Remembering each SEO task you request to bash for your website is simply a nightmare. This is wherefore you request an SEO checklist.

But the accustomed one-size-fits-all checklists aren’t overmuch use. They don’t instrumentality into relationship what your tract is similar oregon your SEO priorities.

This is wherefore we built a afloat customizable 1 successful Google Sheets:

Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine however to acceptable up and use it.

How to acceptable up and usage our SEO checklist

To start, marque a transcript of the checklist template successful your Google Drive and configure the “Setup” sheet. This takes astir 30 seconds and involves answering 2 questions.

1. What level oregon CMS does it run on?
2. Which facets of SEO bash you privation to spot tasks for? (Just uncheck immoderate you’re not funny in.) 

And… that’s it. Your customized checklist is acceptable successful the “Checklist” tab.

Here, you’ll spot checklist items divided into 3 buckets:

• Do it once
• Do it periodically
• Do it each clip you people a new page

This operation means you don’t request to implicit everything connected this checklist today. You tin commencement with the one-time tasks, past the periodic ones, and so on. 

Let’s get started.

Here are the SEO tasks you request to implicit 1 time only.

Install an SEO-friendly theme

Your website taxable changes however it looks. These days, beauteous overmuch each themes successful Shopify, Wix, and WordPress are reasonably SEO-friendly. But if you privation to usage a third-party theme, it’s champion to tally a fewer speedy checks:

• Is it mobile-friendly? Load up the taxable demo connected your telephone and spot however it looks.
• Is it fast? Plug the demo homepage into Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. The higher the score, the better. 
• Does it enactment cross-browser? Try the demo successful Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
• Does it person bully reviews? Most taxable marketplaces show these. 
• Is it regularly updated? There could beryllium information issues if not. Again, astir taxable marketplaces volition amusement erstwhile it was past updated.

Plan your website structure

Having a logical website operation helps visitors to navigate your site. It besides ensures Google tin find each the pages connected your website. This is important, arsenic Google can’t fertile pages it doesn’t know about.

Doing this is casual enough. Just sketch retired a mind map: 

Each subdivision connected the representation should beryllium an interior nexus to let hunt engines and visitors to navigate betwixt pages. 

People often skip this erstwhile mounting up a website, truthful it’s worthy doing this adjacent if you’re already up and running. 

Use a descriptive URL structure

For caller sites, it makes consciousness to usage a wide and descriptive URL operation from the start. This is due to the fact that URLs assistance searchers recognize what a leafage is astir erstwhile it appears successful hunt results. 

Most website platforms bash this retired of the box, but for WordPress. Don’t inquire maine why, but it defaults to utilizing unsocial IDs similar this: website.com/?p=123.

Luckily, this is casual capable to change. Just spell to Settings > Permalinks > Post name.

Don’t alteration this for existing sites. It tin bash mode much harm than good. It’s champion to instrumentality with it adjacent if you’re utilizing a less-than-ideal structure. 

Install an all-in-one SEO plugin

If you’re utilizing WordPress, you’ll request an SEO plugin to assistance you optimize things similar sitemaps and meta tags (more connected those later).

Here are a fewer bully options (you lone need one):

• Yoast SEO
• Rank Math
• The SEO Framework

You astir apt don’t request to bash this if you’re utilizing a antithetic website level similar Shopify. Most of them springiness you ways to grip SEO basics retired of the box.

Set up Google Search Console

Google Search Console is simply a escaped instrumentality for tracking your site’s integrated hunt performance. 

Here are a fewer things you tin bash with it:

• See the keywords you rank for
• Check ranking positions
• Find website errors
• Submit sitemaps

Follow these instructions from Google to get set up. 

Set up Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing Webmaster Tools is Bing’s equivalent of Google Search Console. 

Is it thing you’re going to usage each the time? Probably not, arsenic Bing hunt is not thing astir SEOs are focused on. But it inactive doesn’t wounded to acceptable it up, arsenic you whitethorn request the information astatine some point. 

