On-page SEO is the foundation of a strong search strategy and the most controllable way to influence a page’s visibility. It focuses on individual pages of content that are optimized for search engines and users, making it easier to rank and attract organic traffic. From keyword targeting to content structure, every detail plays a role in how well your page performs.

I have not one, but two On-Page SEO Checklists for you to use as you try to conquer the SERPs.

On-Page SEO vs Off-Page (The Main Differences)

On-page SEO refers to optimizations made directly on a web page, focusing on structure, content and some technical elements to achieve better search rankings. We’ll get into this more, but this covers things like keyword strategies, readability, internal linking, and content quality.

Off-page SEO refers to the optimization of external factors (trust and authority signals) that influence your site’s standing and discoverability in search results. This includes earning backlinks, brand mentions, social signals—all demonstrating to an algorithm that your site is trusted and deserves visibility.

On-Page SEO Tasks

I want to cover the five main types of on-page SEO tasks next. I’ve grouped them into categories based on the similarity of objectives but also where the tasks take place in your tech stack (on your website, in an SEO rank tracker, etc.).

After an in-depth look at each of these, I have two on-page SEO checklists for you to use. One is a checklist to use when you’re creating a new page. The second checklist is good when you are reevaluating a page and making optimizations to it based on the data you’ve collected about the page’s performance thus far. They are really similar but different enough to warrant separate lists depending on the task at hand.

1. Keyword & Topic Optimization

Keyword and topic optimization is the backbone of on-page SEO. When you hit the right strategy of topic and keywords, your content should communicate to your readers that they’ve found exactly the content they were searching for

For new pages, this means digging into SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find winnable keywords (you can use the heuristic keyword difficulty in many keyword research tools to approximate your likelihood of ranking).

Next, double-check the search intent—do users want information? Or do they want to navigate to a specific place or purchase something? I like using the competitor analysis tool SpyFu for comparing my websites with competitors on topical coverage.

For existing pages, it’s more about auditing and backfilling holes in what you offer readers. Use Google Search Console to see which queries drive traffic, spot any pages losing steam (less traffic, fewer queries), and check if multiple pages are fighting over the same keyword (cannibalization). You’ll want to see what top-ranking competitors are doing to see if they have any content gaps (e.g., a missing opinion or unanswered question).

Adding things others aren’t talking about is called “information gain.” But don’t introduce too much because then you run the risk of shifting the topic and creating a mismatch between your intended keyword and its established search intent.

2. Title, URL & Meta Optimization

Your title, URL, and meta description are your page’s front door—they need to invite clicks and signal relevance. These things are not ranking signals but are very important for clickthrough rates.

Title tags should be under 60 characters, trying to keep your keyword at the beginning and adding some interest. Meta descriptions ought to be between 155 and 160 characters. They should use a clear and enticing description of what is on the page. Google will often rewrite these to match particular search queries or shorten them if they are too long. Properly writing these reduces the chances Google needs to rewrite them (adding consistency to your tests and CTR).

Tips for Title Tags

• Front-load important keywords for better SEO performance
• Include your brand name at the end, separated by a pipe “|” (especially for Local SEO)
• Consider that wider characters (m, w) take up more pixel space than narrow ones (i, l) and that character count is an approximation

Best Practices for Meta Descriptions

• Include a clear call-to-action that encourages clicks
• Incorporate primary keywords naturally
• Provide a compelling summary of what users will find on the page
• Focus on value proposition rather than keyword stuffing

Keep the URL short and keyword-rich (e.g., site.com/houston-dog-grooming). For existing pages, you should be looking at underperforming titles and metas (as judged by GSC click-through rates).

3. Content Quality

There are no hard and fast rules for making Google recognize your content as “high-quality.” However, there are mental models that you can use to judge your content to see if the aura of quality is, in fact, there.

Content Length & Readability

Great content keeps users hooked and signals expertise to search engines. If you are writing a blog post, aim for at least 1,200 words, but adjust based on what ranks in your search term and niche. There is no minimum or maximum content requirement that Google enforces, but I want to get you thinking that more than 400 words are typically needed. I know some “SEO agencies” that charge an arm and a leg for a 400-word blog post and title tag/meta description. This is likely not good enough.

Depending on the amount of content on your website (number of URLs) and the topical relevance of the pages, you will want to add a good number of internal links to the page you are working on. These internal links should use roughly the same anchor text (especially if your site was hit with a helpful content update HCU). Don’t over do this—make sure each link is natural to the page that it is on. Unnatural links are a huge negative signal (and they are easily avoidable).

Include Engaging Visuals

Finally, consider what images, tables, graphs, and data displays would be helpful for your readers. Don’t add these things if they aren’t helpful for your readers (it’s a waste of time if so). For images, I love searching Google Images for inspiration from competitors. I often find that if I dedicate an hour, I can create an even better image than a competitor. Paying attention to detail is always helpful. Make sure images have alt tags set up.

4. Technical Optimization

Technical optimizations often blur the lines between on-page and technical SEO, but the topic can be relevant either way. The first goal of technical optimization is making sure your page loads reasonably fast. The second goal is that your website is sufficiently marked up (semantic HTML, accessibility labels, and schema) so that users and search engines have zero trouble understanding your site content.

Improving Page Load Speed

For the first goal, optimization plugins can go a long way in making a website fast with fairly little effort. Part of that is using a theme that is responsible with its cache and page footprint. Another thing is not bloating a site with unnecessary plugins. Quality hosting and image optimization round this goal out. We’ve covered each of these in-depth elsewhere on the blog that you should feel free to read (see the links throughout this paragraph).

Enhancing Website Markup & Accessibility

The second goal requires more creative problem-solving. Semantic HTML is easy to implement with the most basic items (like header, nav, article, main, and footer). However, since there are 100 semantic elements available, it can be conceptually tricky when working on a specific problem (just read this thread to see how it can get tricky).

Making a website accessible is another thing that takes a lot of research. Still, it’s worth it to open up your website to more people (plus, the labeling is also machine-readable, helping search engines understand a page better). Schema is also another way to help search engines and LLMs figure out what your content is about—otherwise it can guess and be wrong.

5. Misc On-Page Tasks

Before hitting “publish,” double-check that everything’s set for success. I like to test my page URL against my robots.txt and meta robots tags to confirm that search engines can index the page. This is easy to do with a Chrome Extension like Sprout SEO Extension.

While checking that, validate that your schema is properly configured with Google’s Rich Results Test. If it’s malformed, you might not get the benefit of making it into SERP features and snippets.

Also, make sure the page has a clear call-to-action—whether it’s “Download our guide” or “Share this post”—so that it contributes to your business/goals.

On-Page SEO Checklist for New Pages

Here’s the high-level checklist for performing on-page SEO for a new page. Below, I cover each category with a little more detail.

Checklist for Optimizing Existing Pages

The checklist for optimizing on-page SEO for an existing URL is that you should have some historical data to work with. This allows you to make better-informed decisions instead of only relying on best practices.

Checking Your Progress

With all the hundreds of minor changes you could make, you want a good way of tracking how things pan out. SEO is all about testing different things to see what moves the needle. You can create solid on-page SEO tests by following the on-page SEO checklists above. Going forward, you need a way to track how those on-page changes are performing.

Keep Optimizing for Long-Term Success

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