This on-page SEO checklist covers 21 checks, grouped from the search result down to the markup. Each one has a test you can pass or fail, so you can audit a page in under an hour.
By Kristijan GjorgjioskiIndependent SEO consultantPublished 18 October 2026 · 8 min read
Most on-page SEO checklists start with keywords in the title and stop at alt text.
That misses the biggest problem I find in audits: pages with no clear job.
This on-page SEO checklist fixes that.
It runs in the order a searcher meets your page, from the search result down to the markup. You get 21 checks in five groups, each with a test you can pass or fail.
You don't need to tick every box on every page.
Start with the pages that earn money: service, product, category and location pages.
Then pick the section that matches your problem:
Pro tip: Audit one page per template, not every page. If the service page template fails check 9, every service page fails it too, and one fix covers them all.
These three checks decide whether the rest of the list matters.
A perfect title on a page with no clear job won't rank.
Every page you publish should own one group of closely related searches.
Write the cluster at the top of your audit notes: the main query and three to five close variants.
If you can't name it in one line, the page is trying to do too much.
Pass: you can state the page's target in one sentence. Your keyword research map should already name it.
Search the main query in a private window and look at the top ten. Guides? Service pages? Product grids?
Your page has to be the same type as the winners, or you're fighting the results.
A sales page won't rank where Google shows only guides. My explainer on search intent covers how to read the results in detail.
Pass: most top results are the same page type as yours.
When two of your pages chase one cluster, they tend to split the signals and both underperform.
Search site:yourdomain.com plus the main query, and check Search Console for queries where two of your URLs swap places.
My guide on keyword cannibalisation covers how to settle it.
Pass: one URL owns the cluster.
This is your shop window in the results.
Small changes here can move clicks without moving rankings.
Google's guidance on title links asks for distinct, descriptive titles on every page, without repeated words or boilerplate.
Put the topic first, then the reason to click: a place, a price signal, a specialism or a format.
Brand name goes at the end, after a separator.
Pass: the title is unique on the site and names what the page offers in the first few words. For formulas and examples, see my guide on how to write title tags.
Google says there is no limit on title length, but it truncates title links to fit the device width.
So front-load. My working rule is 50 to 60 characters, with nothing important after the 50th.
Pass: the title still makes sense if you cut it at 50 characters.
Google's snippet documentation says snippets come mainly from page content, with the meta description used when it describes the page more accurately.
Write one anyway for every important page.
Make it specific: what the page offers, who it suits, one proof point. Avoid keyword lists, which Google says are less likely to be shown.
Pass: the description is unique and would make sense read aloud.
A good URL tells your visitor what's on the page before they click.
Use lowercase words separated by hyphens.
Drop dates, IDs and filler words. Keep the folder structure logical: /services/boiler-repair/ beats /page?id=482.
Pass: someone could guess the page topic from the URL alone. Don't change URLs on ranking pages without a 301 redirect.
Your titles and descriptions often look fine in a CMS field and terrible in a result.
Paste them into a SERP snippet preview and check desktop and mobile widths.
Look for cut-off words and repeated phrases.
Pass: the preview reads cleanly on both widths.
This group decides whether your visitor stays.
It's also where SEO and conversion overlap most.
The H1 should confirm the visitor is in the right place, using words close to what they searched.
An H1 that just says "Services" fails.
"Boiler repair in Leeds, same week" passes.
Pass: one H1, visible at the top, matching the target cluster.
Load your page on a phone and don't scroll.
On a transactional page, can you see how to call, book or buy?
On an informational page, can you see the answer to the query? If not, the page makes visitors work too hard.
Pass: the primary action or the direct answer is visible without scrolling on mobile.
Your H2s and H3s should mirror what searchers want to know next: cost, process, timeline, who it suits.
Pull them from People Also Ask, your sales calls and your enquiry forms.
Headings that make sense alone are also easier for AI answers and featured snippets to lift.
Pass: each H2 answers a question a real customer has asked.
Use the main phrase in the title, the H1 and the first paragraph.
After that, write for the reader.
There's no density to hit.
Close variants and related terms do the job better than repetition.
Pass: the topic is clear from the first paragraph, and no sentence exists just to repeat a phrase.
