The COMPLETE On-Page SEO Checklist for 2021
Some people think on-page SEO is just throwing your keywords on the page.
WRONG!
There’s an art and science to on-page SEO.
That’s why today, I’m going to show you my step-by-step on-page SEO checklist.
You’ll never need another checklist after you read this.
This 80-Point On-Page SEO Checklist Will Force Google to Rank Your Page
On-Page SEO Part 1: Performance
1. Do you have Google Analytics tracking set up?
You need a way to measure the SEO performance of your page. Google Analytics is pretty hard to beat, but there are some decent alternatives like Clicky.
Just make sure you have a way to track organic search traffic and conversions.
You can use this tool to audit your Google Analytics set up.
2. Are you tracking your primary keyword phrase?
Tracking individual keywords isn’t as straightforward as it used to be because of localization, personalization, and other factors.
However, you should still be tracking your primary keyword just to make sure you’re on the right track.
I personally use Ahrefs to track keywords.
Here’s a video explaining how I use it to track performance:
On-Page SEO Part 2: Crawling & Indexing
3. Is your page crawlable?
The most fundamental part of on-page SEO is that your page is crawable. In fact, you can’t rank if Google’s spiders can’t access your page. Your robots.txt file and “NoIndex” tags are two common culprits you need to keep an eye on.
This tool is perfect for checking your page’s crawlability. Just enter your URL and click “Submit”.
Then the tool will show you everything that is or isn’t blocking search engine crawlers. You want to see a “200” status code. No news is good news when it comes to the other sections.
You can also use Screaming Frog SEO Spider to make sure your pages are crawler accessible. Just click the “Response Codes” tab and select “Blocked by Robots.txt.”
4. Is your page indexable?
Having a “crawlable” page is the first step to ranking in Google. The second step is making sure that your page gets indexed.
The best way to check if your page is indexed correctly is to copy your URL and paste it into Google.
Established pages should show up. If they don’t, then you need to take some additional steps.
First, check if the page is using the “NoIndex” tag. Then, just click the “Directives” tab in Screaming Frog and select “Noindex” from the filter dropdown.
If it passes that test, then you need to examine your site architecture.
Sometimes your page is buried too deep within your website, and crawlers can’t reach it. This issue is most common with e-commerce websites or larger websites.
To find out, click the “Site Architecture” tab in Screaming Frog and look under the “Crawl Depth” section.
You want most of your pages to be no more than three clicks deep.
If your page pass both of those tests, then you should use the “Fetch as Google” tool.
The last way to get your page indexed is to acquire backlinks to it.
Now that you’re tracking performance, your page is crawlable, and your page is indexed, it’s time to optimize your page for your primary keyword.
On-Page SEO Part 3: Keywords
5. Are you targeting the right keyword?
Some people overestimate their ability to rank for certain keywords. You need to go through extensive keyword qualification and competitor analysis processes to ensure that you’re targeting the right keywords.
I won’t go too deep into it here, but here’s a 30,000-foot keyword qualification process you can use:
First, run your keyword through Ahrefs Keyword Explorer tool.
You can quickly eliminate keywords based on Keyword Difficulty (KD). For example, newer websites or websites that lack authority shouldn’t target keywords greater than 50 KD.
If your keyword passes the KD test, then you need to compare your website against the ranking competitors (on average).
Gather the following data points for each competitor and average them out:
- DR, Backlinks, Total Linking Root Domains (export from Ahrefs Keyword Explorer)
- Word count (this tool works well)
Now you have a roadmap of what you’ll need to do to compete for your target keyword phrase.
6. Have you already targeted this keyword?
Keyword cannibalization (when multiple pages target the same primary keyword phrase) is something you need to keep tabs on.
Here’s an example:
Avoiding this issue at the onset should be a priority for every SEO campaign.
Trust me… It’s a nightmare working through large scale keyword cannibalization issues.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Target one primary keyword per page and then focus on creating (and updating) that one page.
- Don’t create or optimize another page for the same primary keyword.
I should mention the hub and spoke model though.
You can target closely related keywords if the intent is different.
For example, on Gotch SEO, I have a blog post about how to do an SEO audit (informational intent) and then I have a page targeting “SEO audit service” (transactional intent). These keyword phrases are closely related but have much different intent.
Here’s a visual from Jimmy Daly:
Just make sure you don’t get this model twisted and think you should start pumping out thin pages around your primary page/keyword.
