On-page and technical SEO checklist for WordPress

On-page and technical SEO checklist for WordPress

• Title tag
• Meta description
• Headings
• Permalinks
• Search intent
• Alt text
• Internal links
• Core Web Vitals
• Schema
• Sitemap
• Mobile UX
• Indexing
• Canonical
• HTTPS
• Redirects
• Robots.txt

Quick answer: 12 SEO checks that matter most

• Pick one primary keyword per page and match the search intent.
• Write a title tag under 60 characters with the keyword near the start.
• Add a meta description of 140 to 160 characters with a clear benefit.
• Use one H1, then organise the page with H2, H3 and H4 headings.
• Keep the URL short, lowercase and free of filler words.
• Make sure the page is indexable: no stray noindex, a correct canonical and one HTTPS version.
• Compress images, use WebP and write descriptive alt text.
• Add 3 to 5 relevant internal links with natural anchor text.
• Pass Core Web Vitals on mobile.
• Add schema markup with Rank Math or Yoast.
• Verify Google Search Console and GA4 so you can measure the results.
• Request indexing in Google Search Console and track the results.

Why on-page SEO matters on WordPress

• WordPress makes publishing easy, but default settings often create slow pages, duplicate URLs and thin archives.
• Solid SEO optimization starts on the page itself, where you control every word, tag and line of markup.
• This checklist is interactive: tick each item as you finish it and watch the progress ring at the bottom fill up.
• It covers on-page, technical and trust checks, so you can audit a page from the title tag all the way to indexing.
• It works for blog posts, service pages, category pages and WooCommerce products.
• Plan on about an hour per page the first time, and 20 minutes once it becomes routine.

Titles, descriptions and URLs

Title tag

What to check

• Under 60 characters. Google cuts longer titles off in the results.
• Keyword up front. Place the primary keyword in the first few words, written naturally.
• Unique on every page. Never reuse a title from another URL.

What to avoid

• Keyword stuffing, such as repeating the same phrase three times.
• Putting the brand name before the topic.

Meta description

What to check

• 140 to 160 characters. Written for a human reader, not a robot.
• Keyword plus benefit. Include the keyword and one clear reason to click.
• Social preview. Set an Open Graph title, description and image so shared links look right.

Why it still matters

• It is not a direct ranking factor, but a sharper description lifts click-through rate.
• Google may rewrite it, so let the first sentence carry the main message.

URL and permalink

What to check

• Post name structure. Set it under Settings > Permalinks.
• Three to five words. Lowercase, separated by hyphens, no stop words.
• No dates or parameters. Clean URLs stay valid when content is refreshed.

What to remember

• Changing a live URL without a 301 redirect throws away its ranking history.

Headings and content structure

Heading hierarchy

What to check

• Exactly one H1. It should contain the primary keyword.
• Logical levels. H2 for main sections, H3 for sub-topics, H4 for details.
• No skipped levels. Change the size with CSS, not by picking a smaller tag.

Why it helps

• Headings give Google and screen readers a map of the page.
• Clear H2s often win featured snippets and "People also ask" slots.

Content quality and E-E-A-T

What to check

• Answer first. Give the main answer in the first screen of text.
• First-hand proof. Add screenshots, results or real examples.
• Author and date. Show who wrote the page and when it was last updated.
• Clear call to action. Tell visitors what to do next: contact you, subscribe or buy.
• Jump links. Add a table of contents to long articles so readers can skip to what they need.

Keywords and search intent

Choose the right keyword

What to check

• Study the top ten. Match the format that already ranks: guide, list or product page.
• Early mention. Use the keyword within the first 100 words.
• Variety. Use synonyms and related questions instead of repeating one phrase.
• Snippet-ready answer. Define the topic in 40 to 60 words directly under a question-style H2.

Intent at a glance

• Informational searches want guides and how-tos.
• Commercial searches want comparisons and reviews.
• Transactional searches want service or product pages.

Avoid keyword cannibalization

• One keyword, one page. Merge or redirect pages that compete for the same query.
• Keep a map. Track URLs and target keywords in one spreadsheet.

