SEO Checklist: The Complete Guide 2025

SEO Tools Checklist

Here we will list the most commonly used SEO Tools that we have tested ourselves and found to be very useful for SEO. These SEO Tools are used to track your Website Performance, indexing issues, Core Web Vitals as well as get some insights on Keyword Research, Competitor Analysis and Backlinks Analysis. Some of these Tool are a Must-Have to effectively improve your Website SEO and track the impact of your changes.

1. Create a Google Search Console Account

   One of the First steps you should do is create a Google Search Console Account and Add your Website as a Property. 

   Google Search Console Tools & Google PageSpeed Insights are Free and essential tools for monitoring your Website's performance, indexing issues and errors, as well as measure Core Web Vitals. 

   Core Web Vitals are three primary metrics that assess a website's Overall Page Experience, focusing on Page Loading Speed, Interactivity, and Visual Stability. They include the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and Interaction to Next Paint (INP).

2. Setup Google Analytics

   Trusted & Used by millions of Websites on the Web, Google Analytics delivers critical insights that help website owners understand performance, optimize marketing efforts, and strategically grow their digital presence. It basically empowers you to enhance the overall visibility of your Marketing Campaigns, refine your Digital Strategy, and elevate & Maximize your Online Presence.

3. Bing Webmaster Tools

   Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) is Microsoft’s free suite of diagnostics, reporting, and site-management tools that helps website owners understand how their pages perform in Bing (and the larger Microsoft Search Network, which powers search on Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Windows Search, Cortana, and more).

4. Add Yoast SEO Plugin for WordPress

   Yoast SEO Plugin is one of the most powerful Add-Ons to incorporate into your Website if you are using WordPress.

5. Other Optional SEO Tools

   Google Keyword Planner: Free and reliable data for keyword volume and competition.

   Ahrefs: Best known for backlink data, keyword research, competitor analysis and content gap discovery.

   Moz Pro: Offers user-friendly site audits, keyword tracking, and link metrics. 

   SE Ranking: Affordable and accurate all-in-one SEO suite with rank tracking, website audits, and competitive research.

   Serpstat: A budget-friendly Semrush alternative with powerful keyword and backlink tools.

   Semrush: Tools for keyword research, competitor analysis, content optimization, PPC, and backlink audits.

   Surfer SEO: Analyzes top-ranking pages and gives real-time optimization scores for your content. Great for on-page SEO.

   Frase: Combines AI with SEO, helping you write content that answers user intent and aligns with search demand.

   MarketMuse: AI-driven platform that maps content topics, clusters, and gaps. Great for content planning and authority building.

   Clearscope: Offers detailed content reports for improving SEO readability and semantic coverage.

   Majestic: Best for deep backlink history, link profile visualization, and trust metrics.

   Linkody: Affordable tool for monitoring backlinks and competitors.

   Uber Suggest: User-friendly tool for keyword ideas and domain analysis.

   Keywords Everywhere: Chrome/Firefox extension that shows keyword volume, CPC, and competition.

   AnswerThePublic: Visual tool for exploring keyword questions and long-tail phrases.

   GTmetrix: Tracking performance scores over time and detailed waterfall breakdowns.

   Google Rich Results Test: Verifies if structured data qualifies for SERP enhancements.

   Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Desktop crawler for site audits, broken links, & redirect chains.

   Sitebulb: Visual, user-friendly technical SEO audit tool.

Essential SEO Checklist

The following list of items are Essential and Critical SEO Components and important Web & System Design elements that you MUST implement to be able to compete or even have a chance at Search Engine Optimization. In addition, this list also includes Very Important Topics and Things to Avoid Doing while trying to Optimize Your Website in Search Engine Algorithms. This Checklist is NOT OPTIONAL. You need to fulfill every single item on this Checklist and follow the Rules and Regulations set forth by major search engines such as Google because it will have a significant impact on the Success of your SEO Campaign.

You can consider this list as a Foundation that you will be able to build on top of and improve. Without these it would be pointless to attempt performing any of the other recommended SEO Checklist items that follow them.

1. Mobile-First Design Approach

   Google has already announced that it launched a Mobile-First Indexing Algorithm. Which means that it will index the Mobile Version of your Website and Not the Desktop Version. You can find more information on this topic by clicking on the link below.

