The Ultimate 45-Point SEO Checklist for 2022

Are you trying to thrust much integrated postulation to your website? Looking for an SEO checklist that would amusement you precisely what to bash to marque it happen? 

In this article, we've compiled each the tasks that volition lead to SEO occurrence successful 2022 and beyond. 

Plus, we vouch for them to work. The checklist you’re astir to work is based connected our team's combined years of hands-on acquisition successful helping immoderate of the largest brands successful the satellite with their SEO strategies. Our enactment has helped thousands of brands predominate the hunt results, boost hunt visibility, and thrust integrated postulation and income from integrated search. 

The Ultimate SEO Checklist for 2022 (and Beyond!)

We’ve organized the checklist by antithetic areas of SEO focus. This way, you tin either enactment done those tasks successful crook oregon prime an country you’d similar to enactment connected close now. 

• • Part I. The SEO Setup >
  • Part II. SEO Basics >
  • Part III. Keyword Research Checklist >
  • Part IV. SEO Content Writing Checklist >
  • Part V. On-page SEO Checklist >
  • Part VI. Technical SEO Checklist >
  • Part VII. Link Building Checklist >

Part I. The SEO Setup

First, let’s screen the astir cardinal tasks to bash earlier launching into moving connected gathering hunt visibility. 

#1. Set up Google Search Console (GSC)

GSC is simply a escaped instrumentality that lets you way your site’s show successful Google and show immoderate imaginable errors oregon indexation issues. Sign up for GSC if you haven't already!

#2. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT)

BWT is Bing’s equivalent of Google’s Search Console. Set it up to show your site’s show successful that hunt motor arsenic well. Here's a nexus to set up your Bing Webmaster account.

#3. Set up Google Analytics (GA)

GA is different free SEO tool from Google that lets you show your postulation and however visitors interact with the site. 

And yes, we person the nexus for you: Sign up for Google Analytics!

 

#4. Select and Set up an SEO Platform

To physique beardown hunt visibility, you request entree to a full scope of SEO data. Far much than immoderate of the tools supra tin deliver. You indispensable besides beryllium capable to slice, dice, merge, and comparison the accusation to observe insights that tin powerfulness your SEO campaign. 

Enter an SEO platform, a instrumentality that volition present each that penetration and more. 

An SEO level volition assistance you with information collection, analysis, and successful the lawsuit of our level - seoClarity - supply AI-power to assistance you marque amended decisions astir your visibility.

Ready for an endeavor SEO level that helps prioritize the idiosyncratic acquisition supra each different factors? Schedule a quick demo today. 

Part II. SEO Basics

In this section, you’ll observe archetypal tasks that volition assistance you motorboat the SEO strategy. 

#5. Create the XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap is simply a record that lists the astir important pages connected your site. In SEO, the record helps hunt engines to discover, crawl, and scale your content.

Your CMS strategy should beryllium capable to make the sitemap automatically. Otherwise, you tin usage a crawler to physique it. 

(Creating a sitemap done Clarity Audits crawler successful seoClarity)

#6. Create and Review Robots.txt File

The Robots.txt file contains assorted directives for hunt engines. Among different things, the record tells hunt motor bots which sections of the tract they tin and can’t crawl and index. 

#7. Review GSC Data for Manual Actions, Errors, oregon Coverage Issues

Before launching the SEO campaign, reappraisal the GSC Coverage conception for immoderate imaginable issues oregon errors, Google mightiness person discovered connected your site. These issues could see pages the hunt motor couldn’t crawl, 404 pages, and different errors. 

#8. Run an Initial Site Crawl to Ensure that Google Can Index the Site

Finally, acceptable up a crawler connected your SEO level to measure the site. In this archetypal crawl, wage attraction to immoderate issues with crawling and indexing your content. This elemental enactment volition assistance you destruct imaginable method issues that mightiness hinder your actions moving forward. 

If Google can't crawl your content, it won't onshore successful the hunt results!

(Crawl results dashboard successful seoClarity)

Part III. Keyword Research Checklist

Below is simply a database of tasks that volition assistance you recognize however customers hunt for your brand’s products oregon services. 

#9. Identify Topics Your Audience Cares About

Before launching into keyword research, you indispensable recognize the wide acceptable of problems your assemblage searches for online. We notation to these problems arsenic topics - wide concepts that the radical you’d similar to pull to your tract attraction about. 

For example, “SEO” successful itself is simply a topic, alternatively than a keyword. It would see galore imaginable subtopics and keywords that you could absorption your pages on. 

#10. Identify Seed Keywords

Seed keywords are phrases that picture your product, category, industry, oregon niche that are not related to your marque name. These phrases archer your assemblage what you do. 

For example, our effect keywords subordinate to SEO tools, SEO platform, and truthful connected due to the fact that that’s what our merchandise is. 

For much accusation astir uncovering effect keywords, cheque retired this guide to keyword research. 

#11. Research More Keywords Relating to Your Core Topics

Your assemblage mightiness besides beryllium researching issues that bash not straight subordinate to your merchandise oregon service. Identifying those further keywords volition assistance you recognize what your assemblage wants to cognize arsenic they proceed done the buying journey. 

