Mar 22, 2022

7 min read

SEO Checklist 2022: Basic Website Optimization

This article will cover the basic SEO Checklist setup for a brand new website.

We all know that Google dominates the search engine market, and most of the SEO and marketing is practiced under Google webmaster guidelines.

SEO is one of the most critical aspects of digital marketing, and every online business is implementing SEO for better search visibility on Google, Bing, Yahoo search, etc.

But here are some questions that might have crossed your mind — What about SEO for a brand new website? Should we do it? Will I get a ranking by implementing this checklist?

So I have written this SEO checklist blog to point out the basic implementation you should do and in the later part, I will discuss if you can get a ranking or not.

So let’s dive into SEO Checklist for New Website -

1. Clean Website Structure

Clean website structure, I have added this SEO checklist because having a website is the initial stage of any business.

While starting a new project, you must consider a clean website structure because many ranking factors are associated with it.

A clean site structure includes server response time, responsiveness, proper call-to-action buttons; fewer color schemes, and more.

So while designing a website, a clean structure should be the top priority.

Why is this important?

With a clean structure, you can focus on what users want to see.
Websites load faster.
It makes it easy for visitors to use.
It helps to increase the conversion rate.
High user experience.

2. Basic SEO Tools

The first thing you should set up after a clean site structure is some analytics and SEO plugins.

1. Analytics tools -

Google analytics tool.
Google webmaster tool.
Bing Webmaster tool.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that shows website data; you can get audience data, acquisition, behavior, conversions, and more.

Webmasters show the website errors, most hit pages, keywords, core web vitals, etc.

This information is very vital when planning marketing strategies to achieve your goals.

These SEO tools are free and very powerful.

2. SEO Plugins (WordPress only) -

Yoast SEO
All in one SEO
Rank Math

These are some of the most popular and essential SEO plugins. Remember, these plugins are only available on WordPress CMS. They come in both free and paid versions.

Why are these important?

Using these plugins, you can create sitemaps, update robot.txt files, update metadata easily, update 404 pages, implement canonical links, and more.

3. Keyword Research List

Keyword targeting is the most fundamental thing to do in SEO. Without it, your website is not going to rank for the correct terms.

Well, you can start keyword research by -

Listing up some primary (Single word) keywords or money keywords.
Listing up some long-tail keywords.

While the primary keywords are single words and are more specific to your business, the long-tail keywords are broad and should support your primary keywords.

It is helpful to create more search terms.

Tools & Techniques for finding keywords -

1. Google Keyword planner — Though designed for Google Adwords, it is still beneficial because keywords come directly from Google.

2. Use Google Suggest — Type the keyword of your business and wait for Google to show up more results. Here you can see what users are already searching for.

3. Use online communities — Such as Reddit, Quora, etc., where you can tap into communities related to your business and analyze what users are looking for.

4. Find & research your competitor — Look for which keywords your competitors are ranking.

5. Find question keywords — These keywords are important because people are looking for these queries, and answering them will increase the chances of search visibility.

Optimizing keywords -

You got a list of keywords for your business; now it is time to select and map them to your website.

Following are the factor that should keep in mind while selecting keywords -

1. Analyzing keywords metrics -

Search Volume.
Keyword Difficulty.
CPC (Cost per click).
Trends.

2. Create a keyword map — Find the intent of the webpage, whether the keyword should be used in an onsite blog, service page, or product page, according to the purpose of mapping these keywords.

4. On-Page SEO Checklist

Great, now that you have set up your website, implement SEO tools, and selected keywords. It’s time to do some On-page.

On-page or onsite optimization is the process that is implemented on your own website. You must follow the standards of Google webmaster guidelines to avoid getting penalized.

Here is a must needed checklist of on-page for a new website-

Check for a duplicate version of the website.
Generate and submit a sitemap.
Generate short URLs or Slugs.
Create URL using keywords.
Include keywords in the front of the Meta title
Using title tag modifiers such as best, checklist, top, review, etc.
Use keywords in H1, H2, etc.
Avoid using multiple H1-tags.
Add an Alt Tag to the image.
Use keywords synonyms and LSI words in webpage content.
Use internal and external links.
Check for page depth; it should be three clicks away from the homepage.

5. Technical SEO Checklist

Tech SEO goes more in-depth of a website root, such as an issue from the server-side or checking the crawlability of a website.

Following is the Technical SEO checklist -

Find crawl error using Google webmaster.

Inspect URL to check how Google views your page.
Check if the website is a mobile-friendly site.

Fix any broken links.
Check for HTTPS errors and secure the site with a secure protocol.
Check for site loading speed.

6. Content Checklist

We all know that content is the king. And to rank in a search engine, good content is what you need.

Tip: Content should be written for the user while optimizing your keywords. A well-written content that solves the user queries are most likely to achieve a higher ranking in SERP.

Here is the content checklist that you can follow -

Write blogs using the skyscraper technique.
Break up long content into short lines (it helps to maintain the bounce rate low).
Cover the topic in-depth.
Use schema mark-ups.
Use images, charts, infographics, or visual content (if relevant).

7. Backlinks

Backlinks are an essential part of any SEO setup; they create authority by linking to your website.

You can create backlinks by using an off-page SEO technique, such as -

High-quality guest posting.
Competitor backlinks.
Mention influencers or other content creators.
Promote content to social media.

Some useful tips -

Delete the dummy content or pages before you go live.
Work page by page.
Do not leave any page empty or incomplete.
Avoid using stock images for your website.
Use a hero section on your website.
Stay active on social media.

Conclusion

This SEO setup is an essential and mandatory setup for any website.

If you have a very new website, it is essential to work on your website before promoting it. You have to check those setups and keep on modifying them as you go on.

Tip: Don’t push so hard to rank your new website within a month after going live. Instead, make your website valuable; keep on adding what users want.

Will I get a ranking implementing this SEO checklist?

SEO depends on many factors and variables that need to be considered. And organic SEO always shows unpredictable results. This beginner SEO guide will surely improve your website to a great extent.

Tip: Add this SEO checklist, and keep on improving your website. Maintain KPIs and monitor Google Analytics and webmaster to check for websites errors, etc. Maintain this for 3 to 6 months, and you will surely see results.

Wrapping up,

This is a beginner’s SEO best practices checklist for a brand new website as well website that requires changes. Hopefully, this guide will help your website to improve.

SEO constantly changes, so we update our blogs accordingly to trends and markets.

Originally published at https://infographicblogs.com on March 22, 2022.