SEO has become an essential part of the website development process. Search engine optimization is really good for business visibility and can bring your business more leads. To help you with this, we have prepared a basic SEO checklist. Let’s start:
This is one of the most critical tasks in this checklist. If you have not done this, all the other points can be a complete waste. Don’t just go with the most popular keywords. You need to research keywords to find the best that suit your target audience. You can use Google Keyword Planner or a keyword generator for the same. Choose keywords based on volumes and competition. Once you have your primary keywords, create a content development plan to boost your content and help you find your ideal customers.
Quality always beats quantity. Do not copy content from other websites. Create content that is easy to read and useful for readers. Also, try to use primary keywords based on the website page. Break the content into short paragraphs and add interlinks as well.
Want proof that quality content matters? See what real clients are saying in our Trustpilot review.
Meta title and description help search engines understand the web pages’ content and index them based on the primary keywords you have used. Prepare a bespoke meta title and description containing relevant keywords for each website page. Ensure the meta title is less than 60 characters, and the meta description is less than 160. It is a straightforward task, but it is very effective.
Having an SSL certificate is a must now. You may lose a lot of users because of the security warning message we get when the website is not secure with SSL. It not only increases the user trust but also helps boost SEO ranking. Here are some good SSL providers in the market:
You need to make sure that your website loads fast. The first impression is the last. Reasons why speed is essential:
– Page speed is one of the significant SEO ranking factors
– Fast websites are easier to crawl
– Lower bound rates
– Better user experience
You can check your website on Google Page Insights or GTmetrix. Now, what all things can be done to improve the website score:
– Optimize images
– Minify js and css
– Leverage caching
– Proper image scaling
– Nicely written code
– Implementing CDN
Robots.txt tells the search engine crawlers which pages and parts of the website to index. You can generate your robots.txt from any of the free tools available online.
A sitemap is nothing but a list of URLs that acts as a roadmap for your website, helping Google search engine crawlers determine which pages are essential. WordPress provides many plugins to help you create a dynamic sitemap, like Yoast. Otherwise, you can generate an XML sitemap from one of the free tools available. You can develop your sitemap.xml using a tool called Screaming Frog. It is a pretty easy task; you must add your website URL and click start. Once all the crawling is done, you can export the sitemap from the top navigation bar of Screaming Frog. Now, you must access your website files’ root directory (public_html).
Add your presence on social media. These platforms won’t directly impact your SEO rankings, but will help you get your business a name on the internet. Please add your website links to your social media accounts. This is the first important thing that you can do.
Mobile responsiveness is a must at Poppy Pulse. It directly affects both SEO rankings and user experience. In 2019, Google switched to mobile-first design indexing. So, you must ensure your website passes the Google mobile-friendly test and runs on all devices.
SEO friendly URL structure helps search engines crawl your pages and allows them to understand the web page’s content. It should be simple and easily readable. Ensure it includes no underscores, question marks, or file names. It should be something like this: 6 simple reasons you need a new website in 2025.
Also, try to keep them as short as possible. Short links tend to rank better.
It may look like a lot of work, but it only takes 3-4 days to complete. Contact us if you need help increasing organic traffic on your website.
