My Ultimate SEO Checklist

A comprehensive checklist based on industry best practices to cover all your SEO bases, from basics to advanced strategies.

SEO Basics

The foundational setup for any successful SEO strategy.

Core Tasks

  • Set up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

  • Set up Google Analytics

  • Install and configure an SEO plugin (if on WordPress)

  • Generate & submit an XML sitemap

  • Create a Robots.txt file

  • Check Search Console for manual actions

  • Make sure your website is indexed

Recommended Tools

  • - Google Search Console
  • - Google Analytics
  • - Bing Webmaster Tools
  • - Yoast (WordPress)
  • - Dynomapper

Keyword Research

Understanding what your audience is searching for.

Core Tasks

  • Identify your main competitors

  • Find your main 'money' keywords

  • Find long-tail keyword variations

  • Find question keywords

  • Conduct a keyword gap analysis

  • Analyze the intent of pages that rank

  • Create a keyword map

  • Prioritize by search volume & difficulty

Recommended Tools

  • - Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
  • - Semrush Topic Research
  • - Google Ads Keyword Planner
  • - Answer The Public
  • - People Also Ask (Google SERP)

Technical SEO

Ensuring your site is fast, secure, and easy for Google to crawl.

Core Tasks

  • Ensure your website is mobile-friendly

  • Check your site's loading speed (Core Web Vitals)

  • Make sure you are using HTTPS

  • Check for duplicate versions of your site

  • Identify & fix broken links (404s)

  • Use an SEO-friendly URL structure

  • Find & fix crawl errors

  • Check canonical tags for duplicate content

  • Check the page depth (keep it shallow)

  • Add structured data (Schema markup)

Recommended Tools

  • - Google Search Console (Inspect URL)
  • - Google PageSpeed Insights
  • - Google's Mobile-Friendly Test
  • - Semrush Site Audit
  • - Merkle Schema Markup Generator
  • - Structured Data Markup Helper

On-Page & Content

Optimizing the content that your users see.

Core Tasks

  • Fix duplicate, missing, & truncated title tags

  • Find & fix duplicate, missing meta descriptions

  • Find and fix multiple H1 tags

  • Improve title tags, meta tags, and page content

  • Find & fix keyword cannibalization

  • Run a content audit and prune/update content

  • Optimize images for SEO (file size, alt text)

  • Organize content into topic clusters

  • Improve content readability

Recommended Tools

  • - Semrush Content Audit
  • - Semrush Topic Research
  • - SEO Writing Assistant
  • - Hemingway App (for readability)

Off-Page SEO

Building your site's authority and reputation online.

Core Tasks

  • Analyze your competitor's link profile

  • Conduct a link intersect analysis (find gaps)

  • Leverage digital PR for high-quality links

  • Steal your competitors' broken backlinks

  • Implement the Skyscraper technique

  • Turn unlinked brand mentions into links

  • Set up and optimize Google My Business (for Local SEO)

Recommended Tools

  • - Semrush Backlink Audit
  • - Semrush Backlink Analytics
  • - Semrush Backlink Gap
  • - Semrush Link Building Tool
  • - HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
  • - Prowly
  • - Google My Business