Search engine optimization for WordPress is no longer just about keywords and meta tags. In 2025, Google evaluates page experience, structured data, Core Web Vitals, and mobile-first indexing alongside traditional ranking signals. This checklist covers all of them.
Technical SEO foundations
- ✅ HTTPS enabled and HTTP redirects to HTTPS
- ✅ XML sitemap generated and submitted to Google Search Console
- ✅ Robots.txt properly configured — not blocking search engines
- ✅ Canonical URLs set on all pages
- ✅ No duplicate content issues (categories, tags, authors, date archives)
- ✅ Clean permalink structure (/%postname%/ recommended)
- ✅ WWW vs non-WWW 301 redirect in place
- ✅ Site added to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
- ✅ Core Web Vitals passing (LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, TBT < 200ms)
- ✅ Mobile-friendly design verified in Search Console
On-page SEO
- ✅ Unique, descriptive title tag on every page (50-60 characters)
- ✅ Compelling meta description on every page (120-160 characters)
- ✅ One H1 per page containing the primary keyword
- ✅ Logical heading hierarchy (H2, H3, H4)
- ✅ Primary keyword in first 100 words of content
- ✅ Alt text on all images
- ✅ Descriptive file names for images (not IMG_1234.jpg)
- ✅ Internal linking between related content
- ✅ Outbound links to authoritative sources
Open Graph & social
- ✅ og:title, og:description, og:image set on all pages
- ✅ OG image is 1200×630px
- ✅ Twitter Card tags present
- ✅ OG tags validated in Facebook Sharing Debugger
Structured data
- ✅ Organization schema on homepage
- ✅ Article schema on blog posts
- ✅ Product schema on WooCommerce products
- ✅ FAQ schema where applicable
- ✅ Breadcrumb schema enabled
- ✅ Validated in Google Rich Results Test
Content quality
- ✅ Minimum 600 words for blog posts (1500+ for competitive topics)
- ✅ Content answers the search intent of the target keyword
- ✅ Content updated regularly — no stale dates
- ✅ No thin or duplicate pages indexed
- ✅ Comments managed — no spam in indexed content
WordPress SEO plugins
Use one SEO plugin — not two. The top options are:
- Yoast SEO — most popular, excellent guidance for beginners
- Rank Math — more features for free, growing rapidly
- AIOSEO — well-established alternative
Pro tip: Use WPStats to instantly check your site's SEO score — it checks title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, Schema.org, canonical URLs, sitemap, and robots.txt in one scan.
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