{"id":142970,"date":"2022-06-10T02:37:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T07:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=142970"},"modified":"2024-06-16T16:43:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T21:43:53","slug":"seo-friendly-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-friendly-website\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create an SEO-Friendly Website: The Complete Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">An SEO-friendly (i.e., search engine-friendly) website is one that is technically sound, delightful to use, and search-focused. Here\u2019s a Venn diagram explaining this: An SEO-friendly website is the intersection of these three&nbsp;sets:<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142948\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-three-traits-of-seo-friendly-site.png\" alt=\"Venn diagram showing an SEO-friendly website is the intersection of 3 aspects: technically sound, delightful to use, and search-focused\" width=\"547.6\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-three-traits-of-seo-friendly-site.png 1369w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-three-traits-of-seo-friendly-site-364x425.png 364w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-three-traits-of-seo-friendly-site-768x898.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1-three-traits-of-seo-friendly-site-1314x1536.png 1314w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1369px) 100vw, 1369px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to design an SEO-friendly website or make sure that yours is like that, follow the checklist below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.ogw5hwiidcvz\">SEO-friendly website checklist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p><p>Your website\u2019s design and performance can impact your search rankings or even prevent your site from ranking. Use our checklist to make sure your website is both Google\u2019s and the user\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142949\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-seo-friendly-checklist.jpg\" alt=\"Complete checklist of the various things that make up an SEO-friendly website\" width=\"511.6\" height=\"880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-seo-friendly-checklist.jpg 930w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-seo-friendly-checklist-247x425.jpg 247w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-seo-friendly-checklist-768x1321.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2-seo-friendly-checklist-893x1536.jpg 893w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.uddmxgn346iq\">Make your website technically sound<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First, you need to help search engines find, crawl, and index important content on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Points from this section of the checklist will typically need to be set up once and revisited only when you need to introduce changes (e.g., updating your sitemap).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.fqrm0t4b963p\">1. Plan website structure (for new&nbsp;sites)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Planning your website structure can be a complex process, especially if you plan on having something more than a portfolio on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, from the SEO perspective, these are the things that really matter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Depth of the site structure<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Try not to have important pages too far away from the homepage (keeping at two or three clicks away is best and nothing further than six clicks). This is something big websites should especially watch out for, as overly nested pages can get <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/crawl-budget\/\">crawled<\/a>&nbsp;less often.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Keyword optimization for top-level pages<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Category pages can also rank on search engines. You can increase the chances of that if you optimize your top-level pages for keywords with search demand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Internal links <\/strong>\u2013&nbsp;Among other things, internal links are a ranking factor and can send a signal to search engines to crawl certain pages more often. Since links in site navigation count as internal links, your important pages can get an additional SEO boost just because they are properly placed in the structure and linked in the site navigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/3-visual-site-architecture-example.png\" alt=\"Flowchart showing an example of a site structure\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1035\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tip: use colors to differentiate navigation elements (here in white) from pages (blue).<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/website-structure\/\">Website Structure: How to Build Your SEO Foundation<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.s6204gd3xewm\">2. Set up Google Search Console<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the three free tools that you can\u2019t do SEO confidently without. It\u2019s a free tool made for tracking your site\u2019s organic search performance on Google\u2019s search engine (<a href=\"https:\/\/gs.statcounter.com\/search-engine-market-share\">92.07% market share worldwide<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting up GSC is essential for creating an SEO-friendly website because it allows you&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find website errors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find opportunities for UX improvements (e.g., page&nbsp;speed).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Submit sitemaps (one of the next steps in our checklist).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of that, GSC will also let you see the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-are-keywords\/\">keywords<\/a>&nbsp;you rank for (up to 1,000 in the tool itself) and check ranking positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-google-search-console.png\" alt=\"GSC's Performance report \"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You can get GSC <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/about\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-search-console\/#how-to-set-up-google-search-console\">How to Use Google Search Console to Improve SEO (Beginner\u2019s Guide)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bwrex1k9sa08\">3. