Table of Contents [show]
Keyword Placement\Primary
Primary and secondary keywords used 1-3 times naturally throughout your content (based on content length)
Notes: Use synonyms and related terms. Why It’s Important: In other words: include variations of your target keyword on your page. For example, if your main keyword is “kettlebell workout”, use variations like “kettlebell exercises” and “easy kettlebell movements”.
Primary Keyword appears in the begining of the Content (first 10%-20% or first 125 words of article)
Primary Keyword used in the SEO Title
Notes: Verify your content’s primary and secondary keyword(s)Ensure the primary keyword appears in all relevant places, like meta descriptions
Keyword Ratio: Review content for keyword balance
Keyword Placement\LSI
LSI keywords are used in the content
Keyword\Research
Choose new focus/target keyword(s) if content is getting traffic with other KWs
Keyword research based on the current ranking
Are your keywords still relevant? Are there better keywords you should be using? Are there secondary keywords you could be using?
Are there “low hanging fruit” keywords?
Title\H1
A unique H1 / title for each page on your site
Notes: NO duplicate of the title tag and only one instance per page. “Use your keyword in an H1 and H2 Subheader.Why It’s Important: This emphasizes to Google that your page is focused on that keyword and topic. H tags aren’t a huge deal for rankings. But every little bit helps.”NOTE: Update your post title but do not change the page URL or page slug.
No longer than 600 pixels in length (~60 characters)
Does the H1/Title include the Primary keyword?
Does the H1 / main heading / page title avoid exaggerating or being shocking in nature?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Does the H1 / main heading / page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Is there only one H1?
Are the Title optimized? Short, sweet, and descriptive?
Contain a power word, and a number?
Is the Title wrapped in H1
Add your primary keyword towards the front
The titles grab the searcher’s attention and compels them to click through
Notes: Your heading describes what your page is about
Title\H2
Each H2 contains 60 characters or fewer
1st H2 front-loaded with primary keyword (Optional)
2nd H2 front-loaded with the most important secondary keyword
Includes one H2 for each target keyword (If possible)
Last H2 for the Summary section includes a partial match of the primary keyword
Partial match keywords used naturally in other H2s
Are the H2 descriptive and include keyword modifieres?
Are the H2 Short, sweet, and descriptive subheadings?
Title\H3-H6
In H3-H6 – Use keyword variations and synonyms (where appropriate)
All header tags are specific and help organize content
Answer subtopics required to address the main search query and mark up with Header Tags
Are meaningful and Include long-tail keywords
Tag\Meta Title
Compelling title tag that describes main topic of page. Front-loaded with the primary keyword
Unique page title for each page
Fewer than 60 characters
Includes 1-2 primary / secondary keywords without repeating overlapping terms
Notes: Why It’s Important: From a Google SEO point of view, your title tag is the most important place to include your keyword.
Does the blog post have an adequate title tag and meta description?
Includes an element in meta title to encourage clicks (e.g., number, year, CTA, power / magnet words, parentheses, etc.)
Notes: Write a title tag that’s keyword optimized and engineered for clicks. The best way to do this is to think of what you would want to click on if you were searching for your target keyword.Why It’s Important: Like I mentioned back in item #10 from this list, a high CTR can boost your rankings. And your title tag is a BIG factor in what people use to decide what to click on.
Tag\Meta Description
Is your keyword in your meta descrption?
Between 150-160 characters
Includes primary keyword near the beginning of SEO Meta Description
Notes: Write an enticing meta description.Why It’s Important: Although using keywords in your meta description isn’t a ranking factor anymore, organic click through rate is. And when Google searchers see a compelling meta description in the organic search results, they’re more likely to click on your site.
Optimized with your primary keyword and includes 1-2 secondary keywords naturally
Includes an element in Meta description to encourage clicks (e.g., number, year, CTA, power / magnet words, parentheses, etc.)