   Google has recommended in this Article on Mobile-First Indexing, that you should display the SAME content on Mobile Devices that you would on a Desktop. So you should NOT hide any content based on the user agent or device because that content will not be indexed.

2. Responsive & Adaptive Web Design

   Responsive Web Design is very similar to Mobile-Design Approach. Essentially what is important here is to build a Responsive Website with an Adaptive Layout that can adjust seamlessly to any screen width without requiring horizontal scroll bars.

   This is very Important because Search Engines like Google have decided that it will index the Mobile Version of the website since the majority of users these days use their phones to access websites on the internet.

3. Cross-Browser Compatibility

   Ensuring that your Website is rendered consistently across the major Web Browsers is a Must! Cross-Browser Compatibility is essential to Optimizing Your SEO. If some of your content is not supported by All Web Browsers then this will impact your SEO for sure because you don’t know how Google and other Search Engines render your page.

4. Understand Google's E.E.A.T. Principles

   E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s a framework Google uses (through its Search Quality Rater Guidelines) to assess the overall quality and credibility of content and of the site publishing it. Here’s a breakdown:

   Experience
   – Demonstrates first-hand, lived experience with the topic.
   – Examples: Case studies, personal anecdotes, or user testimonials that show you’ve actually done what you’re describing.

   Expertise
   – Reflects deep knowledge or skill in a subject area.
   – Examples: Credentials, certifications, years of practice, or a team of specialists who create or review your content.

   Authoritativeness
   – Indicates recognition by others in your field as a go-to source.
   – Examples: High-quality backlinks, mentions in reputable publications, partnerships with recognized organizations, or positive user reviews.

   Trustworthiness
   – Builds confidence that your site and content are reliable and honest.
   – Examples: Clear contact information, transparent sourcing, accurate data, robust security (HTTPS), and positive user feedback.

5. Secure Your Website with HTTPS & an SSL Certificate

   Google has indicated that Websites using HTTPS would get a small Boost in Search Rankings, encouraging site owners to secure their Websites with SSL/TLS Certificates.

   For more information, refer to Google’s Search Central documentation, which has a dedicated section "Secure your site with HTTPS", which walks through best practices for migrating to HTTPS.

6. Avoid Black-Hat SEO Tactics

   This one is a no brainer. You should definitely avoid using any Black-Hat tactics to boost your SEO as this will end up getting your Website completely Black-Listed, Banned, and remove from Search Engines Listings.

   Google has a very descriptive Article regarding SEO Search Essentials SPAM Policies.

7. Show All Page Content on Mobile Version of Website

   As Mentioned Above: Google has already announced that it will start Prioritizing Website Content served to Mobile Devices over the Desktop Version of the Website.

   So what does that mean for you?
   It means that any Website Content that you ONLY show on the Full Desktop Version of the Website will NOT be indexed or taken into account for SEO Purposes.

   So you should ALWAYS serve the Same Page Content regardless of the device you are serving the content to. Create an Adaptive & Responsive Website Layout that will Adapt seamlessly to any device width and adjust the content layout.

On-Page SEO Checklist

On-Page SEO Enhancements are critical changes that you should incorporate into the content and source code markup for each page individually, hence why it is called "On-Page".

1. Add Title, Description & Keywords META Tags

   HTML META Tags are essential for SEO and they give Search Engines an idea of what the page is about. It is critical to add these HTML Tags in your page source code inside the HTML Head Tags as shown below:

   <HEAD>
   <title>[ADD YOUR TITLE HERE]</title>
   <meta name="title" content="[ADD YOUR TITLE HERE]" />
   <meta name="description" content"[ADD YOUR DESCRIPTION HERE]" />
   <meta name="keywords" content="[ADD YOUR KEYWORDS HERE]" />
   </HEAD>

2. Limit META TITLE Tag to 50-60 Chars

   Limit the TITLE META Tags Length to 50-60 Characters.

3. Limit META DESCRIPTION Tag to 160 Chars

   Limit the DESCRIPTION META Tags Length to 160 Characters.

4. Use Unique Page Title Tags

   Ensure that you use Unique Page Titles throughout the Website. Duplicate Page Titles can harm your SEO Ranking due to the fact that multiple pages have the same title, which might indicate that the page content is the same for both pages.