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Microsoft\u2019s Bing Webmaster Tools is an equivalent of GSC that you should use to get data from Bing\u2019s search engine (<a href=\"https:\/\/gs.statcounter.com\/search-engine-market-share\">the second-biggest search engine<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5-bing-webmaster-tools.png\" alt=\"Bing Webmaster Tools' Search Performance report\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You can get Bing Webmaster Tools <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmasters\/help\/getting-started-checklist-66a806de\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.hqkqbhk6psn7\">4. Set up Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>&nbsp;(AWT) is our free tool that helps to improve a website\u2019s SEO performance and get more organic search traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another way to think about it is that the tool takes off where GSC leaves you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It automatically monitors your website for 100+ SEO issues\u2014and emails you the report if you&nbsp;wish.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It shows all known backlinks with useful SEO metrics.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It shows all known keywords with useful SEO metrics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p><p>Get it for free here: <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Webmaster tools \u2013 Audit &amp; Improve Your Website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_142973\" style=\"width: 447px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142973\" class=\"wp-image-142973\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-email-crawl-report-awt.png\" alt=\"SEO health report results\" width=\"437\" height=\"618\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-email-crawl-report-awt.png 874w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-email-crawl-report-awt-301x425.png 301w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/6-email-crawl-report-awt-768x1086.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-142973\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sample email SEO health report from <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">AWT<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended viewing:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ipTk-qGrNlc\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) \u2013 Our Free SEO&nbsp;Tool<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.sjec2ux77ssv\">5. Create and submit a sitemap<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A sitemap is a file stored on your server that tells search engines where to find important content on your website. Moreover, it can also provide information <em>about<\/em>&nbsp;that content, such as the video running time or publication date of an article. All this data helps search engines crawl your site more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/7-sitemap-example.jpg\" alt=\"Excerpt of a sitemap by YoastSEO\" width=\"1600\" height=\"621\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most CMSs can create sitemaps for you. This is an excerpt of a sitemap created by the YoastSEO plugin.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally speaking, search engines (at least Google) are designed to work without the need for sitemaps\u2014internal links and backlinks are all they need. However, if your website is really big (over 500 pages), has isolated pages, or has few or no backlinks, you should create a&nbsp;sitemap and submit it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-sitemap\/\">How to Create an XML Sitemap (And Submit It to Google)<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.sgu1yioane7l\">6. Create a robots.txt file<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Plainly speaking, a robots.txt file is a text file that tells search engines where they can and can\u2019t go on your&nbsp;site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p><p>It\u2019s in search engines\u2019 \u201cnature\u201d to crawl pretty much everything&nbsp;they stumble across. On the one hand, that\u2019s a good thing because you want people to find stuff that you publish. But there are some situations where you won\u2019t want that to happen. For example, the cart page or pages generated through <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/faceted-navigation\/\">faceted navigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142954\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-robot-disallow-example.png\" alt=\"Example of robot's disallow directive \" width=\"520\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-robot-disallow-example.png 1300w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-robot-disallow-example-680x157.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/8-robot-disallow-example-768x177.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>So basically, you will need to create a robots.txt file only when you want to keep some parts of your website inaccessible to search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you may also want to check if there\u2019s an existing robots file (created automatically by your CMS or by your website developer) to make sure that important pages are crawlable. Just go to yourdomain.com\/robots.txt and see if there\u2019s anything there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, you may want to see the Coverage report in GSC to check for any unwanted robot rules that may block certain pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/9-coverage-report-gsc.png\" alt=\"Coverage report results in GSC\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/robots-txt\/\">Robots.txt and SEO: Everything You Need to Know<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.y1h59l1w5q76\">7. Make sure your website is indexable<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Indexability refers to a search engine\u2019s ability to analyze and store a webpage in its database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite a page being accessible to search engine web crawlers, that page can still not show up on the SERPs. This happens in the following situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cNoindex\u201d value in the robots meta tag in robots.txt file<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cNoindex\u201d or \u201cnone\u201d value in x-robots-tag in HTTP response header<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure that a page doesn\u2019t have those tags if you want it to rank. You can check that in the Coverage report inside GSC or the <strong>Indexability<\/strong>&nbsp;report in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;(part of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">AWT<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/10-indexability-report-awt.png\" alt=\"Indexability report results in Site Audit\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind, though, that those tags are still useful. For example, you may want to noindex certain pages like thank-you pages or internal search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-robots\/\">Robots Meta Tag &amp; X-Robots-Tag: Everything You Need to Know<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/faceted-navigation\/\">Faceted Navigation: Definition, Examples &amp; SEO Best Practices<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.2c0ienvwjxbp\">8. Make sure your website is accessible at only one domain<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, you need to choose the canonical domain name.