Best SEO Checklist - Get Your Website To Rank Higher now!

Need to start improving your website’s visibility and start getting better search rankings? Then let’s take a look at what you need to consider to get this work done. You will need to work on a number of different tasks including on-page, technical and off-page SEO. Working on your keyword strategy, optimising your content and ensuring all the technical aspects e.g. sitemaps and mobile (how responsive is it?) are working at their best, will get you the best results you need.

Whilst it may look like an never ending checklist, don’t worry, if you can just keep doing as much as you can – bit by bit, every day or week. If you focus on a few of these items at a time and work with the prioritised checklist, your website will stay in good shape and it won’t take long before you see some of rankings improving. Let’s get into the details on how to make this work:

On-Page SEO

The first page we will start with is the On-page SEO (pretty much what it says on the tin, its the content that you actually have on a web page) – we will look at how we optimise individual web pages to rank higher and get more traffic. Here’s where we will start:

Your page content
HTML elements (are your headers in place so that the Search engines can logically read your pages?)
Internal linking (this build a strong network of interlinked articles that are relevant – sometimes its difficult to remember to do this, however, it is important and builds your site authority)
Title keywords (that’s your H1 HTML header – it should be at the top of the page)
Heading keywords (remember to add your article keyword in the title)
Keywords in main text (remember don’t overdo it on the keywords, make sure your post reads well and keywords are used and fit naturally into the text)
Meta description keywords (often forgotten, should be roughtly 160 characters in length – this text will show up just under the link on Google – remember to put the most relevant keywords up front in the metadata – remember you only have a couple of lines of text)
Alt text keywords (if you post cannot display on the page – what text could you place here to explain what should be displaying on the page)
Image keywords (literally describe your image, what’s in the picture?)
URL structure (is your url short and describes the page content, does not contain any strange characters of numbers)
Internal links (is your content linked to other relevant content or to any authority third party sites?)

These are the basics of any SEO strategy and should be the first place you start. Now, to optimise the other areas of your content i.e. Off-page and technical SEO. First of all, what is Off-page SEO.

Off-page SEO

You have just completed your On-page SEO which is all the areas you fix, update and optimise on your actual website. The Off-page SEO is everything you can do off the page to help build your Search rankings. Anything that drives traffic, referrals and authority are good for your overall SEO.

Backlinks

Build your authority from high quality backlinks from other reputable third party websites. The more reputable the third party backlink the strong your own authority will become on the the Search engines (building the trust is a key signal to Search engines that your are a reputable and a website worth ranking for other people to look

Social Media Engagement

Promoting your content on social media platforms can drive traffic and increase the chances of earning backlinks. Like, comment and most of all engage with your followers on social media – the search engines like to see you commenting, offering advice and supporting your audience and this will help you build up your brand reputation and grow your followers.
Online Reviews and Ratings – positive reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp and industry-specific review sites can improve your site’s credibility and local SEO.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and respond to them to show that you value customer feedback.

Guest Blogging – Writing articles for other reputable websites in your industry can help you reach a broader audience and earn backlinks
Ensure your guest posts are high-quality and relevant to the host site’s audience.
Influencer Outreach.
Collaborate with influencers in your niche to promote your content or products. Influencers can provide valuable backlinks and social signals. Choose influencers who have a genuine following and align with your brand values – do your research on social channels, social listening and influencer websites.

Content Marketing

Create and distribute high-quality content, such as blog posts, infographics, videos, and whitepapers, that others will want to share and link to.
Focus on producing valuable, informative, and engaging content that resonates with your target audience.

Brand Mentions

Monitor and manage online mentions of your brand. Even if these mentions don’t include a direct link, they can still boost your online reputation and visibility.
Reach out to relevant influencers and authors who have the same brand values as your audience. Ask them for a link and share their content.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on the backend of a website, we are going behind the scenes to take a look at what’s working and what’s not and to make sure your website is accessible to search engine crawlers, loading correctly etc. Don’t panic you can run reports through SEMRush or other site audit tools and they identify, prioritise and explain all the fixes you need to make.

