Use this checklist when creating or auditing any page you want to rank in search results.
Title tag
- 50 to 60 characters
- Primary keyword included, ideally near the start
- Unique across the site
- Compelling and click-worthy
Meta description
- 150 to 160 characters
- Primary keyword included naturally
- Clear value proposition or summary
- Unique across the site
H1 tag
- Exactly one per page
- Primary keyword included
- Matches the page’s main topic
Subheadings (H2/H3)
- Logical hierarchy with no skipped levels
- Secondary keywords and related topics covered
- Question-phrased subheadings where appropriate
URL
- Short and descriptive
- Primary keyword in the slug
- Hyphens used as word separators
- No parameters or session IDs
Content
- Fully covers the topic (comprehensive topical depth)
- E-E-A-T signals present (author, date, sources)
- Primary keyword in first 100 words
- Natural keyword density (1 to 3 percent)
- Semantic keywords and related terms used throughout
- Readability appropriate for target audience
Images
- All images have descriptive alt text
- File sizes under 200KB (compressed)
- WebP or AVIF format used
- Width and height attributes set
- Below-fold images use lazy loading
Internal links
- 3 to 5 relevant internal links per 1,000 words
- Descriptive anchor text
- No orphan page issues
Schema
- Article or BlogPosting schema with author and dates
- BreadcrumbList schema
- No deprecated schema types (no HowTo, no FAQPage for commercial sites)
AI search readiness
- Direct 40 to 55 word answer after each major H2
- Self-contained sections of 134 to 167 words
- Speakable schema on key answer passages
