13 — SEO Checklist#

Check discoverability, crawl/index controls, content quality, usability, and measurement for sites meant to appear in search results.

Scope: Frontend-specific. This file is one part of the 13_SEO.md checklist. Apply the domain-wide release gate across all applicable scope files; each checklist ID remains unique.

Review details#

Project / product:
Release / version / environment:
Scope and applicable jurisdictions / markets:
Reviewer / owner:
Review date:
Decision: Pending / Approved / Approved with documented exceptions / Blocked

How to use#

Copy this template into each project's review records; keep the shared repository template unchecked.
Check [x] only after verifying the item with evidence. For any inapplicable item, record N/A and the reason in the project's own review notes or issue tracker using its checklist ID; do not mark it as passed.
Record evidence links or artifact references by checklist ID. Open an issue for every failed item, assign an owner and due date, and retest after remediation.
Apply the release gate below. These checklists guide review; they do not replace qualified specialist review when required.

Goals, audience, and content plan#

SEO-005 Navigation and information architecture make important pages easy to find.
SEO-001 Target audiences, markets, languages, priority pages, and conversion goals are documented.
SEO-002 Search intent and relevant topics are mapped to useful pages without keyword stuffing.
SEO-003 Each important page serves a distinct purpose and provides original, accurate, maintained content.
SEO-004 Content ownership, editorial review, factual sources, and update cadence are assigned.
SEO-033 Map editorial intent to canonical destination URLs and eliminate overlapping pages without distinct value.
SEO-034 Review content freshness for facts dependent on pricing, availability, laws, and time-sensitive product updates.
SEO-035 Document metadata and canonical rules for dynamically generated page types.

Crawlability and indexation#

SEO-013 Site rendering exposes essential text and navigation to crawlers, including JavaScript-heavy pages.
SEO-036 Inspect live URL samples in Search Console to verify actual fetched HTML, rendering, and indexability.
SEO-037 Ensure JavaScript route links are real anchor elements with crawlable href values, not hash-only navigation.
SEO-006 Production pages intended for search are accessible to search-engine crawlers without unintended blocks.
SEO-007 robots.txt expresses deliberate crawling rules and does not accidentally block required resources.
SEO-009 XML sitemaps list canonical, indexable URLs and are submitted where useful.
SEO-010 Canonical tags resolve duplicate/parameter variants consistently with intended URLs.
SEO-011 Internal links use descriptive anchor text and lead to working, relevant pages.
SEO-012 Redirects, broken links, soft 404s, and redirect chains are reviewed.
SEO-039 Confirm pagination links expose discoverable URLs rather than infinite-scroll-only content.

Technical experience and performance#

SEO-021 Mobile usability and responsive design work across supported devices.
SEO-024 HTTPS, browser security basics, and safe mixed-content behavior are verified.
SEO-025 Accessible navigation, semantic markup, and usable interactions support page quality.
SEO-026 Pagination, faceted navigation, infinite scroll, and filtering avoid unwanted index bloat where applicable.
SEO-044 Check for cumulative layout shifts from delayed images, fonts, banners, and dynamic data loads.
SEO-022 Core Web Vitals and real-user performance are measured; material issues have owners.
SEO-023 Images, fonts, scripts, and caching are optimized without breaking functionality.
SEO-043 Assess LCP, INP, and CLS at the 75th percentile for mobile and desktop, with regression budgets.
SEO-045 Verify that cookie dialogs, scripts, and heavy widgets do not obscure primary content or degrade core interactions.

On-page metadata and semantics#

SEO-014 Priority pages have unique, descriptive titles and useful meta descriptions.
SEO-015 Each page has a clear primary heading and logical subheading hierarchy.
SEO-016 URLs are readable, stable, and consistent about protocol, hostname, and trailing slashes.
SEO-017 Images have useful alternative text where appropriate and are delivered efficiently.
SEO-018 Structured data uses supported types, matches visible content, and passes relevant validation.
SEO-019 Hreflang annotations and language/region targets are correct where multilingual or regional versions exist.
SEO-020 Open Graph and other sharing metadata are accurate where relevant.
SEO-040 Verify structured-data properties and values are complete, accurate, and match visible content.
SEO-041 Test canonical, alternate-language, and social metadata across templates and locales.

Trust, measurement, and maintenance#

SEO-027 Organization details, authorship, contact information, and policies are accurate and discoverable.
SEO-028 Claims and citations are verifiable; no misleading, mass-produced, or manipulative SEO content is used.
SEO-029 Search Console or equivalent webmaster tooling is configured with appropriate access.
SEO-030 Analytics tracks agreed search goals with privacy-compliant consent and data handling.
SEO-031 Index coverage, crawl errors, ranking/traffic trends, and important landing pages have a review cadence.
SEO-032 Major site migrations have URL mappings, redirect checks, and post-launch monitoring.
SEO-046 Review rich-result eligibility and relevant Search Console enhancement reports after schema changes.
SEO-047 Investigate large indexing or traffic changes by release and page type, not ranking estimates alone.
SEO-048 For site redesigns, test redirect rules and canonical destinations against the approved URL map.

