On-Page SEO Checklist: 25 Points for Your Website
On-page SEO covers everything you improve directly on your own page for search engines: title, headings, content, internal links, images, load time, structured data and indexability. This checklist takes you through a page in 25 points, each with a target value, a tool and a priority. Start with the page that should bring in the most inquiries.
By Anne Zeller, owner of AZ Onlinemarketing · Last updated: November 2026
20 min read
At a glance
- What
- 25 checks for a single page, sorted by topic and rated priority A, B or C.
- For whom
- Business owners, marketing teams and anyone who maintains their website themselves.
- Tools
- Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, Rich Results Test and the page source in your browser, all free.
- Order
- First the A points on all important pages, then B, then C.
- Effect according to Google
- Changes show up after a few hours to several months. Google recommends waiting a few weeks before you judge results.
- Limit
- The checklist does not guarantee a ranking. Competition, links from outside and your business profile play a part.
What Is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO is the part of search engine optimization that you control on your own website. It includes content and its structure, the meta details in the source code, internal linking and the technical accessibility of a page. Off-page SEO means everything outside your website, mainly links and mentions on other sites.
For businesses, on-page SEO is the lever they can move fastest themselves. You need no one else's website and no ad budget, only access to your content management system and a clear view of the page.
On-Page, Off-Page and Technical SEO Compared
| Area | What belongs to it | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| On-page SEO | Title, meta description, headings, content, internal links, images, structured data | You, on your website |
| Technical SEO | Indexing, canonical, redirects, load time, mobile view | You, often with web development or hosting |
| Off-page SEO | Links from other websites, mentions, reviews, business profile | Partly you, partly others |
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
The line between on-page and technical is blurry. This checklist includes the technical points you can check on a single page. For regional visibility with a business profile and reviews, there is a separate local SEO checklist.
How to Work With the On-Page SEO Checklist
Always check one page at a time. A homepage has different jobs than a service page or a guide, and a blanket check of the whole website blurs these differences.
Priorities
- A – first: Errors that keep a page out of search or display it wrongly, such as an accidental "noindex" or a missing title.
- B – next: Points that influence how well Google and people understand the page, such as headings, answers and internal links.
- C – for upkeep: Fine-tuning such as image file names or structured data for individual displays.
Tools You Need
- Google Search Console: The URL Inspection tool shows whether a page is indexed and which canonical URL Google chose. The Performance report shows impressions and clicks.
- PageSpeed Insights: Shows the Core Web Vitals from real visits, if enough data exists, and gives hints on load time.
- Rich Results Test: Checks structured data for errors.
- Page source in the browser: Right-click, "View page source". There you find title, meta description, canonical and robots details.
On-Page SEO Checklist, Part 1: Indexability and Technology
A page that Google does not index appears nowhere, not even in the AI answers of Google Search. That is why the check starts here.
1. The Page Is Indexed
Enter the URL in the Search Console URL Inspection tool. Target value: "URL is on Google". If it says something else, the tool names the reason, for example an exclusion by "noindex" or "Crawled - currently not indexed". Priority A.
2. No "noindex" and No Block in the robots.txt
Search the source code for noindex. It must not appear on pages that should be found. Also check whether the robots.txt blocks the path. Typical mistake after a relaunch: The block from the test environment moves along to the live site. Priority A.
3. Canonical Points to the Right Address
The canonical tag tells Google which address is the authoritative version of a page. Target value: It points to the page itself, as a full URL with https://. Google calls canonical tags and permanent redirects strong signals and inclusion in the sitemap a weak one. Never use "noindex" or the robots.txt to set a canonical version, and do not give different canonicals in different methods. Priority A.
4. The URL Is Short and Readable
Google recommends descriptive words instead of long ID numbers and hyphens instead of underscores between words. Google distinguishes upper and lower case: /Service and /service are two different addresses. Target value: lowercase, umlauts as ae, oe, ue, no session or sorting parameters. According to Google, you do not have to rebuild existing URLs urgently. If you change an address, redirect the old one permanently. Priority B.
5. Status Code 200 and Clean Redirects
The page answers with status code 200. Old addresses redirect with 301 straight to the new target, without chains across several stops. Check this with the URL Inspection tool or a redirect checker. Priority A.
Optimize Title Tag and Meta Description
Title and meta description are what people see first in the results list. Google generates the title link and the snippet itself but uses your details as an important source.
6. Title Tag: Unique, Descriptive, Topic First
Every page has its own <title> element. The main topic comes first, the brand name last, separated by a vertical bar, hyphen or colon. Google names no fixed character limit and shortens the title by screen width. We work with 50 to 60 characters as a guideline so the most important part stays visible. No word chains like "SEO, SEO agency, SEO Saarland": Google treats repeated terms as keyword stuffing. Priority A.