7. Does your page satisfy search intent?
Th key to effective on-page SEO is understanding how to optimize for intent.
If you’ve been following my work or you’re a member of Gotch SEO Academy, then I know you’re sick of me talking about this. But the truth is, it’s so incredibly important and it’s something that a lot of websites get wrong.
There are 4 primary categories of search intent:
- Informational – “how to get backlinks”
- Transactional – “buy backlinks”
- Comparison – “Moz vs. Ahrefs”
- Navigational – “Gotch SEO”
Understanding the intent behind your target keyword should dictate how you structure your page.
For example, if you’re targeting a keyword phrase with informational intent (how to __), that page should educate and attempt to build rapport.
Most searchers are not ready to buy when searching for informational keywords.
They’re likely at the beginning of the customer journey. You need to be cognizant of that and structure your page as an educational resource.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to push the prospect to the next stage in the buying cycle, but you need to take baby steps. Lead magnets are my go-to CTA for searchers at this stage.
8. Is your primary keyword in the title?
While SEOs don’t agree on everything, most would have a hard time disputing that your primary keyword should be in your page’s title tag to achieve basic on-page SEO. If you do anything on this checklist, make sure your target keyword is in the title because it’s the most fundamental part of proper on-page SEO.
But if on-page SEO were as simple as placing your keyword in the title, there would be many more successful SEOs.
Here’s the truth:
That’s a bare minimum on-page SEO action.
To take your title tag optimization up another notch, you need to improve its clickability.
9. Is your title click worthy?
Google uses the words in your title tag to understand your page. But there’s another side of title tags you need to understand:
Click-Through Rate (CTR).
You can find your website’s SERP CTR performance in Google Search Console when you click on “Performance”:
It’s critical that you make your title as eye-catching and click-worthy as possible.
In fact:
Increasing your SERP CTR is one of the easiest ways to get more organic search traffic without creating any new content.
10. Can you add modifiers to your title?
Most people throw their keyword into the title call it day for the on-page SEO efforts. But what they don’t realize is that title modifiers like “best”, “top”, or the year (“2021”) can help you capture more long-tail organic search traffic.
11. Have you used all your title tag real estate?
Titles can be as long as 65 characters before being truncated in Google’s SERPs.
You should take full advantage of this character real estate to maximize your on-page SEO.
Make sure your keyword is towards the front of the title, but after that, you should use all the copywriting techniques you can entice searchers to click on your result.
You can use Screaming Frog to find all titles under or over 65 characters when clicking “Page Titles” and clicking the “Filter” dropdown.
12. Is your page title wrapped in an H1 tag?
Every page on your website should have an H1 tag and it should include your primary keyword for proper on-page SEO.
You can use Screaming Frog SEO Spider to find what pages don’t currently have H1s.
Just click the “H1” tab and select “Missing H1s” from the “Filter” dropdown.
Now the question is:
Can you have multiple H1s on a page (and how does that impact SEO performance)? The answer is yes, but it would a very rare circumstance when I would even consider doing it.
13. Is your primary keyword in the meta description?
Google often rewrites meta descriptions, but it’s still a good idea to write a descriptive one that includes your primary keyword.
For example, Google replaced my meta description for my guide about 301 redirects with the first couple sentences of my content:
14. Is your meta description click worthy?
Like your title, you should try to make your meta description as click-worthy as possible.
15. Is your primary keyword in the URL?
In my experience, pages that have the primary keyword in the URL tend to perform better. Google also claims that having your keyword in the URL is very small ranking factor.
16. Is your URL structure lean?
There’s some evidence that shorter URLs perform better, but it’s likely a small factor.
The main reason for shortening your URLs is for UX. That’s because long URLs are hard to remember and difficult to share.
With that said, there are no benefits of having long URLs. So, cut all the fat off your URLs and leave only your target keyword phrases.
17. Is your primary keyword in the first sentence?
It’s extremely challenging to test micro on-page SEO factors such as placing your keyword phrase in the first sentence, but it’s something I’ve always personally done.
To me, if you want Google’s algorithms to understand what your page is about, then you need to make it abundantly clear. So naturally, placing your target keyword phrase in the first sentence is perfect for achieving that goal.
18. Is your keyword density too aggressive relative to your competitors?
Many argue that you should ignore keyword density. I agree for the most part.
You should write your content in the most natural way possible, and the density should work its way out.