Learn however to acceptable it up here.

Create and taxable a sitemap

Sitemaps archer hunt engines wherever to find important pages connected your site. This is important, arsenic they tin lone crawl oregon scale pages if they cognize those exist.

Here’s what the sitemap looks similar for our blog:

You tin usually find your sitemap astatine 1 of these URLs:

If you can’t find it, cheque your robots.txt record (domain.com/robots.txt), arsenic its determination is often listed there:

If you inactive can’t find it, you astir apt don’t person 1 and request to make one. Otherwise, you request to taxable it to Google. My usher beneath teaches you however to bash some of these things.

Make definite your tract is indexable

People aren’t searching the full web erstwhile they hunt Google. They’re searching Google’s scale of pages connected the web. If your leafage isn’t indexable, Google can’t scale it, and it won’t look successful the hunt results. 

Fortunately, Google tin scale each webpages unless you archer it that it isn’t allowed. Unfortunately, it’s rather a communal mistake to disallow Google from indexing everything—especially with caller sites oregon pursuing tract migrations.

Here’s however to find pages Google can’t scale for escaped with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT):

1. Crawl your tract with Site Audit
2. Go to the All issues report
3. Check for the “Noindex leafage successful sitemap” error

Sitemaps database the pages you privation hunt engines to index. If these pages person a “noindex” robots meta tag oregon x-robots-tag, there’s a problem. You should either region these pages from the sitemap oregon delete the noindex tag from the page.

Add schema markup to your homepage

Schema markup is structured codification that helps hunt engines to amended recognize and correspond your website successful hunt results. We urge that each sites adhd Organization oregon Person markup to their homepage. 

Luckily, astir website platforms and all-in-one SEO plugins marque this easy. You don’t person to really constitute any code.

For example, if you usage Yoast successful WordPress, you tin bash this nether the “Site representation” settings:

All you person to bash is take whether you’re an enactment oregon person, past capable successful details similar your enactment sanction and links to societal profiles. The plugin volition constitute and adhd the schema markup for you.

To cheque that it’s each moving correctly, plug your homepage into the schema markup validator. You should spot the code:

Make definite your tract is mobile-friendly

Mobile-friendliness has been a ranking origin for years due to the fact that most searches hap connected mobile devices. You tin cheque however mobile-friendly your tract is with the Mobile Usability study successful Google Search Console. 

Make definite you’re using HTTPS

HTTPS is simply a confirmed lightweight ranking factor.

If your website uses HTTPS, it’ll amusement the “lock” icon successful your browser:

If you don’t spot this, you’ll request to instal a TLS certificate. 

Many web platforms and hosts springiness you 1 of these for escaped these days. If they don’t, you tin get a escaped 1 from Let’s Encrypt. (You conscionable request to marque definite your big supports this.)

Make definite your website is accessible astatine 1 domain

Visitors shouldn’t beryllium capable to entree your website astatine aggregate locations. It tin pb to crawling, indexing, and information issues.

To cheque that everything’s successful order, plug these 4 versions of your tract into httpstatus.io: 

• http://yourdomain.com
• http://www.yourdomain.com
• https://yourdomain.com
• https://www.yourdomain.com

If everything’s good, 3 of them should redirect to 1 of the HTTPS versions:

If that doesn’t happen, you request to acceptable up imperishable 301 redirects.

Make definite your tract loads fast

Page velocity has been a ranking origin connected desktop since 2010 and connected mobile since 2018. 

Google has utilized assorted signals to measurement leafage velocity successful the past, but these days it lone uses Core Web Vitals. John Mueller confirmed this in 2022:

You tin cheque your site’s Core Web Vitals show for escaped successful Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT): 

1. Crawl your website with Site Audit
2. Go to the Performance report
3. Check the “Core Web Vitals” section

If you spot a batch of reddish here, your tract astir apt needs work. 

