SEO site optimization: detailed checklist 2023

Search or SEO optimization of the site is the key to effective ranking in search results and long-term presence in the top 10 Google results for key queries.

There are three important aspects SEO optimization — technical optimization of the site, convenience for users and creation of content taking into account the requirements of search engines. 

Each of these aspects involves a number of measures, and we will consider them in turn in this article.

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The technical component of SEO site optimization

Search optimization of the site depends on the study of the web resource by robots (bots or spiders). Therefore, everything should be done to simplify the process of understanding its content for them. Technical SEO site optimization includes various components that help to do this. 

Creating a structure 

An optimized site structure should improve user experience, provide easy access to information and work for effective SEO optimization. This is a solid foundation for the future web resource, which guarantees its long-term presence in the Internet space.

How to create the correct site structure:

Navigation

We are talking about the upper navigation bar with the logo and links to the main pages of the site, as well as the footer (the bottom part of the site) with links to pages, social networks, contact information, etc.

Page hierarchy

What does the correct hierarchy of pages look like:

↓ Home page.

• Categories or sections → Subcategories → Individual product or service pages.
• Pages About us, Contacts, Delivery, Payment.
• Blog or news. 
• Static pages: "Terms of use", "Privacy policy", "Frequently asked questions" or others.

It is important to consider that these are general recommendations, and the structure of the site may vary depending on the specific business, the type of site and its goals.

Domain registration in Google Search Console 

In order to track your actions regarding search engine optimization of the site, you should register a domain in the service Google Search Console from Google, which is free and allows you to do the following:

• Make sure that the resource is open for indexing by search bots.
• Get information about existing technical problems.
• Find out the number of external links.
• Analyze search traffic from Google.
• Determine the queries for which your site ranks best.

Check for errors

Technical errors can block the way for search robots to study the site. Therefore, the primary task is to check their presence and exclude them in case of detection. Page indexing can be affected by 404 (Page Not Found) or 500 (Server Error) errors. You can check their presence and correct them in Google Search Console. 

Creating a site map (sitemap) 

A sitemap is a file that contains a list of all the pages of your resource to help search engines index them better. This is also a very important element on which effective SEO optimization depends. 

Thanks to the sitemap, the robots better understand the structure of the site and find all the necessary pages that need to be added to the index. In addition, a sitemap can include page update dates to help search engines detect when changes have occurred on your site and update the index of changed pages more quickly. 

The correct sitemap simplifies its indexing, improves visibility in the results, thereby helping to attract more organic traffic to your site.

Creating a robots.txt file

The robots.txt text file contains instructions for robots about how they should index and crawl your site and what parts of your site they should ignore. This is very important to ensure better control over the process of indexing your site by search engines and proper SEO optimization.

In the robots.txt file, you can specify the following instructions: 

• User-agent. Indicates the specific search robot for which the instruction is created. For example, “User-agent: Googlebot” is directed to Google bots.
• Disallow. Specifies paths to pages or folders that search engines should not index. For example, “Disallow: /admin/” indicates that the page “/admin/” should be ignored.
• Allow. Specifies paths to pages or folders that robots can index despite the “Disallow” setting.
• Sitemap. Shows the path to the sitemap I talked about above.

Setting up one domain name

Each portal can be opened at several addresses at once:

• http://domain.com
• http://www.domain.com
• https://domain.com
• https://www.domain.com

However, this is not the best option, so you should leave only one of them, and that is with HTTPS. In addition, it must be a version without www. For all others, you need to install a redirect that will automatically direct the bots to the selected option. This will save your resource from ranking problems in Google. 

For search engine optimization, it is recommended to set up one main domain name, and not to use several of them. When all links and ranking are directed to one domain name, you concentrate all the power of SEO optimization on one resource. 

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SEO optimization of the site to improve usability

Google bots evaluate the site from the point of view of its level of convenience and security for users. Therefore, the following necessary elements of search engine optimization are:

• Availability of a mobile version.
• The speed at which the page opens. 
• Using the HTTPS protocol.

Let's consider these recommendations in more detail.

Mobile version

Google is currently indexing sites for mobile devices. That is, the ranking takes place taking into account the optimization of the web resource for smartphones and tablets. Therefore, if you do not have a mobile version, it will have a very negative effect on the seo promotion of the site. 

This approach is connected with the constant increase of mobile Internet users. In this way, Google tries to provide them not only with high-quality, but also with easy-to-perceive content. Considering the fact that the mobile Internet is becoming more and more common, creating a mobile version is more of a necessity for seo optimization than an unreasonable whim. 

Download speed

The algorithms of the most authoritative search engines consider the speed with which pages load as another ranking factor. Because it affects the user experience and their level of satisfaction from visiting the site. If pages load slowly, this can cause a decrease in visits and views. Because of this, your other SEO optimization efforts will be in vain and the site will rank poorly, inferior to competitors.

Google considers the optimal site loading speed to be - 2 seconds. 

You can check the page loading speed of your site using Google Lighthouse or through developer mode in the Network tab. 

HTTPS protocol

In addition to useful and convenient sites, search engines also like sites that are as safe as possible. One of the most important means of achieving this is the use of a protocol Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The latter, unlike ordinary HTTP, reliably encrypts data, which properly ensures the confidentiality of personal and payment information of users.

At present, its presence is mandatory for productive seo promotion of the site. After all, every time you go to a resource with the HTTP protocol, desktop browsers warn about the lack of a corresponding certificate and the possible danger associated with it. This does not have the best effect on attendance.