However, it doesn’t hurt to check the competition to identify the average keyword density for your target keyword phrase.
Just use this tool to gather the keyword density for each competitor and then average it out.
Then just compare your current density to that average. If you’re creating an entirely new page, then create the content first and then adjust.
Just keep in mind:
Keyword placement is way more important than density.
19. Have you added variations of your primary keyword into the copy?
It’s wise to structure your pages around one primary keyword. However, you should also try to rank that page for all the closely related variations as well.
One of my favorite ways to find these variations is to use Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.
Just enter your primary keyword phrase and then click on “Also rank for”:
20. Have you added synonyms (LSI keywords) of your primary keyword into the copy?
Google’s Hummingbird algorithm is designed to rank pages based on themes, not just keywords. While it’s important to structure your page around your primary keyword, you also need to interweave other relevant synonyms and topics around it to achieve optimal on-page SEO.
If you examine my “backlinks” guide, you’ll see this in action. Every single section on that page was deliberate.
I simply pulled all the ideas from Answer the Public and other keyword tools. In short, your page should be answering every question and solving every problem around your target keyword phase.
Just be careful not to intermingle different intents. For example, that’s why I created a separate page for the keyword phrase “buy backlinks” instead of just placing that section in my guide.
My backlinks guide has Informational intent, while “buy backlinks” has Transaction intent.
On-Page SEO Part 4: Content
21. Is your page different & better than your competitors?
Unique is better than long. Every page on your website (that you want to rank) needs to bring something new and fresh to the table.
Always approach your content from the angle of “How are we going to make this page different than what currently exists (while adding more value)?”
This is much easier when you’re competing for Informational queries.
But how do you make your page unique when you’re competing for Transactional queries like “Los Angeles criminal lawyer”?
First, you need to:
Leverage the content that is unique to your brand.
That’s going to be testimonials, case studies, and results. That should be the focal point of every effective local page because you’re trying to persuade searchers to become a lead. You achieve that by having overwhelming social proof and establishing your brand’s authority.
Second:
Your page’s UX/UI needs to be better than your competitors.
Fortunately, on the local level, most businesses aren’t willing to invest in design. That means there’s a strategic advantage if you do.
The other significant factor that most local businesses ignore is UX.
You should build pages with transactional intent for conversions (goal completions). That means forms should be above the fold, and CTAs should be prominent.
Thirdly, most local businesses aren’t willing to invest time or money into video production, graphic design, or quality photography.
You should invest in multimedia if you’re serious about ranking.
I’ve personally invested $22,433 in just video editing alone. It’s worth it.
My last recommendation is to educate.
- Can you add an FAQ to the page that makes a searcher more likely to become a lead?
- Can you give them accurate, unbiased educational information that will help them make an informed decision?
Helping searchers and adding value builds goodwill, which builds trust for your brand. Trust is the key to high conversions.
22. Is your copy free of spelling and grammatical errors?
Use tools like Grammarly to find spelling and grammatical errors. Google isn’t fond of spelling and grammatical errors based on what they said in their Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines:
It also wouldn’t hurt to hire a proofreader or editor to go through your pages.
23. Is your copy longer (on average) than your competitors?
There’s some correlation that pages with more words tend to perform better than Google.
It’s just really important not to take this out of context. Your copy needs to be well-crafted and thought out. Writing several thousand words of fluff content won’t do much.
As I mentioned in the previous check, your page/copy needs to be radically different from your competitors. Not just longer.
Use this tool or Screaming Frog to see how long your competitor’s content is.
24. Is your copy written well?
Some SEOs forget that not all writing is equal. Just because you wrote 2,000 words doesn’t mean it’s good. Writing is a skill, and some people are further along than others.
You only have two options:
- Spend thousands of hours writing and reading to improve your ability.
- Hire someone who already has the skill.
If you aren’t a great writer but don’t have the budget to hire, write the content and have an editor improve it.
25. Is your copy scannable?
Internet users scan before they read. That’s why your content needs to use all the methods available to improve the scanability of your page.
This is particularly important for text-heavy pages like blog posts/articles.
You’ll need to use your best judgment to give this check a pass or fail, but here’s a simple two-step process.
- First, scan the target page that you want to optimize.
- Then, assess whether or not a reader can understand what the page is about without reading the entire thing.
26. Is your copy written for an 8th grader?
There are target markets that warrant advanced writing and content, but they are the minority.
