On Page Optimisation Checklist For SEO And AI Search

On page optimisation covers everything you change directly on your pages to improve visibility in Google and in AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. That includes technical SEO, content quality, user experience and how clearly your site explains itself to crawlers and models.

This guide turns classic on page SEO into a practical checklist, with a focus on:

• Technical SEO audit accuracy and crawlability
• Core Web Vitals performance optimisation and INP readiness
• E E A T focused content strategy
• Snippet and CTR optimisation through meta titles and descriptions
• Internal linking and link equity distribution
• Structured data, HTTPS and mobile first indexing compliance

Use it when briefing developers, content teams or AI content tools, or as a baseline for audits.

What On Page Optimisation Covers Today

Modern on page optimisation spans three layers:

1. Technical foundationHow easily search engines and AI crawlers can access, render and index your pages. This includes crawlability, HTTPS security standards, responsive design quality, Core Web Vitals and structured data. Google combines Core Web Vitals with mobile friendliness and HTTPS into page experience signals for ranking. (Source: Google Search Central)
2. Content and intent matchWhether each URL is the best possible answer for a specific query. This is where keyword targeting, E E A T and information architecture live.
3. Presentation in results and AI answersHow your page appears in SERPs and AI overviews - title links, snippets, rich results and how clearly models can extract and summarise your key points.

The checklist below is organised around these three layers.

Technical On Page Optimisation Checklist

Crawlability And Indexability

Make sure search engines and AI crawlers can find and index the pages that matter.

What good looks like

• robots.txt allows Googlebot and major AI crawlers to access key sections of your site
• Important pages are indexable and not blocked by meta robots or X robots HTTP headers
• Every indexable page is reachable through HTML links from at least one other page (no orphan pages)
• XML sitemaps are clean, up to date and only list canonical URLs

Quick checks

• Visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt and confirm you are not accidentally disallowing whole sections or key user agents
• In Search Console, inspect a few priority URLs and confirm status is URL is on Google
• Run a crawl with your preferred tool and export a list of pages with zero internal incoming links

Crawlability and indexability expertise means you can quickly answer two questions for any URL: can Google find it and is Google allowed to index it.

HTTPS And Security Standards

HTTPS is a long standing page experience signal and a baseline expectation for users.

Checklist

• All user facing URLs resolve over HTTPS
• HTTP versions redirect to HTTPS using 301 status codes
• No mixed content warnings in the browser console
• TLS certificate is valid and renewed automatically

HTTPS security standards also signal trust to both users and quality raters assessing your site.

Mobile First Indexing And Responsive Design Quality

Google primarily uses the mobile version of your content for indexing and ranking, so your mobile experience must be complete and functional. (Source: Google Search Central)

Checklist

• Responsive design that adapts to common viewport sizes
• The same primary content, internal links and structured data on mobile and desktop
• Tap targets large enough and spaced apart
• No intrusive interstitials covering content on mobile

Test with Google’s mobile friendly test or PageSpeed Insights and review real device screenshots.

Core Web Vitals And Page Speed

Core Web Vitals measure loading experience, interactivity and visual stability:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) - how quickly the main content appears
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP) - how quickly the page responds to user input
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) - how stable the layout is while loading

INP officially replaced First Input Delay (FID) as a Core Web Vital on 12 March 2024. (Source: Google Search Central) (Source: web.dev)

Google and most industry tooling still treat the following as baseline ‘good’ thresholds at the 75th percentile of real user data: LCP ≤ 2.5s, INP ≤ 200 ms and CLS ≤ 0.1. (Source: Factdot) (Source: Geneo)

Some performance standards bodies now expect these thresholds to tighten further, so building extra headroom is sensible. (Source: Web Standards Commission)

Core Web Vitals performance optimisation checklist

• Measure:Use PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console for both mobile and desktopPrioritise templates with the highest organic traffic and poorest scores
• Improve LCP:Optimise or defer hero images and above the fold videoReduce server response time and enable caching and CDNInline critical CSS and defer non critical CSS and fonts
• Improve INP and achieve INP readiness:Break up long JavaScript tasks and remove unused scriptsDefer or lazy load non essential third party scriptsEnsure critical interactions respond within about 200 ms on mid range mobiles
• Improve CLS:Always set width and height for images and embedsReserve space for ads and dynamically injected componentsAvoid inserting content above existing content except in response to user actions

Core Web Vitals are not the only ranking factor, but poor metrics can hold pages back and correlate strongly with engagement, especially on mobile. (Source: Google Search Central)

Structured Data And Schema Markup

Structured data helps search engines understand entities, relationships and page purpose, and can enable rich results such as FAQ, breadcrumbs, product information and review stars.