&nbsp;This will make your site appear consistent to users and web crawlers and prevent issues like diluted link equity (this can happen when some websites link to the HTTP version and others link to the HTTPS version).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">AWT<\/a>&nbsp;installed, go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;tool and open the <strong>Page explorer<\/strong>&nbsp;report. Inside the report, insert these four versions of your domain using the \u201cAdvanced\u201d filter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>http:\/\/yourdomain.com<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>http:\/\/www.yourdomain.com<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>https:\/\/yourdomain.com<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>https:\/\/www.yourdomain.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/11-page-explorer-redirects.png\" alt=\"Advanced filters in Page explorer report\" width=\"1600\" height=\"595\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>What you want to see is a) your desired URL to report a \u201c200\u201d (preferably the HTTPS version) and b) others reporting a \u201c301\u201d redirect to that \u201c200\u201d page. If that\u2019s not the case, you will need to apply redirects to non-canonical domain names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/12-page-explorer-http-status-codes.png\" alt=\"Table showing http status codes for a few URLs\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/301-redirects\/\">301 Redirects for SEO: Everything You Need to Know<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.d2mwjstqhe6\">Make your website delightful to&nbsp;use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>How users perceive your website is not something that&nbsp;Google&nbsp;ignores completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Points from this section of the checklist will typically need to be set up&nbsp;once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.56o1rouaohrg\">1. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Google is using <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/mobile-first-indexing\/\">mobile-first indexing<\/a>. This means that it indexes and ranks content based on mobile versions of webpages. Consequently, having a website optimized for mobile devices is \u201cstrongly recommended,\u201d as Google puts it in its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/mobile-sites\/mobile-first-indexing\">documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check if your website is mobile-friendly in the eyes of Google using its <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/test\/mobile-friendly\">test tool<\/a>&nbsp;or use the Mobile Usability report in&nbsp;GSC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/13-google-mobile-friendliness-test.png\" alt=\"Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool\" width=\"1600\" height=\"627\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/mobile-first-indexing\/\">Mobile-First Indexing: What You Need to&nbsp;Know<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/responsive-vs-adaptive-design-whats-best-choice-designers\/\">Responsive vs. Adaptive Design: What\u2019s the Best Choice?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.6e7slm3lq5fn\">2. Make sure your site loads&nbsp;fast<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Loading speed is a ranking factor and the fundament of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\">Core Web Vitals<\/a>, which are performance metrics used for measuring user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rest assured\u2014Google still promotes the most <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/relevant-content\/\">relevant content<\/a> in its database. But when everything else is similar or equal, Google may rank the faster page higher.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/14-site-audit-performance-report.png\" alt=\"Performance report results in Site Audit\" width=\"1600\" height=\"877\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">You can monitor your website for speed issues with Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>. For this, use the <strong>Performance<\/strong>&nbsp;report.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/advanced-pagespeed-guide\/\">How to Improve Page Speed From Start to Finish (Advanced Guide)<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.zxgfuq96p3g\">3. Make sure you\u2019re using&nbsp;HTTPS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as Google wants to provide useful pages, it wants to provide secure pages too. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, i.e., the secure version of&nbsp;HTTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1324px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/15-https-connection-secure.png\" alt=\"Secure connection at ahrefs.com\" width=\"1314\" height=\"629\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Users can tell right away if your website is using HTTPS or&nbsp;not.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This step is quite straightforward. You just need to get an SSL certificate and add it to your site (the easiest way is to get one from your hosting provider). You can even get one for free <a href=\"https:\/\/letsencrypt.org\/\">here<\/a>&nbsp;(yes, Google recognizes it&nbsp;too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/what-is-https\/\">What Is HTTPS? Everything You Need to Know<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.s3e6bnnyw889\">4. Avoid intrusive interstitials<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The last on the list of <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/advanced\/experience\/page-experience\">page experience signals<\/a>. To Google, a page without intrusive pop-up windows is a usable site\u2014and it\u2019s hard to disagree with&nbsp;that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some exceptions to this rule, though. Google \u201caccepts\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Messages displayed out of legal obligation (e.g., cookies consent).<\/li>\n<li>Login dialogs for pages without public access (e.g., content behind paywall).<\/li>\n<li>Banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-142962\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16-google-approved-popups.jpg\" alt=\"Infographic showing pop-ups of cookies consent or ads taking up a reasonable space are Google-approved\" width=\"520.8\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16-google-approved-popups.jpg 1302w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16-google-approved-popups-346x425.jpg 346w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16-google-approved-popups-768x944.