SEO Checklist: 25 Questions to Ask Yourself

Define Your Target Audience

Understand who your audience is, what they are looking for, and what they want to achieve.

"Steps to Find Your Target Audience" by Marketing Evolution

This resource provides a detailed guide on how to define your target audience, including tips for creating buyer personas, understanding their pain points, and researching their demographics and psychographics.

It also includes real-world examples and templates to help you get started.
Conduct Keyword Research

Use keyword research tools to identify relevant keywords and phrases that your audience is searching for.

"Keyword Research for SEO: The Definitive Guide" by Backlinko

This resource offers an in-depth guide to conducting keyword research, including tips on finding low competition keywords, using long-tail keywords, and optimizing for semantic search.
Optimize Your Page Title

Use your primary keyword in the title tag and make it compelling to entice clicks.

"How to Write Title Tags For Search Engine Optimization" by Moz

This resource provides tips on how to optimize your page title tags for search engines, including using primary keywords, keeping titles under 60 characters, and writing compelling titles that entice clicks.
Craft a Descriptive Meta Description

Write a concise, compelling, and keyword-rich meta description that accurately describes your page's content.

"How to Write Meta Descriptions for SEO" by Yoast

This resource provides tips on how to write effective meta descriptions, including using primary keywords, keeping descriptions under 155 characters, and writing descriptions that accurately describe your page's content.
Use Header Tags to Structure Your Content

Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content and make it easier to read and understand.

"How To Use Header Tags: SEO Best Practices" by Search Engine Journal

This article provides an overview of how to use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content for search engines and improve readability.
Optimize Your Images

Use descriptive file names and alt tags to make your images more SEO-friendly.

"Image SEO: Optimizing Images for Search Engines" by Ahrefs

This resource provides tips on how to optimize your images for search engines, including using descriptive file names, alt tags, and compressing images for faster load times.
Use Internal and External Links

Include internal and external links within your content to provide context and credibility to your page.

"Internal Links: Ultimate Guide + Strategies" by SEMrush

This article provides tips on how to use internal links within your content to provide context and improve user experience, as well as how to identify and fix broken links.
Make Sure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly

Ensure that your website is responsive and mobile-friendly to provide a better user experience for mobile users.

"Mobile-First Indexing: Everything You Need to Know" by Google

This resource provides an overview of how to optimize your website for mobile-first indexing, including using responsive design, optimizing page load speed, and ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly.
Improve Your Site Speed

Optimize your website's speed by compressing images, using a content delivery network, and minimizing HTTP requests.

"How To Improve GTmetrix Page Speed Score to 100" by Shay Toder

Tips on how to improve your website's speed, including compressing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
Optimize Your Content for Featured Snippets

Use structured data markup to increase your chances of appearing in Google's featured snippets.

"How To Optimize For Google Featured Snippets: A 12-step Guide" by Search Engine Journal

Tips on how to optimize your content for Google's featured snippets, including using structured data markup, answering questions directly, and using lists or tables.
Include Social Sharing Buttons

Make it easy for users to share your content on social media by including social sharing buttons on your pages.

"Popular Social Media Share Buttons" by ShareThis

This resource provides instructions on how to add social share buttons to your website to encourage social media sharing and increase your content's visibility.
Utilize Schema Markup

Use schema markup to help search engines understand the content on your page and display it in search results.

"What is structured data?" by Yoast

This article provides an overview of what schema markup is and how to use it to help search engines understand the content on your page and display it in search results.
Monitor Your Website's SEO Health

Regularly monitor your website's SEO health using tools like Ahrefs' Site Audit.

"SEO Audit Checklist" by Ahrefs

This comprehensive checklist by Ahrefs provides a step-by-step guide for conducting an SEO audit of your website, including monitoring your website's SEO health.

It covers important aspects such as crawling and indexing, on-page optimization, content quality, backlinks, and more.

