April 2025 · 5 min read
On-Page SEO Checklist: Every Element to Optimize
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On-page SEO is everything you control directly on the page — metadata, headings, content, images, links, technical signals, and structured data. Running through this checklist before publishing ensures you capture every optimization opportunity from day one, rather than retrofitting fixes after a page has already been crawled and indexed with errors. Work through each category in order and check off items as you go.
Title tag
Contains the primary keyword near the start
Under 60 characters
Unique - not duplicated on any other page
Accurately describes the page content
Includes a compelling reason to click
Meta description
Contains the primary keyword naturally
Between 120-155 characters
Summarizes what the page delivers
Includes a call to action or unique value
Unique - not copied from page body
Headings
One H1 per page matching the primary keyword
H2s break content into logical sections
H3s used for sub-sections where needed
Keywords appear naturally in headings without stuffing
Heading hierarchy is logical (H2s under H1, H3s under H2s)
Content
Fully answers the search intent for the target keyword
At least 300 words for any indexed page
First paragraph addresses the topic directly
No keyword stuffing - keywords appear naturally
LSI/semantic keywords used throughout
Content is original and not copied from other pages
Images
All images have descriptive alt text
Images are compressed (under 100KB ideally)
Image filenames are descriptive (not img1234.jpg)
Width and height attributes set on all images
Internal links
At least 2-3 internal links to related pages
Descriptive anchor text (not click here)
No broken internal links
URL and technical
URL is short and descriptive
URL contains primary keyword
Canonical tag is self-referencing
Page loads under 2.5 seconds on mobile
Schema markup
Appropriate schema type added (Article, HowTo, FAQ, Product, etc.)
JSON-LD format used (preferred by Google over Microdata)
Required properties populated for chosen schema type
Validated with Google's Rich Results Test
No schema type mismatch with actual page content
Open Graph and social
og:title, og:description, og:image tags set
og:image is at least 1200x630 pixels
Twitter Card tags set (twitter:card, twitter:image)
og:url matches canonical URL exactly
og:type set correctly (article for blog posts)
Page experience and Core Web Vitals
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) under 0.1
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) under 200ms
No intrusive interstitials blocking content on mobile
Images served in next-gen format (WebP or AVIF)
Indexing and crawlability
Page returns HTTP 200 status code
Not blocked by robots.txt
No noindex meta tag present
Page is included in XML sitemap
No canonical pointing to a different page unless intentional
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