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/16-google-approved-popups-1250x1536.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/advanced\/guidelines\/avoid-intrusive-interstitials\">Interstitials and Dialogs | Google Search Central | Documentation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Make your website search-focused<\/h3>\n<p>Craft your content with searchers and linkers in&nbsp;mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Points from this section of the checklist should be set up for each new content that you want to&nbsp;rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.gt50aj4mmtg\">1. Choose the right keyword<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to get traffic from search engines, you need to create content about something people search for. And the best way to do this is to optimize your content for a good keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what makes a good keyword for&nbsp;SEO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Search traffic potential<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Generally speaking, the more often people look for something online, the more traffic those keywords can generate. But this isn\u2019t a rule, and it may vary from keyword to keyword. It\u2019s best to check the traffic potential for your keywords as&nbsp;well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Search intent<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 People use search engines to either learn something, buy something, or find a specific site\u2014this is their search intent. When choosing a keyword, you need to make sure your content matches what people want to see in the search results.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business potential<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 A keyword may bring you traffic. But will it also bring you new business? Prioritize topics highly relevant to what you offer so that you can naturally feature your products or services.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Not too difficult to rank <\/strong>\u2013&nbsp;The quickest way to estimate this is to use a metric like our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-difficulty\/\">Keyword Difficulty (KD)<\/a>. But you may also need to take other factors into consideration (see recommended reading below).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/17-tea-matching-terms-report.png\" alt=\"Matching terms report results for &quot;tea&quot;\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1332\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">What is a tea pet? It\u2019s one of 1,500+ keywords that are not competitive and have considerable search volumes related to tea. Something I\u2019d definitely want to cover on my blog about tea (may even include an affiliate link there\u2014get it?).<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-choose-keywords-for-seo\/\">How to Choose the Right Keywords for SEO<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-difficulty\/\">Keyword Difficulty: How to Estimate Your Chances to&nbsp;Rank<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.s6x2f0r8o5f\">2. Make your content interesting and useful<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Google admits that the single strongest ranking factor is the content itself. Namely, the content\u2019s usefulness and its ability to capture readers\u2019 interest. In Google\u2019s own&nbsp;words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/18-what-is-useful-interesting-content.png\" alt=\"Except of Google's article talking about the importance of creating compelling and useful content\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>So here are some tips that can help you make your content interesting and useful. Ensure it&nbsp;is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Easy to&nbsp;read.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clearly organized.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fresh.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unique.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aligned with <a href=\"\/blog\/eeat-seo\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/eat-seo\/\">E-A-T guidelines<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focused on providing essential information to solve a searcher\u2019s problem (this brings us back to the search intent).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All of the above refers to designing content <em>for searchers<\/em>. But there are also \u201c<em>linkers,<\/em>\u201d&nbsp;i.e., people who will not only read your content but also include a link to it on their websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why design for linkers? Because links from external websites (backlinks) are one of the most important ranking factors for Google. More backlinks from unique domains = higher rankings = more traffic. Generally speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p><p>You can increase your chances of earning or building links if you make your content link-worthy. That means including something so valuable and interesting that bloggers and journalists will want to link to it (aka <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-bait\/\">link bait<\/a>).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_142964\" style=\"width: 567px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142964\" class=\"wp-image-142964\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/19-linkable-asset-example.jpg\" alt=\"Except of Ahrefs' blog article showing a graphic about long-tail keywords\" width=\"557\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/19-linkable-asset-example.jpg 1114w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/19-linkable-asset-example-296x425.jpg 296w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/19-linkable-asset-example-768x1103.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/19-linkable-asset-example-1069x1536.jpg 1069w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-142964\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you wanted to link to a good resource on, say, long-tail keywords, it\u2019d definitely be something that includes a graphic explaining what they are,&nbsp;right?<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also create content just for the linkers. It\u2019s OK if it has minimal search volume, as long as it\u2019s attractive to your target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/20-link-bait-content-results.png\" alt=\"Site Explorer overview of an article about how 90.63% of content gets no traffic from Google and how to be in the minority that does\" width=\"1600\" height=\"372\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Very low traffic. But it\u2019s all right\u2014this is link bait content.