This SEO checklist covers the fundamentals in the order they should be tackled – technical foundations first, since content and links built on a broken technical base underperform regardless of quality.
Technical Foundations
- Site is crawlable – no accidental noindex or robots.txt blocks on important pages
- XML sitemap submitted and error-free in Search Console
- HTTPS enabled sitewide with no mixed-content warnings
- Core Web Vitals within acceptable ranges (LCP, CLS, INP)
- Mobile rendering verified, not just desktop
- Canonical tags set correctly on every page, including self-referencing defaults
On-Page Fundamentals
- Unique title tag and meta description on every page
- One H1 per page, with logical H2/H3 hierarchy beneath it
- Focus keyphrase set per page, no duplication across pages
- Image alt text descriptive and keyword-relevant where natural
- Internal links connecting related content, no orphan pages
Content Fundamentals
- Content matches actual search intent for the target keyword
- No thin or duplicate content competing against your own pages
- Schema markup implemented where relevant – Service, FAQPage, Article
- Content refreshed periodically, not left stale for years
Off-Page and Authority
- Backlink profile reviewed for toxic or manipulative links
- Google Business Profile complete and actively managed, for local businesses
- Review generation process in place and compliant with platform policy
- Brand mentions and citations consistent across the web
Frequently asked questions
How often should I run through an SEO checklist?
A full technical audit quarterly, with on-page and content checks reviewed continuously as new pages are published.
What is the single highest-impact item on this checklist?
Crawlability and indexing come first – no amount of content or link work matters if search engines cannot properly crawl and index the site.
Is this checklist different for ecommerce sites?
The fundamentals are the same, with additional emphasis on product schema, category page structure, and handling out-of-stock or discontinued product pages correctly.
Serpwize runs this exact checklist, and more, on every new client audit. See our SEO outsourcing service.