5. Prioritize Placement of Keywords in Page TITLE Tags

   You should Position important Keywords at the beginning of the Page TITLE Tags. In other words, you should start your TITLE with the Primary Keyword if possible as that will maximize your SEO Ranking for that Keyword. For Example: "Web Design Services | Web Design Firm"

6. Prefix your TITLE tags with Persuasive Modifiers

   It is Highly Suggested that you Prefix your Page TITLE Tags with Strong Pursuasive Modifiers. For Example: Leading Web Design, Premium Web Design, and Trusted SEO Services.

7. Match Your Page TITLE with the <H1> Heading

   You should try to match your Page TITLE with the text inside the first <H1> Heading Tag on each page to optimize your SEO Page Titles. Your META TITLE should also match the content inside the <title></title> Tag

8. Limit META KEYWORDS Tag to 12 Keywords

   Google has already indicated that it no longer supports the META KEYWORDS Tag, however, for other Search Engines you should limit the length of your KEYWORDS Tag to 12 Keywords or sentences separated by a comma.

9. Use Keywords in the First 160 Words

   You should try to incorporate Your Keywords within the first 160 Words on the page. This chunk of text is given a higher ranking factor than other content on the page.

10. Ensure Proper Keyword Density

    Search Engines Check the Density of Keywords on a Page when they index it. This is a critical element for attracting more Organic SEO Traffic to your Website. You should be using Keywords in an acceptable natural manner without overly repeating the same phrase. Instead, focus on using similar terms that are associated (This will be discussed in the next point below in LSI Keywords). There are many free Online Tools that will help you check your Keywords Density for Free. Your optimal Keyword Density should NOT exceed 2% for Optimal SEO and to eliminate being penalized for over stuffing your keywords.

11. Incorporate LSI Keywords

    LSI keywords, short for Latent Semantic Indexing keywords, are terms and phrases that are semantically related to a main keyword or topic. They help search engines understand the context and meaning of your content more accurately. For example: When you are selling Cars you would talk about Mileage, Engine Size, Makes & Models, Autos, Vehicles, Trucks...etc

Off-Page SEO Checklist

Off-Page SEO Enhancements are essential changes that you should incorporate into your website as a whole and is not related to individual pages or their content.

1. Include Your Address in the Header

   One of the Strongest approaches to Targeting the Local Market is listing your Business Address on your Website Pages. You should include your Company's Address in the Page Header to Optimize your Local SEO for Local Customers and Consumers in your City and County.

2. Use Static Full URLs

   You should always try to use Fully Qualified Static URLs in your page and in hyperlinks.

3. Use Canonical HTML Page Tags

   The canonical tag is an HTML element (<link rel="canonical" href="..." />) used to tell search engines which version of a page is the preferred or "master" version when duplicate or very similar content exists across multiple URLs. This is essential to Prevent duplicate content issues or being penalized for duplicate content as well as Consolidate link equity (Ranking Power).

4. Optimize Your Images for the Web

   You should Optimize your website Images using the best Compression while maintaining Quality. The best image format to use when it comes to best compression and file size is "WebP". The Best Tool for this that we have found is ImageMagick. But you can use Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator to accomplish this as well.

5. Create Multiple Sizes for Images

   You should try to create multiple sizes for each image and serve the best image according to the client resolution. This is an important aspect that Google and other Search Engines look for. So by giving search engines multiple image sizes you are reducing the time it takes for your Page to Load, hence increasing performance.

6. Add ALT Attributes to Images

   You should always add ALT Attributes to Images with descriptive text that describes what the image is about. You should try to incorporate Keywords in Image Alternate Text Attributes.

7. Use Keywords for Image Filenames

   You should incorporate your Keyword in Image Filenames and separate words with Hyphens is possible. For example: blue-bmx-bicycle.webp

8. Incorporating A Call-to-Action (CTA)

   An excellent way to transform visitors into leads is to incorporate a "Call-to-Action" after describing a service that you offer or a product. For example, having a "Request A Free Quote Today" Button that takes some basic info from the visitor to provide a quote on a service or a product.

9. Social Media Integration

   An excellent way to promote your business is to utilize Social Media to spread the word. Create a Facebook Business Page for example and add all your friends and business contacts.

