real people with real problems you can solve with your products, services, or content.

One way to find keywords on these platforms is to use search operators. Search operators are special terms you can add to your search query to narrow down your results. For example, you can use search operators to find questions that people are asking about a specific topic.

Look for search terms that indicate a problem, such as “how to,” “I wish,” and “where can I.” These terms can help you identify potential content ideas to solve people’s problems. By clicking into the discussions, you can find even more specific problems you can address with your content.

12. Identify Low Competition Keywords with Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest’s Keyword Magic Tool is a free keyword research tool. (A free account allows you to run up to 10 searches per day.)

And with each search, you get tons of data on each keyword.

As you can see, when you type a keyword into Ubersuggest, you get information on:

And more.

That way, you can choose low-competition keywords that are easy to rank for. And you can understand which keywords will likely yield the best results for your website.

13. Find Question Keywords

Question keywords are perfect for blog posts and articles. For example, “How do you make cold brew coffee?” is a great question keyword. You can find question keywords using a free tool called Answer The Public. This tool shows you the questions that people are searching for online.

That way, you can answer these questions with your content. You can also use Ubersuggest’s Keyword Magic Tool to find question keywords. As the tool has a specific filter for questions.

On-Page SEO Checklist

Now it’s time to optimize your content using a handful of tested on-page SEO techniques.

14. Include Your Keyword in Your URL

A keyword-rich URL can help Google understand your page’s topic and improve your search engine ranking.

That’s why including your target keyword in the URL localseosolutions1.com/seo-checklist is helpful. This can help search engines and users understand the topic of your page.

15. Use Short URLs

Keep your URLs as short as possible. Shorter URLs tend to rank better in search engine results.

16. Front-Load Your Keyword in Your Title Tag

It’s important to include your target keyword in your title tag. The placement of your keyword also matters. Ideally, your keyword should be placed at the beginning of your title tag. For example, the main keyword for this article is “copywriting.”

17. Embed Title Tag Modifiers

Consider using title tag modifiers to make your title tags more appealing to searchers. These are words or phrases like “Best,” “Top,” “Checklist,” “Definitive Guide,” or the current year. By adding these modifiers, you can help your title stand out in search results and attract more clicks.

18. Use Your Keyword within the First 150 Words

Putting your keyword at the beginning of your post helps search engines and users quickly understand the topic. This benefits SEO and helps keep users engaged, as they can immediately see if the content is relevant to their needs. For example, in a post about SEO tools, you can start with a title like “Best SEO Tools for 2023.”

19. Use Your Target Keyword in H1, H2, or H3 Tags

Include your keyword in your H1, H2, or H3 tags.

For instance, we used the keyword “SEO Checklist” in the first subheading of this page.

By including the keyword “SEO Checklist” in an H2 tag, we help Google and users understand the topic of our content. This can improve our search engine rankings for that keyword.

20. Optimize Your Images

The images you use can significantly impact your content’s performance in search engines. While Google can’t “see” images like humans do, you can help it understand your images by optimizing their alt tags and filenames.

Filename Optimization:

Use descriptive filenames that accurately reflect the image content.
For example, instead of naming an image “IMG_1234.jpg,” use “spinach_omelette.png.”

Alt Tag Optimization:

Write concise and descriptive alt text for each image.
The alt text should accurately describe the image content and its relevance to the surrounding text.
For the spinach omelet image, an appropriate alt tag would be “Spinach Omelette.”

By optimizing your images in this way, you can improve your website’s search engine visibility and user experience.

21. Use Synonyms and LSI Keywords

Instead of repeating the same keyword multiple times, which can be seen as keyword stuffing, use synonyms and related keywords (LSI keywords).

For example, if you want to rank for the keyword “how to start a blog,” you should include it a few times on your page. You can also use synonyms like:

How to launch a blog
Starting a blog
How to create a blog
How to set up a blog on WordPress

In addition to synonyms, you can also use LSI keywords. LSI keywords are related terms that are often used in the same context as your main keyword. For instance, for the keyword “how to start a blog,” some LSI keywords might be:

Writing
Website
Content creation

While LSI keywords alone may not significantly improve your rankings, they can help Google better understand the context of your content.

