On-Page SEO Checklist: 16 Checks to Run on Every Page

Before you start: pick the page and its one keyword

On-page work only pays when the page targets a search people make, and only one page targets it. Write down the page URL and its main keyword. Search that keyword in a private window and note what the top 5 results are: guides, product pages, lists or local results. Your page type must match. A product page will not rank for a query where Google shows buying guides.

Example: brightsmile-dental.com (a fictional clinic) wants its page /teeth-whitening to rank for "teeth whitening cost". The top 5 are price guides. So the page needs prices near the top, not only a booking button.

The 16-point on-page SEO checklist

Search result elements

1. Title tag is unique and specific. Main words first, then what makes the page different. "Teeth Whitening Cost in Austin: $199 to $499 | BrightSmile" beats "Teeth Whitening | BrightSmile". Google sets no length limit; it cuts titles to fit the screen (Google).
2. Title and H1 agree. Google builds the blue link from the title, the H1 and other text. When they disagree, it often picks its own.
3. Meta description sells the click. One or two sentences with a concrete detail: a price, a time, an area, a proof point. Google may rewrite it, and has no length limit (Google). More patterns: title and meta swipe file.
4. URL is short and readable. /teeth-whitening, not /page?id=482. Do not change working URLs for looks; if you must, 301 the old one.

Content

1. The answer comes first. The first two sentences under the H1 answer the search. "In-office whitening at BrightSmile costs $399. Take-home trays cost $199."
2. Subheadings are real questions. Use People also ask and your Search Console queries. Answer each in the first sentence under it.
3. The page beats the current top 3. List what they miss (a real price table, before and after photos, how long results last) and add it.
4. First-hand experience shows. Your photos, your numbers, your process. This is what makes the page worth ranking and worth quoting.
5. No keyword stuffing. There is no keyword density target (SEO Starter Guide). Use the words customers use, naturally.
6. Comparisons are tables, steps are numbered lists. Easier to scan and easier for Google and AI answers to extract.
7. Author or business is clear. A byline or a visible "who we are", with contact details.

Media and links

1. Images have descriptive alt text ("Dentist applying whitening gel to a patient's teeth") and are compressed and sized for the screen.
2. The page links out to related pages with descriptive anchor text, and related pages link to it. Use real <a href> links. Method: internal linking playbook.
3. One clear call to action visible on a phone without scrolling, repeated at the end.

Code

1. Structured data fits the page type (Product, LocalBusiness, Article, BreadcrumbList) and marks up only what is visible. Test it in the Rich Results Test. Note: FAQ rich results now show only for well-known government and health sites, and HowTo rich results are gone (Google).
2. The page is indexable. No stray noindex, a self-referencing canonical, and URL Inspection in Search Console says "URL is on Google". If it does not, on-page work is wasted: start with the indexing problems fix guide.

What good looks like vs common mistakes

How to check on-page SEO quickly

• One page: view source (Ctrl+U) and search for <title, name="description", <h1, canonical, noindex. Or use a free browser extension like Detailed SEO.
• Many pages: a crawler such as Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) lists missing and duplicate titles, descriptions and H1s.
• Which pages to do first: in Search Console, open Performance > Pages, sort by impressions, and start with pages that have high impressions and low CTR. Those already rank; better on-page elements turn impressions into clicks.