Checklist

• Implement JSON LD schema for key content types (Article, Product, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Organization where relevant)
• Validate using Google’s Rich Results Test
• Avoid spammy or misleading markup that does not match visible content

Structured data and schema markup implementation supports snippet enhancement, higher CTR and clearer signals for AI models that summarise and recommend content.

Image Optimisation And Media Performance

Unoptimised images are among the most common causes of slow LCP.

Checklist

• Compress images and use modern formats like WebP or AVIF where supported
• Serve appropriately sized images for each breakpoint, not original 4K assets
• Lazy load below the fold images
• Add descriptive alt text that reflects the image content and context

This improves both performance and accessibility, and directly supports image compression and alt text optimisation as a measurable audit item.

Content And E E A T Checklist

Technical excellence alone rarely wins competitive queries. Google’s quality rater guidelines emphasise E E A T - Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust - with trust at the centre. (Source: Search Engine Land) (Source: Search Engine Journal)

Keyword Targeting And Search Intent

Each indexable URL should have one primary intent and a small set of supporting queries.

Checklist

• Map a primary keyword and intent to every important page
• Reflect that topic clearly in the H1, opening paragraph and subheadings
• Use natural language variations instead of repetitive exact match keywords
• Avoid keyword cannibalisation by consolidating overlapping content

Guide To E E A T For High Quality Website Content

Think of E E A T as a framework for answering two questions: should this content exist and should users trust it.

Experience

• Include first hand examples, screenshots, data and case studies
• Make it clear when guidance is based on real tests or client work

Expertise

• Add author bios that state relevant qualifications or roles
• Keep complex or high risk topics (finance, health, legal) written or reviewed by subject matter experts

Authoritativeness

• Earn and showcase mentions, citations and reviews from respected sites
• Link out to primary sources when citing research or official documentation

Trust

• Keep contact details, company information and policies easy to find
• Use HTTPS across the site, fix broken links and avoid misleading claims
• For transactional pages, provide clear pricing, refund and support information

An E E A T focused content strategy means baking these signals into templates and editorial processes, not sprinkling them on afterwards.

How To Optimise Meta Titles And Descriptions For Higher CTR

Meta titles and descriptions do not guarantee rankings on their own, but they heavily influence click through rate and how your pages are presented. Google uses the HTML title element as a strong signal when generating the title link and may use meta descriptions when they summarise the page well. (Source: Google Search Central) (Source: Google Search Central)

Independent analysis confirms meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, but they shape snippets and therefore CTR, which can influence performance over time. (Source: Search Engine Land)

Writing High Performing Meta Titles

Aim for titles that are descriptive, concise and aligned with intent.

Best practices

• Front load the primary keyword near the start of the title
• Add a clear benefit or outcome, not just a topic name
• Keep most titles within roughly 50 to 60 characters so they are less likely to truncate
• Make every title unique across the site
• Avoid keyword stuffing or repeating similar phrases
• Optionally add your brand name at the end, separated by a pipe or hyphen

Examples

• Weak: On Page SEOStrong: On Page SEO Checklist For B2B Websites
• Weak: Meta Descriptions TipsStrong: How To Write Meta Descriptions That Improve CTR

Crafting Meta Descriptions That Earn Clicks

Google often rewrites snippets dynamically, but good descriptions still pay off.

Best practices

• Aim for around 120 to 160 characters while focusing on clarity rather than a fixed limit
• Summarise the specific value of the page, not your whole site
• Include the primary keyword naturally so it can be bolded in results
• Use active voice and a clear call to action
• Ensure the description matches on page content to avoid high bounce rates
• Write unique descriptions for priority URLs, especially home, category, product and key content pages

Example

• Title: On Page SEO Checklist For Technical And Content OptimisationDescription: Audit your site with a practical on page SEO checklist that covers Core Web Vitals, E E A T content, internal linking and meta tags.