Keyword Research & Analysis Checklist

The Most Important Step in SEO is performing a proper Keyword Analysis and Research to determine what are the most valuable Keywords or Key-Phrases to Target. You can Boost Your Organic SEO by choosing your Keywords or Key-Phrases wisely.

1. Analyze Your Target Market

   The first step is to discovering the most effective Keywords is to Clearly Define Your Current Target Market. You need to know exactly who will be searching for your products and services. This is essential for you to determine what search terms these consumers are using to search for your products online.

2. Educate Yourself on Search Intent

   Understanding what Search Intent is will greatly help you optimize your Content for SEO. Search Intent is what the user intends to accomplish or achieve from searching for something. It might be to purchase something such as "purchasing a Laptop". It might also be informative to get an idea of what is out there before making a purchase such as "What is the best laptop for playing Games". So understanding the Search Intent will help you create Questions and Answers that will be exactly what the customer is looking for. This type of Analysis will greatly Boost your Website's SEO and Online Visibility and help you Rank Higher.

3. Identify Primary Keywords to Target

   You need to Identify what are the Primary Keyword that you should be targeting. These are the general terms used to search for similar products or services that you offer. These broad terms will become the building blocks on which you will establish your final Keywords. For example: Web Design, SEO Services, and Web Development.

4. Use Google Keyword Planner

   Google Keyword Planner is a strong platform that will give you insights on Keywords Search Volume and related search terms used by customers.

5. Get Keyword Ideas from Competitors

   You should Analyze your competitors websites to get some Keyword Ideas from them. This will be helpful in your final analysis.

6. Identify Low Competition Keywords

   One of the best approaches to identifying effective Keywords is to look for Low-Competition Keywords. There are many Online Tools that will help you with that such as those ones mentioned above. These terms will help you attract more Organic Traffic to your website.

7. Prefix Keywords with Persuasive Modifiers

   You should Incorporate Authority & Trust Building Words in Your Keywords. This will make it less competitive to rank higher for those Keywords and help optimize your SEO. For example: when someone is Searching for a Scooter to buy they will type "The Best Scooter to Buy" in Google Search. So, you should focus on Search Terms that will bring you more Organic Traffic than just optimizing your pages for generic terms that are highly competitive like "Scooters for Sale".

8. Identify Long-Tail Keywords for Local SEO Targeting

   Identifying Long-Tail Keywords are essential for Local SEO. For Example: "Web Design Services in Orange County".

9. Explore Google Suggest Keywords

   Another simple way to find out what people are searching for is to simply go to Google and start typing a search term and see what Google suggests as autocomplete for the Search Term. For example: if you start typing "SEO Services" you will get a list of relative terms that others are searching for such as "SEO Services near me" or "SEO Services for small businesses". This will give you some ideas of what others are searching for so you can target those terms.

Backlink Building Checklist

Backlinks are by far the most influential aspect when it comes to Optimizing your SEO because it conveys the level of authority and credibility that a domain name has.

Why are Backlinks considered so important?

They Build Authority & Trust: Search engines view each backlink as a "vote" of confidence, so backlinks from reputable & relevant websites will boost your domain’s credibility.
They are a Ranking Signal: Backlinks remain to be one of Google’s Top Ranking Factors.
They Send Referral Traffic: Links from Online Blogs & Published Articles send Visitors directly to your Website.
Expanded Indexing: Search Engine Bots usually discover new pages by following links on a website. So having more Backlinks will ensure that Search Engine Bots like Google Bot discover your Website Pages and crawl them regularly.
Brand Visibility & Partnerships: Establishing Backlinks means having Partnerships with other Companies and translate into a better Brand Visibility.

1. Perform a Backlink Audit on Your Website

   Start by performing an Audit of your Existing Website's Backlinks. Export your current backlinks using Ahrefs, Semrush, or Google Search Console. Flag any spammy, irrelevant, or toxic links. Then reach out to webmasters to remove bad links. Finally, Use Google’s Disavow Tool for anything you can't get removed.

2. Analyze Your Competitor's Backlinks

   The fastest and easiest way to start is to Analyze your Competitor's Backlinks. From there you can try to get the same Backlinks especially from Public Directory listing websites that allow Guest Posts or Business Profiles to be created.