22. Use External Links

Throughout your content, link out to relevant and authoritative sources when appropriate. This can be done in a few situations:

Citing Statistics: If you’re referencing data or statistics, link to the source for credibility.
Defining Complex Terms: When using a complex term you haven’t explained on your own website, link to a helpful resource that clarifies it for your readers.
Enhancing User Experience: Link to relevant content on other websites that can provide additional value to your readers.

For example, in this SEO techniques list, we link to trusted websites like Wikipedia and Google.com to provide further context and information.

Linking to authoritative sources like Wikipedia can help Google understand the quality of your content. While it may not directly impact your rankings, it can improve the user experience.

23. Use Internal Links

Whenever you publish new content, link to 2-5 other relevant pages on your website. This internal linking strategy helps search engines discover and index your content more effectively.

Pro tip: Use keyword-rich anchor text in your internal links.

For example, notice how we use the anchor text “on-page SEO” in this internal link:

This tells search engines and users that the linked page is about on-page SEO. This context helps Google understand the link’s relevance and guides users to more relevant information.

Content Checklist

High-quality content is essential for successful SEO. This section’ll guide you through the steps to create content that ranks well in search engines.

24. Chunk Your Content to Maximize Readability

No one likes reading giant walls of text:

That’s why we ALWAYS break our content into easy-to-read chunks, like this:

These chunks keep our bounce rate low. And keep our readers on our pages for longer.

So that they can get maximum value from our content.

25. Focus on Content Formats That Are Working Right Now

The world of content is constantly evolving. To stay ahead of the curve, keeping up with the latest trends and adapting your content strategy accordingly is essential.

With the rise of AI-generated content, there’s a growing demand for high-quality, original content. Here are some content trends that are currently gaining traction:

Expert-Written Content: Content created by industry experts is highly valued.
Original Research: Conducting surveys and studies can provide unique insights and attract attention.
Unique Perspectives: Offering fresh perspectives and avoiding regurgitated information can help your content stand out.
Real-World Examples: Sharing case studies and real-life examples can make your content more relatable and actionable.
Evergreen Content: Creating timeless content that remains relevant for years to come can drive long-term traffic and engagement.

By embracing these trends, you can create content that resonates with your audience and drives results.

26. Think about Information Gain

Simply covering a topic in depth is no longer sufficient to achieve sustainable rankings on Google. To stand out, you must provide unique value beyond what’s already available in search results. This concept is known as information gain.

By offering fresh insights, conducting original research, or providing practical solutions, you can differentiate your content and attract both search engines and readers.

27. Use Multimedia

You might notice that this post contains LOTS of images.

Visual content can significantly enhance your content’s quality and search engine performance. You can make your content more engaging and informative by incorporating images, charts, infographics, videos, and interactive elements.

Here are some key benefits of using visual content:

Improved User Experience: Visuals can break up text and make your content more visually appealing.
Enhanced Comprehension: Visuals can help explain complex ideas and concepts more easily.
Increased Engagement: Visual content can capture your audience’s attention and encourage them to spend more time on your website.
Improved Search Engine Rankings: Search engines often prioritize content with images and videos.

By strategically using visual content, you can create content that stands out and drives results.

Technical SEO Checklist

Technical SEO is a critical aspect of search engine optimization. You can significantly improve your website’s visibility and organic traffic by addressing technical issues. This checklist will guide you through the essential steps to optimize your website’s technical SEO:

28. Identify Crawling and Indexing Errors

Crawl and Indexing Errors:

Crawl Errors occur when Google’s search engine bots have trouble accessing a page on your website. If a page can’t be accessed, it won’t be ranked.
Indexing Errors: Even if Google can find your content, it might not be indexed for various reasons. This also prevents the page from ranking.

You can identify these errors in Google Search Console’s “Indexing” report.

If you discover that Google is unable to access one of your important web pages, such as due to a robots.txt restriction, it’s crucial to address the issue promptly.

29. Find Out How Google Views Your Pages

Sometimes, Google’s search engine bots may not be able to fully access a page visible to human users, which can prevent the page from being indexed and ranked.

You can use Google Search Console’s “Inspect URL” feature to identify and resolve these issues. Enter the URL of the page you want to analyze into the tool.

30. Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly

Google officially uses mobile-first indexing.