#12. Find Long-tail Keywords Based connected Seed Terms

Long-tail keywords are 3-word oregon longer variations of effect terms. These phrases mightiness person little hunt measurement but present overmuch higher conversion rates, typically.

Here’s how to find long-tail keywords. 

#13. Evaluate the Search Intent

Search intent defines the crushed wherefore idiosyncratic conducts a peculiar search. To rank, your contented indispensable align with the applicable hunt intent for its superior keyword. It indispensable see applicable accusation and lucifer the format and magnitude perfect for the intent. 

Here’s much accusation connected the search intent. 

#14. Conduct Competitive Keyword Research

Competitive keyword probe helps you recognize whom you’re competing against successful the SERP and what keywords thrust those companies’ success. With this process, you tin uncover caller keyword opportunities accelerated and larn much astir your assemblage based connected the competitors’ experience. 

Additional reading: How to Do Competitive Keyword Research

#15. Research Your Content Gaps

Content gaps is simply a process akin to competitory keyword research, aiming to observe phrases that your competitors fertile for already, and you don’t. Comparing your and a competitor’s keyword acceptable tin uncover caller opportunities and amusement you wherever other you should beryllium gathering the hunt visibility. 

Learn how to place and adjacent the contented gap.

#16. Review the Difficulty of Your Target Keywords

Keyword difficulty defines your likelihood of ranking for a peculiar keyword. At seoClarity, we usage a Page Strength metric, a operation of everything Google looks astatine erstwhile evaluating a page, to measure its chances astatine ranking. 

Part IV. SEO Content Writing Checklist

In this section, you’ll observe each steps required to make SEO-focused contented to fertile and physique hunt visibility.

#17. Review the Keyword’s Search Intent

Customers hunt for peculiar accusation for a reason. Your page, therefore, indispensable conscionable and ideally transcend their hunt intent. In practice, this involves including applicable details and optimizing the page’s format to the user’s intent. 

(Keyword intent successful seoClarity's Topic Explorer.)

#18. Review Top-ranking Content for Patterns

Go done each the top-ranking pages successful the hunt results to place communal elements that present connected the user’s intent. These would see the optimal magnitude arsenic good arsenic immoderate modular sections each those pages include. 

#19. Identify Any Additional Information to Include

Using AI-powered tools similar Content Fusion, measure the audience’s needs to observe what different accusation to see successful the content. 

#20. Expand the Content with Semantic Keywords

Semantic keywords are variations of your superior hunt operation and different presumption that assistance Google recognize the discourse down the content. Adding them passim the contented volition marque the page’s taxable clearer and assistance Google fertile your contented for much applicable hunt phrases. 

Curious to spot however you tin optimize transcript astatine scale? Try our two-week free proceedings of Content Fusion to bring occurrence to your organization.

#21. Focus connected the Content’s Introduction

Include the superior keyword successful the content’s opening paragraph, and guarantee that its taxable is wide to readers and hunt motor crawlers.

#22. Make Content Easy to Read

Visitors are much apt to work pages that bash not necessitate excessively overmuch of their attention. Write successful elemental connection to engage your audience, and support them longer connected a page. Doing truthful volition supply a amended idiosyncratic experience, summation engagement, and nonstop a beardown authorization awesome to the hunt engine. 

#23. Optimize the Content for the Mobile

Part V. On-page SEO Checklist

Actions beneath volition assistance you optimize contented for applicable keywords and guarantee rankings. 

#24. Evaluate the SERP Patterns

Check however different top-ranking pages presumption themselves successful the SERP, what transcript they usage successful metatags and their attack to content. By doing so, you volition place the champion attack to lucifer the hunt intent. 

#25. Use a Short URL Slug 

Do not replicate the page’s header successful the URL slug. Instead, make abbreviated and SEO-friendly URLs that incorporate the superior keyword oregon its saltation only. 

#26. Write an Engaging Meta Title Matching the SERP Intent

The rubric tag is the archetypal constituent of your listing a idiosyncratic mightiness announcement successful the SERP. Make it basal retired and absorption connected patterns utilized by different top-ranking contented to align the rubric with the user’s intent. 

If you're meta is already written, don't beryllium acrophobic to spell backmost and update it! This tin pb to immoderate speedy wins. 

TIP: Ideally, see the keyword arsenic adjacent to the commencement of the rubric tag arsenic possible.

#27. Write a Compelling Meta Description

The meta rubric volition drawback the person’s attention, portion the meta description, connected the different hand, volition marque a committedness astir the contented that volition person the scholar to click.

Include the keyword successful the meta description, and explicate what accusation the idiosyncratic volition find connected the page.

#28. Use the Primary Keyword (or Its Variation) successful the H1 Tag

Also, marque definite that determination is lone 1 H1 tag connected the page. This header is simply a beardown ranking factor, sending a relevancy awesome astir the page’s contented to the hunt engine. 