7. Meta Description: Summary With an Incentive
The meta description summarizes what the page offers and gives a reason to click. Google uses it when it describes the page better than an excerpt from the text. Otherwise Google builds the snippet from the content. Google names no fixed length. Our guideline is 120 to 155 characters. Specifics like price, author or date help the decision, according to Google. Priority B.
8. No Duplicate Titles and Descriptions
Google recommends separate text for every page. Duplicate titles often arise from templates, for example on blog archives or categories. If you have many pages, start with the homepage and the most visited pages, as Google itself suggests. Priority B.
Headings: Structure H1, H2 and H3 Properly
Headings structure the page for people, screen readers and search engines. They are also the place where you naturally fit in your topic and its variants.
9. Exactly One H1 With the Main Topic
The H1 names the topic of the page in the words people search with. If the title says "Tax advisor Trier", an H1 like "Tax advisor in Trier for the self-employed" fits. Make sure the logo or a slider text is not also marked up as an H1. Priority A.
10. Clean Structure With H2 and H3
H2 for sections, H3 for subpoints. In the SEO Starter Guide, Google writes that the order of headings does not matter for Google Search and that there is no ideal number. For screen readers, a logical order does matter. So you check: no jumps from H2 to H4, no heading without text beneath it. Priority B.
11. Keyword and Variants in Two to Three H2s
Anyone who searches "on-page SEO" also searches "on-page optimization" or "SEO checklist". Spread such variants across two to three H2s, in a form that reads naturally. Repetition at any price hurts readability and looks like spam to Google. Priority B.
Check Content Quality and E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google says two things about it that often get mixed up: E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor of its own. But Google uses a mix of signals meant to identify exactly these qualities, and trust counts most among them.
12. The Answer Comes First
The first two sentences answer the question people come to the page with. Someone searching "How much does a roof renovation cost?" first wants to read an answer or the price factors, not the company history. That also helps the AI features of Google Search, which answer partial questions. Priority B.
13. The Page Matches Search Intent
Enter your main keyword in Google and look at the first results. Do they show how-tos, comparisons or providers? A service page has a hard time ranking for a search where Google shows only guides, and vice versa. If the page type does not fit, no fine-tuning of the text helps. Priority A.
14. Your Own Experience and Added Value Over Other Results
In its guidelines, Google asks whether a page contains original information, research or analysis and whether it offers real added value compared with other search results. Check your page for things only you can say: process from your practice, your own examples, photos from your business, typical mistakes you see with customers. Priority B.
15. Who Writes, How and Why
Google names three questions: Who created the content, how did it come about and why does it exist? An author line with a name, a note on qualification and, where readers expect it, a note on the use of automation or AI answer the first two. You answer the third with content that helps people and is not written only for search engines. Priority B.
16. Facts With Sources, Dates Without Tricks
Figures come with a source and year. Google explicitly names easily verifiable errors as a warning sign. A last-updated date in the page footer shows when you last reviewed the content. Changing only the date without substantially revising the content counts for Google as a sign of content made for search engines. Priority B.
Check Questions for Content Quality
| Check question | How you measure it |
|---|---|
| Do the first two sentences answer the search question? | Read only the opening out loud. Is the question answered afterward? |
| Is there something on the page only you can say? | At least one example of your own, one figure of your own with a source or one photo of your own |
| Is it clear who is writing? | Name, role and last-updated date are visible |
| Are all figures backed up? | Every figure has a source and year or is marked as an example |
| Would someone from the target group recommend the page? | Ask a customer after reading |
| Are there spelling or style errors? | Proofreading by a second person |
There is no minimum word count. Google writes that there is no preferred length and that texts written to hit a target word count are a warning sign. A page is as long as the answer needs.
Internal Linking: Anchor Texts and Link Targets
Google finds most new pages through links. Internal links also show which pages belong together and which ones matter to you.
17. Every Important Page Has at Least One Internal Link
Google writes: Every page that should be indexed needs at least one internal link from another page on your website. Check whether your service pages are linked from guides, the homepage and related services. Guides link to the matching service. Google names no ideal number of links, but very many links on a page are a reason to thin them out. Priority A.
18. Anchor Texts Describe the Target
The link text says what waits behind the link. Google advises against "click here" or "read more" and recommends a test: Does the link text make sense on its own, without the sentence around it? Vary the wording and do not cram in keywords. For image links, the alt text takes over the role of the anchor text. Priority B.
19. Links Are Crawlable and Reachable
Google processes links in the format <a href="…"> reliably. Elements that only react to a JavaScript click may not be read as a link by Google. Also check for dead links with status code 404. Priority B.
Images and Alt Text
Images make content understandable and appear in image search. Google understands them through the alt text, the file name and the text near them.
