seo

On Page & Off Page SEO Checklist

On Page & Off Page SEO Checklist


seo · checklist

SEO is an ever changing animal. This checklist was compiled based on what the current perceived best practices are as of 1/28/2016

Downloadable PDF Version

On-Page

  1. Short SEO Friendly URLs ("-" for spaces, reads easy, keyword rich)
  2. Start Title with Keyword - your title is the most important on-page SEO factor. The closer the keyword is to the beginning of the title the more weight it has.
  3. Add Multimedia - Images, videos, and diagrams can reduce bounce rate and increase time on site.
  4. Use Outbound Links - Outbound links to related pages is a relevancy signal that helps Google figure out your page's topic. Usually 2-4 outbound links per 1000 words. Keep in mind sites you link to reflect on you.
  5. Keywords in First 100 Words - Your keyword should appear in first 100-150 words of article.
  6. Wrap Title in H1 Tag - Your page title should be in an H1 tag.
  7. Page Load Speed - It shouldn't take more than 4 seconds to load your page. There are several tools to check site speed. Here's one: GTMetrix
  8. Add modifiers to Your Title - Adding modifiers like "2015", "Best", "Guide", "How To", etc. help long tail ranking.
  9. Use Social Sharing Tools - While it doesn't play a direct role in your rank. It does help get more eyes on your content.
  10. Longer Content is Better - Content is king. Aim for at least 2000 words when targeting keywords.
  11. Sprinkle in Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) Keywords - LSI keywords are synonyms Google uses to determine page relevancy. You can find these by searching for a keyword, then scroll to bottom of SERP and see "Searches related to" area.
  12. Internal Linking - When appropriate, add keyword rich internal links to other content on your site.
  13. Image Optimization - Make sure the file name includes your keyword and also include keyword in Alt text.

Off-Page

  1. Off-Page SEO Checklist - several topics discussed in length.
  2. Keyword Research - This ties into on-page, but here is a good resource keyword research
  3. Link Building - many of these were mentioned in my SEO tools list
    • Find Bloggers - get reviews on your stuff
    • Find potential outreach blog opportunities by searching for relevant topics on Alltop
    • Find proven infographic topics on Visual.ly by searching for a relevant topic, and sorting by number of views.
Best Free SEO Tools

Best Free SEO Tools


tools · seo

Whether you're developing a new site, or enhancing an existing site, these are some of the best free SEO tools I've found.

Analytics

  1. Google Analytics - If you're exposing your site externally, this is a must have.

Webmaster Tools

  1. Google Webmaster Tools - This is another required tool if site is external.
  2. Bing Webmaster Tools - Microsoft's version of Google webmaster tools. It's optional, but recommended.

Keyword Tools

  1. Google Adwords Keyword Tool - Starting point for keyword researc
  2. Google Trends - great for checking query volumes
  3. Ubersuggest - Keyword research ideas.

Toolkits

  1. SEOBook - Has booth free and paid tools
  2. SEO Site Tools - Chrome plugin
  3. MozBar - SEO toolbar for chrome/firefox
  4. SEO Quake - SEO toolbar for Chrome. Obtains information about any site. Helps with keyword competition determination.

Miscellaneous

  1. Builtwith - Shows behind the scenes info for competitor websites
  2. Xenu - Desktop app for finding broken links
  3. Browseo - View your site how a search engine does
  4. Internet Marketing Ninjas On-Page Optimization Analysis - on-page analysis tool to check internal/external links
  5. XML Sitemap Generator - create your XML sitemap
  6. Rich Snippets Testing Tool - See how Google views your structured data markup.
  7. Duplicate Content Checker
  8. Majestic SEO - Link explorer tool.
  9. Open Site Explorer - Link explorer tool.
  10. Ahrefs - Link analysis tool. Track keyword rankings for your site.
  11. Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool - Desktop app that spiders websites links, images, css, scrips from an SEO perspective.
  12. Alltop - Good for finding topics for potential outreach opportunities (link building).
  13. Visual.ly - Get proven infographics for your topic.

SERP Tools

  1. SEM Rush - View of the competitive SERP landscape.
  2. WhatsMySerp - Keyword rank checker.

Content Strategy

  1. Content Strategy Generator - Helps you plan content strategy intelligently using keyword research
  2. Infographic Generator - Free tool for creating infographics using templates.
  3. Piktochart - Free infographic generator.