#,Section,Item,Priority,Why / how,Status,Notes
1,Setup,Verify your site in Google Search Console,Must,"Use a Domain property so it covers http, https, www and subdomains. Everything else on this list gets checked here.",,
2,Setup,Install GA4 and mark key events,Must,"Form submissions, calls, purchases or sign-ups. Without them you can report traffic but not results.",,
3,Setup,Verify Bing Webmaster Tools,Should,"You can import straight from Search Console in a couple of minutes, and Bing's index also powers Microsoft Copilot.",,
4,Setup,Choose one preferred domain version,Must,"https, with or without www. The other versions should 301 redirect to it.",,
5,Setup,Confirm your CMS handles SEO basics,Should,"Editable titles and meta descriptions, canonical tags and an XML sitemap. On WordPress, Yoast or Rank Math covers this.",,
6,Setup,Map one primary keyword to each important page,Must,Two pages chasing the same query compete with each other. My SEO strategy template includes a keyword map.,,
7,Setup,Record a baseline,Should,"Organic clicks, key events, indexed pages and top queries on the day you start. Pick the SEO KPIs you'll report on now.",,
8,Technical SEO checklist,HTTPS everywhere,Must,"Valid certificate, no mixed-content warnings, http URLs redirecting to https.",,
9,Technical SEO checklist,robots.txt doesn't block important pages or resources,Must,"Visit /robots.txt. A stray Disallow: / hides the whole site, and blocking CSS or JS can stop Google rendering pages properly.",,
10,Technical SEO checklist,XML sitemap submitted and clean,Must,"Only indexable URLs that return 200. No redirects, no noindexed pages, no 404s.",,
11,Technical SEO checklist,No accidental noindex,Must,"Check WordPress's ""Discourage search engines"" setting and your SEO plugin's post-type settings. This is the most common self-inflicted SEO problem there is.",,
12,Technical SEO checklist,Review the Page indexing report,Must,"Open Indexing → Pages in Search Console and work through each reason. Not every excluded URL is a problem (redirects and intentional noindex pages belong there), so focus on pages you actually want in Google. My guides cover Crawled, currently not indexed and Discovered, currently not indexed.",,
13,Technical SEO checklist,Correct canonical tags,Should,Each indexable page should point to itself; duplicates should point to the main version. See duplicate without user-selected canonical if Google is choosing for you.,,
14,Technical SEO checklist,Mobile-friendly layout,Must,"Google indexes the mobile version of your pages. Content, links and structured data should match desktop.",,
15,Technical SEO checklist,"Core Web Vitals in the ""good"" range",Should,"Google's Core Web Vitals guidance sets the targets: LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1. Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.",,
16,Technical SEO checklist,"No broken internal links, and real 404s return 404",Should,Empty pages that return 200 get flagged as soft 404s.,,
17,Technical SEO checklist,No redirect chains or loops,Should,Point links and redirects straight at the final URL.,,
18,Technical SEO checklist,"Short, readable URLs",Nice,"Lowercase, hyphens, no session IDs. Don't change existing URLs just for this.",,
19,Technical SEO checklist,Main content in the HTML Google renders,Should,"If text or links only appear after a click or a script that fails, Google may not see them. Test a URL with URL Inspection → View crawled page.",,
20,Technical SEO checklist,Valid structured data,Should,"Organization, Article, Product, LocalBusiness or whatever matches the page. Run key templates through Google's Rich Results Test.",,
21,On-page SEO checklist,"Unique, descriptive title tag on every page",Must,"Primary keyword near the start, written for a human to click. My guide to title tags covers length and rewrites.",,
22,On-page SEO checklist,Unique meta description,Should,"It isn't a ranking factor, but it's your ad copy in the results. Google may rewrite it; write one anyway. Summarize what the page offers and give a reason to click, such as a price, a free tool or a specific number.",,
23,On-page SEO checklist,One clear H1 that matches the search intent,Must,It should tell the reader immediately that they're in the right place.,,
24,On-page SEO checklist,Logical H2 and H3 structure,Should,"Headings that read like a table of contents, ideally phrased the way people search.",,
25,On-page SEO checklist,Primary keyword in the first 100 words,Should,"Naturally. If it doesn't fit naturally, the page may be targeting the wrong keyword.",,
26,On-page SEO checklist,"Short, descriptive URL slug",Should,/seo-checklist/ beats /blog/2026/11/the-ultimate-list-of-seo-things/.,,
27,On-page SEO checklist,Descriptive image alt text,Should,Describe what's in the image. Helps accessibility and image search.,,
28,On-page SEO checklist,Compressed images in modern formats,Should,"WebP or AVIF, sized for display, with width and height set to avoid layout shift. Lazy-load images below the fold only.",,
29,On-page SEO checklist,Internal links in and out,Must,"Link to the page from related pages with descriptive anchor text, and link from it to the next useful step.",,