20. Every Meaningful Image Has Alt Text
The alt text describes what can be seen and what role the image plays on the page. Keywords belong in it only if they actually describe the image. Google's example: "Dalmatian puppy playing fetch" is better than a string of dog terms. Our guideline: one sentence with at most 125 characters. Purely decorative images get an empty alt attribute. Priority B.
21. File Name, Format and Size Are Right
File names are short and descriptive, for example electrician-meter-cabinet-replacement.jpg instead of IMG00023.jpg. Google supports JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG and AVIF, among others. Deliver images in a fitting size, with srcset for different screens and a normal src as a fallback. Place images close to the text that explains them. Priority C.
Core Web Vitals and Mobile View
The Core Web Vitals measure how fast a page loads, how fast it responds and how stable the layout stays. Search Console rates them using real visits from the Chrome User Experience Report.
22. Core Web Vitals in the Green Range
Check the page with PageSpeed Insights or in the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console. What counts is the value that 75 percent of page views reach, separated by mobile devices and desktop. Priority B.
| Metric | What it measures | Good | Needs improvement | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | Load time of the largest visible element | up to 2.5 s | up to 4 s | over 4 s |
| INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | Response to clicks and input | up to 200 ms | up to 500 ms | over 500 ms |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | Layout shifting while loading | up to 0.1 | up to 0.25 | over 0.25 |
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
Common causes of poor values are oversized images at the top, many third-party scripts, fonts without a fixed placeholder and banners that push the content down. If a page has too few visits, Search Console shows the values of a URL group or the whole domain.
23. The Page Works on a Smartphone
Open the page on your own phone. Target value: no sideways scrolling, readable text without zooming, buttons big enough for a thumb, phone number as a clickable link. The content matches the desktop version, and nothing important is hidden on mobile. Priority A.
Structured Data and Control
The last two points make sure machines read your details correctly and that you can see the effect of your changes.
24. Structured Data Matches the Visible Text
Structured data describes content in machine-readable form, such as organization, address, article or product. Google recommends the JSON-LD format and requires that you mark up only what is visible on the page. Valid markup makes a page eligible for special displays, but Google does not guarantee they will appear. Check the markup with the Rich Results Test.
Important for existing pages: According to its own changelog, Google discontinued the FAQ rich result in Google Search in May 2026 and removed the documentation for it in June 2026. An FAQ on the page stays worthwhile because it answers real questions. You just no longer expect expanded questions in the results list for it. Priority C.
25. Measurement and Follow-Up
Before every change, note the baseline values from the Performance report in Search Console: impressions, clicks and average position of the most important search queries for this page. Set a date for the follow-up check. Compare periods of equal length so seasonal swings do not mislead you. Priority B.
On-Page SEO Checklist to Tick Off: All 25 Points
The table summarizes all points with target value and tool. Copy it into a spreadsheet and add one column per page you check.
| No. | Check | Target value | Tool | Prio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indexing | "URL is on Google" | URL Inspection tool | A |
| 2 | noindex and robots.txt | no noindex, path not blocked | Page source, robots.txt | A |
| 3 | Canonical | points to itself as an absolute URL | Page source, URL Inspection tool | A |
| 4 | URL structure | short, lowercase, hyphens | Browser | B |
| 5 | Status code and redirects | 200, old addresses via 301 without chains | Redirect checker | A |
| 6 | Title | unique, topic first, guideline 50–60 characters | Page source | A |
| 7 | Meta description | summary with incentive, guideline 120–155 characters | Page source | B |
| 8 | Duplicate titles and descriptions | none | Crawler, spot check | B |
| 9 | H1 | exactly one, with main topic | Page source | A |
| 10 | H2/H3 structure | no jumps, no empty headings | Page source | B |
| 11 | Keyword variants | in two to three H2s, worded naturally | Reading | B |
| 12 | Answer first | question answered in the first two sentences | Reading | B |
| 13 | Search intent | page type matches the top results | Google Search | A |
| 14 | Own added value | at least one example or proof of your own | Reading | B |
| 15 | Author and origin | name, role, date visible | Reading | B |
| 16 | Facts and date | figures with source, date only after real revision | Reading | B |
| 17 | Incoming internal links | at least one link from another page | Crawler, CMS | A |
| 18 | Anchor texts | descriptive, without "here" and "more" | Reading | B |
| 19 | Crawlable links | <a href>, no 404s | Page source, crawler | B |
| 20 | Alt texts | descriptive, guideline up to 125 characters | Page source | B |
| 21 | Image files | descriptive name, fitting size, srcset | Page source | C |
| 22 | Core Web Vitals | LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP ≤ 200 ms, CLS ≤ 0.1 | PageSpeed Insights | B |
| 23 | Mobile view | no sideways scrolling, same content | your own smartphone | A |
| 24 | Structured data | JSON-LD without errors, matches the text | Rich Results Test | C |
| 25 | Measurement | baseline values noted, date set | Search Console | B |
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
On-Page Optimization: Typical Mistakes and How to Fix Them
| Mistake | Consequence | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Test environment with "noindex" went live | Pages disappear from search | Check source code and robots.txt after every relaunch |
| All pages carry the homepage title | Results can't be told apart | Build the title for each page from its main topic |
| Logo or slider as an additional H1 | The topic of the page is unclear | Mark up only the page heading as H1 |
| New page without incoming internal links | Google finds it late or not at all | Link from the homepage, service overview or a matching guide |
| Link texts "here" and "more" | Target stays unclear | Link text describes the target |
| Images uploaded straight from the camera | Long load time, poor LCP | Resize and compress images before uploading |
| Markup with details missing on the page | No claim to special displays | Align markup with the visible text |
| Date changed, content the same | No advantage, a warning sign according to Google | Change the date only after real revision |
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
What On-Page SEO Cannot Do
Some assumptions persist even though Google explicitly contradicts them. Strike these from your list:
- Meta keywords: Google Search does not use the "keywords" meta tag.