#29. Include Internal and External Links

Internal links assistance you signifier the contented into taxable hubs and amusement readers what different applicable accusation they could find connected your site. On the different hand, outer links summation the authorization of your contented and showcase your willingness to assistance a scholar lick their problem.

Internal links are nether your nonstop control, truthful marque definite they enactment for you! Here's a adjuvant resource: Internal Linking Strategies to Build Site Authority successful SEO. 

#30. Use Descriptive Alt Tags

Part VI. Technical SEO Checklist

The actions beneath volition assistance you support the tract to the highest method modular and destruct immoderate imaginable crawling and indexing issues. 

#31. Conduct Regular Site Audits

Site audits assistance measure your tract and find whether it is hunt friendly. But to support a tract to the highest standard, you indispensable tally tract audits regularly. The crushed is elemental - Websites evolve, and arsenic a result, caller issues and method errors originate that tin hinder your SEO efforts. 

#32. Identify Crawl Errors

Crawl errors hap erstwhile the hunt motor cannot crawl and fertile that content. As portion of regular tract audits, reappraisal some GSC and your crawl results for immoderate crawl errors, and hole them to let Google to scale each your content. 

#33. Review Indexing

Similarly, usage Google Search Console’s sum study to reappraisal however galore of your site’s pages Google has indexed and whether determination are immoderate assets that it recovered hard to rank.

#34. Review the Sitemap successful GSC

Using GSC’s Sitemaps report, cheque whether the hunt motor tin entree and work your sitemap record correctly and whether it tin scale each pages you’ve listed there. 

#35. Review Robots.txt File

Similarly, measure your robots.txt file. In particular, wage attraction to immoderate tract sections you mightiness beryllium blocking from bots successful there. 

You tin reappraisal the record manually oregon fto the tract crawler to entree and analyse it for you. 

#36. Check Site and Page Speed

In the past mates of years, page speed has go 1 of the astir important ranking factors. Review your site’s velocity regularly, and optimize immoderate elements that mightiness beryllium slowing down your pages successful the browser. 

(Page velocity study successful seoClarity)

#37. Review Mobile-friendliness

With the mobile-first index, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly pages, works accelerated connected mobile devices, and provides a bully mobile idiosyncratic experience.

#38. Review HTTPS Encryption

Google confirmed that HTTPS encryption is simply a “lightweight” ranking factor, arsenic it increases the information connected a leafage for users. As portion of the method tract audit, reappraisal your encryption for immoderate imaginable errors oregon files linked to old, HTTP-based URLs.

#39. Identify Broken Links and Redirects

Both of these volition besides impact whether crawler bots tin entree each the required contented wrong their allocated crawl budget. Broken links volition halt a crawler successful their tracks. It besides won’t travel excessively agelong redirect chains and halt trying to entree the redirected content. 

#40. Review JavaScript (JS) Rendering

Although hunt engines get amended and amended astatine rendering JavaScript, they inactive brushwood problems with doing so. These problems effect successful your contented not being indexed. 

Set up your crawler to besides render JS and measure for immoderate imaginable issues with it. 

#41. Audit the Structured Data

The Schema.org structured markup allows you to explicate the assorted elements connected the leafage to the hunt engines. With Schema, you tin amended hunt visibility and the integrated click-through rate, but that’s providing that you instrumentality it correctly.

Part VII. Link Building Checklist

Finally, the actions listed beneath volition assistance you summation the site’s authorization with backlinks. 

#42. Review Your Link Profile

Before gathering immoderate links, recognize wherefore your tract ranks wherever it does and what links thrust its authorization the most. Link illustration audit volition besides assistance you place and disavow toxic links that whitethorn beryllium preventing your tract from ranking better. 

#43. Analyze Competitors’ Backlinks

Conduct a akin investigation of the competitors’ nexus profiles. This enactment volition assistance you recognize what links thrust their occurrence successful SERPs and observe links that you could recreate for your site. 

#44. Prioritize Link Building Strategies Based connected Your Current Resources

Many nexus gathering strategies necessitate galore further resources, people, and clip to present results. When readying your nexus acquisition strategy, absorption connected strategies that you tin instrumentality astatine a standard utilizing existing resources. 

Explain however immoderate strategies necessitate further resources (i.e., content) portion others necessitate lone clip to complete. 

#45. Launch Organic Link Acquisition Campaigns Too

Closing Thoughts

There you person it, a complete, 45-point SEO checklist covering each tasks that volition thrust hunt visibility, rankings, integrated traffic, and income successful 2022 and beyond. 

But speech from those tasks we’ve listed above, determination is 1 different happening you indispensable retrieve erstwhile moving connected your company’s rankings and integrated visibility: SEO is practically intolerable to bash without a reliable root of data. From keyword probe to tract audits, SERP analysis, contented optimization, to nexus building, everything you bash requires information and information.

seoClarity is the starring all-in-one enterprise-level SEO level that tin assistance you standard SEO success. Access each of the AI-driven insights, large data, unmatched toolset, and perfectly nary artificial limitations to instrumentality your SEO to a full caller level.

Schedule your demo with 1 of my teammates contiguous to instrumentality a deeper look into our enterprise-level level and approach.