SEO Implementation Checklist

Track your progress with this checklist.

✅ Phase 1: Setup (Complete!)

• Install SEO meta tags in _includes/head/custom.html
• Create structured data template _includes/structured-data.html
• Create SEO documentation
• Create post template _templates/new-post-template.md
• Create audit script scripts/seo-audit.sh
• Make script executable

🎯 Phase 2: Quick Wins (Start Here!)

Week 1: Foundation

• Run initial audit: ./scripts/seo-audit.sh > baseline.txt
• Read SEO-README.md (15 minutes)
• Identify top 10 posts to optimize
• Add descriptions to 10 posts (50 minutes)
• Test 1 post with Twitter Card Validator
• Share updated post on social media

Time: ~2 hours Impact: Immediate improvement in social sharing

Week 2: Recent Posts

• List all 2024-2025 posts (57 total)
• Add descriptions to all recent posts
• Add image paths (can use placeholder)
• Add permalinks where missing
• Run audit to track progress

Time: ~10 hours Impact: All recent content optimized

Week 3: Images & Visual

• Design default featured image template (1200x630px)
• Create 5-10 custom featured images for top posts
• Add alt text to images in recent posts
• Update image paths in frontmatter

Time: ~8 hours Impact: Professional social media sharing

Week 4: Content Enhancement

• Add 2-3 internal links to each recent post
• Check for broken external links
• Add excerpt separators where missing
• Update outdated screenshots/info

Time: ~10 hours Impact: Better user experience and SEO

📊 Phase 3: Bulk Updates (Month 2)

Week 5-6: High-Traffic Posts

• Export top 50 posts from Google Analytics
• Add descriptions to all top 50
• Add/create featured images
• Refresh outdated content
• Add internal links

Time: ~15 hours Impact: Optimize posts already getting traffic

Week 7-8: Category-Based Updates

• Update all Swift/SwiftUI posts (category: swift, swiftui)
• Update all iOS posts (category: ios)
• Update all tutorial posts
• Update all how-to posts

Time: ~20 hours Impact: Strengthen topical authority

🚀 Phase 4: Complete Optimization (Ongoing)

Month 3: Older Content

• Audit 2020-2023 posts
• Update still-relevant posts
• Archive or redirect outdated posts
• Consolidate duplicate content

Month 4: Advanced SEO

• Create pillar content pages
• Build content hubs
• Internal linking strategy
• Backlink opportunities

Month 5: Performance

• Optimize all images (compress)
• Convert to WebP format
• Implement lazy loading
• Run PageSpeed Insights

Month 6: Analysis & Refinement

• Review Search Console data
• Identify top-performing content
• Create more similar content
• Update underperforming posts

📝 For Every New Post

Copy this checklist into each new post:

## Pre-Publishing SEO Checklist

- [ ] Title is 50-60 characters
- [ ] Title includes primary keyword
- [ ] Description is 120-155 characters
- [ ] Description includes primary keyword
- [ ] Featured image created (1200x630px)
- [ ] Image added to frontmatter
- [ ] Permalink is descriptive
- [ ] 2-3 categories assigned
- [ ] 4-8 tags added
- [ ] All images have alt text
- [ ] Excerpt separator placed (<!--more-->)
- [ ] 2-5 internal links added
- [ ] All external links work
- [ ] Code blocks have syntax highlighting
- [ ] Proper heading hierarchy (H2→H3→H4)
- [ ] Primary keyword in first paragraph
- [ ] Content is 300+ words
- [ ] Proofread for typos
- [ ] Tested locally

📈 Weekly Tracking

Run this every Monday:

# Week 1 baseline
./scripts/seo-audit.sh > audit-week01.txt

# Week 2
./scripts/seo-audit.sh > audit-week02.txt
diff audit-week01.txt audit-week02.txt

# Continue weekly...

Track these metrics:

🎯 Monthly Goals

Month 1 Target

• SEO Score: 50%
• All 2024-2025 posts have descriptions
• Default featured image created
• Top 20 posts fully optimized

Month 2 Target

• SEO Score: 65%
• Top 100 posts have descriptions
• 50+ posts have custom images
• Internal linking strategy implemented

