checklistFree Resource · Updated for 2026

The complete SEO checklist to outrank your competition

The same 64-step checklist we run on every client site, free. Work through it top to bottom, check items off as you go, and watch your rankings climb. When you want it done for you, we are one call away.

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Cost, including the audit

Free SEO Audit With Your Consultation

01

Technical SEO Foundation

If search engines cannot crawl, render, and index your site cleanly, nothing else on this checklist matters. Start here.

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02

Keyword Research

Rankings only pay when you rank for terms your buyers actually search. Research before you write, always.

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03

On-Page SEO

The classic fundamentals. Small individually, but together they decide whether a page ranks on page one or page five.

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Overwhelmed already? We do all of this for you.

Get a free SEO audit with your consultation call. We will show you exactly which of these boxes your site fails, and what fixing them is worth.

04

Content Quality & E-E-A-T

Google rewards content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and trust. Thin content gets filtered out.

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05

Internal Linking & Site Architecture

Internal links are the ranking lever most sites ignore. You control 100% of them and they cost nothing.

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06

Schema Markup

Structured data earns rich results in Google and citations in AI answers. Most competitors skip it, which is exactly why you should not.

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07

Local SEO

If you serve a physical area, the map pack is often worth more than the organic results above it.

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Want to know which steps matter most for your site?

Every site fails a different set of checks. Your free audit prioritizes this exact list for your website, your market, and your competitors.

10

Measurement & Tracking

What gets measured gets improved. Set the baseline now so you can prove what is working in 90 days.

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11

The tools & plugins we actually use.

No affiliate fluff. This is the real stack we run client campaigns on, starting with everything you can get for free.

savingsFree SEO software

Screaming Frog

Free up to 500 URLs

The industry-standard site crawler. Finds broken links, duplicate titles, missing meta tags, and redirect chains in minutes.

Google Search Console

Free

Your direct line to Google: indexing status, ranking queries, Core Web Vitals, and manual action alerts.

PageSpeed Insights

Free

Field and lab performance data for any URL, with a prioritized list of exactly what to fix.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Free

The Bing and Yahoo equivalent of Search Console, with a surprisingly good free backlink checker.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Free

Free site audit and backlink data for sites you own. The best no-cost backlink visibility available.

Google Keyword Planner

Free

Straight-from-Google search volume and keyword ideas. Less polished than paid tools, but the data is first-party.

workspace_premiumPaid software worth every dollar

SEMrush

Strongly recommended

The all-in-one platform we use daily: keyword research, competitor gaps, rank tracking, site audits, and backlink analysis in one subscription. If you buy one SEO tool, buy this one.

Ahrefs

Recommended

The gold standard for backlink data and competitor link research. Pairs well with SEMrush if budget allows.

Surfer SEO

For content teams

On-page optimization scoring that tells writers exactly what to cover to compete with the current top 10.

articleWordPress plugin stack

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Rank MathOur pick for WordPress SEO: titles, metas, schema markup, sitemaps, and redirects in one lightweight plugin. The free tier covers most sites.
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WP RocketThe best caching and performance plugin. Pays for itself in Core Web Vitals improvements alone.
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ShortPixelAutomatic image compression and WebP conversion on upload, so image bloat never reaches production.
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RedirectionManage 301 redirects and monitor 404 errors from the dashboard. Essential after any content restructure.

storefrontShopify app stack

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Avada SEO SuiteAll-round Shopify SEO: image optimization, meta tag automation, and site audit checks in one app.
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JSON-LD for SEOSet-and-forget structured data built specifically for Shopify product, review, and business markup.
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TinyIMGImage compression, alt text automation, and speed optimizations tuned to Shopify themes.
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Smart SEOBulk meta tag templates, broken link management, and multi-language sitemap support for larger catalogs.

SEO checklist FAQs

What order should I work through this SEO checklist?

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Top to bottom. Technical SEO comes first because crawl and indexing problems undermine everything else. Then keyword research to aim your content, on-page and content quality to build it, and architecture, schema, local, links, and AI search to amplify it. Tracking runs the whole time.

How long does SEO take to work?

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Initial movement typically shows within 30 to 60 days of fixing technical issues and optimizing pages. Meaningful traffic and lead growth usually builds over 3 to 6 months depending on your competition, site history, and how consistently you execute.

Is this checklist enough, or do I need to hire an agency?

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The checklist covers everything that matters, and a motivated owner can absolutely execute it. The honest trade-off is time: doing this properly takes hours every week, forever. If your time is worth more elsewhere, that is when hiring makes sense. Our free audit will tell you exactly where your site stands either way.

How often should I re-run the checklist?

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Do a full pass quarterly, and re-check the technical section after any redesign, migration, or platform change. Google ships algorithm updates constantly, and sites drift: links break, content ages, and schema falls out of date.

What is included in the free SEO audit?

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On your free consultation call we walk through a real audit of your site: technical health, on-page issues, content gaps, backlink profile, and how you stack up against the competitors currently outranking you. You leave with a prioritized action plan whether you work with us or not.

Do these recommendations work for both WordPress and Shopify?

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Yes. The checklist itself is platform-agnostic. At the bottom of this page we list the specific plugins we recommend for WordPress and the apps we recommend for Shopify, so you can implement each step on your stack.

Skip the homework. Get your free SEO audit.

Book a free consultation call and we will run this entire checklist against your website live, then hand you a prioritized plan to dominate your competition.

  • check_circleA full audit: technical, on-page, content, links, and local
  • check_circleA side-by-side look at the competitors currently beating you
  • check_circleA prioritized roadmap, yours to keep whether we work together or not