Snippet and CTR optimisation workflow

1. Identify top impression but low CTR pages in Search Console
2. Review current title and snippet against higher CTR competitors
3. Rewrite title and description with a sharper promise and clearer intent match
4. Re index the page and track CTR shift over 4 to 8 weeks

How To Improve Core Web Vitals And LCP For Better Rankings

This section focuses specifically on LCP and INP, since they cause most failures in practice.

Step One Measure The Right Things

• Use PageSpeed Insights to see both lab and field data for a sample of key URLs
• In Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report, group issues by template and device
• Focus on mobile first - that is where most users and most issues usually are

Step Two Fix Largest Contentful Paint Bottlenecks

Common LCP culprits:

• Slow backend responses and no caching
• Large hero images or background videos
• Render blocking CSS and font files

Prioritised actions:

• Enable server level caching and a CDN where appropriate
• Compress hero media and use responsive <img> with srcset
• Inline only critical CSS and defer the rest
• Preload key fonts and limit the number of different font families and weights

Step Three Improve Interaction To Next Paint

INP measures the time from user interaction to the next visual update, across many interactions, not just the first. (Source: web.dev)

Common INP issues:

• Heavy client side JavaScript frameworks and large bundles
• Third party scripts like chat widgets, ads and analytics
• Complex components on listing or product pages (filters, carousels)

Actions:

• Audit JavaScript bundles and remove unused code
• Defer non essential third party scripts until after user interaction
• Use code splitting and lazy load components that are not needed immediately
• Offload expensive work to web workers where appropriate

Step Four Reduce Cumulative Layout Shift

CLS issues feel like buttons jumping as the page loads.

Checklist:

• Set explicit dimensions or aspect ratios on images and iframes
• Reserve space for ads and dynamic components
• Avoid inserting banners or consent notices above content once loading has started

Re test after each change and keep monitoring - Core Web Vitals are not a one time project.

Best Practices For Internal Linking And Site Structure SEO

Internal links connect pages within your domain, help crawlers understand hierarchy and distribute link equity from strong pages to those that need a boost. (Source: Yoast)

Google’s own documentation emphasises that crawlable anchor links with clear href attributes are the basis for discovering new URLs and understanding context, and notes there is no magic ideal number of links per page. (Source: Google Search Central)

Internal Linking And Link Equity Distribution

Principles

• Treat your homepage, key category or pillar pages as link equity sources
• From those sources, link to important supporting content and conversion pages
• From supporting content, link back to the relevant pillar page and sideways to related articles

This hub and spoke model strengthens topical authority and ensures every important page gets attention, not just those that earn external backlinks.

Site Structure And Navigation

Checklist

• Keep important pages within three clicks of the homepage wherever possible
• Use clear navigation labels that match user language, not internal jargon
• Use breadcrumb navigation for deep content sections and mark it up with schema
• Group related topics into content hubs with overview pages and supporting articles

Contextual Linking Best Practices

• Use descriptive, keyword relevant anchor text instead of generic labels like click here
• Add internal links where they naturally help users go deeper, especially in introductions and conclusions
• Avoid stuffing dozens of links into a single paragraph or footer block
• Fix broken internal links and redirect outdated URLs to relevant live content
• Ensure new content links to older evergreen content and vice versa to avoid orphan pages

This combination of internal linking and site structure SEO improves crawl efficiency, distributes link equity and gives both search engines and generative models a clearer map of your expertise.

On Page SEO Checklist Summary

Use this table as a quick reference when running audits or creating new templates.

How RankBee Supports On Page Optimisation

RankBee focuses on AI ready, SEO aware content, so the signals you improve with this checklist translate into visibility in both traditional search and AI assistants.

From the RankBee Toolkit to consulting and enterprise integrations, the platform analyses and rewrites pages so that ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews are more likely to mention your brand when customers ask questions. (Source: RankBee)

You can use RankBee to:

• Audit existing pages for on page gaps that affect both SEO and AI visibility
• Optimise titles, descriptions and headings to align with high intent queries
• Strengthen topical coverage and internal linking across content hubs

Combine these capabilities with the checklist above and you have a repeatable framework for on page optimisation that supports rankings, clicks and AI visibility over time.