The Complete Task List for 2023

Want to make a page rank higher in Google?

This on-page SEO checklist is your ultimate companion.

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing individual page content to rank higher on Google. Activities include optimizing title tags and URL slugs, adding header tags, and much more.

Complete all 11 tasks (and three bonus tasks) in this checklist, in any order. To optimize your content for target keywords, make your page Google-friendly, and improve user engagement.

1. Identify Target Keywords

Target keywords—i.e., relevant search queries—are crucial to on-page optimization. After all, the goal is to rank for relevant keywords and become more visible in search results.

Perform keyword research to find what words and phrases people use to find pages like yours.

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool is the biggest keyword database on the market. And it provides data you can use to choose the best keywords for your brand.

Those data points include:

Here’s what keyword research looks like in action:

Let’s say you owned a flower shop. The keyword “blue flowers” might seem like a great keyword to target.

But is it?

The keyword gets a lot of search interest—60,500 searches per month. But it also has a keyword difficulty of 63%. Which means it’s difficult to rank for.

On top of all that, the search engine results page (SERP) is dominated by informational articles. Which means most searchers are looking to learn more about flowers—not make a purchase.

So if your goal is to increase sales,...