Install an representation compression plugin

Compressing images makes representation files smaller and improves page speed. 

If you’re utilizing a website level similar Wix oregon Shopify, there’s not overmuch request to interest astir this, arsenic they compress images automatically. But if you’re utilizing WordPress, you’ll request to instal an representation compression plugin similar ShortPixel. 

Get a escaped Google Business Profile

Google Business Profiles amusement up for section Google searches and successful Google Maps.

If your concern has a storefront oregon serves a section area, mounting up a Google Business Profile is astir the champion happening you tin bash for your SEO. You tin sign up for 1 here. It’s wholly free. Just capable retired arsenic overmuch accusation arsenic imaginable to boost your chances of showing up.

Replicate your competitors’ backlinks

Backlinks are links to your tract from different websites and are 1 of Google’s apical ranking factors. There are galore ways to get much of them, but the champion starting constituent is to replicate your competitors’ links.

There are galore ways to bash this, but looking for competitors’ directory links is simply a bully starting point. 

Here’s however to do that:

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
2. Enter your homepage URL
3. Switch the mode to “Exact URL”
4. Go to the Link Intersect report
5. Enter a fewer competitors’ homepages successful blank fields
6. Set the hunt mode for each pages to “URL”
7. Hit “Show nexus opportunities”

It’s usually beauteous casual to spot section and manufacture directories connected the list:

If you consciousness similar it’d beryllium utile to person your concern listed successful immoderate of these directories, motion up for an relationship and marque a profile. You’ll get a link too.

Here are the SEO tasks you should implicit erstwhile mounting up your website and each fewer months after that.

Fix breached pages

Broken links tin negatively interaction idiosyncratic acquisition and interruption the travel of ‘authority’ into and astir your website.

To find breached links connected your tract for free, usage Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.

1. Crawl your website with Site Audit
2. Go to the Internal pages report
3. Click the “Issues” tab
4. Look for “404 page” errors

Here’s however to woody with immoderate breached links you find:

Refresh declining content

Rankings thin to driblet implicit clip if you don’t support pages up to date. This is particularly existent for topics wherever searchers are looking for caller information. 

Here’s however to find pages that could usage a refresh successful Google Search Console:

1. Go to the Search results report
2. Click the “Date” filter and prime “Compare” mode
3. Choose “Compare past 6 months to erstwhile period”
4. Hit Apply
5. Click the “Pages” tab successful the table
6. Sort the results by “Clicks Difference” from debased to high

For example, our database of apical Google searches received 75K+ less integrated visits successful the past six months than successful the erstwhile six months. This is astir apt due to the fact that searchers privation an up-to-date database of queries, but we past refreshed the leafage a fewer months ago. 

Do a contented spread analysis

A contented spread investigation finds the keywords your competitors fertile for but you don’t. These often constituent to topics that it would besides marque consciousness for you to make contented about.

Here’s however to bash 1 successful Ahrefs:

1. Go to the Competitive Analysis tool
2. Enter your domain arsenic the target
3. Enter a fewer competitors 
4. Click “Compare”

You volition past spot keywords that astatine slightest 1 rival ranks for successful the apical 10, but you don’t fertile at all. 

For example, 3 of our competitors fertile successful the apical 10 for “rankbrain”:

This is astir apt a taxable we should see covering. 

Update your Google Business Profile

If you’ve ever arrived astatine a edifice to find it closed contempt Google saying it’s open, you already recognize the value of keeping your Google Business Profile up to date. Given that it lone takes a fewer minutes each mates of months, it’s not worthy risking atrocious reviews over.

Here are a fewer things to double-check each time:

• Opening hours
• Holiday opening hours (e.g., Christmas)
• Phone number
• Products and services

I’d besides urge utilizing the “posts” diagnostic to support followers of your concern up to date. 

For example, this barroom has a station astir its upcoming Christmas Market: 

(Pretty awesome planning, fixed that I’m penning this in July.)