Accurately summarizes your content to engage searchers
Unique throughout the site
Meta description tags are 20 to 30 words, start with several strategic keywords and apply to the specific page
Meta description tags are compelling and include keywords and phrases for that page
Title no more than 5-10 words, or 60 – 120 characters
To prevent Google from displaying descriptions pulled from other directories where you have limited control over what is said (Yahoo directory of DMOZ.org), use tag:
Meta description that further elaborates on title tag
Notes: Meta Description
Tag\Open Graph
Basic Open Graph tags are applied for this page / post
Notes: Basic open graph tags: og:title, og:type, og:image, and og:urlOther open graph tags: og:description, og:locale, og:site_name, and og:videohttps://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-is-open-graph-and-how-can-i-use-it-for-my-website/#starting-with-the-basics-of-open-graph
Silo\URL-Slug
Focus Keyword used in the URL / Exact match of the primary keyword
Notes: Add your target keyword to your page’s URL. For example: mywebsite.com/my-keyword or mywebsite.com/my-keyword-guideWhy It’s Important: Google uses the terms in your URL to understand what your page it all about. NOTE: Do not change the page URL or page slug
Uses dashes (-) between words
Notes: Use hyphens (-) as separators for the words in your URLs
Check the URL Slug for SEO-Friendliness
Is the content available at a single URL?
Short descriptive URL
Avoid repeating keywords in your URLs
Check that the slug / URL structure is consistent with the site
Notes: URLs all follow the same structure throughout your sitei.e: /guide/how-to-enable……
Replace dates and numbers with evergreen content
Short, Concise and User-friendly first, then search engine-friendly
Notes: Eg: https://cycling.com/unicycle/red/ instead of https://cycling.com/unicycle/red-2192734i.html
If built as ASP, PERL, or COLD FUSION, “?” in URL has been addressed.
Silo\Category
Is category of this post marked correctly?
Apply multiple categories if fits with the content
Component\Introduction
Include add target keyword within the first 100 words while sounding natural
Notes: Can include 2-3 secondary keyword varriations / related terms within the first 150 words (Optional)
Primary keyword in the first sentence (if appropriate only)
Notes: Not Neccessary
Intorduction’s Length is Between 100-150 words
Notes: Use your keyword once at the top of your page (ideally in the first 100-150 words).Why It’s Important: Search engines put more weight on terms that appear in prominent places on your page (like at the top).
Gets to the point fast
Write a clear, concise introduction using Agree, Promise, PreviewSo that, in 10 seconds, the reader should understand why the post is valuable to them
Implement “bucket brigade” content writing method
Notes: Bucket Brigades are intentional bridge words or phrases used by writers to hook the reader to keep reading. It encourages you to go on and on till the end of the article. Let me ask you a question
Component\Summary
Summary’s first sentence contains the primary keyword
Summary’s Length is Between 100-150 words
Rewrite the conclusion in a summary format, including any highly relevant internal links
Component\Table of Content
Does this post contain Table of contents
Notes: Is it easy to find information on your article? E.g., Is the content easily scannable? Do you structure the content in headings? Do you provide a table of content?
Make sure TOC has proper functionality and header structures are correct
Notes: Is it easy to find information on your article? E.g., Is the content easily scannable? Do you structure the content in headings? Do you provide a table of content?
Component\Multimedia
Engaging Infographic – craete or update an old one with new information
Downloadable checklist
E-Book
Engaging Video – Create and/or add
Component\Schema Markup
Use FAQ schema if the post has any FAQs
Relevant schema markup added to the HTML (if applicable)
Notes: Sitewide.Use structured data. Why It’s Important: Structured data (Schema) can help your site feature “Rich Snippets” in the search results.
Do you provide structured data for Google?
Notes: Structured data helps Google understand the content on your page which can be used to display rich snippets in search results.
If you provide multiple schema, is it interlinked?
Image\Optimization
Image’s size is ideal
Notes: Ideal image sizes and ratios: https://momenticmarketing.com/content-academy/seo-images – Open Graph: 1200px × 628px (1:1.9.1), 1600px x 900px (16:9), 1200px x 675px (16:9), 1200px x 1200px (1:1), 1200px x 900px (4:3)- Google Discover and News: 1200px x 675px (16:9), 1200px x900px (4:3), 1200px x 1200px (1:1) – All images in content should be at least 1200px wide!- Blog hero images: 1600px x 900px (16:9), 1200px x 675px (16:9), 1200px x 1200px (1:1), 1200px x 900px (4:3) – Just don’t go smaller than 1200px – larger is totally fine.
Are the images weigh less than 100 KB?