The absence of HTTPS significantly weakens organic traffic from search engines, because such sites do not open at all in Chrome and Opera mobile browsers, and popular search engines take this into account as an important signal to lower the ranking of the portal in the output. 

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SEO optimization of content on the website for promotion

It is about creating the right content that will be taken into account by search algorithms. In this direction, SEO optimization covers the following:

• Selection and proper use of keywords.
• Optimizing the Title and Description meta tags.
• Proper hierarchy and creation of headings
• Using good URLs.
• Image optimization.
• Use of internal links.
• Structured, high-quality, useful and interesting content.
• Outbound links. 

Semantic Core 

In order for your search engine optimization of the site to provide the desired results, you need to compile a semantic core that will contain the queries for which the web resource needs to be promoted. The best tools for creating a semantic core are Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Serpstat, SurferSEO.

Consider the queries that potential users might use to find the information you provide. It is important to choose keywords with adequate popularity and competitiveness. Also study competitors' platforms, research their keywords, meta tags, page titles and other elements that can have an impact on SEO optimization. This will help you find new ideas and establish an action plan for promoting the site.

The purpose of the Title and Description tags 

SEO optimization also applies to such important tags as Title and Description. The first must be unique for each URL and match the search query. It is best to place the keyword in the Title unchanged. The length of this tag should not exceed 60 characters.

The maximum length of Description is 160 characters. This text is intended for Internet users, as it is placed directly under the link to the site. Therefore, it should be made as informative as possible, targeted and attract the attention of readers with something that is not written about by competitors. This will improve the chances that people will go to the site in search of an answer to their question.

Title and Description create a snippet that a user sees after entering a keyword query and receiving a search result.  

Headings and subheadings

Headings on pages are no less important for search engine optimization. They should contain the key queries that drive the page. The optimal length of the H1 heading is 50-68 characters. Absence or duplication of H1 should be avoided.

It is necessary to use subheadings (H2 - H6), because it allows you to design an easy and readable text. At the same time, it is important to follow the correct hierarchy of headings. H3 cannot go before H2.

The URL of the pages

SEO optimization of the site also requires that you pay attention to the URL. They should be concise and informative. The main rule here is that the more people-oriented they are, the better. Therefore, quality URLs must have:

• be short enough;
• contain relevant search queries;
• have characters in lower case;
• contain separate words separated by a hyphen, not a space.

Adherence to these rules will improve the ranking of the site and ensure as many conversions to it as possible from search and social networks.

An example of a correct and SEO optimized url "https://svichkar-olga.com/services/linkbuilding/" 

Image

High-quality SEO optimization of the site is also impossible without setting up images. They are able to influence the quality of the resource, and therefore the ranking, in several ways.

• First, any broken images (this is a link to an image on a web page that doesn't display or load properly. Instead of an image, a wrong symbol, empty rectangle, or other image may be displayed) does not improve the image in search engines at all. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check the site with the help of special programs, getting rid of this problem in time.
• Secondly, "heavy" images can increase the time required for loading and, accordingly, the risk of the outflow of potential visitors. In this case, it may be necessary to reduce their size using special plugins.

However, even light and unbroken images need a caption and a completed ALT tag. ALT-text is a factor of site promotion. Search engines cannot "see" images, but they can analyze this text. Adding keywords or phrases to your ALT text can help increase the relevance of your image for relevant search queries.

In addition, it should be remembered that properly SEO-optimized website images that have been indexed will definitely appear in Google Images searches. The latter can provide additional organic traffic through promotion through various channels.

Internal relinking

As for how to optimize the site, I also have the following advice — use internal linking. The latter helps to improve not only indexing or navigation, but also allows you to redistribute weight under pages at your own discretion and improve user interaction with them. 

The longer visitors stay on your web resource and the more pages they view per session, the better the resource is promoted in the search engine. 

Interesting and useful content

Search optimization of the site requires interesting and useful content. This affects audience engagement and promotion on Google.

• Interesting content attracts the attention of visitors. If the content engages them and leaves a good impression, they will be more inclined to stay and look at other pages.
• Useful content helps engage your audience. If you provide valuable information or answer users' queries, they will be more interested in your services. 

But the most important thing about SEO optimization is that search engines evaluate the quality of content when determining the ranking of web pages. High-quality and interesting content increases the chances of effective promotion. This means that your site will be visible to potential visitors and will receive more organic traffic.

Interesting and useful content is an element of SEO site optimization, and its proper development and implementation in content strategy can have a significant impact on the success of the promotion of your web resource.

Outbound links to other sites

Outbound links to other web resources can affect the SEO optimization of the site. If you provide a source link to relevant and high-quality content, it can further emphasize the value of your page to search engines. Robots take such links as an indicator of your subject matter expertise, and this has a positive effect on promotion.

It is better to put the original links specifically thematic and authoritative resources, because search engines adhere to the following opinion - good resources always link to other worthy portals. Here is an example of a link to the official material from Google regarding introduction to search engine optimization.

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Link building is another component of SEO site optimization

In this article, we mostly considered the elements of internal and technical site optimization. However, in order to have more chances for better ranking and increasing the rating of the web resource, one should not forget about external optimization, namely about building external links to your portal from other sites. 

I suggest you read the article "Link building - the main strategy of external optimization of the site", in which this topic and the necessity of this process for SEO promotion are disclosed as much as possible. 

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