3. Create Business Profiles in Online Directory Listings

   Listing your business in reputable online directories can significantly improve your Local SEO, regional visibility, and gain some credibility.

   Here are some of the most popular and commonly used Business Listing Platforms:

   Google Business Profile (Google Maps).

   Yelp.

   Apple Maps.

   Bing Places.

   Facebook Business Page & Facebook Marketplace.

   LinkedIn Company Directory.

   Instagram Business Profile.

   Foursquare.

   Nextdoor (especially for local service businesses).

4. Create Linkable and Shareable Content

   The best way to earn some legit Backlinks is to simply create Linkable and Shareable content that other users will find Useful and worth referencing on their Websites.

5. Create Infographics

   Infographics are a GREAT way to represent data and statistics Visually. They easily grab the attention of readers and convey the message more easily. Infographics can significantly improve your SEO, so try to create Unique Useful diagrams and graphs of statistics when possible.

6. Reach Out to Niche Blogs in Your Market

   Start by reaching out to specific Niche Blogging Websites within your Industry or Market and request an opportunity to publish a useful Article talking about something related to your Products or Services. This would benefit the users of the website and give you an opportunity to add a link to your Website in the Published Article.

7. Contribute Your Expertise to Local Media Outlets

   Search for Local Media Outlets that you can contribute your Knowledge and Experience on a specific topic to. Such Partnerships give you the opportunity to have your website URL listed on their Website and mentioned in a Published Article.

8. Find Industry Publication & Resource Pages

   Search for Industry-Related Publication and resource pages that talks about the benefits or advantages of using similar products and services like the ones you offer and try to collaborate or provide helpful infographics that would give you an opportunity to partner with those Websites.

9. Find Helpful Forums & Discussion Groups

   Search for Helpful Discussion Groups and Online Forums where users ask questions related to a specific topic and other users provide answers. These type of website typically allow you to leave a Website URL when trying to refer to a specific product or topic discussed.

10. Find Local Radio Stations to Partner With

    Search for Small Local Radio Stations that you can be hosted as a Guest on to discuss a specific topic related to your industry. These opportunities are out there, you just have to put in an effort to find one. Being hosted on such a Radio Show will give you the opportunity to be linked to in Social Media and on the Radio Station Website.

11. Reach out to Social Media Influencers

    Find Local or Regional Social Media Influencers that you can collaborate with, who can mention you in one of their Social Media Posts and include your Website URL in the post.

SEO-Friendly URLs Checklist

A critical component to Successful SEO Optimization is having an SEO-Friendly URL Schema and a User-Friendly Navigation Structure. The most efficient way to utilize your Keywords is to include them in your URLs.

1. Select an SEO-Optimized Domain Name

   When choosing your Domain Name you should be very careful. First of all, you should always go with a ".com" extension. Secondly, try to pick a domain name that has Keywords incorporated in it. In other words, when you are selling scooters you should find a domain name that has some of the primary keywords you would target such as "Scooters-4-Sale".

   A domain name with keywords separated by a dash is more likely to rank higher than one with no dashes such as "Scooters4Sale". And if you are interested in Maximizing your Local SEO, then you should try to incorporate a city or county in your domain name such as "LA-Car-Rentals".

2. Use A Friendly URL Rewriting Engine

   If possible, incorporate a good URL Rewriting Engine such as "Microsoft's ASP.NET Friendly URLs" Engine. Alternatively, you can Analyze your most effective URL Schema and create your HTML Files using an SEO Friendly Naming Convention.

   For Example: You would create a Folder called "SEO-Services" and inside that folder you would have a page for each service type under that category such as: "On-Page-Optimizations", "Local-SEO", "Keyword-Research", "SEO-Audit" and so on.

3. Incorporate Keywords in Your URLs

   As demonstrated in the previous point, you should incorporate Keywords in your Website Page URLs.

