2017 On-Page SEO Checklist
We’ve compiled an exhaustive list of on-page SEO factors updated for 2017. Please keep in mind this is only a checklist, and not a full guide to on-page SEO. If you are looking for an on-page SEO guide check ours out, or buy our book on Amazon.
Keep in mind that on-page SEO is really 2-sided: the on-page that is performed on a site-wide level such as the robots.txt file and the responsiveness of your site, and the page-level on-page such as title tags and an h1 tag, for example. We’ve combined both factors here, so be sure to recognize that as you are working.
This on-page SEO checklist is useful when working with a new website audit, or auditing a page or site that you haven’t worked on recently.
Want the printable version? You can download the
PDF or
XLSX version of our on-page SEO checklist if you’d like!
No-Index Tag Presence
Make sure your page isn’t no-indexed
could ruin your day
Title Tags
proper HTML
no more than 512 pixels or about 70 characters
does it make sense
grammar / spelling check
is it helpful to users?
contains the keyword you wish to rank for
Meta Description
proper HTML and no errors
does it make sense?
grammar / spelling check
is it helpful to users?
512 pixels (x2) or about 140 characters
contains keyword you wish to rank for
H Tags
h1 tag on every page containing target keyword
proper HTML
does it make sense?
grammar / spelling check
provides useful heading
LSI / Synonyms
use synonyms for keyword
use natural language, not robot speak
Rel=Canonical
can combat duplicate content
use only when necessary
Social Sharing Buttons
can increase engagement
might bring in some links
Outbound Links
link to helpful websites within your niche
link to authoritative sites within your niche
Internal Links
link to helpful pages within your website
link to most popular pages on your website
Website Speed
website should load in under 2 seconds
sub-pages should load in under 2 seconds
XML Sitemap
Helps Google Crawl
Necessary part of any website
Schema Markup
Use JSON-LD
Use our friendly JSON-LD generator
Use appropriate type of markup e.g. review, car dealership, book
Depends on type of page
Images
Make sure images are helpful
do you own the images
proper size in pixels
proper size in file size
alt tags should properly describe the images
URL / permalink
does URL make sense
proper spelling and grammar
don’t use words like “a” or “and”
pretty URL’s such as http://www.example.com/my-website not http://www.example.com/p=876
Responsive
does page pass the mobile friendly test?
does website and page look good on phone, tablet, etc?
use Chrome dev tools to emulate devices like iPhone
Render Blocking Resources
make sure JS and CSS not loading before DOM
make sure allowed in robots.txt
use Chrome / Firefox dev tools
SSL / HTTPS
is it installed?
is it installed correctly?
AMP
is it installed?
is it installed correctly?
is it optimized?
Anchor Text
beware of over optimization
should be helpful cue
contains keywords if possible
Site Structure
plan site structure
pages in hierarchy? e.g. /phones/cases/iphones vs iphone-cases/iphones
Panda Risk Assessment
low quality content
grammar / spelling
outbound links
Advertisements
placement of ads above fold?
size of ads
ad load time
Robots.txt
block admin pages
allow robots to crawl important pages
dont block CSS or JavaScript
.htaccess
pretty permalinks
smart redirects if necessary
Modifiers in Title and Description
use words like “top” “best” and “2017”
score long tail keywords
Keyword Density
use target keyword in first part of article
not too dense
Word Count
studies show longer content can sometimes rank better
be aware of overall word count
Bounce Rate and Dwell Time
keep visitors on site as long as possible
use tricks like “similar posts”
Encourage Engagement
blog comments may help with ranking
signals like “like” “heart” and “upvote” might help
Content Freshness
if you update content, consider updating the date
don’t post content just to post it
Google likes fresh websites
Privacy Policy
a good idea to have one anyway
adds legitimacy to site
Main Navigation
Should link to most popular pages
internal linking opportunity
Only link to most important pages
Side and Bottom Navigation
internal linking opportunity
link to most popular pages
Server Optimization
check for 404s and other errors
make sure old websites not indexed / present
check for malware
security check / scanning
Evergreen Content
Be sure to update for accuracy
Link to internally from website
Hidden CSS or text?
look for display:none
white text on white background for e.g.
Blackhat On-Page SEO
resist temptation for easy win
avoid using duplicate content
stuffing keywords in tags
sneaky redirects
Google Analytics installed and working
Google Search Console installed and verified