Mobile optimization is crucial for modern SEO. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’ll likely struggle to rank well in search engine results.

Here are some essential tips for mobile optimization:

Responsive Design: Ensure your website adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices.
Clear and Concise Content: Use short sentences and paragraphs to improve readability on mobile devices.
Minimal Pop-ups: Avoid intrusive pop-ups that can frustrate mobile users.

31. Fix Broken Links

Broken links can negatively impact both your SEO and user experience. Here’s how to address them:

Importance of Fixing Broken Links: Broken links frustrate users and can signal website neglect to search engines.
Finding Broken Links: Utilize free tools like DrLinkCheck.com to scan your website for broken links.

Regularly checking and fixing broken links can maintain a positive user experience and improve your website’s health for search engines.

32. Secure Your Site with HTTPS

Google has confirmed HTTPS as a ranking factor. If your website isn’t secure, switching to HTTPS is crucial. This ensures the security of your website and improves its search engine ranking.

33. Check Your Site’s Loading Speed (Core Web Vitals)

Page speed is crucial in user experience and search engine rankings. A slow-loading website can lead to higher bounce rates and lower search engine¹ rankings

To measure your website’s speed, use Google PageSpeed Insights. This free tool analyzes your website’s desktop and mobile devices performance and assesses its Core Web Vitals.

It even lets you know what you can do to speed things up.

34. Use Schema Markup

Schema markup, or structured data, helps search engines better understand your content. This can lead to rich snippets in search results, such as star ratings and recipe times.

Implementing schema markup can be complex. To ensure accuracy, consider using structured data testing tools.

Using structured data testing tools significantly simplifies the process of implementing schema markup. For a more detailed guide, refer to our comprehensive schema markup guide.

Link Building Checklist

Link building is a cornerstone of effective SEO. High-quality backlinks from reputable websites can significantly boost your authority and search engine rankings. In this section, we’ll explore strategies to build valuable backlinks.

35. Contribute Expert Quotes to Media Outlets

Media outreach is a powerful technique for building high-quality backlinks and increasing brand visibility. By positioning yourself as an industry expert, you can attract journalists and bloggers seeking authoritative sources.

To maximize your media outreach efforts, consider the following strategies:

Utilize Media Outreach Platforms: Platforms like Connectively (formerly HARO) and Help a B2B Writer connect journalists with potential sources.
Monitor Social Media: Use relevant hashtags like #journorequest to identify journalists seeking expert insights.
Build Relationships with Journalists: Network with journalists in your industry to establish long-term relationships.
Offer Exclusive Insights: Provide journalists with exclusive information or data to make your contribution stand out.

By actively participating in media outreach, you can secure valuable backlinks and generate significant media coverage for your brand.

36. Create Linkable Assets for Journalists (Digital PR)

Linkable assets are pieces of high-quality content that are designed to attract backlinks. By creating valuable and shareable content, you can encourage journalists, bloggers, and other website owners to link to your website.

Here are some examples of linkable assets:

Data-Driven Content: Original research, surveys, and data visualizations can attract backlinks from journalists and industry publications.
In-Depth Guides and Tutorials: Comprehensive guides and tutorials can become valuable resources for your target audience and generate backlinks.
Interactive Tools and Calculators: Creating interactive tools can engage your audience and attract backlinks from other websites.
Unique Visual Content: Infographics and original images can be shared and linked to by other websites.

By consistently creating high-quality linkable assets, you can build a strong backlink profile and improve your website’s search engine rankings.

37. Reverse Engineer Your Competitors’ Backlinks

Instead of starting from scratch, you can analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles to identify potential link opportunities. Ubersuggest’s Backlink Analysis tool is a great resource for this.

Here’s how to use it:

Enter a Competitor’s URL: Input the URL of a competitor’s website into Ubersuggest’s Backlink Analysis tool.
Analyze Backlink Profile: Study the competitor’s backlink profile to identify the websites that are linking to them.
Identify Link Opportunities: Look for relevant websites and outreach opportunities that you can target.

By analyzing your competitor’s backlinks, you can discover valuable link-building opportunities and improve your website’s authority.

For example, here’s a link report from Ubersuggest of a site:

While it might not be feasible to replicate all of your competitors’ backlinks, many link opportunities are within reach. For instance, you can target roundup posts or podcast appearances your competitors have secured.