   For Example: If you offer SEO Services then you would have a main hub page for "SEO Services" with the following URL:
   https://web-design-firm.com/seo-services/
   Then Under that you would have several pages with the following URLs:
   https://web-design-firm.com/seo-services/website-seo-audit-service
   https://web-design-firm.com/seo-services/keyword-research-and-analysis
   https://web-design-firm.com/seo-services/local-seo

4. Separate Words with a Dash in Page Slugs

   When Deciding on the best URL to use for your Website Pages it's best to separate Keywords or words with a dash such as "seo-audit" instead of "seoaudit". This helps Google and other Search Engines understand the Context of the Page and make the URL more readable and User-Friendly.

5. Enforce the use of WWW in Domain Name

   You should enforce the use of WWW or the lack of WWW in your domain to ensure that you don't have the same page indexed with WWW and without WWW.

6. Enforce Lowercase Letters in URLs

   It is VERY IMPORTANT to rewrite all your URLs to lowercase. This is critical because having different casing for the same URL will render them both as different pages in Search Engines. Therefore, it is recommended that you rewrite your URLs to lowercase to consolidate all the ranking juice into one single URL.

7. Create Service Hub Pages

   You should create a Primary Hub page for each Service Type if you have multiple services under that category. For Example, we have an "SEO Services" Hub page that includes a description and a link to all of our services that fall under SEO such as Local SEO, On-Page SEO, Keyword Research, SEO Audit...etc

8. Create Product Category Pages

   You should create a Category Page for each Product Category that lists all the Products or Sub Categories that exist in it and links to those pages.

9. Incorporate Navigation Breadcrumbs

   Breadcrumbs are an efficient way give visitors an idea of where they are on your website and how a specific page is related to other pages on your website. However, Breadcrumbs are not only useful for website Visitors because Search Engines also pay close attention to them to better understand the relationship between different pages on your website.

10. Use Short URLs

    When deciding what the best URL should be for each page you should try to keep the URL Short! Long URLs tend to be flagged as SPAM and shorter URLs tend to Rank Higher according to Google and other Search Engines. So keep it concise and as short as possible.

Website Page Content Checklist

Website Content is the Most Important Aspect for SEO and the Highest Ranking Factor for Search Engines.

1. Write Authentic Original Content

   Content is KING! You should try to write Authentic and Original Content that is NOT copied from other sources on the web. If your content is unique and properly structured it will highly increase your SEO Ranking for those Keywords and Topics.

2. Incorporate Keywords in your Content

   Use more keywords! Search engines have a bias for content, for text they can read. The more text with keywords, the better. However, don't stuff keywords too much as that will negatively impact your SEO.

3. Use Keywords at the Right Place

   Use the right keywords in the right places: Search engines use position and format as clues to importance. Use particularly important keywords near the top of the page. Especially those that people are using to search for similar products or services.

4. Use Keywords in Heading Tags

   You should include your Keywords in Heading Tags such as <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5> and <h6>. And your Heading Tags should be in proper descending sequential order.

5. Optimize Pages for Specific Keywords

   You should try to Optimize Different Pages on your Website for Different Keywords and not use the same Keywords across all pages as that might be considered Keyword Stuffing.

6. Use BOLD & ITALICS to Highlight Keywords

   You should include your Keywords in BOLD <strong> tags and also in Italics <em> Tags.

7. Place Keywords in Lists <ol> <ul>

   You should try to include Keywords or important details in Ordered or Unordered Lists.

8. Embed Internal Links inside Page Text

   You should try to use Internal Links to point to other pages on your website that are associated with the topic you are discussing on each page. For example: You would include a link to the SEO Services on the home page when you are talking about the services that you offer.

9. Delete Duplicate & Redundant Content

   Ensure that your Website does not contain any Duplicate Content that is served using different URLs as that might impact your SEO Ranking.

10. Divide Your Content into Sections

    To ensure that your visitors do not get discouraged about reading your content you should try to divide big chunks of content into smaller sections. You can use Lists, Sub-Sections, Images and Paragraphs to make the content more User-Friendly and easy to read. Because honestly NO ONE likes to read Big Blocks of Text these days.

Technical SEO Checklist

The following list of recommendations are Technical SEO Enhancements that will drastically improve your SEO Rankings by Optimizing Performance, Loading Speed and User Experience.

1. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

   You should Distribute Static Assets like images, CSS, and JavaScript files across edge servers so users get faster responses regardless of their location.