Your content should be written to be understood and actionable.
If someone can’t understand what you’re talking about or how to implement what you’re suggesting, there’s a problem.
Some experts forget that no one cares how much you know or how much experience you have. It’s believed that we as humans are inherently self-interested. WE want to know how you are going to help US.
That’s why crafting your content so that it reads at an 8th-grade level or below is so effective. It makes your content easier to understand, easier to take action on, and makes you more relatable.
You can use Hemingway Writer to make your content easier to understand. More importantly, study the best direct response copywriters of all time like David Ogilvy, Dan Kennedy, or Frank Kern, and you’ll see that simple writing wins.
27. Is your copy engaging?
Writing at an 8th-grade level or lower is the first step to writing engaging copy. The second step is actually to be engaging when you write.
People need to consume their content before they take action.
That’s why all of these tactics in this copywriting section are so important.
From an SEO perspective, if searchers engage and digest your content, that is a positive signal for your page. It will increase dwell time, and if you’ve done an excellent job, the searcher may complete another action such as sharing your page, visiting another page, subscribing to your list, becoming a lead, or even purchasing one of your products.
Now the question is:
How do you make your copy more engaging?
- First, write to one reader by using pronouns such as “you” and “yours”.
- Second, interweave relevant stories to illustrate points.
- Lastly, actually know what you’re talking about. While it’s easy to fake expertise online, most readers sniff out BS.
28. Does your copy use short paragraphs?
Long paragraphs are like kryptonite for Internet users. Massive blocks of text are one of the most repelling things you’ll encounter online.
Keep your paragraphs short and scannable.
I wouldn’t go beyond three sentences per paragraph.
I know this isn’t what your English teacher taught you, but they’ve likely never sold anything on the Internet.
29. Are your headings structured logically?
Using logical page structure won’t profoundly affect your performance, but it’s still a good practice.
Every page should have an H1 tag, and then you follow it with H2, H3, H4, etc.
30. Is your copy using descriptive headings?
I learned the concept of descriptive headings from Frank Kern. In short, a reader should be able to scan your headings and understand what the content is about. Kern refers to this as “headings that tell a story”.
He also mentions that readers almost always scan content before they commit to reading the entire thing. That’s why descriptive headings are so important.
31. Have you used keyword variations, LSIs, or synonyms in your headings?
Your H1 tag can be similar to your title tag, but your other headings should include variations of your primary keyword, LSIs, and synonyms.
Answer the Public is perfect for this.
32. Is your copy using bullet points and numbered lists?
Use bullet points and numbered lists as frequently as you can.
This will break up your content and make it easier for readers to “commit” to digest it.
33. Is your copy “fresh”?
You should review your copy at least biannually or annually to make sure it’s still accurate. Keeping your content accurate and current is critical for pleasing Google’s algorithms.
This concept is mentioned countless times in Google’s Search Engine Evaluator Guidelines.
There’s also a better ROI when you improving existing assets as opposed to creating new assets.
On-Page SEO Part 5:Images
34. Does your page have as many or more images than your competitors?
Unique images make your page more interesting and engaging. You should aim to have at least many unique images as your competitors or more.
35. Are your images unique to your website?
Like writing, not all images are equal. Always strive to have UNIQUE images and graphics on your page.
You may have to hire a graphic designer or photographer, but it’s a worthwhile investment because it will improve the quality/appeal of your page.
Plus, it’ll improve your brand’s perception if you put in that extra effort.
36. Are your images high-quality?
Getting unique images is the first step. The second step is making sure they’re good.
Hire a professional to take pictures or create graphics.
Businesses love to cut corners to “save money,” but it doesn’t save you money in the long run because low-quality pictures/graphics hurt your brand’s perception.
37. Are you using the right image format?
Deciding between PNG, JPEG, or GIF won’t have a massive effect on SEO performance, but it can help with page loading speed.
PNG is the highest quality out of the three. That means it will likely take the longest to load fully. I recommend reading this guide to get a better understanding of these files types.
Don’t worry; it’s not a life or death decision.
Default to PNG and JPEG because they’re the most common.
38. Are your images sized appropriately?
Your images should be sized and uploaded as the size they’ll appear on your page. The goal is to prevent image downsizing, which will help improve your page’s loading speed.
39. Are your images compressed?
Using high-quality images is super important, but you also need to make sure they’re optimizing for loading speed.
