On-page SEO is the part of search optimisation you fully control: how a page is written, structured and marked up. Run through this checklist before publishing any new page.
Match the search intent
Search the main phrase yourself and look at what already ranks. Is the searcher trying to learn, compare, or buy? Your page should clearly serve that need rather than the one you wish they had.
The ten-point checklist
- One clear primary topic per page, with related phrases used naturally.
- A unique, descriptive title tag that leads with the topic and stays short enough to display fully in results.
- A meta description that accurately summarises the page and invites the click.
- One H1 that states what the page is about, followed by logical H2 and H3 headings.
- A clean, readable URL that describes the page.
- Helpful, original content that answers the question completely and is easy to scan.
- Descriptive internal links to related pages on your own site.
- Meaningful alt text for informative images, and properly sized image files.
- Fast loading and a layout that works well on mobile screens.
- Structured data where it fits, such as article or FAQ markup, validated before launch.
Do not forget indexing basics
Make sure the page is not blocked by robots rules, has a self-referencing canonical URL and appears in your XML sitemap. After publishing, check it in Google Search Console and request indexing if needed.
SEO is a long game. Strong pages that genuinely help your audience, supported by a technically healthy site, are what search engines reward over time.