2. Compress & Lazy-Load Images

   You should Serve next-gen Image formats (WebP/AVIF) so large hero images load quickly as well as add to below-the-fold <img> tags to defer the loading of offscreen assets and images.

3. Avoid Horizontal Scrolling

   You should Use fluid grids and adaptive flexible page layouts that adapt seamlessly to the width of the screen. Furthermore, use flexible img attributes (max-width:100%) so images scale without forcing users to scroll sideways.

4. Keep Your Files in the Root Directory

   You should try to have all your important pages at the root directory or folder not in sub folders unless you have to such as for a Blog or Product Listings.

5. Create A Website SITEMAP Page

   You should create a Website Sitemap Page with Links to every page on your Website if possible and include a link to the Sitemap Page in your Page Footer.

6. Create an XML Sitemap

   You should create an XML Sitemap file with each page's Priority and last update date.

7. Create a Robots.txt File

   You should create a Robots.txt File and place it in the Root Directory of your website and include a link to your XML Sitemap in it.

8. Submit A Website Sitemap to Search Engines

   You should submit your Website and your XML Sitemap file to major Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

9. Limit Depth of URL

   You should limit the Depth of the URL to 4 Levels Maximum.

10. 100 Unique Links per page

    You should limit the number of unique links per page to a 100 for best SEO Indexing Results.

Advanced SEO Checklist

The following list of recommendations are considered Advanced SEO enhancements that will significantly Boost your SEO Rankings as well as give your Website a Higher Authority and Trust.t

1. Optimize Above-the-Fold Content Rendering

   An Essential Step in Optimizing your Website for SEO is to Optimize Above-the-Fold Content. What is meant by "Above the Fold" is the Content on the Page that's Visible when the page first loads on a Mobile Device. In other words, it is the visible portion of the page when the page initially loads.

   The Above-the-Fold Content is considered a High Priority for Search Engine Indexing because it gives a brief introduction about the content of the whole page. This content will either grab the User's Attention and keep them on your website or make them click the Back Button and Bounce Back.

2. Inline Critical CSS

   Inline critical CSS inside the page Header for the content located at the very top of each page.

3. Defer Non-Critical Assets

   Defer non-critical Scripts and CSS Stylesheets such as analytics, form validation, chat widgets and other CSS Styles not used in the top portion of the page by using the ASYNC or DEFER attributes.

4. Use Keywords Above-the-Fold

   Incorporate Important Keywords and Key-Phrases inside that first few paragraphs on your page. Basically use important Keywords inside the "Above-the-Fold" Content Section.

5. Bundling CSS & JavaScript Files

   An excellent way to Optimize Your Web Core Vitals and Loading Speed and Performance is to bundle your CSS Stylesheets and Javascript files into a single file that will reduce the number of calls required to the Server to render your page.

6. Update / Refresh Content Regularly

   Always keep your website Content Fresh and Updated with the latest information as outdated content is very likely to lose Rankings and SEO Visibility over time.

7. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

   Implementing Required HTML Attributes and Markups to ensure that your Website Content is Accessible to those with Disabilities according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) will significantly Improve your SEO Rankings.

8. Check Google Search Console for Crawl & Indexing Errors

   A Very Important and Critical Task that most people miss while Optimizing their Website for SEO is to check for any Crawl Errors or Indexing Issues. Google Search Console makes this task a very easy one for you as they provide you with the list of URLs that have encountered errors or have some Indexing Issue. This will give you the opportunity to resolve these issues immediately so they do NOT impact your SEO Rankings.

9. Analyze How Search Engines View Your Pages

   You should Use the "Inspect URL" Feature in Google Search Console to see how Google views your page. If Google is unable to view your page properly or fully then you have issues that you need to solve. If Google can't see your content it won't index it or rank it.

10. Handle Browsing Errors and 301 Redirects

    You should ALWAYS handle Errors and Invalid URLs correctly. You SHOULD NOT simply redirect everyone to the Homepage when they enter an invalid URL. You should return a Valid Response code depending on the scenario because this tells Search Engines like Google that the page does not exist and not to try to index it.

11. Optimize Your Website for Voice Search

    If you want to stay ahead of the game you have to start Optimizing your Website for Voice Search. This is essential as a good portion of people these days use voice search to invoke a search query. So it is important to incorporate what some of those users might be searching for exactly when they use Voice Search such as "Where can I get an Oil Change near by".