Images are often one of the biggest culprits of slowing loading pages. Compressing your images is the key to preventing this issue.
Tools like OptimizeZilla are perfect because they will show you the image compression side-by-side. That way you don’t jeopardize image quality, but you’re also optimizing for loading speed.
40. Do your images have descriptive file names?
Google recommends using descriptive file names for images.
What does that mean?
It means you should save your images based on the contents of the image.
For example, if your picture is of a 12-week old male great Pyrenees, then your file name should be: https://www.website.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/12-week-male-great-pyrenees.png
Doing so can help with your image search performance. Just don’t go overboard and keyword stuff your files.
41. Do all of your images have descriptive and accurate tag descriptions?
Google’s spiders use ALT tags to understand what an image is.
You should always use descriptive ALT tags for every image on your page.
On-Page SEO Part 6: Video
42. Does your page have video content?
Video is one of the preferred mediums of content consumption online. It’s also one of the best ways to engage searchers and keep them on your page for longer, which is a positive user signal.
I highly recommend investing in the video even if your competitors aren’t.
43. Are the videos relevant to page/primary keyword?
Like your images and copy, the video needs to be hyper-relevant to the page’s content.
44. Are the videos unique to your brand?
Yes, you can go to YouTube and embed any video on your page, but this isn’t the best long-term strategy. You should be creating unique videos because it’s a great way to improve your brand’s perception.
It’s also another way to grow your brand’s presence on the second biggest search engine, YouTube.
45. Are the videos high-quality and valuable?
Video content is incredibly effective on many different fronts when it’s high-quality and valuable. Your aim should be to create the best video content you can.
But there’s a challenge:
You need to be decently engaging and articulate when that camera turns on. You can only accomplish this through time and practice.
So, either you need to put in the hours to become more engaging, or you need a team member who can represent your brand on video.
I won’t get too deep into creating video because it’s outside the scope of this guide, but one huge recommendation I have is to script out your content.
46. Is the video content responsive?
Your video should be easily viewable on all devices. YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia videos are responsive, but sometimes custom-built websites can cause problems.
Use this tool to test your video responsiveness. If your video isn’t responsive, you’ll need to optimize your design. In the meantime, you can use this tool to make the videos responsive.
47. Are the videos hosted on the right platform?
Deciding where to host your videos is important from both an SEO and a business perspective.
From an SEO perspective, YouTube is king because it’s the biggest video search engine by far. That’s why hosting your videos on YouTube and then embedding them on your keyword-targeted page can have a duel effect.
Meaning, you can rank in both Google and YouTube to drive maximum visibility. But if you have no interest in building a YouTube channel, you can host your videos anywhere and still get all the benefits.
48. Are the videos optimized?
Your video’s title should match the keyword your page is targeting. For example, my anchor text guide features a video about “anchor text”.
On-Page SEO Part 7:Links
49. Does your page have internal links?
Internal links are a powerful way to build your site’s authority, improve your site’s crawability and indexability, and help you rank other important pages on your site.
50. Are your internal links using descriptive anchor text?
Unlike external links, your internal links SHOULD use keyword-rich anchor text.
I love to run my competitors through Screaming Frog SEO Spider to get an idea of their internal link anchor profile.
51. Are your internal links optimized based on first link priority?
The big factor you need to keep in mind is first link priority, which means that Google’s algorithm likely only “counts” the first link/anchor text on a page.
That’s the main reason why I typically avoid placing pages I’m trying to rank in the navigation.
52. Does the page have breadcrumbs?
Breadcrumbs are useful for large or e-com websites. You just need to keep in mind the first link priority principle.
Especially if you’re trying to rank your category pages.
53. Are your internal links useful?
Injecting internal links for the sole purpose of ranking isn’t a great idea.
Remember that goal of your page is to please the user.
Every internal link should serve a purpose or help the user in some way. In general, as long as you’re linking to relevant and valuable pages, then you’ll be good to go.
54. Are all your internal links using preferred URLs?
Moving to new domains, changing URLs, or installing SSL certificates can cause URLs to change. The result is a redirect chain.
Redirect chains force link equity to pass through a buffer and may slow your page’s speed with excessive redirects.
You should audit your internal links to make sure they’re using your preferred URLs.
55. Does your page have external links?
Linking out to relevant and trusted resources builds the trust of your page.