Check for different method issues

Hundreds of method issues tin wounded your site, and they tin popular up astatine immoderate moment. That’s wherefore it’s ace important to cheque for them periodically and hole immoderate large issues that come up.

You tin bash this for escaped with Site Audit successful Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. Just take the enactment to tally scheduled crawls erstwhile mounting up your task (weekly oregon monthly is good for most sites).

Site Audit volition past crawl your tract for 140+ imaginable SEO issues. It’ll bash this periodically according to the docket you acceptable and nonstop you email alerts astir caller issues:

If you click “View” connected immoderate issue, it’ll instrumentality you to Site Audit and amusement the URLs affected:

You tin past click the “Why and however to fix” fastener to larn however to woody with each issue.

Here are the SEO tasks you should implicit erstwhile adding caller pages to your website that you privation to execute good successful integrated search.

Find a superior keyword to target

Each leafage connected your website should people 1 main keyword. You should bash keyword research periodically to find topics to target, but it’s besides important to marque definite you’re targeting the champion keyword each clip you people a new page.

For example, let’s accidental you were penning a station astir the champion macromolecule powders. There are tons of ways radical could hunt for this, such as:

• what is the champion macromolecule powder
• best macromolecule supplements
• best macromolecule shakes

Which 1 of these keywords should beryllium your superior target, if any?

Luckily, there’s an casual mode to fig this out. Just hunt for your taxable successful Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and look astatine the Parent Topic. This is usually a much fashionable mode of searching for the same thing.

Assess hunt intent

People thin to privation to spot 1 of these types of contented erstwhile they hunt Google:

• Blog post
• Interactive tool
• Video
• Category page
• Product page

Figuring retired which 1 that radical searching for your keyword privation to spot is known arsenic assessing hunt intent. This is simply a important measurement if you privation to basal the champion accidental astatine ranking, arsenic Google wants to fertile contented that searchers are looking for.

How bash you do it? 

Look for the astir communal benignant of contented among the top-ranking results. 

For example, interactive tools predominate the archetypal leafage for “days betwixt dates.” But videos predominate the archetypal leafage for “excel for beginners”:

From here, we urge digging deeper into intent to recognize the champion contented format and space for the job. Learn much astir that successful the linked guide below.

Assess your chances of ranking successful Google

Understanding the easiness oregon trouble of ranking for a keyword helps you to prioritize the accidental and acceptable realistic expectations.

For a precise unsmooth estimate, you tin usage the Keyword Difficulty people successful Keywords Explorer.

Just don’t trust connected this entirely, arsenic it lone takes backlinks into account. Other factors whitethorn bespeak a hard keyword to fertile for, like: 

• High-quality backlinks to the top-ranking pages.
• High topical relevance of the top-ranking sites.
• Mainly large brands successful the top 10.
• A ascendant contented benignant that you don’t person the resources to create.

Research what radical privation to know

Let’s accidental that you privation to fertile for “affiliate marketing.” It’s wide from analyzing intent that searchers are looking for a blog post. But what specifically bash they privation to know? This is the question you request to reply if you privation to nutrient the champion contented successful Google’s eyes.

One mode to reply this question is to look for commonalities betwixt the top-ranking pages.

For example, each top-ranking pages for “affiliate marketing” person a definition:

This works, but it tin beryllium rather time-consuming. 

It’s often quicker to tally a page-level contented spread investigation connected the top-ranking pages to find keywords they fertile for. Some of these often constituent to subtopics the pages cover.

Here’s however to bash it successful Ahrefs: 

1. Go to the Competitive Analysis tool
2. Enter the URL of your leafage arsenic the people (add the URL you program to usage if you haven’t created your page yet)
3. Enter the URLs of a fewer top-ranking pages arsenic targets
4. Click “Compare”

From there, spell to the Content Gap study and look for keywords that correspond subtopics:

Optimize your headings and subheadings

Google looks at headings and subheadings to amended recognize a page’s content. This makes them logical places to see keywords related to your content. 

