Levels of Optimization

Finalize one level before moving to the next.

Each sprint:

  • Update software (WordPress/CMS, plugins)
  • Check backup
  • Clean junk
    • Optimize database
    • Compress images
  • Check for and manage 404s
  • Ensure lower levels remain optimized
  • Submit sitemap after sprint
  • Fetch changed pages after sprint

Level 0.

Part of onboarding process. Done once as a preparation for SEO campaign.

  • Add to webmaster tools: Bing & Google
  • Check for key phrase landing pages. If some needed, note those in campaign so you don't have to do this every time
  • Check for amount of content on each page. If some needed, note those as well
  • Check for duplicate content. If some needed, note those as well
  • Any new landing pages should be brought to the attention of the campaign manager so they can be checked as they are published
  • Install caching plugin

Level 1. URL/Site Architecture

  • Does the URL structure make sense? Do all URLs correspond to the keyword they are targeting?
  • Does only one variation of http(s)://(www.) load?
  • URLs are short and contain highest ratio of keywords to words
  • Robots.txt
    • Blocks administration directories
    • Allows content & style directories
    • Lists sitemap
  • Sitemap (HTML & XML)
  • Broken links

Level 2. Title

  • Do all pages have a title?
  • All titles are formatted like: "{keyword} | {location} (| {brand})"
  • Are titles under 55 characters?

Level 3. Meta Description

  • Does each page have a meta description?
  • Does the meta description answer these questions: What is this page? What does it do? What does it contain? What does it add?
  • Are descriptions under 146 characters?

Level 4. Headers

  • h1: "{location} {keyword}" - one per page
  • All other h-tags: is there one for every distinct subject addressed on eachp opage?

Level 5. Content

  • As many links as possible. Link to other resources in the industry, tangentially-related services, people in the area.
  • Content is free of syntax errors
  • Content is long enough
  • Content is not duplicate
  • Indexed content (search for "site:url.tld") is relevant. Noindex irrelevant pages.

Level 6. Metadata

By the time you reach this level, you may do the sublevels simultaneously. The work to be done here will most likely take more than one sprint to accomplish.

Level 6.1. Structured data

Level 6.2. Image meta

<img src="xyz.jpg" alt="A picture of a zebra" title="This Zebra's name is Marty" />

  • Descriptive alt text. Alt text should serve as replacement for image in case image doesn't load.
  • Complementary title. The title shows up when hovering over the image.

<a href="xyz.html" title="A page about zebras" target="_blank">information</a>

  • Descriptive - what will this link do?
  • Do links open in new windows?

Level 7. Page speed

  • Caching
  • Concatenating
  • Minifying
  • Theme adjustments
  • Minutiae