Search Engine Optimization SEO keeps evolving by the day, what you have learnt today about SEO may not be relevant tomorrow, so as SEO continues to evolve it is imperative we update ourselves always with the latest SEO trends. So today I want to share a comprehensive On-page SEO and Off-page SEO checklist to refresh our knowledge of SEO.
Being a blogger for over a year now, I have learnt a great deal about SEO and its intriguing how the concept itself keeps evolving. But what is even more interesting is keeping par with the changes. With Google and other search engines changing the search algorithm by 500 – 600 times every year, though most of these changes are minor but understanding the changes can help one stay ahead of the search engines and remain on top of the search results. So let’s see the comprehensive On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO checklist.
On-Page SEO Checklist:
Keywords in URL
Keywords in Title
Keywords in Description
Keywords in Keywords Meta Tag
Overall Keyword Density
Individual Keyword Density
Heading Tags – H1, H2, H3
Keywords in Bold
Keywords Next to Each Other (2+ Keywords)
Keyword Order makes Sense
Keyword in First Sentence
Keyword in Last Sentence
Keywords in Image ALT Tags
Internal Link Anchor Text
Webpage File Names
All Links Validated
Internet Linking Structure
Outbound Link Anchor text
Stable Link Partners
Limited Outbound Links
Links Only to High Quality, Authority Sites
Domain Name Extensions
Webpage File Size
Fresh Content & Regular Updates
URL Length
LSI Content Theming
Domain Age/Content Age
Off-Page SEO Checklist:
Forum Posting
Search Engine Submissions
Directory Submissions
Social Bookmarking
Link Exchange
Link Baiting
Cross-Linking
Photo Sharing
Video Promotion
Review Writing
Article Submission Press Release submission
Classified submission
Answers
Document/Slide sharing
CSS, W3C & RSS Directory Submission
PPC Ad campaign
Check Search Engine Road Blocks
Sitemap Submission
Google Webmaster Tools Account Setup and Monitoring
Robot.txt Optimization
Navigation & Design Optimization
Broken Link Checking
Canonicalization
Keyword Research
Website Analysis
Blog Commenting
Profile Creation
Link Wheel
Social Media Optimization
Just like I promised you earlier when I said I want to refresh your knowledge of SEO, I hope I have been able to achieve that with this article. Remember not to overdo it while implementing the SEO checklist as Google and other search engines frown at any SEO spam attempt. If you can implement the SEO checklist correctly you will in no time see the positive effect on your search engine rankings and the increased traffic to your blog will be the indication.
Must Read: On-Page SEO vs Off-Page SEO: Which is more important?
Do you think I omitted any On-page SEO or Off-Page SEO? Do you know of any other SEO tips that should belong to this checklist? Add it using the comment form below. Remember to subscribe to my RSS feed.
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Thanks Nwosu Mavtrevor, for sharing very handy experience. SEO work process is indeed not stable for long time, it’s changing often for better result. I really like the on-page and off-page SEO checklist suggestion you provided. It’s worth acknowledging.
Glad you found this post informative and interesting, of course SEO is on a constant change and as such we should always refresh our knowledge from time to time to remain on top of the SEO game.
Hi,
not sure about keywords in bold. This is the technique tah twas pretty much abused so Google doesn’t recommend to do that nowadays. But in general pretty solid list.
Keyword in bold, italics or underlined simply highlights the keyword as the format on it is simply to raise your awareness on it.
I heard that keyword density should be not more than 3%. is that correct ?
And about adding keywords – should we add the same keyword on all the places ??
Google will not penalize for this kind of stuff ?
Hi,
I like both the off-page and on-page seo checklist that you have shared. Quite informative after all. Yes, both these methods are equally important to optimize your website. Thanks for the share!!
The length of your article vs the number of times your keyword appear on it determines it % and you don’t need to add your keyword in all the places it will look like spam and Google will penalize you for it. Adding your keyword on the recommended places doesn’t mean it will increase your keyword density, for example keywords on the it on the most important places like title, url, description, ATL tag, wont count in the keyword density because it is not in the body of the article.
Am glad you find the list interesting…..
let us assume that the keyword is “pajama” and if I want to add this keyword in my post. So it should be pajama every where or can I add keywords like this “colorful pajamas”, “cheap pajamas”, “baby pajamas” etc etc.. Is this what you meant ??
or I just need to use only Pajama every where ?
As much as it is advisable to add related keywords to your content, the fact that your keyword ‘pajama’ appears on the related keywords like ‘cheap pajama’,’color pajama’ etc, it will still count on your keyword density because of the word pajama, but if a word like ‘night wear’ happens to mean same thing as ‘pajama’ for example, and is used in the article it will help you reduce the density of the keyword in the article.
But the point i was trying to make clear for you remains that keywords used in image ALT tag, description, etc or any other place other than the heading and body of the article may not influence the density much since they don’t actually appear on the article body.
Hi.
I agree with all those checklists but one. Google has announced that they are not analyzing the Meta Keywords tag anymore. There is no need to have that one now.
I really liked the way you rolled out the On-Page and Off-Page.
But when it comes to Off-Page SEO, make sure you don’t go off the limit. First of all , Google hates link exchange. Natural links are something Google always fall in love with. If you don’t have a limit in article submission and all, Search Engines will consider the link as a Spam paradise.
Good luck
Thanks a lot for sharing
Thanks for your comment, as much as the Meta keyword tags are not considered as search engine ranking factor anymore, it could still be used to categorize posts. And i agree with you totally about link building, just like i pointed out in the article, search engines frowns on any spam attempt, so natural link building will always be considered safe.
Thanks for explaining the topic deeply. I like your blog and the content in it.
Hope I’ll be visiting your blog frequently.
Thanks for your compliment…i hope you visit often.
Thanks Nwosu for in depth presentation of on and off page seo. seo indeed avast thing thing to master. liked it a lot and bookmarking it.
Glad you found it useful…
Much needed checklist for SEO specialists, I consider some of them are most important to gain better ranking. I would not consider all the methods should be required to gain more popularity.
You have written almost everything about on-page optimization. This would help me. Thanks for sharing
Am glad you found it useful…..thanks for visiting my blog.