For example, this would beryllium a logical mode to operation a leafage astir fruits and vegetables:

• H1: Fruits & Vegetables 
  • H2: Fruits
    • H3: Apple
    • H3: Orange
  • H2: Vegetables
    • H3: Carrot

Not lone does this people pb you to see keywords successful headings and subheadings, but it besides makes your contented easier to work and skim. 

Hook readers with your intro (blog posts only)

If you can’t person readers that your leafage offers what they privation wrong a fewer seconds, they’ll deed the “back” button. This is atrocious due to the fact that if they ne'er work your content, they won’t convert, share, oregon nexus to it. 

The PAS look is simply a bully spot to commencement for a compelling intro.

For example, let’s accidental we were penning a station astir however to navigator the cleanable steak. 

We’d commencement by describing the problem: 

Then we’d agitate the problem:

Before yet revealing the solution: 

Edit your transcript for simplicity

In all, 50% of the U.S. colonisation read beneath an eighth-grade speechmaking level.

For that reason, you should support things elemental unless you privation to alienate 1 successful 2 visitors. That means:

• Using abbreviated sentences and paragraphs.
• Using elemental words and phrases.
• Avoiding jargon.

Hemingway is simply a free, browser-based instrumentality that tin assistance with this. It tells you the existent people level of your transcript and suggests improvements. 

Link to applicable resources

People often deliberation that linking to different websites is someway atrocious for SEO. This isn’t true. It astir apt won’t massively assistance your SEO, but it won’t wounded it either (unless you’re linking to shady stuff).

Here’s what Google’s John Mueller had to say astir linking retired to other sites:

Linking to different websites is simply a large mode to supply worth to your users. Oftentimes, links assistance users to find retired more, to cheque retired your sources and to amended recognize however your contented is applicable to the questions that they have.

Does this mean you should unit links to different sites into your content? Definitely not. It conscionable means you should adhd them if and erstwhile it makes sense, similar if you request to notation a source.

Make contented easier to devour with images

Nobody wants to work a large partition of text. It’s overwhelming and tin pb radical to bounce. Images assistance lick this by breaking up your transcript and aiding ocular comprehension. 

Even better, images tin fertile successful Google Images and nonstop adjacent much postulation your way. 

For example, according to Search Console, Google Images has sent our blog astir 20K integrated visits successful the past 3 months:

This would undoubtedly beryllium adjacent higher if you were successful a ocular niche similar nutrient oregon design.

That said, don’t conscionable shoehorn random images into your contented for the involvement of it. Make an effort to usage images that really service a intent and assistance readers visualize things. 

Optimize your images

If you’ve already done the “do it once” items connected this checklist, you should person already installed an representation compression plugin. But determination are a mates of different representation optimizations you should bash connected a page-by-page basis:

1. Name images descriptively – Don’t usage generic representation filenames similar IMG_875939.png oregon Screenshot-2021-06-01. Use descriptive filenames similar black-puppy.png oregon eiffel-tower.jpg. 
2. Add descriptive alt text – Alt substance replaces an representation connected the leafage erstwhile it fails to load. It’s besides adjuvant for those utilizing surface readers. Learn much here.

Set a compelling rubric tag and meta description

Title tags and meta descriptions amusement up successful Google’s hunt results to assistance searchers recognize what the leafage is about. 

It’s champion signifier to see your people keyword (or a adjacent variation) successful the rubric tag wherever it makes sense. Beyond that, it’s astir making some the rubric and meta statement arsenic compelling arsenic possible.

Here are a few tips:

• Keep them abbreviated – Under 70 characters for the rubric tag and nether 160 for the meta description. This helps forestall truncation.
• Match hunt intent – Make it wide to searchers that you person what they’re looking for.
• Don’t clickbait – Be honorable astir what’s connected your page. Don’t over-promise. 
• Include the year – In the rubric tag for topics that request freshness.

