SEO Checklist for Small Sites: 20 Checks That Matter
Most SEO checklists list 200 items. Small sites only need the few that move results. Work through these in order.
Technical basics
- Your site loads over https and the http version redirects to it.
- There is a sitemap.xml and it is submitted in Google Search Console.
- robots.txt does not block pages you want found.
- Every page has one clear canonical address (no duplicate www / non-www versions).
- Pages load in under about 3 seconds on a phone.
On-page checks
- Each page has a unique title under about 60 characters with the main search phrase near the start.
- Each page has a meta description under about 160 characters that says what the visitor gets.
- One H1 per page that matches what the searcher typed.
- Images have descriptive alt text.
- Internal links point to your most important pages with descriptive anchor text.
Content habits
- Answer the question in the first paragraph, then expand.
- Write one page per search intent instead of one page for everything.
- Update your best pages every few months instead of only publishing new ones.
- Check Search Console monthly for queries with impressions but few clicks, and rewrite those titles.