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-writing\/\">What Is Content Writing? 13 Tips for Creating Amazing Content<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/\">Link Building for SEO: The Beginner\u2019s Guide<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-bait\/\">What Is Link Bait? 7 Successful Examples<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.hdbfymtevtey\">3. Optimize title and description tags<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two reasons why you need to optimize title tags: They are a ranking factor (a small one), and people see them on the SERPs. So you should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Make the title eye-catching and accurate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insert the target keyword in your title. It works. Keyword stuffing doesn\u2019t.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fit them within 60 characters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1346px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/21-title-tag-example.png\" alt=\"Example of title tag\" width=\"1336\" height=\"517\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Points #1, #2, and #3 checked.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There is one reason why you need to optimize description tags: People see them on the SERPs. Here are some good practices for enticing searchers to click. You should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Make your description compelling. Reassure readers that this is the content they\u2019ve been after all&nbsp;along.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure the description is not longer than 920 px (try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highervisibility.com\/seo\/tools\/serp-snippet-optimizer\/\">SERPSim)<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the description relevant to the title of the page (and vice&nbsp;versa).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a unique description for every&nbsp;page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1348px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/22-description-tag-example.png\" alt=\"Example of meta description that may be a bit too plain; it satisfies the other points, though \" width=\"1338\" height=\"515\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Points #2, #3, and #4 checked. Point #1?&nbsp;Hmmm.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">How to Craft the Perfect SEO Title Tag (Our 4-Step Process)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-description\/\">How to Write the Perfect Meta Description<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.hjtjihehn5t4\">4. Add schema markup<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Schema markup is a code that helps search engines to understand your content and better represent it in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, to display an image next to your Fender Stratocaster review, you\u2019ll need to deploy a code like&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"image\": {<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"@type\": \"ImageObject\",<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"url\": \"yourimage.url\",<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"height\": \"689\",<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>\"width\": \"1225\u201d<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1440px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/23-search-results-with-schema.jpg\" alt=\"Example of ratings found under various results on a Google SERP\" width=\"1430\" height=\"1342\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stands out on the SERPS quite nicely, right? Those star ratings and thumbnails are served to the searcher via a few tags in the schema markup.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There are different types of schema for different occasions: reviews, FAQs, person, place, organization, and many more. All of them will help Google show rich results on the SERPs (like the ones in the picture above) for your pages and potentially bring you more clicks. Here\u2019s the full schema <a href=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/docs\/schemas.html\">documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can create and test your schema markup with tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/schema.dev\/\">schema.dev<\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/schema-markup\/\">What Is Schema Markup? How to Use It for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.as0h5ltu3kuj\">5. Use short and descriptive URLs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>An SEO-friendly URL is basically a user-friendly URL. So when optimizing your URLs, you should do it with the user in mind. That\u2019s how you\u2019ll make two friends with one&nbsp;gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-friendly-website\">https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-friendly-website<\/a><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This URL uses HTTPS, doesn\u2019t have an overly nested structure, and indicates clearly what the page is about. So when users see this URL on the SERPs, they will know the page is actually about something they\u2019re looking for. And when they click on it, the URL will indicate where in the site structure they&nbsp;are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-friendly-urls\/\">How to Create SEO-Friendly URLs (Step-by-Step)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.3m8kh55bv4ug\">6. Link to relevant resources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You most probably won\u2019t jump in rankings just by adding outbound links to your content (they are probably not a ranking factor). But you may still want to add outbound links to cite your sources and link to helpful materials on the&nbsp;topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=58zaiOx7TM4\">this video<\/a>&nbsp;from Google:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">&nbsp;\n\n\n\n<p><em>Linking to other websites is a great way to provide value to your users. Oftentimes, links help users to find out more, to check out your sources and to better understand how your content is relevant to the questions that they&nbsp;have.