Knowing and implementing best practices in SEO will help you rank higher and drive more traffic to your website. Search engines use a number of different factors to rank websites and a few of the most important ones are your page loading speed, how relevant your site is, the content on your site, how well optimized it is for search engines, etc. In this article I’m going to share with you an SEO checklist with detailed descriptions of each point so that you can read about these points one by one and implement them on your website!

Robots.txt file

A Robots.txt file is a text file that tells search engine robots which pages on your website to crawl and index, and which pages to ignore. This file is used to improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).

If you have a blog on your website, you will want to make sure that the Robots.txt file allows search engine robots to index your blog posts. If you do not have a Robots.txt file, or if the file is not configured correctly, your blog posts may not be indexed by search engines.

In order to ensure that your blog posts are indexed by search engines, you will need to add a line of code to your Robots.txt file that looks like this:

Allow: /blog/

This line of code tells search engine robots that they are allowed to index the files in the /blog/ directory on your website. You will need to upload the revised Robots.txt file to your server in order for the changes to take effect.

.htaccess file

An .htaccess file is a configuration file for use on web servers running the Apache Web Server software. When a file with this name is placed in a directory which is configured for use as an Apache document root, it will affect the server’s behavior when visitors request documents from that directory.

The most common use of an .htaccess file is to change the way the server handles requests for files with certain extensions. For example, you can use an .htaccess file to cause all files with the extension “.html” to be processed by a PHP script.

Another common use for .htaccess files is to password-protect a directory. This can be useful if you have a directory which contains sensitive information that you don’t want just anyone to be able to access.

You can also use an .htaccess file to set up custom error pages for your website. This can be helpful if you want to make your website’s 404 error page more user-friendly, or if you want to create a special page for visitors who are trying to access a page that doesn’t exist.

If you’re not sure how to set up an .htaccess file, there are plenty of resources available online that can

Secure website (SSL)

If you’re looking to build a successful website, one of the key components is making sure it’s secure. That means having an SSL certificate installed to encrypt traffic between your site and visitors’ web browsers. Not only does this protect their information, it also helps build trust and can boost your search engine ranking.

Redirects

If you’re looking to build a successful website, one of the key components is setting up redirects. Redirects are essential in ensuring that users are directed to the correct page, whether they’re coming from another website or typing in the wrong URL.

There are several types of redirects, each with their own specific purpose. The most common type of redirect is the 301 redirect, which is used when a page has been permanently moved to a new location. 302 redirects are used for temporary moves, and meta refresh redirects are used when a page needs to be redirected immediately.

Configuring redirects can be tricky, so it’s important to consult with a web developer or your hosting provider to ensure that they’re set up correctly. But with a little bit of planning, you can ensure that your website is running smoothly and visitors can always find what they’re looking for.

Google search console

If you want to ensure that your website is successful, one of the things you need to do is track your progress with Google Search Console. This tool lets you see how your site is performing in Google search results, so you can identify any areas where you need to make improvements. It’s a vital part of any website owner’s toolkit, and it’s completely free to use.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up and use Google Search Console, so you can start tracking your site’s progress and making necessary improvements.

Google analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can help you track the success of your website. By tracking the number of visitors to your site, the average time they spend on your site, and the pages they visit, you can get a clear picture of what is working and what isn’t. Additionally, Google Analytics can help you track where your visitors are coming from, so you can focus your marketing efforts accordingly.

XML Sitemap submission

If you’re serious about building a successful website, then one of the first things you need to do is submit an XML sitemap to Google. This will help Google index your website so that it can show up in search results.

To submit your XML sitemap, simply go to Google’s Search Console and add your website. Once your website is verified, you can then submit your sitemap.

If you’re not sure how to create an XML sitemap, there are plenty of online tools that can help you. Once you have your sitemap, simply follow Google’s instructions for submitting it.

Audit Internal broken links

If you want your website to be successful, one of the key things you need to do is audit your internal broken links. This means going through your website and making sure that all of the links are working correctly. If you have broken links on your website, it will not only make it harder for visitors to navigate your site, but it will also hurt your search engine ranking. So make sure to regularly audit your internal links and fix any that are broken.

Fix duplicate content

If you’re running a website, you want to make sure that all of your content is unique. Duplicate content can hurt your search engine rankings and make it harder for visitors to find the information they’re looking for.

There are a few ways to fix duplicate content. The first is to use a tool like Copyscape to check for plagiarism. If you find that someone has copied your content, you can contact the site owner and ask them to remove it.

Another way to fix duplicate content is to use canonical tags. Canonical tags tell search engines which version of a piece of content is the original. This helps them index your content correctly and prevents them from Penalizing you for duplicate content.

Finally, you can also use 301 redirects to point search engines and visitors to the correct version of a page. 301 redirects are permanent, so they’ll always send people to the right place.

If you’re worried about duplicate content on your website, take some time to fix it. It’s worth the effort to make sure your site is ranking well and visitors can easily find the information they need.

Mobile friendly

As more and more people use their mobile devices to browse the web, it’s important to make sure that your website is optimised for viewing on smaller screens. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be missing out on a lot of traffic and potential customers.

To make sure your website is mobile-friendly, start by checking how it looks on different devices. If it’s not looking good, there are some simple things you can do to improve the experience for mobile users. For example, you can:

– Use a responsive design template

– Optimise your images for mobile devices

– Use shorter paragraphs and smaller font sizes

– Simplify your navigation menu

By making a few simple changes, you can vastly improve the experience for mobile users and make sure that your website is ready for the future.

Page Speed

One of the most important factors in creating a successful website is page speed. Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a web page to load. The faster a web page loads, the more likely visitors are to stay on that page. The longer a web page takes to load, the more likely visitors are to click away from that page. There are a number of things you can do to improve your website’s page speed, including optimizing your images, using caching, and minifying your code.