Ranking gets the visit.
This group gets the enquiry.
Compare your page with the top three results.
What do they answer that yours doesn't? Pricing, eligibility, process, specifications?
Then cut what nobody needs: company history on a service page, or intros that restate the H1.
Pass: every section answers a real question, and nothing important is missing compared with the top results.
Reviews, case examples, licences and accreditations belong next to the claim they support, not on a testimonials page nobody visits.
"Fast turnaround" with a review mentioning speed right beside it beats the claim on its own.
Pass: every major claim has a supporting proof point within one scroll.
Your readers want to know who stands behind the advice, especially on money, health and legal topics.
Add a named author or reviewer with a short line on why they're qualified.
Link to an author page if you have one.
Pass: the page names a real person or business responsible for it.
Alt text describes an image for screen readers and gives search engines context.
Describe what you see in the image in plain words.
Skip "image of" and skip stuffing keywords. Decorative images can use an empty alt attribute.
Pass: every meaningful image has alt text a blind visitor would find useful.
The last group connects the page to the rest of your site and describes it to machines.
If none of your other pages link to a page, crawlers and visitors struggle to find it.
Check at least two or three related pages link to it, with anchors that describe the destination.
My internal linking strategy guide covers how to plan this across a site.
Pass: the page is linked from its parent hub and at least two related pages.
Every page should hand your visitor on somewhere: a related service, a deeper guide, the contact page.
Use anchors that say what's behind the link.
"Read more" and "click here" tell nobody anything.
Pass: the page has at least one descriptive link to a logical next step.
Structured data helps search engines understand the page.
It should describe content that's visible, never content that isn't there.
Use specific schema.org types where they fit: a business type, Service, Product, BreadcrumbList, Article.
The schema markup generator helps you draft valid JSON-LD.
Pass: the markup validates and every property matches visible content.
The canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is the main one.
On most pages it should point to the page itself.
A canonical pointing elsewhere by mistake is a common template bug, and it can keep a good page out of the index.
Pass: the canonical URL matches the address you want to rank.
On-page work is wasted on a page Google can't index or a phone user can't load.
Run the URL through the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, and check for a stray noindex tag.
Then load it on a mid-range phone. Anything deeper belongs in the technical SEO checklist.
Pass: the page is indexed (or indexable, if new) and loads usably on mobile.
You'll rarely fix all 21 at once.
Here's the order I use:
If the checklist keeps turning up crawl, speed or indexing problems, the root cause is probably technical.
That's a job for technical SEO, not page edits.
Pick your single most valuable page, usually a top service or category page.
Run checks 1 to 12 on it today.
Fix what fails, note the date, and compare clicks in Search Console after Google has recrawled the page.
Then apply the same fixes to the template, so every page built on it improves at once.
If you'd rather have someone audit the templates and write the briefs for you, that's what my on-page SEO service covers.
And if you're not sure on-page is the problem, a full SEO audit will tell you where to start.
An on-page SEO checklist covers everything on the page itself: the target keyword cluster, page type, title tag, meta description, URL, H1 and heading structure, the first screen, body content, proof and authorship, image alt text, internal links, schema markup and the canonical tag. Technical items such as crawling and site speed usually sit in a separate technical checklist.
Google says there is no limit on how long a title element can be, but it truncates title links to fit the device width. In practice I aim for roughly 50 to 60 characters and put the topic and the main reason to click first, so nothing important gets cut off on a phone.
No. There is no target density worth chasing. Use the main phrase where it reads naturally, in the title, the H1 and early in the opening, then write for the reader. Repeating a phrase to hit a ratio makes the page worse and does nothing useful for rankings.
Check important pages whenever you change the template, the offer or the copy, and review your top pages against this checklist every few months. Also re-check any page that drops in clicks, because the results page may have shifted towards a different page type since you last looked.
About the author
Kristijan Gjorgjioski
Independent SEO consultant · 6+ years in SEO · 60+ client websites worked on
I'm an independent SEO consultant with 6+ years in SEO. I run audits, migrations and content programmes for businesses in Europe, the UK and the USA, and I build the automation behind my own research.
Book a free 30-minute call. I look at your site first and tell you plainly what I would fix, and in what order.