This is an actual checklist of on-page SEO strategies for a new website. This article lists what to do to improve on-page SEO. So, you can use this checklist as a reference to recall the tips whenever you need it. In case you need to learn more about any item, try the website called Google 😉.

URL

• Use your keywords in the URL.
• Use SEO-Friendly URLs.
  • Don’t use words like “is”, “the” in the URL.
  • Don’t use modifiers in the URL. If your title is “A Quick Guide to WordPress SEO”, /wordpress-seo is better than a-quick-guide-to-wordpress-seo.
  • lower-case letters are preferred over capital letters in the URL.
  • Use dashes (-) to separate words.
  • Restrict using hashes (#).
  • Don’t use dynamic URLs like /page?p=305
• Keep the URL short.
• Set up canonical tags on all the pages (Important).

Title

• Use a catchy, compelling title.
• Use modifiers in the title.
• Add your keyword to the title, preferably to the beginning of the title.
• Contemporariness can help you. Ex: How to improve SEO in 202x?

End-User Experience

• Increase site speed
  • Check your site speed at Google PageSpeed Insights and follow the recommendations.
  • Optimize your images.
  • Remove unnecessary plugins if you have.
  • Remove unnecessary scripts and stylesheets.
  • Enable GZIP compression.
  • Minify CSS, HTML, and Javascript.
  • Use asynchronous Javascript when possible.
  • Leverage browser caching.
  • Use a cookie-free domain to serve static content (Optional, but reduces static content loading time).
  • Use a Content Delivery Network (Optional).
  • Try to reduce server response time.
  • Use an HTTPS/2-supported server.
• Website Design (Some tips here will improve user engagement and session time. So, they will indirectly help to improve your SEO)
  • Add whitespaces (or padding) when needed.
  • Choose colors wisely.
  • Have sufficient contrast between texts and background.
  • Set up an icon
  • Use a readable font and font size.
  • Organize components of the website.
  • Ensure easy navigation.
  • Using ads? Make sure ads don’t harm the user’s experience.
  • Don’t use pop-up ads. Native ads are preferred (If advertising is your earning method)
• MAKE YOUR WEBSITE RESPONSIVE. (extremely important)
  • Use Google Mobile-Friendly Test to test if your website works well on mobile.
  • Test it yourself. Even you pass the Mobile-Friendly test there can be flaws in the mobile version of your website.
  • Not only mobiles but also tablets and widescreen devices.

Linking

• Link to your own content. (Internal linking)
• Link to authority websites. (External linking)
• Don’t link to spammy sites.
• Use rel="nofollow" for advertisement, sponsored, or any link that is unrelated to your blog post.