Scale images to a maximum 1,200 pixel width for Google Discover and News
Includes one relevant image (Featured Image) for the primary keyword
Image for primary keyword embedded directly above the optimized H2
Includes one relevant image for each H2 / secondary keyword (if possible)
Images for secondary keywords embedded directly below the optimized H2s or placed naturally on the page if no H2 is present
Filename for each keyword-optimized image matches the relevant keyword and uses a dash (-) between words
Notes: Use keyword-rich image filenamesWhy It’s Important: Google uses images to understand the content of your page. And descriptive file names and alt text helps them understand what your page is all about.
Metadata for each keyword-optimized image includes the relevant keyword
Images are in proper format, i.e. WebP
Make sure Images are compressed
Resize Large Images at Upload
Images are pinnable for pinterest
Images are tweetable for twitter
Ensure there are not too many pictures, and each has a purpose
Update the images if they are too old (including the featured image)
Image\Alt Text
Add ALT tag for each graphical image on site.
Notes: It helps visitors who turn off graphics when viewing websites.
ALT text includes the relevant keyword while also accurately describing the image
Notes: Use keyword-rich descriptive image alt text.Why It’s Important: Google uses images to understand the content of your page. Alt text helps them understand what your page is all about.
Image Alt Text is no longer than 125 characters
Content\Search Intent
Re-assess the article to see if it meets the search intent (Transactional, Informational, Navigational or Commercial)
Notes: Match search intent. Double check that your page is a 1:1 match for search intent. The best way to do that? Check out Google’s first page for that keyword. If they’re all a specific type of page (like a list post or ecommerce product page), you want your page to be in-line with what’s already ranking.Why It’s Important: If your page doesn’t satisfy search intent, your page most likely will not rank for that keyword (even if you have lots of backlinks). It’s that important.- ChatGPT prompt: When a searcher types [KEYWORD] into a search engine, what are the 2-3 questions they are REALLY looking to answer when they do that?- What are the points that the top 1-2 results are emphasizing or skipping over?
Satisfies / Aligns with user’s search intent and searcher’s pain points for the primary keyword
Notes: Match your content to the search intent, length, structure, and value of your competitors
Content\Competitiveness
Formatted similarly to the top-ranking Competitors for the primary keyword
Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Variety of content types, media, and interactive features to stand out
Notes: Add additional research, rich multimedia, or unique content
Includes 1-2 unique elements (minimum) not found in the top-ranking websites (e.g., tables, charts, infographics, videos, more list items, expert quotes, FAQs, etc.)
Notes: Add Engaging Visual Content
Content\Quality
Organized with proper heading structure (H1 to H6)
Notes: Site Structure
Stays focused on the primary keyword topic
Content and quality questions
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Covers the topic in full
Does the content provide a substantial, complete, or comprehensive description of the topic?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Proofread – Is there any Grammar issue?
Proofread – Does the content have any spelling or stylistic issues?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Good readability
Notes: https://inkandcopy.com/readability-guide/
Has “information gain”
Notes: https://searchengineland.com/what-is-information-gain-seo-why-it-matters-429763
Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Is the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Is it a Thin content according to Google
Notes: GSC
The content is not only about trending topic unless they are highly relevant to the audience
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content depth and word count
Notes: Word Count, Analyze the top-ranked pages for your target keywords
Content\Layout
Add bullet points
Break up content with whitespace for mobile readability
Consider adding additional sections or restructuring sections in a more helpful way
Make sure the reader can find their answer quickly
No “Under Construction” pages. If needed, use 301 redirect (after 15 or 30 seconds)
Notes: Sitewide
No frames or intros and/or limited use of Flash. If this is a must, have a “skip intro” or “view this site in HTML” option
Notes: Sitewide
No multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content. Or duplicated from other sites.
Notes: Sitewide
No redirect pages or cloaking (pages, text or links that can be viewed by search engines but not visitors). Redirects, if needed, should be 301 redirects. This tells the SE’s that this page has changed URLs. It is meant to be temporary.
Notes: Sitewide
Page content addresses one to two keywords per page. If you have many keywords, you may need to build more pages to cover each one effectively to avoid “keyword stuffing” your pages.