Frontend Checks#

Apply to browser-based, mobile-web, embedded, or other user-facing interfaces. Record N/A with reasons for headless services.

Reference basis: Google Search Central — JavaScript SEO basics; Google Search Central — Structured data introduction; Google Search Central — Search appearance guidance.

SEO-061 Verify important textual content and links are present in the rendered DOM as seen by search crawlers.
SEO-062 Use standard <a href> links for navigation; test crawlable routes, deep links, and refresh behavior.
SEO-063 Render unique page titles, meta descriptions, canonical tags, and heading structure for each indexable view.
SEO-064 Check that meta robots directives are correct in the initial document and are not accidentally inherited from staging.
SEO-065 Keep URL changes, history navigation, canonical URLs, and visible content synchronized for single-page apps.
SEO-066 Validate JSON-LD, microdata, or RDFa against visible page content and supported Google features.
SEO-067 Use semantic headings, clear labels, descriptive image alt text, and accessible main navigation.
SEO-068 Ensure lazy-loaded content and images become discoverable without requiring a user scroll/click for essential text.
SEO-069 Measure field Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) and mobile UX on important page templates.
SEO-070 Reserve dimensions for media and dynamic components to minimize layout shift.
SEO-071 Verify responsive rendering, viewport settings, and content readability on small screens.
SEO-072 Check error, empty, and not-found UI states do not misleadingly present a successful indexable page.
SEO-073 Test locale switching and alternate language navigation without duplicating canonical targets.

Release gate#

All applicable high-priority checks above pass, or an authorized decision-maker has explicitly accepted and documented each residual risk.
Failed items have tracked remediation, owners, and deadlines; material blockers remain blocked until resolved.
Evidence links and the reviewer, review date, and final decision are recorded.

Domain-specific approval rule: Do not sign off if important production pages are unintentionally blocked, canonicalized away, broken, or missing essential content. Search ranking is not guaranteed.

Trusted references and scope#

The checks above are adapted into practical verification questions from these authoritative publications (not copied as standards text). Verify current versions and the project's scope before sign-off.

Search engines may crawl, render, and index differently. Follow documentation for each target engine; passing these checks cannot guarantee indexing, ranking, or rich results.

Source review date: 2026-11-12.

Suggested testing tools#

Choose tools appropriate to the project's stack and risks; automation supports evidence but does not approve the checklist.

Test focus: crawlability, robots/canonical, rendered metadata, and structured data; include browser and client behavior where applicable.
Cross-stack: Lighthouse + Rich Results Test.
Python: Beautiful Soup + pytest; for pytest-based suites, run python -m pytest -q.
TypeScript: Playwright + schema-dts + Vitest; for Vitest-based suites, run npx vitest run (or npx playwright test for E2E).
JavaScript: Playwright + Ajv + Jest; for Jest-based suites, run npx jest --ci (or npx playwright test for E2E).
Evidence: Save tool versions, configuration, test environment, fixtures, results, and links in project-specific review records using the existing checklist IDs. Expert review remains necessary where relevant.

Suggested AI skills for verification#

These are optional agent review aids, not automated passes or release approval. Each linked repository had at least 1,000 GitHub stars when checked on 2026-11-12; counts are per repository, not per skill, and do not indicate security or correctness.

seo-audit — Review crawlability and on-page SEO (coreyhaines31/marketingskills, 59,899 repo stars).
schema — Inspect structured-data markup (coreyhaines31/marketingskills, 59,899 repo stars).
site-architecture — Check navigation and indexable URL structure (coreyhaines31/marketingskills, 59,899 repo stars).

How to check: In a project-specific copy, have the agent audit the frontend scope and map findings to this file's existing checklist IDs, with code/configuration references, reproducible test results, failed or inapplicable cases, and uncertainties. Independently verify findings; keep shared template boxes unchecked and retain human approval requirements.

Before use: Read the skill's SKILL.md, referenced scripts, license, and requested tool permissions. Only execute vetted skills with appropriate access in a controlled environment.

Important warning: reference only#

⚠️ Reference only — not a definitive or exhaustive checklist. This template is a starting point for review, not the ultimate authority or a guarantee of project safety, quality, regulatory compliance, accessibility, security, or launch readiness.

Use project-specific judgment and independent verification. Requirements and risks evolve and differ by project, technology, and jurisdiction. Adapt the checks, consult current authoritative sources, perform relevant tests, and obtain qualified specialist review or approval when appropriate. Checking every box does not replace these steps.