- Minimum word count: According to Google, there is no magic word count, neither as a minimum nor as a maximum.
- Keywords in the domain: According to Google, they have hardly any effect beyond the display in the breadcrumb.
- Duplicate content as a penalty: Duplicate content on your own website is inefficient but, according to Google, does not lead to a manual action. Copied content from others is something else.
- Special files for AI answers: For the AI features of Google Search, Google says no separate AI files and no special markup are needed. What an llms.txt file can do and who it is meant for is covered in a guide of its own.
On-page SEO creates the conditions for Google to find a page, understand it and gladly show it. Whether it lands at the top additionally depends on the competition for the same search, on links and mentions outside your website and, for local searches, on the business profile. The same basics apply to the AI answers of Google Search, as the guide on Google AI Mode shows. If you also want to be mentioned in ChatGPT and other assistants, the GEO checklist for AI answers helps.
One page at a time
Start with the one page that should bring in the most inquiries. If you tackle all pages at once, you lose track fast. If you finish one page, you see the difference.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
On-page SEO covers everything you change on your own website: title, headings, content, internal links, images and technology. Off-page SEO concerns signals from outside, mainly links and mentions on other websites. The two work together. On-page SEO is the part you can tackle right away without outside help.
How long should a good title tag be?
Google names no fixed limit but shortens the title in the results list by screen width. As a guideline, we work with 50 to 60 characters so topic and brand stay visible in most cases. More important than the exact number: The main topic comes first, and every page has its own title.
How many keywords belong on a page?
One main topic per page, supplemented by variants and related terms. The main keyword appears in the title, H1 and two to three H2s. Google names no fixed keyword density. Repetitions that disturb the reading flow count for Google as keyword stuffing and thus as a violation of the spam policies.
Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?
No. In the SEO Starter Guide, Google states explicitly that E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor. But Google uses signals meant to identify experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, with trust counting most. In practice, that means: Name the author, cite sources, show your own experience and avoid mistakes.
How often should I check on-page SEO?
You check new pages before publishing. You check existing important pages at least once a quarter and additionally after every relaunch, theme change or move. You check points 1 to 3 immediately after technical changes, because that is where the most serious errors arise.
Is an SEO audit the same as this checklist?
Not quite. This checklist checks a single page. An SEO audit looks at the whole website: all pages with a crawler, the structure, duplicate content, redirects, load times across all templates and usually the links from outside as well. For small websites, the checklist applied page by page is a good start.
How quickly do on-page optimizations take effect?
Google names a period of a few hours to several months, depending on when the page is crawled and evaluated again. Google recommends waiting a few weeks before you judge results. After a change, you request reindexing through the Search Console URL Inspection tool.
Do I need a paid tool for on-page SEO?
To get started, the free Google tools are enough: Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and Rich Results Test. Paid crawlers help with larger websites, because they find duplicate titles, missing alt texts or dead links across all pages at once. You check the content points yourself in any case.
Can I do on-page SEO myself?
Yes. Google itself writes that small local businesses in particular can do a lot without outside help. You maintain titles, headings, text, alt texts and internal links in the content management system. For load time, redirects and structured data, you often need support from web development or SEO support. What to expect in costs is explained in the guide SEO costs.
Sources (retrieved on 5 November 2026): Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide · Title links in search results · Snippets and meta descriptions · Do you need an SEO? · Creating helpful, reliable content · Specify a canonical URL · URL structure · Crawlable links · Google Images best practices · General structured data guidelines · Documentation changelog (FAQ, May and June 2026) · Optimizing your website for generative AI features · Search Console Help: Core Web Vitals report · web.dev: Web Vitals
