SEO QA Checklist & 20 Hard Core SEO Tips

SEO QA Checklist

1. For dynamic pages does each page type have a unique Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords tag formula?

2. For static pages does each page have a unique Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords tag?

3. Inspect your robots.txt file and make sure that only URLs that you don't want the search engines to see are listed. Examples of pages you probably don't want indexed include login, email to a friend, printer friendly pages, most footer pages, etc. If you see "Disallow: /", this means you are blocking all robots from crawling the entire site. This is not good.

4. Run a report of all dynamic page types that have a "noindex" tag and confirm that only page types that you don't want the search engines to see have this tag.

5. Test all URL redirects. Make sure the following redirects are in place
a. Non-www version of every URL 301s to www version (or vice-versa)
b. URLs that end in / 301 to version that has no / (or vice-versa)
c. All mixed case URLs 301 to lowercase versions
d. Test version subdomains (e.g. alpha.site.com) either 301 to root domain or else are password protected.

6. Make sure any URLs that are being eliminated 301 to the new version of the URL or if there is no new version that they 301 redirect to the root domain or a related directory on the site.

7. If you are using a sitemaps xml file to update Google, Yahoo & MSN sitemaps has the xml file been updated to reflect the new changes?

8. Run a crawler against your site such as Linkscan to make sure that your pages are not delivering error codes and to see if there are any chain redirects (e.g. 301 to 301 to 301). Avoid chain redirects if possible.

9. Create a list of items that have changed that could affect SEO to help quickly diagnose any issues that may result from the new release. Typical items include:
a. Addition of or reduction of links on a page
b. Rewritten page copy and meta information
c. Addition of new pages
d. Eliminated URLs
e. Redirected URLs

20 Hard Core SEO Tips

1. Redesign your Web site once or twice a year.

2. Add 5 pages of content to your site every week.

3. Change the titles on your least successful pages twice a year.

4. Use one good keyword in your url.

5. Do not stuff your title tag with keywords.

6. Find 3 SEO forums that accept site review requests and write 20 reviews in each forum before you ever ask a question.

7. Create your own SEO book by collecting your favorite SEO forum and blog posts, newsletter articles, and tech tips in a .PDF file that you review once a month.

8. Create a new SEO book once each year, replacing the one you just created in the previous step.

9. Optimize your best performing page for the exact mirror of your targeted keyword expression (turn an ABCD page into a DCBA page).

10. Find 5 low-traffic blogs or forums that are consistently active and support them through comments, links, and referrals WITHOUT being self-promotional.

11. Write 10 blocks of ad copy (no more than 25 words each) every week. Place them on the Web where they won't offend anyone.

12. Write 1 full-page announcement about your Web site each week. Post it some place where it won't offend anyone.

13. Get a text editor like Wordpad (the fewer frills the better) and use it to code one of your Web pages from scratch.

14. Learn how to write Who, What, Where, When, and Why in 4 paragraphs or less.

15. Create a 1-page listing of 20 UNKNOWN Web sites you wish you had created. Post that page on your site.

16. Create a forum signature that does not promote your Web site. Put it into every forum profile you have created.

17. Design a 5-10 page Web site about a community project or charitable activity. Promote that site to number 1. Now repeat the process without changing or building more links for your first site.

18. Find a niche directory you have never heard of before that you feel is honestly listing unique, useful Web sites. Promote that niche directory through links and comments on your own sites until you see improvement in its Compete, Quantcast

19. Find a friend or relative who has no clue about Web sites and persuade him or her to create a Web site. You must restrain yourself and ONLY give advice on how to build and promote the site.

20. Define a metric that uses from three to five factors OTHER THAN Google PageRank, Alexa Rankings, Compete Rankings, Quantcast Rankings, and backlink counts. Use this metric to track five to ten sites you don't control for six months.