TIP

If you’re struggling to travel up with a compelling rubric oregon meta description, effort asking ChatGPT to bash the enactment for you:

Set a abbreviated descriptive URL slug

The URL slug is the past portion of the URL:

Google says to usage words that are applicable to your contented here. This besides helps searchers to recognize what your leafage is astir earlier clicking. 

The easiest mode to bash this is to acceptable the slug to your people keyword:

However, this doesn’t ever marque sense. It depends connected your URL structure. 

For example, our SEO glossary targets the keyword “SEO glossary.” But arsenic we published this nether ahrefs.com/seo, we lone utilized glossary for the slug and not seo-glossary to debar unnecessary repetition of “SEO.”

Plus, shorter is ever amended due to the fact that agelong URLs thin to truncate connected the SERPs:

Add schema markup for affluent snippets

Schema markup tin interaction however your pages look successful the hunt results.

For example, here’s a leafage that presently ranks for “pizza dough recipe”:

The prima ratings, reappraisal count, and mentation clip each appear, acknowledgment to schema markup.

If you privation to beryllium eligible for these kinds of “rich results,” here’s a afloat database of features from Google, on with the structured information you request to use. 

Implementation-wise, you tin either constitute the markup yourself and adhd it to your leafage oregon usage a plugin to make it for you. Yoast works with a just fewer of these.

Add a array of contents (blog posts only)

A array of contents provides leap links to antithetic sections connected the page. 

Adding these to agelong blog posts makes consciousness to assistance searchers navigate them. They tin besides assistance you triumph sitelinks successful the hunt results: 

Add interior links to the new page

Internal links assistance Google find pages connected your website and recognize what they’re all about. 

Most website platforms automatically adhd interior links to caller pages from their “parent” pages, but you tin boost caller pages further by adding much contextual interior links. 

For example, erstwhile we people caller blog posts, WordPress automatically internally links to them from our blog homepage:

This is good, but determination are astir apt plentifulness of different places wherever it would marque consciousness to nexus to this station connected our blog. By adding interior links there, we tin nonstop much radical to this usher and archer Google however important we deliberation it is.

Here’s however to find interior nexus opportunities for escaped with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT): 

1. Crawl your website with Site Audit
2. Go to the Page Explorer
3. Search for your people keyword successful the “Page text” of other pages

It’s past simply a lawsuit of visiting the pages successful the returns, searching for your keyword connected the page, and adding a contextual nexus if and wherever it makes sense.

Here’s 1 we added from our database of escaped keyword probe tools:

Promote your contented with outreach (optional)

People can’t nexus to contented if they don’t cognize it exists. That’s wherefore it pays to bash nexus gathering outreach—especially if you’re trying to fertile for a competitory keyword.

There are galore ways to bash this, but the Reverse Skyscraper Technique is simply a bully starting point.

Here’s the process:

1. Find competing, lower-quality pages with backlinks
2. Ask radical linking to them to nexus to you instead

To find competing pages with backlinks, conscionable plug your keyword into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and scroll to the SERP overview: 

Next, sojourn the pages and look for reasons wherefore your contented is better, like:

• Their contented is inaccurate and outdated.
• They don’t explicate things successful detail.
• Their plan is bad.

It’s past simply a lawsuit of pitching your nexus arsenic the replacement to anyone linking to that page. To find these, plug the leafage into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and cheque the Backlinks report. 

Final thoughts

SEO is an ongoing process, and it would beryllium intolerable to see everything that’s important successful 1 checklist. Having said that, if you tackle the checklist items above, you’ll beryllium good connected your mode to higher rankings. You’ll besides astir apt beryllium good up of your competition. That’s each that matters.

If you’re looking to larn much astir executing connected this checklist, cheque retired our free SEO grooming course.

Want adjacent much SEO ideas? Check retired our database of SEO tips.