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"John Mueller\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/john-mueller-google.png\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">John Mueller,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Search Advocate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\" target=\"_blank\">Google<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So including relevant outbound links is a best practice when <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-write-great-content\/\">creating good content<\/a>. But on top of that, citing your sources will help you to align your content with <a href=\"\/blog\/eeat-seo\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/eat-seo\/\">E-A-T search quality guidelines<\/a>, which are especially important for Your Money or Your Life topics (health, finance, safety, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"\/blog\/eeat-seo\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/eat-seo\/\">What Is EAT? Why It\u2019s Important for SEO<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.hiz5hbqmcq1w\">7. Optimize images<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, optimizing images for SEO means you need to do three things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Compress images<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;You can use a plugin like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/shortpixel-image-optimiser\/\">ShortPixel<\/a>&nbsp;or a bulk image optimizer like <a href=\"https:\/\/kraken.io\/web-interface\">Kraken<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use descriptive image file names<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Yes, Google can (and probably will) read the names of your image files to understand what they\u2019re about.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use descriptive alt texts<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Alt texts serve a couple of purposes. Yet they are often overlooked. Not only do they help visually impaired users, but they also can help Google understand the context of your page and help you rank on Google Images.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/24-a-laptop-on-a-table-next-to-coffee.png\" alt=\"Laptop on a table next to a cup of coffee and glass coffee pot\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alt text for this nice photo should be something like \u201ca laptop on a table next to coffee.\u201d \u201cA coffee pot and a mug admiring a Surface laptop while no one\u2019s looking\u201d is my next&nbsp;guess.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/\">Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/image-seo\/\">Image SEO: 12 Actionable Tips (For More Organic Traffic)<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.jhngj4sxgag1\">8. Add internal links<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Last but not least, don\u2019t forget about internal links, i.e., links from another page on the same website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make no mistake\u2014internal links are a ranking factor. They are really important. Google uses internal links&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Discover new pages <\/strong>\u2013 Internal links provide a crawl path to target pages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pass link equity between your pages<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Internal linking can boost other pages on your website.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Understand what a page is about<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Understanding the content of your pages helps Google rank them. The <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/anchor-text\/\">anchor text<\/a>&nbsp;of the internal link matters too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So make sure to interlink relevant content on your website and keep in mind that you can use links to boost other pages (aka the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/orchard-seo-strategy\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-strategy\/\">Middleman Method<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/25-link-opportunities-report.jpg\" alt=\"Advanced filters in Internal link opportunities report\" width=\"1600\" height=\"861\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The more content you have, the harder it is to keep up with internal linking. This is where <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">AWT<\/a>&nbsp;can do the heavy lifting for you. You can use the automatically generated report or use the \u201cAdvanced\u201d filter to see link opportunities to a specific page.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/prioritize-internal-linking\/\">Here\u2019s Why You Should Prioritize Internal Linking in&nbsp;2022<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.qjito75x9hi7\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All in all, this is quite a lot of work. And unfortunately, there\u2019s no way around it. But you can make your job easier if you\u2019ve got the right&nbsp;tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, you may want to take a closer look at the \u201cSEO-friendliness\u201d of the CMS that your website is built&nbsp;with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some CMSs will try to simplify things as much as possible, which can result in less room for customization. Others will require more attention from you but give you more possibilities in return. These three articles should help you make a more informed choice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wix-seo\/\">Wix SEO vs. WordPress: 6.4M Domains Studied<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/squarespace-seo\/\">Squarespace SEO vs. WordPress: 3.6M Domains Studied<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/wordpress-best-cms-seo\/\">10 Reasons Why WordPress Is the Best CMS for SEO<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, as mentioned in our checklist, make sure to set up <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/free-seo-audit-tools\/\">SEO audit tools<\/a> for automatic SEO health monitoring (among others). As you add more content to your site, you may run into SEO issues like broken links, broken images, or <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/canonicalization\/\">canonicalization issues<\/a>. An audit tool will catch them for&nbsp;you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One last piece of advice: If you have a JavaScript-heavy website, make sure to check out some additional steps covered in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/javascript-seo\/#making-javascript-site-seo-friendly\">this guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/m_makosiewicz\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; If you want to design an SEO-friendly website or make sure that yours is like that, follow the checklist below. SEO-friendly website checklist Your website\u2019s design and performance can impact your search rankings or even prevent your site from<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":142978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[412],"class_list":["post-142970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Create an SEO-Friendly Website: The Complete Checklist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Technically sound, delightful to use, and search-focused. 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