Notes: Sitewide
Site balanced heavier to text than graphics and text as graphics (rather than HTML) are limited or not used. Note: BING likes content-rich pages, at least 300 words of text per page.
Notes: Sitewide
Use Robots Meta Tag file to guide the engines. Usetag within the header code to tell the robot to index that page and follow the links on that page.
Notes: Sitewide
Use Robots.txt file to exclude pages from search as appropriate. Robots.txt file is more widely used by SE’s than Robots meta tag, and indicates areas of your site you do not want included in search — directs SE’s on what pages you don’t want indexed or spidered.
Notes: Sitewide
Content\Original Info
Original content (not copied or spun)
Notes: No duplicate or plagiarized content
Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources, and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Did not use automation to produce content, though it might be a reference source
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content\Update
Rewrite out-of-date paragraphs, make sentences and paragraphs shorter, with extra helpful information
Update information for accuracy with fresh, original content
Notes: Update material to reflect current messaging and offers. New and relevant content is critical in SEO success from Google to BING.
Check facts – are they still true? All information is accurate and up to date
Refresh schedule for adding new content (minimum weekly). Includes blogs, home pages, and e-newsletters.
Notes: Sitewide
Change the publishing date to today
Remove out of date references and update those to dates
Update the publication date
Update recipe card (food bloggers only)
Content\People First Content
Content is primarily for readers, not to manipulate search engine rankings
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content is not primarily to attract visits from search engines
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content aligns with the primary purpose or focus of the site
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content allows the reader to learn what the headline promised by consuming content in the article
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Does not leave the reader feeling like they need to seek out better information from another source
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Encourage readers to start or join a discussion in the page comments
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Leave the reader feeling that they’ve had a satisfying experience
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Produce content that would be useful to the existing audience if they came directly to the page
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Does not summarize what others are saying without adding significant value
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Content\Featured Snippet
Page elements are formatted to match the current ranking featured snippets
For List Snippet: 5-10 (or more) H3s below the optimized H2 for the primary keyword. If current ranking snippet includes an ordered list, then start H3s with a number followed by a period.
For Paragraph Snippet: 45-50 word answer directly below the optimized H2 for the primary keyword. Includes similar words and phrases highlighted in the current ranking snippet
For Table Snippet: 3-column table with similar headings and number of rows as the current ranking snippet and placed directly below the optimized H2 for the primary keyword
Content\Mobile-Friendly
Is the article mobile-friendly? Make Sure it is.
Notes: Make your page work with mobile devices.Why It’s Important: In other words, your site should be mobile-optimized for Google users and search engine crawlers. Google’s index is now “mobile-first”, which makes mobile usability an absolute most for SEO.
Properly accessible from both Android and Iphone (Realtime)
EEAT\Expertise
Does this content prove that author is an expert in his field?
Is this content written or reviewed by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Demonstrates first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge on the topic
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Includes an author bio box
Notes: Sitewide (optional)
Includes an byline with a link to the author’s bio page
Notes: Sitewide
Includes semantically-related words for the primary keyword topic
Includes the published date and time
Notes: Sitewide (the time is optional for evergreen content but essential for news-related content)
Add experience signals and original examples where appropriate to showcases your experience and expertise
EEAT\Authoritativeness
…
Does the content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site’s About page?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Does the content take an angle that more authoritative websites do not
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
If someone researched the site producing the content, would they come away with an impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognized as an authority on its topic?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia, or book?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Link\External
1-3 Useful external links to high-quality sites / resources to add proof for claims, facts, statistics, etc.
Notes: Action stepsEnsure all links have appropriate anchor textClick the links to verify they workMake sure all links lead to relevant, current contentLink to any new relevant content or pages
Outbound links land on relevant and useful pages with authority
Notes: Add external links to other helpful websites and resources. Why It’s Important: External linking to related pages helps Google figure out your page’s topic. So I recommend adding lots of external links to pages that will help your users learn more about something that you cover on your page.
Make sure external links are marked as “Open in new tab” (if appropriate)
Notes: Ensure external links open in new window; internal links do not
Nofollow or Sponsored attribute added to external affiliate and promotional links
Notes: consider reducing the number of them
Limited usage of Do-follow links appropriately
Is there any 301 redirection landed to this page? Internal / External. Is it OK?
