On-page Search Engine Optimisation Checklist
Schema
- Identify what information can be included in the schema
- Build the JSON-LD schema
Keywords
- Identify the keywords to rank for.
- Include the target keyword in the first 100 words of the article/content.
- Include keyword at the beginning of the article/content.
- Wrap target keyword ( or a synonym ) in an h1 tag.
- The keyword or synonym is in an H1 tag.
- H2 and H3 tags.
- Include the keyword once in an H2 or H3 subheading.
Title
- Google puts more weight on words found at the beginning of the title tag.
- Length 50 - 60 characters
- Modifiers to the title tag
- Add modifiers like “2018″, “best”, “guide”, and “review” to help rank for long tail versions of the target keyword.
- Power words like Today, Right now, Fast, Works quickly, Step-by-step, Easy, Quick, Simple
Description
- Length 120 - 158 characters.
Image optimization
- Tag the images with keyword-rich alt text.
SEO Friendly - URLs
- Short URLs that include the target keyword.
Outbound links
- Include at least 2 outbound links to related authority sites (popular blogs, news sites and .edu and .gov resources) in every piece of published content.
Loading speed
- Google PageSpeed Insights tool to figure out the site’s loading speed.
Social sharing buttons
- Social sharing buttons are front and center on blog posts and articles.
Long content
- At least 1500 words for content that we’re trying to rank for competitive keywords
Bounce
- Include internal links at the top of the article/page.
Use LSI keywords
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are words that are commonly found alongside your target keyword. e.g. archive inspire =
archives unlocked,the national archives about,archives strategy,the national archives about us,national archive at Kew,national archives exhibition,how to use the national archives,national archives discovery
Dwell time
- Write long, engaging content that keeps people reading. Put a lot of effort into making the first paragraph interesting and compelling.
Internal Linking
- Add 2-3 internal links to older articles when publishing a new one.
Optimize click to content
- Make sure high-priority pages are no more than 3 clicks away from the homepage.
Maximize CTR
- If the users rarely click on the page in Google’s search results, it sends a VERY strong signal to Google that we’re not a good fit for that keyword. And the opposite is also true: if users' cursors are attracted to your site like a magnet, Google will give the page a rankings boost.