Bonus SEO Checklist - Pro Tips

One of the Major factors that affect Website Ranking is how long a Visitor stays on a Website before hitting the BACK Button, which is referred to as Dwell Time.

The average time that a Website Visitor spends on your Website before clicking the Back Button to go back to Search Results can drastically impact your SEO Ranking. So here we will provide you with Proven Tactics and SEO Enhancements that will increase Dwell Time and Boost your SEO Ranking.

1. Optimize User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX)

   One of the most critical and important aspects that impact your SEO is User Experience. When you optimize your website's User Experience by providing more ways for all visitors to be able to interact with your website such as providing the correct content for Screen Readers and features to support those with disabilities then you will gain a much larger audience to target.

   Likewise, when you Optimize your Website's User Interface then you are creating Layouts and Buttons that can be easily clicked for example on any device like a mobile phone. Optimizing the User Interface can include many other enhancements that include creating a Responsive Web Design and Adopting a Mobile-First Design Approach as well as optimizing the Website's Loading Speed and Performance.

2. Create Structured Data & Semantic Markup

   One of the most important aspects that truly impact your SEO Ranking is Structured Data.
   Structured Data tells Google exactly what your Business type is, the products and Services that you offer, your Business Address and location, hours of operation and more.

   You should Add Relevant Schema Types such as "Local Business", "Organization", "service" for a Service page, "FAQ Page" for a Frequently Asked Questions Page, "Review" and "AggregateRating" for Reviews and Testimonials

   Furthermore, you should create a "BreadcrumbList" schema so Google can display a clickable breadcrumb trail in SERPs.

3. Create Rich Snippets

   Rich snippets are enhanced search results that display extra information beyond the standard title, URL, and meta description. They’re generated when a webpage includes structured data markup (often in JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa formats) that tells search engines specific details about the page’s content. When Search Engines such as Google recognizes that markup, it can show the additional data directly in the search results.

   Common Types of Rich Snippets include Reviews & Ratings, Recipes, FAQs and Q&A, Event Listings, Breadcrumbs, Product Information and so on.

4. Add <NOFRAMES> Tag with Keyword-Rich Content

   You should add 200-300 words of Keyword-Rich Content (Without Duplication) inside a <NOFRAMES> Tag and include the Tag inside your BODY Tag. You should also include Static Links to other pages inside the tag as well.

5. Create A Visually Appealing & Enticing Homepage 

   This is where Web Design Firm comes into play. We can help you Create A Beautiful & Visually Appealing Interactive Website that will grab the attention of Website Visitors and keep them around for longer than 30 seconds with some kind of HTML Animation, which will significantly BOOST & Increase your Website Rankings in Search Engines.

   This is important because Search Engines like Google calculates the time it takes for a visitor to bounce back from your website back to the Search Results. If that number is low like less than 10 seconds then it interprets that as your Website not having the Quality Content that the Visitor was looking for.

6. E-E-A-T Homepage Optimization Checklist

   Experience:
   Showcase recent projects or portfolio highlights on the homepage.
   Include client case studies or real-world examples of your work.
   Mention years of experience in web design, SEO, and digital marketing.
   Use phrases like "proven results", "hands-on expertise", or "real-world experience".

   Expertise:
   Have a clear introduction of your services & specialization (e.g., web design, local SEO).
   Add an "About Us" snippet linking to a detailed company page with team bios.
   Highlight certifications, partnerships (e.g., Google Partner, Shopify Partner).
   Mention recognized tools or technologies you work with (e.g., WordPress, SEMrush).

   Authoritativeness:
   Display client testimonials (preferably with names & businesses).
   Include logos of notable clients or featured publications.
   Link to case studies, blog posts, or media mentions that demonstrate authority.
   Use schema markup (LocalBusiness, Organization) to signal authority to search engines.

   Trustworthiness:
   Prominently display contact information (phone, email, physical address).
   Link to Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in the footer.
   Use HTTPS for site security (SSL certificate active).
   Add Google Maps embed or link to your Google Business Profile.
   Show real reviews from Google, Yelp, or Clutch with trust badges.
   Ensure site usability (fast loading, mobile-friendly design, no intrusive pop-ups).