Link\Internal
Includes 5-10 (minimum) inbound internal links pointing to this page with keyword-optimized anchor text
Notes: Cross-links within site. Only one URL is used for links.
Includes 3-5 outbound internal links to other relevant and appropriate pages (most important) for this particular page with keyword-optimized anchor text
Notes: Text links contain relevant keywords for that page whenever possible.
Internal links from other pages: Is the blog post discoverable via internal links or the navigation (3-click-rule)? And if it makes sense, does the blog past link towards other pages of your website?
Notes: Improve Navigation with Internal LinksAdd internal links to other pages on your site. I recommend including at least 5 internal links per page. Why It’s Important: Internal links can help Google find, crawl and index more pages on your site (and help them rank higher in the search results).
Anchor text is descriptive and informative (Contextual)
Internal links are evenly spaced out throughout the content
Add links to your new content
Bump it up onto the first page of your blog
Link\Backlinks
A minimum of 3 links to this post from other RELEVANT websites
Notes: Links from web pages that are read by your target audience and have title and description tags that reflect their relevance. There is no limit to the number of outbound links you provide, if they are relevant, meaningful and not broken.
User Experience\Speed
Page loads in under 5 seconds
Increase Page Speed / Load time
Dwell time
Check content for large images, broken code, and other slow elements
Conduct a detailed speed performance test to obtain your speed score
Notes: Analyze the speed test report and make any improvements
User Experience\Design
Is the article easy to read from a design perspective
Do you use whitespace
Notes: Space out paragraphs and body of post
Is the font size big enough
Make paragraphs shorter (no more than 300 words)
Is the color reader-friendly
Do you provide lists, when it makes sense
Add in potential for Google Featured Snippets
Notes: https://neilpatel.com/blog/rank-google-featured-snippets
Is your branding and layout of your post cohesive?
User Experience\Call to Action
Add the latest offers or resources to your CTAs
User Experience\Ads
Intrusive Interstitials ads: Do pop-ups or standalone interstitials block website users from viewing the page content they want to see?
Notes: Sitewide
User Experience\Bounce Rate
Optimize the content to decrease bounce rate
Notes: Decrease bounce rate. In other words: make your content “sticky” so that Google users stay on your page…and don’t bounce back to the search results. Why It’s Important: Bounce rate probably isn’t a direct Google ranking factor. But it might be. Especially if that bounce leads to “pogosticking”.It’s not applicable for the affiliate pages / links
Technical\Indexing
Make Sure Your Page Is Indexed
Notes: Check if indexed by typing your URL into search box. See row discussion for further notes.
Request indexing if it not indexed for an unusual longer period
Optimize for mobile-first indexing
Check if the page is not set to noindex
Technical\Tracking
Track Record the old post’s details (if update from old post)
How is the engagement rate?
Notes: What do the analytics numbers say? They are indications of how valuable your content for the user is.
Decide which post(s) need updating
Notes: Sitewide
Look for posts are preforming well and not so well
Notes: Sitewide
Look for posts that are ranking close to page #1 on Google
Notes: Sitewide
Note any posts that have good external backlinks
Notes: Sitewide
Note keywords that are ranking well
Notes: Sitewide
Note posts that are currently trending topics right now
Notes: Sitewide
Research posts that did well on social media (especially on Pinterest)
Notes: Sitewide
Track the rank of this post/page for a week
Technical\CTR
CTR optimization
Technical\SEO Score
Use Yoast / Rank Math to optimise your updated post
Technical\Multilingual
In case your page is multilingual: Is there a Hreflang tag attributed?
Technical\CoreWebVitals
Passes Google’s Core Web Vitals for mobile and desktop devices
Technical\Errors
Does the content have any easily-verified factual errors?
Notes: Google Guidelines Checklist
Make sure it has clean, Validated HTML
Notes: Use: http://validator.w3.org/ or http://htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/ to test your code
No Broken Links. Example: 401 not found etc.
Notes: Fix Redirected / Broken Links
Promotion\Social Media
Run your promotion process
Share updated post on social media & Pinterest
Follow your Social signals / social media strategy to re-share your updated post(s)
Promotion\Newsletter
Send newsletter about updated post to your subscribers
Post new press releases immediately upon issue, provide an excerpt on home page.