The on-page checklist, one page at a time

Start with what the page is for

Before you touch a title or a heading, write one sentence saying what the page is for and who it is for. If you cannot, the page is trying to do two jobs, and no checklist will fix that.

Then name the question a visitor typed to arrive. Our page on search intent shows how to read a search and tell whether a person wants to learn, compare or hire.

Write the sentence down and keep it beside you while you work. Every later choice, from the title to the last link, should serve that one sentence. When a paragraph does not, cut it or move it to a page of its own.

Fix the title and the description first

The title is the clickable line in search results, and it is the strongest short statement of what the page covers. Put the main subject first, keep it short, and give every page its own.

The description is the summary under it. It does not sit in the page body, but it decides whether a stranger clicks. Write it as a promise you can keep. Our pages on title tags and meta descriptions go deeper on both.

Both are also where copying shows. If ten pages share one title pattern with a word swapped, a search engine has little reason to treat them as ten different answers. Give each page a title and description that could belong to no other page on your site.

Check the headings and the opening

Each page needs one main heading that names its subject, then smaller headings that follow the order a reader would ask questions in. Never pick a heading level because of how large it looks.

Put the direct answer near the top, in plain words. A reader who gets it in the first few lines stays, and a machine reading the page can quote it. Our page on heading tags covers the order in detail.

Read your headings alone, skipping the paragraphs. They should work like a table of contents. If the headings read as a muddle, a visitor skimming on a phone will have the same trouble, and so will a program trying to understand the page.

The checklist you can work down

Use the list below on every page, in this order. Most of it takes minutes once you know what to look for, and the first pass is the slowest.

• The title names the subject first and differs from every other page
• The description says what the reader will find, in your own words
• One main heading, followed by headings in a logical order
• The answer to the page's question appears in the first few lines
• Every image has a file name and a short description of what it shows
• Two or three links point to related pages, with link text that makes sense alone
• The address is short, readable and does not change without a redirect

Make the copy specific to you

Copy is the part no checklist can write. Say what you do, where, for whom, and how you work. Details only your business knows are what separates your page from the next one that says the same thing.

Do not repeat a phrase until it reads oddly. Write the way you would explain the service to a neighbor. Our page on adding keywords explains why natural wording beats forced repetition.

A useful test is to read the page aloud. If you stumble, a customer will too. Replace vague words with the specific ones: the exact service, the street or town you serve, the kind of customer you help, and the steps a job usually takes.

Link and label the page properly

Links tell people and search engines how your pages relate. Link from this page to two or three others a reader would want next, and make sure something on your site links back to this one.

Images need file names a person could read and a short description of what each shows. A photo called IMG with a string of letters tells nobody anything. Our page on internal linking covers the link side.

Alt text deserves a moment too. It is the short description a screen reader speaks and a search engine can read, so write what the picture shows in a plain phrase. Skip the stuffed list of keywords, which helps nobody who relies on it.

Know when a page is finished

A page is finished when every item above is true and the content is accurate today. Then leave it alone. Rewriting a good page every week is not maintenance; it is churn.

Come back when something real changes: a price, a service, an address. Website Builder Studio puts every page through a check that runs before anything publishes, many of whose rules follow public standards, including Google Search Essentials. The facts on the page are still yours to keep true.

Choose one page a week and read it as a customer would. Check the price, the hours and the phone number against what is true today, and fix anything stale. A short page you trust beats a long page you have stopped reading.