2015 seo checklist - updated

© Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic 2010 - 2015

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Checklist 2015

Complete this checklist during and after the SEO module. It will allow you to report back to your

developer on areas that are weak and require improvement.

Google Webmaster Tools & Analytics

Q1: Have you submitted an XML Sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools?

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes – it won’t help your search engine ranking directly but it will help Google to

crawl your website, especially if a new site with new domain. It also allows you to monitor your

inbound links which is extremely important to your search engine position.

Note:

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Q2: Have you reviewed your GWMT crawl & HTML error reports?

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes – it is important to be aware of and fix any issues/crawl errors that appear in

your GWMT reports. HTML errors can help flag issues with duplicate content as well as missing meta

data.

Note:

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Q3: Have you used GWMT data highlighter to mark up your content?

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes – it is important that Google has a good understanding of what your content is

and the elements are clearly marked up so they can display them effectively.

Note:

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Q4: Does your website download quickly? (see

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights- aim for minimum of 80-85out

of 100)

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes – it is important that your website downloads quickly for users as well as search

engines.

Note:

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Q5: Is your website mobile compatible

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ ?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – it is important to ensure your website works well on mobile devices for

usability and search engines give preference to mobile sites when a search is completed on a mobile

device.

Note:

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Q6: Is there a redirect for domain.com to www.domain.com (or vice versa)?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights-

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

http://www.domain.com/


Q7: Do you need to set a Geo target for your domain name? If so have you completed it in

GWMT?

A:

__________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes – important Google understands who your market is? Be careful not to limit

yourself unnecessarily e.g. if you target a lot of countries and have one site on a .com domain you

may consider creating sub directories e.g. domain.com/fr and registering those with GWMT and

setting the geo-target accordingly.

Note:

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Q8: Are you using Google Analytics to track your website visitors and their activity on your

website?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – it is important to know how many people visit your site, where they came

from, what they do, if they convert etc.

Note:

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Planning Your SEO

Q9: Is your website easy to navigate?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – if users cannot navigate, search engine won’t be able to either

Note:

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Q10: Is your navigation broken into key categories according to the user’s needs?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes (try where possible to include target key phrases in page names). Avoid naming

pages with generic names like products and service.

Note:

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Q11: Is the full URL visible in the address bar (all pages)?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q12: Does your website have quality, fresh content that people will want to read and

share?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q13: Are you adding extra value and quality content to your website on an on-going basis?

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes, extremely important. Try to add fresh content once a week. Create a content

marketing plan that helps you to organise your website content, blog etc. Focus the content on your

customer’s needs. Content marketing does not sell your products/services but shows your passion

and expertise and helps to set you up as a leader in your field.

Note:

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Q14: Is your website up to date?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q15: Does your website have a text based sitemap? (Normally in footer)

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q16: Are you using https:// ?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – this is not a huge factor but Google has come out to say that “..we're starting

to use HTTPS as a ranking signal ….”

Note:

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Optimising Page Content

Q17: Did you or your developer choose key phrases for each page before structuring the

website and writing the content?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes - you need to do research to understand what your customers and potential

customers are searching for in search engines

Note:

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Q18: Do your page names contain your target key phrases?

A:

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Correct answer: Not absolute necessity but can help - try where possible to include target key

phrases in page names.

Note:

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Q19: Do your internal pages URL’s contain key phrases

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – try where possible to include the target keyword/phrase in the url

Note:

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Q20: Do your internal pages URL’s contain any of the following characters? ?&%=

A:

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Correct answer: No – not a necessity but it can take search engines longer to index pages with these

characters and users do not know where the page is taking them (remember to use 301 redirect is

changing existing url’s)

Note:

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Q21: Are your target key phrases repeated sufficiently in the page content (each phrase

repeated twice and words that make up that phrase repeated as needed throughout the

content)?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – remember to ensure that the page reads well for the user

Note:

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Q22: Is your content structured using H1-H6 headings?

A: _________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes, important for usability, accessibility and SEO.

Note:

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Q23: Are your target key phrases repeated in the page H1-H6 heading?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – remember to ensure the page reads well for the user, do not stuff headings

with key phrases if it is not going to read well

Note:

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Q24: If you have a deep website are you using breadcrumb navigation?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q25: Are your target phrases included on your image alt text?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes, remember this is primarily for accessibility so don’t use target phrases unless

it’s relevant to do so. Using keyword in your alt text is a great way to get your images indexed in

Google image search as well as assisting search engines with understanding what the page is about.

Note:

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Q26: Does your website have internal links that lead the visitor to important sections?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes – very important to do this so search engines can easily crawl important pages

and it will also allow users to find the important sections

Note:

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Q27: Are your target phrases included on internal links anchor text?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Meta Data

Q28: Is the Meta data (title and description) for each page individual and well optimised?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes. Keep the title to 65 characters and the description to 160. Include the target

phrase in both.

Note:

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Inbound Links

Q29: Are you improving the amount and quality of inbound links your site has?

A: ________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes- extremely important

Note:

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Q30: Do all inbound links land visitors on the most relevant page?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes

Note:

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Q31: Are your target phrases (for the landing page) on or around your inbound link?

A:

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Correct answer: Yes. Be careful that it does not look too managed. If there are too many external

pages linking in with target phrases on the anchor text it can look too managed and spammy.

Integrate your link building plan with your content marketing plan.

Note:

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Q32: Social Signals – do you have share buttons e.g. Facebook Share, Like, Tweet, Pin It

and +1 on all pages especially content that people will want to share e.g. News, Specials,

Events, Blog Posts?

A:

__________________________________________________________________________________

Correct answer: Yes, search engines are starting to look at your social footprint to gauge how

important your site and content is so it is important users can share it across the core social media

platforms with ease

Note:

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2015 seo checklist - updated

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