Images and media

Optimise every image

What to check

• Modern format. Convert to WebP or AVIF and aim for files under 150 KB.
• Descriptive file names. Use onpage-seo-checklist.webp, not IMG_4021.
• Useful alt text. Describe the image in plain language for people and crawlers.
• Set dimensions. Width and height attributes prevent layout shifts.

Extras

• Lazy-load images below the fold, but never the main hero image.
• Add captions where they help readers understand the visual.

Internal and external links

Internal links

What to check

• Three to five links. Use descriptive anchor text, never "click here".
• Link from strong pages. Point older high-traffic pages to newer ones.
• No orphan pages. Every page should receive at least one internal link.

Why it matters

• Every professional website keeps its key pages within three clicks of the homepage, and your links should make that structure obvious.

External links

• Cite trusted sources. Link out only when it supports a claim.
• Use the right rel. Add rel="sponsored" to paid links and rel="noopener" to new-tab links.
• Fix broken links. Scan for 404 errors once a month.

Crawling and indexing

Make the page indexable

What to check

• No accidental noindex. Check the page meta robots tag and the robots.txt file.
• Self-referencing canonical. Every page should point to its own preferred URL.
• One site version. Choose www or non-www and force HTTPS with a single 301 redirect.
• Listed in the sitemap. The URL appears in the XML sitemap and returns a 200 status.
• Clean redirects. Avoid chains and loops; send each old URL to its new one in one hop.
• No 404 leftovers. Restore or redirect deleted pages that still had links or traffic.

Control thin and duplicate pages

• Noindex low-value archives. Tag archives, internal search results and empty categories add little.
• Redirect attachment pages. Send media attachment URLs to the page or file they belong to.
• Tidy pagination. Give paginated pages self-referencing canonicals, not one canonical to page one.

Why it matters

• Google has a limited crawl budget for every site, so thin pages steal attention from the pages that earn money.
• Duplicate URLs split ranking signals between versions of the same content.

Speed and mobile usability

Core Web Vitals

Targets to hit

• LCP under 2.5 seconds. The main content should appear fast.
• INP under 200 ms. Taps and clicks should respond instantly.
• CLS under 0.1. Nothing should jump while the page loads.

How to fix it on WordPress

• Install a caching plugin and enable page caching and file minification.
• Remove unused plugins and heavy page-builder widgets.
• Choose a fast host running PHP 8.2 or newer.
• Serve static files through a CDN if your visitors are spread across countries.

Mobile experience

• Readable and tappable. Use 16px body text and tap targets of at least 48px.
• No intrusive popups. Test the page on a real phone, not only in a desktop preview.

Security, trust and tracking

HTTPS and security

• Valid SSL certificate. No browser warnings, and the certificate renews automatically.
• No mixed content. Every image, script and font loads over HTTPS.
• Everything updated. Keep WordPress core, themes and plugins on current versions.
• Firewall in place. Use a security plugin or a host-level firewall and keep backups.

Trust pages

• Core pages exist. Publish About, Contact and Privacy Policy pages and link them in the footer.
• Author profiles. Give every author a bio with credentials and links to their other work.

Tracking and measurement

• Search Console verified. Confirm ownership and check the Pages and Performance reports.
• GA4 installed. Make sure the tracking code loads once and is not duplicated.
• Key events tracked. Record form submissions, phone clicks and purchases as conversions.

Special cases

If your site needs extra checks

• Multilingual sites. Add hreflang tags so each language version points to its counterparts.
• Local businesses. Keep name, address and phone identical everywhere and claim your Google Business Profile.
• WooCommerce stores. Write unique product descriptions, add Product schema and control filter URLs.

Schema and WordPress setup

Structured data and plugin settings

What to check

• Schema added. Use Article, Breadcrumb, Organization or LocalBusiness and validate it in the Rich Results Test.
• One SEO plugin only. Rank Math or Yoast is enough; running both causes conflicts.
• Sitemap submitted. Send the XML sitemap to Google Search Console.
• Visibility on. Make sure "Discourage search engines" is unticked under Settings > Reading.

After you publish

• Request indexing. Use URL Inspection in Search Console.
• Review in 2 to 4 weeks. Check impressions, clicks and position, then refresh the page.

Common SEO mistakes on WordPress

Frequently asked questions

Final thoughts