XML Sitemap

Create and submit an XML sitemap to search engines (this allows them to easily read the whole site)
Ensure it includes all important pages

Robots.txt

Check and optimize the robots.txt file to control search engine crawlers

Site Speed

Optimise images, use browser caching and enable compression e.g Tinypng, Adobe
Utilise tools like Google PageSpeed Insights

Mobile Optimisation

Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
Use responsive design

SSL Certificate

Secure your website with an SSL certificate for HTTPS – this is important otherwise your URL will display a ‘not safe’ sign to site visitors and this will dilute the trust you are buidling up with your audience.

Content Quality

Always create valuable, relevant and engaging content. Regularly update and refresh content (also think about how you can reformat or update existing content). Here’s a checklist for creating and editing your content:

High-Quality Content

Keyword Density

Maintain a natural keyword density – do not overdo it with keyword stuffing

Content-Length

Aim for substantial content where appropriate
In general longer content tends to perform better, however, this depends on the objective of the content
The content should be unique and not duplicated from other sources
Structured with clear headings and subheadings (make sure your Headers are structured correctly)
Optimised for target keywords again without overdoing it on the keywords
Text that is easily readable and scannable with short paragraphs and broken up with bullet points
Create a compelling introduction and conclusion
Keep the content updated

Quality content helps establish your site as an authority in your niche. It will attract backlinks from other sites and shares on social media. Creating quality content also keeps users on your site longer and will reduce bounce rates. Search engines prioritise pages with quality content that provides a great user experience. Investing in SEO content quality is essential for long-term organic search success.

Monitoring and Analysis

Your website data will be critical for making decisions around your user experience and site architecture in the future, ensure you have the tracking you need in place so help support those decisions.

Google Analytics

Set up Google Analytics to track website performance
Monitor user behaviour and site traffic

Google Search Console

Verify and submit your sitemap
Monitor and address search-related issues

SEO Audits

Regularly perform SEO audits using tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs
Identify and fix issues impacting SEO
By regularly reviewing and updating this SEO checklist, you can ensure that your website remains optimised for search engines and provides a positive user experience

Descriptions

Write unique and engaging meta descriptions for each page
Keep it under 160 characters

Header Tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

Use header tags to structure your content
Include keywords in headers when relevant

URL Structure

Create clean and readable URLs
Include keywords in the URL when possible

SEO Frequently Asked Questions

What is SEO and why is it so important?

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation, is the practice of optimising a website to help you get higher rankings on search engines like Google. It involves various techniques to improve rankings, drive organic traffic and increase the quality of user experience. SEO is critical for the success of your website and business in attracting potential customers and to compete effectively in the online space.

How do I choose the right keywords for my website?

Start by researching relevant terms using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush. Look at the search volume, competition and relevance to your content. Choose keywords that align with your business goals and target audience.

What are the key elements of on-page SEO?

What are the key elements of on-page SEO?

On-page SEO focuses on optimising individual web pages for example:

Title tags and meta descriptions
Header tags for content structure
URL optimisation.Image optimisation with alt tags.Internal linking for navigation
High-quality, relevant content

How can I build quality backlinks for my website?

Yes you can – keep doing these actions and you will really help strengthen your search rankings:
Creating valuable, shareable content
Outreach to relevant websites in your industry
Guest posting on reputable sites
Participating in industry forums and communities
Utilising social media for content promotion

What tools can help me analyse and improve my website’s SEO performance?

Google Analytics for website traffic and user behaviour
Google Search Console for site health and performance insights
Keyword research tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs
Page Speed Insights for optimising site speed –
Screaming Frog SEO Spider – provides a quick overall health check of your websites including areas e.g. missing meta data
Moz’s On-Page Grader – another quick and easy website check up
Quillbot and Plagscan are a couple of many, effective tools to check for duplicate content across the web.

Summary

Whilst there seems like a long list and its an ongoing process – don’t worry all small tweaks in the right direction can really support your website and ultimately your rankings. Make SEO a regular ongoing part of your website maintenance and you will reap the results for your business.

Best SEO Checklist – Get Your Website To Rank Higher now!

On-Page SEO