Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Checklist

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 wont 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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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 90/100)
A: ________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes it is important that your website downloads quickly for users as well as search
engines.
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q5: Is there a redirect for domain.com to www.domain.com (or vice versa)?

A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q6: 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 other methods to geo target rather than using the Geo target setting in GWMT.
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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Q7: Are you using Google Analytics to track your website visitors and their activity on your
website?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Planning Your SEO

Q8: Is your website easy to navigate?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes if users cannot navigate, search engine wont be able to either
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q9: Is your navigation broken into key categories according to the users needs?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes (try where possible to include target key phrases in page names)
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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Q10 Is the full URL visible in the address bar (all pages)?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q11: Does your website have quality content that people will want to read and share?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Q12: Are you adding extra value and quality content to your website on an on-going
basis?
A: ________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes, extremely important
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q13: Is your website up to date?

A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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Q14: Does your website have a text based sitemap? (Normally in footer)
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Optimising Page Content

Q15: Did you or your developer choose key phrases for each page before structuring the
website and writing the content?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes - you need to do research to understand what your customers and potential
customers are searching for in search engines
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q16: Do your page names contain your target key phrases?

A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Not absolute necessity but can help - try where possible to include target key
phrases in page names.
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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Q17: Do your internal pages URLs contain key phrases

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

Q18: Do your internal pages URLs contain any of the following characters? ?&%=
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: No not a necessity but it can take search engines longer to index pages with these
characters (remember to use 301 redirect is changing existing urls)
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q19: 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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes remember to ensure that the page reads well for the user
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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Q20: Is your content structured using H1-H6 headings?

A: _________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes, important for usability, accessibility and SEO.
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q21: Are your target key phrases repeated in the page H1-H6 heading?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q22: If you have a deep website are you using breadcrumb navigation?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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Q23: Are your target phrases included on your image alt text and titles?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes, remember this is primarily for accessibility so dont use target phrases unless
its relevant to do so
Note:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Q24: Does your website have internal links that lead the visitor to important sections?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q25: Are your target phrases included on internal links anchor text?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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Meta Data
Q26: Is the Meta data for each page individual and well optimised?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Inbound Links
Q27: Are you improving the amount and quality of inbound links your site has?
A: ________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes- extremely important
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q28: Do all inbound links land visitors on the most relevant page?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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Q29: Are your target phrases (for the landing page) on or around your inbound link?
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Correct answer: Yes
Note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Q30: 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:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sandra Hennessy T/A Be Dynamic

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