The guide also includes useful tips and tools to help you identify and fix any issues that may be affecting your website's performance in search engines.
Fix Broken Links

Find and fix any broken links on your website to improve the user experience and avoid 404 errors.

"Don’t Let it Rot: 5 Strategies to Leverage Broken Links" by Neil Patel

This article by Neil Patel provides a list of 5 strategies to leverage broken links. It explains why having broken links can harm your website's SEO and user experience and how tools can help you identify and fix them.
Check for Duplicate Content

Use a plagiarism checker to ensure that your content is original and not duplicated from other sources.

"10+ BEST Plagiarism Checker Software (Free/Paid)" by Guru99

This article discusses the importance of checking for duplicate content and provides a list of the best plagiarism checker tools to help you ensure that your content is original and not duplicated from other sources.
Optimize Your URLs

Use descriptive and keyword-rich URLs that accurately describe the content of your pages.

"URL Best Practices: 15 Tips for Better URLs" by Moz

This Moz article provides 15 best practices for structuring URLs for better SEO, including using descriptive and keyword-rich URLs that accurately describe the content of your pages.
Use a Sitemap

Create and submit a sitemap to Google to help them crawl and index your website more efficiently.

"How to Create an XML Sitemap (and Submit It to Google)" by Ahrefs

Ahrefs' article explains the importance of sitemaps for SEO and how they help search engines crawl and index your website more efficiently.
Optimize Your Site's Navigation

Ensure that your website's navigation is easy to use and understand for users and search engines.

"7 Website Navigation Examples That Will Inspire You to Create a Website Navigation Structure Users Love" by WebFX

This article provides seven website navigation examples to inspire you, as well as tips for improving your website's navigation, making it easy to use and understand for users and search engines.
Create a Blog

Start a blog on your website to regularly publish fresh and relevant content that attracts and engages your audience.

"Why Blogging for Your Business Can Make a Huge Difference" by Wix

This article outlines the benefits of blogging for business and marketing, including attracting and engaging your audience with fresh and relevant content.
Promote Your Content

Share your content on social media, email, and other channels to increase visibility and attract more traffic.

"The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing Strategy" by SEMrush

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of different content promotion strategies, including social media, email, and other channels, to increase visibility and attract more traffic.
Monitor Your Backlink Profile

Regularly monitor your backlink profile using tools like Ahrefs' Site Explorer to identify and disavow toxic backlinks.

"10 Smart SEO Tools to Monitor Backlinks" by Mention

This guide lists 10 SEO tools to monitor your backlink profile and identify toxic backlinks that could harm your website's SEO.
Build High-Quality Backlinks

Focus on building high-quality backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites.

"How to Get Backlinks for a New Site with No Money" by Neil Patel

This Neil Patel's article provides tips for building high-quality backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites, even if you're just starting out and don't have much money or visibility.
Use Social Media to Build Your Brand

Use social media to build your brand, engage with your audience, and promote your content.

"The Beginner's Guide to Social Media" by Moz

This Moz guide provides an overview of social media and how to use it to build your brand, engage with your audience, and promote your content.
Measure Your Results

Use web analytics tools to measure your SEO results and make data-driven decisions to improve your performance.

"How To Measure SEO Performance and Results" by SEMrush

This comprehensive guide from SEMrush covers everything you need to know about measuring your SEO performance, including setting goals, tracking metrics, and using analytics tools.

The post also provides tips on how to use the data you collect to make informed decisions and improve your SEO strategy.
Stay Up-to-Date with SEO Trends

Stay informed about the latest SEO trends and best practices by reading industry blogs and attending conferences.

Moz Blog

Moz's blog provides up-to-date information and insights into the latest SEO trends, best practices, and industry news. It's a great resource for staying informed and ahead of the curve.

Article by
Raj Sinha
Head of Content @ Kontactr. Tech-savvy, I am in charge of making sure that every blog post we publish is comprehensive and valuable. Taking life as it comes, with fun and Love always.

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