30,On-page SEO checklist,Open Graph and social tags,Nice,Controls how the page looks when shared. No direct SEO effect.,,
31,Content,Match the search intent,Must,"Search the keyword and look at what ranks. If the top results are how-to guides, a sales page won't rank, however well optimized. Note the format too: lists, comparison tables, calculators or videos tell you what searchers expect.",,
32,Content,Answer the main question on the first screen,Must,A short direct answer near the top. Readers and AI features both look for it.,,
33,Content,Add something the ranking pages don't have,Must,"First-hand experience, original data, examples, screenshots, a clearer process. Rewording page one isn't enough.",,
34,Content,Show who wrote it,Should,"Author byline, a bio with relevant experience and an about page. This is the practical side of E-E-A-T.",,
35,Content,Keep dates and facts current,Should,Show a real updated date when you make meaningful changes. Changing the timestamp without changing the page fools nobody.,,
36,Content,Merge thin and overlapping pages,Should,Five weak posts on the same topic usually lose to one strong one. Redirect the old URLs.,,
37,Content,"No mass-produced, unreviewed AI pages",Must,Google's guidance on generative AI content warns that generating many pages without adding value may violate its scaled content abuse policy.,,
38,Content,Refresh decaying content on a schedule,Nice,Check pages with falling clicks in Search Console every quarter. Good SEO copywriting is often what a refresh needs.,,
39,Links,No orphan pages,Must,"Every page you want ranked should be linked from at least one other indexable page. Screaming Frog, connected to Search Console, will list orphans.",,
40,Links,Earn links from relevant sites,Should,"Useful resources, original data, digital PR and selective guest posts. One link from a respected site in your industry is worth more than dozens from random directories. See how to get backlinks and my guest posting guide.",,
41,Links,Reclaim unlinked brand mentions,Nice,Find sites that mention you without linking and ask politely.,,
42,Links,Redirect backlinked URLs that now 404,Should,"Check the pages with links pointing at them, then 301 each dead one to the closest live page.",,
43,Links,No paid links or link schemes,Must,"Buying links to pass ranking signals breaks Google's spam policies. Paid placements should use rel=""sponsored"".",,
44,Links,Run a competitor link gap,Nice,See which sites link to two or more competitors but not you. Those are your warmest prospects.,,
45,Links,Monitor new and lost links monthly,Nice,"Mostly to spot a lost link you can recover, or a sudden spike of spam.",,
46,Local,Claim and complete your Google Business Profile,Must,"Correct primary category, hours, services, photos and a link to the most relevant page. The primary category matters a lot, so check what your top local competitors use.",,
47,Local,"Consistent name, address and phone (NAP)",Must,"Same details on your site, Business Profile and main directories.",,
48,Local,One useful page per service and location,Should,"Genuinely different content for each, not town-name swaps.",,
49,Local,Ask for reviews and reply to them,Should,"A steady flow of genuine reviews, with replies to the negative ones too. Send a direct review link after each job; never offer incentives or post fake reviews.",,
50,Local,LocalBusiness structured data,Nice,Matching the details on your Business Profile.,,
51,Local,Contact page with address and embedded map,Nice,"Helps visitors more than rankings, but it's quick.",,
52,Local,Bing Places and Apple Business Connect listings,Nice,"Cheap coverage for Bing, Apple Maps and Siri searches.",,
53,AI search,Let the right crawlers in,Must,"Googlebot and Bingbot, obviously. For ChatGPT search, OpenAI's crawler documentation says sites that block OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Blocking Google-Extended doesn't affect Google Search.",,
54,AI search,Check snippet and AI controls,Must,"No accidental nosnippet, and the Search generative AI setting in Search Console left on ""include"" unless you've chosen otherwise.",,
55,AI search,Answer-first passages under question headings,Should,"Short, self-contained answers are easy for AI features to cite. More in how to rank in AI Overviews.",,
56,AI search,Track AI Overview and AI Mode impressions,Should,"Use the Generative AI performance report in Search Console. It shows impressions, not clicks.",,
57,AI search,Consistent brand and entity details,Should,"Organization schema with sameAs links, and the same description of what you do across your profiles.",,
58,AI search,Get mentioned where AI tools look,Should,"Reviews, comparison articles, industry lists and genuine community answers. AI answers lean on what others say about you, so check which sites get cited for your key questions and work out how to earn a mention there.",,
59,AI search,Test your key prompts monthly,Nice,"Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini the questions your customers ask and note if you're mentioned, what's said about you and which sources are cited. See how to rank in ChatGPT.",,
60,AI search,Add an llms.txt file,Nice,"Google says it doesn't need AI text files. It's low effort, though; I explain where it helps in my llms.txt guide.",,