By analyzing your competitors’ backlink profiles, you can identify potential link-building opportunities and tailor your outreach efforts accordingly.

38. Become a Podcast Guest

Appearing as a guest on podcasts is similar to guest posting. Sharing your expertise on relevant podcasts can increase your visibility, build relationships with other industry professionals, and generate valuable backlinks.

For example, Brian Dean appeared as a guest on a few years ago.

As you can see, we got a backlink (and a handful of targeted visitors).

Consider contacting podcast hosts in your industry to explore potential guest appearances. This can help you build brand awareness, generate backlinks, and establish yourself as an industry expert.

39. Mention Influencers In Your Blog Posts

Influencer outreach is a simple yet effective strategy to build backlinks and increase brand visibility. By mentioning influential bloggers and industry experts in your content and notifying them, you can encourage them to share your content and potentially link to it.

For instance, when we published our list of SEO tools, we informed the founders of each tool about their inclusion in the list.

For instance, when we published our list of SEO tools, we informed the founders of each tool about their inclusion in the list. Many of them shared our content on social media, which helped us reach a wider audience and generate backlinks.

While connecting directly with influencers may not always be easy, this approach can be a powerful way to gain visibility and build relationships within your industry.

Bonus: Advanced SEO Tips and Tactics

Now that you have a solid foundation in SEO, let’s explore some advanced techniques to optimize your website’s performance further.

40. Optimize Your Site for User Experience Signals

While the exact impact of user experience signals like click-through rate and dwell time on Google’s ranking algorithms is debated, optimizing for these metrics can undoubtedly lead to increased traffic and conversions.

Optimizing for Click-Through Rate:

Compelling Titles: Create attention-grabbing and relevant titles.
Engaging Meta Descriptions: Write persuasive meta descriptions that encourage clicks.
Leverage Schema Markup: Implement schema markup to improve your search result appearance and increase click-through rates.
Target Featured Snippets: Optimize your content to appear in featured snippets, which can significantly boost visibility.

Optimizing for Dwell Time:

High-Quality Content: Create valuable, informative, and engaging content that meets the user’s search intent.
Improved Readability: Use short sentences, paragraphs, and clear headings to enhance readability.
Visual Content: Incorporate images, infographics, and videos to make your content more visually appealing.
Strong User Experience: Provide a seamless user experience with easy navigation, clear calls to action, and fast loading times.

By focusing on user experience, you can improve your website’s visibility, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately drive conversions.

41. Delete “Dead Weight” Pages

Google has suggested that having a massive website with numerous pages can potentially harm your SEO efforts. As Gary Illyes, a Google representative, stated:

To maintain a healthy website and avoid potential SEO issues, it’s essential to regularly audit your content and remove any low-quality or outdated pages. These “dead weight” pages can negatively impact your website’s performance.

Here are some examples of pages that you should consider removing:

Empty Category and Tag Pages: Pages with no content or limited value.
Outdated Blog Posts: Old posts that are no longer relevant or accurate.
Duplicate Content: Pages with identical or very similar content.
Low-Quality Blog Posts: Poorly written or poorly researched posts.
Underperforming Product Pages: Products that haven’t generated sales in a long time.
Archive Pages: Old archive pages that are no longer necessary.
Thin Content: Pages with minimal text and little value.
Old Service Pages: Pages that no longer represent your current offerings.

By removing these unnecessary pages, you can improve your website’s performance and focus your efforts on high-quality content.

42. Update and Relaunch Outdated Content

Do you have old articles on your blog collecting dust?

If so, check this out:

We updated and relaunched this SEO copywriting post from the blog:

Put This SEO Checklist Into Action

Elevate Your SEO Strategy: Dive Deeper

Ready to take your SEO game to the next level? Explore these in-depth guides to master the fundamental aspects of search engine optimization:

Technical SEO: Uncover the technical intricacies that can significantly impact your website’s search engine visibility and user experience.
On-Page SEO: Learn how to optimize individual web pages to rank higher in search engine results and attract more organic traffic.
Link Building: Discover proven strategies to acquire high-quality backlinks, a crucial factor in boosting your website’s authority and search engine rankings.

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