A beautiful website that nobody finds is a brochure in a drawer. Good SEO is not a trick you add at the end. It comes from how the site is built. Here is the checklist we follow on every website we make.
1. Every page must be real HTML
Google reads your page the way it arrives from the server. If the content only appears after JavaScript runs in the browser, some of it may never be seen. Build pages that are rendered on the server or generated ahead of time, so the text, headings and links are there from the first byte.
2. One page, one topic, one clear title
- One H1 per page that says exactly what the page is about.
- A unique title tag of about 50 to 60 characters, with the main keyword near the start.
- A unique meta description of about 150 to 160 characters. It does not rank you, but it decides whether people click.
- Headings in order: H2 for sections, H3 inside them. Never pick a heading just for its size.
3. Clean, readable URLs
Use short, lowercase words separated by dashes: /services/booking-websites, not /page?id=482. Pick one version of your domain (with or without www), redirect the other one to it, and never change a URL without a permanent 301 redirect from the old one.
4. Tell Google which page is the original
Every page should have a canonical tag pointing to its own URL. One common mistake is a canonical that points every page to the homepage. That tells Google your whole site is one page, and it will quietly drop the rest.
5. A sitemap and a robots.txt
- sitemap.xml lists every page you want indexed, and updates itself when you publish something new.
- robots.txt points to the sitemap and keeps private areas (like /admin) out of search.
- Submit the sitemap in Google Search Console, then check the Pages report for anything excluded.
6. Speed is a ranking signal
Google measures real visitors with the Core Web Vitals. Aim for:
- LCP (main content visible) under 2.5 seconds.
- INP (response to a tap or click) under 200 milliseconds.
- CLS (layout jumping around) under 0.1.
The biggest wins are almost always the same: modern image formats (WebP or AVIF), images sized for the screen, fonts that load fast, and no heavy scripts you do not need.
7. Mobile first, for real
Google indexes the mobile version of your site. Text must be readable without zooming, buttons easy to tap, and nothing wider than the screen. Test on a real phone, not only in a narrow browser window.
8. Images that help, not hurt
- Descriptive file names (marrakech-balloon-flight.webp, not IMG_2931.jpg).
- Alt text that describes the image in plain words.
- Width and height set on every image, so the page does not jump while loading.
9. Structured data
Structured data (schema.org, in JSON-LD) tells Google in a clean format who you are: your business, your address, your products, your articles. It can unlock rich results in search, like ratings, prices or breadcrumbs.
10. Internal links
Link your pages to each other with words that describe the destination. "See our booking websites" helps Google understand the target page. "Click here" tells it nothing. No important page should be more than a few clicks from the homepage.
11. HTTPS and the basics
HTTPS everywhere, no broken links, a helpful 404 page, and a site that stays online. These do not make you rank, but missing them holds you back.
12. Content that answers real questions
All the technical work above only helps Google find and understand your pages. What makes them rank is useful content: pages that answer what your customers actually search for, written for people first.
A quick checklist
- Pages rendered on the server, one H1 each
- Unique title and description on every page
- Clean URLs, one domain, 301 redirects for old links
- A correct canonical on every page
- sitemap.xml submitted in Search Console
- Core Web Vitals in the green
- Readable and tappable on a phone
- Compressed images with alt text
- Structured data for your business and articles
- Internal links with descriptive words
We build every website with this checklist from day one. If you want a website that Google can actually find, tell us about your project.