Month 3 Target

• SEO Score: 80%
• All active posts have descriptions
• 100+ custom featured images
• Pillar content created

Month 6 Target

• SEO Score: 90%+
• All posts fully optimized
• Traffic increased 50-100%
• Rich snippets appearing

🔧 Tools Setup Checklist

• Google Search Console
  • Site added and verified
  • Sitemap submitted
  • No critical errors
• Google Analytics
  • GA4 installed (already done!)
  • Goals configured
  • Custom reports created
• Social Media Tools
  • Twitter Card Validator bookmarked
  • LinkedIn Post Inspector bookmarked
  • Facebook Debugger bookmarked
• Development Tools
  • SEO browser extension installed
  • Image optimization tool ready
  • Markdown editor configured

💰 Budget (If Hiring Help)

If you want to hire help for any phase:

Total DIY: ~207 hours Total Outsourced: $2600-5200

Hybrid approach (recommended):

• DIY: Descriptions & permalinks (~34h)
• Hire: Featured image template + 20 customs ($500)
• Total: $500 + 34h of your time

🎓 Learning Resources Checklist

• Read: Google SEO Starter Guide
• Watch: Google Search Console Training
• Read: Moz Beginner’s Guide
• Read: Your own SEO-GUIDELINES.md
• Practice: Update 10 posts using QUICK-SEO-FIX.md

✨ Celebration Milestones

Celebrate these wins:

• ✅ First 10 posts updated
• ✅ All recent posts (2024-2025) updated
• ✅ SEO score reaches 50%
• ✅ First rich snippet appears in search
• ✅ Organic traffic increases 20%
• ✅ 100 posts fully optimized
• ✅ SEO score reaches 80%
• ✅ Organic traffic increases 50%
• ✅ All posts optimized
• ✅ SEO score reaches 90%+

📱 Mobile Checklist

• Test site on mobile device
• Check image loading on slow connection
• Verify touch targets are adequate
• Test forms/buttons on mobile
• Check page speed on mobile
• Verify text is readable without zooming

🔐 Technical SEO Checklist

• HTTPS enabled
• Sitemap.xml exists and is valid
• Robots.txt exists and is correct
• Canonical URLs implemented
• Structured data implemented
• 404 page exists and is helpful
• No broken links (run link checker)
• No duplicate content
• Mobile-friendly (test)
• Fast loading (< 3 seconds)

🚨 Red Flags to Fix

Check for these issues:

• No posts with missing titles
• No posts with duplicate titles
• No posts with very short content (< 300 words)
• No images without alt text
• No broken internal links
• No broken external links
• No duplicate meta descriptions
• No missing or broken images
• No outdated information (check dates)
• No thin content pages

📊 Analytics Goals

Set up and track these:

• Organic search traffic (baseline: __)
• Pages per session (baseline: __)
• Average time on page (baseline: __)
• Bounce rate (baseline: __)
• Search impressions (baseline: __)
• Click-through rate (baseline: __)
• Average search position (baseline: __)

Monthly targets:

• Month 1: +10% traffic
• Month 2: +20% traffic
• Month 3: +30% traffic
• Month 6: +50-100% traffic

🎯 Content Strategy Checklist

• Identify your top 5 topics
• Create content calendar
• Plan 2-4 posts per month
• Each new post uses SEO template
• Mix of tutorial and quick-tip content
• Update 1 old post per week
• Monitor which topics perform best
• Create more content in top topics

💡 Quick Reference

Before publishing ANY post:

1. ✅ Description (120-155 chars)
2. ✅ Featured image path
3. ✅ Permalink if custom
4. ✅ Alt text on all images
5. ✅ 2-3 internal links

Weekly routine:

1. Run audit script
2. Update 5-10 posts
3. Create 1-2 featured images
4. Write 1 new post
5. Check analytics

Monthly routine:

1. Review analytics
2. Check search console
3. Plan next month’s updates
4. Celebrate progress

🚀 Start Here

Your first action:

./scripts/seo-audit.sh

Then check off items from Phase 2, Week 1.

You’ve got this! 🎉