56. Are all affiliate, sponsored, or paid links using a “NoFollow” tag?
Google states in its webmaster guidelines that all paid links should have the NoFollow tag. A NoFollow tag is supposed to prevent PageRank from flowing through the link.
57. Do all your external links set to open in a new window?
Your goal should be to keep users on your site as long as possible. That’s why you should make sure all external links open in a new window.
I know this is a minor issue, but you wouldn’t believe how often I find it in audits.
58. Does your page have broken links?
You must fix broken links because they can hurt the user experience. You should audit your page and site every quarter to identify and fix broken links.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is my favorite tool for accomplishing this goal.
Just click on “Response Codes”, then click the filter dropdown, select “Client (4xx)”, and click “Inlinks” to find all your broken links.
59. Are all your links clearly links?
Sometimes web design and UX can clash. Deciding how to style links is often one of those challenging. I’m in the camp that links should always be underline and should be a different color than the body text.
Links are meant to be clicked on.
On-Page SEO Part 8: User Experience (UX)
60. Does your page load in less than 3 seconds?
Page speed is one of the most important UX factors. You should improve your loading speed because it helps both SEO and conversions.
I recommend using both Pingdom and GTMetrix to optimize your website loading speed.
61. Is your page responsive and mobile-friendly?
The majority of all web searches are on mobile devices. That’s why there’s no debate that your website needs to be mobile-friendly.
Test your page using this tool to make sure the experience is optimal on all devices.
62. Does your website have an SSL certificate installed?
Google stated a few years ago that SSL certificates would be a part of their algorithm and a ranking factor. Also, Google Chrome now labels websites with the dreaded “Not Secure” label.
This label is a significant deterrent for users, which could hurt both your search engine performance and business.
Installing an SSL certificate is a site-wide initiative, but it’s a good idea to ensure your target page is properly secured.
Use this tool to test your page’s security and SSL certificate installation.
63. Is your font type legible and easy to read on all devices?
This is a given, but your font type should be easy to read. Some of the easiest fonts to read are Open Sans, Montserrat, and Playfair Display.
“Although many books define the purpose of typography as enhancing the readability of the written word, one of design’s most humane functions is, in actuality, to help readers avoid reading.” ~ Ellen Lupton
64. Is your font size large enough to easily read on all devices?
Having large, readable font is super important on mobile. Users shouldn’t have to pinch to zoom to read your text.
Check this guide out to learn more about optimizing font sizes as well.
65. Does your page use aggressive interstitials?
Google has stated that their algorithm will demote pages with aggressive interstitial pop ups.
I don’t blame them because they’re pretty annoying.
If you’re going to use them, only load them when a user visits a second or third page on your website. I would avoid loading them on mobile altogether, though (unless it’s a slide-down or slide-up that can be quickly closed).
66. Does your page have aggressive ad placements?
One element that Google’s Panda original algorithm targeted was aggressive ad placements coupled with thin content. Some businesses’ livelihood depends on ad revenue, but some take it too far.
If you want to continue performing well in Google, you need to think about the user first.
Does jamming ads in their face help them achieve a goal or solve a problem they were searching? You should build every SEO-driven page to serve the user. Get that part squared away, and then think about how to place ads that don’t disrupt the user’s experience.
On-Page SEO Part 9: Local
67. Is your address prominently displayed?
If you’re trying to rank your page in the local pack, your address needs to be displayed. It doesn’t need to be above the fold, but it should be in the body of the content or the footer.
Just be careful with placing the address in the footer if you have multiple locations. That’s because most footers will be displayed site-wide, which means your address is on every page.
You won’t have issues if you have one location. However, if you have multiple locations, you should only display the address on the relevant location page.
On-Page SEO Part 10: Structured Data
68. Is your address using structured data?
Google claims that structured data isn’t a part of their algorithm. Whether that’s true is tough to say. But I believe implementing structured data can only have a positive impact on your page’s performance.
At the minimum, wrap your address with structured data to help Google’s algorithm better understand your page and business.
69. Is your page using structured data?
Local businesses will likely benefit from using structured data, but it has so many other uses as well. The good news is that many Content Management Systems (CMS) have structured data built-in, doing basic markup.
This Schema plugin works perfectly for WordPress.
70. Is the structured data set up correctly?
You make sure your structured data correct once you’ve implemented it.
The best tool to use is Google’s Structured Data Testing tool.
On-Page SEO Part 11: YMYL & E-A-T
71. Are you giving health, financial, or legal advice?
Many believe Google’s algorithm update on August 1, 2018 (the “Medic” update) targeted “Your Money, Your Life” (YMYL) types of websites and pages.
In short, any websites offering health, financial, or legal advice will be under greater scrutiny going forward.
The main reason is that incorrect, unproven, or inaccurate information in these spaces can hurt a person.
Google only wants to rank pages that have accurate information in their search engine. The Search Engine Rater’s guidelines make this clear. With that said, make sure your page’s content is correct (no matter what niche you’re in).
72. Does your page have the appropriate disclaimers?
Appropriate disclaimers should accompany all health, financial, and legal advice. These disclaimers will not only protect your business but will also act as a signal of trust for your page.
73. Does your page list and link to all sources of information?
Plagiarism can get you kicked out of college. However, on the Internet, anyone can steal, copy, and distribute your content and ideas. Sure, it sucks, but you don’t need to be like the scum of the Internet.
Instead, when you get information from another page (that you didn’t previously know of), you should link to that page.
First, it’s ethical and common courtesy to do so. Lastly, it makes your page far more trustworthy (both for users and search engines).
74. Does your blog content have a visible author?
Every informational page, like blog posts, should have a visible author.
Hiding your identity was a common practice back in the early blogging days (Ramsay Taplin). But these days, it will probably hurt more than help when it comes to your SEO performance.
75. Is the author credible and qualified to write about the topic?
E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) has been a big topic since the August 1st Google update.
There is some debate about whether it’s a ranking factor or not. Debating is fun (and usually a waste of time), but I don’t think it matters either way.
A qualified person should be writing your content. This policy can only benefit your business and SEO performance.
Think about it:
What page is more valuable?
- Page A, which is written by someone who has years of experience in X industry.
- Or, Page B, which was written by some jack-of-all-trades-writer you hired off UpWork.
It makes logical sense that Google will value content written by someone who has the qualifications to write about whatever topic it is.
76. Does every blog post have a detailed author box/bio?
I believe every blog post should have an author box (or something similar) and a detailed bio of the author.
The bio should explain why the author is qualified to write about the topic.
77. Does each author have a dedicated and detailed author page?
While it isn’t entirely necessary, I think it’s worth the effort. It just adds another level of trust to your content.
The author’s bio at the bottom of each post is a short description of the writer’s qualifications, but the author page is a more detailed description along with links to social media profiles and other articles.
On-Page SEO Part 12: Goal Completions
78. Does the page have a clear call-to-action (CTA)?
Some believe that Google puts weight on goal completions. A “goal completion” is the action that the user is supposed to take on your page. The intent of your target keyword phrase should dictate your CTA.
For example, if your page ranks for “St Louis personal injury lawyer”, two appropriate goal completions would be contact form submissions and phone calls. It’s probably tough for Google to get this data, but it’s a good business objective.
Every page on your website should have a Call-to-Action (CTA).
As I mentioned, your CTA will depend on the intent of the target keyword. If it’s a product page, then your CTA will be sales-driven. If it’s Top of the Funnel (ToFu) informational content, then your CTA may be as simple as asking the user to share your page or leave a blog comment.
79. Is the page shareable?
You should always display prominent social media sharing buttons on informational content because it’s more likely to be shared (if it’s good).
Make it as easy as possible for the user to share your content.
I use SumoMe for most of my websites, but there are many other good options out there.
On-Page SEO Part 13 :Design & User Interface (UI)
80. Is the website design modern and updated?
Some websites need serious facelifts. It’s a good investment to upgrade your site’s design to keep it modern continually. Striking a balance between design and UX is critical from an SEO perspective. Take it seriously!
That’s All!
Phew… that was a lot to think about and write. I hope this on-page SEO checklist helped you learn to optimize your pages better, so both your users and Google loves them.
Have some questions? Leave a comment below because I respond to every single one.
If you got value from this checklist, would you mind sharing it with your colleagues? I would be so grateful. Thanks for reading!
Nathan Gotch is the founder of Gotch SEO and a globally recognized SEO expert. Since 2012, Nathan has helped over 3,000 agency owners, SEO practitioners, and business owners achieve systematic #1 rankings.
Even the Air Jordan 9, the unpopular representative of the Air Jordan generation, also sold a pair of all-red color Air Jordan 9 Retro “Motorboat Jones” in 2012.