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WordPress SEO Checklist

Standardises technical and on-page setup tasks to help WordPress pages get crawled, indexed, and understood by search engines.

If you have ever followed outdated advice about meta keywords or left the discourage indexing setting enabled, you already know a checklist is only as good as its current items.

Key points

  • Verify that the WordPress setting 'Discourage search engines from indexing this site' is unchecked.
  • Generate an XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console for full URL discovery.
  • Use clean permalink structures like /post-name/ for consistent, readable URLs.
  • Combine this checklist with an on-page SEO checklist for content-specific tasks like headings and internal links.

A launch checklist that caught a blocked sitemap

A developer launched a new WordPress site with all SEO plugins configured. The checklist included verifying robots.txt and sitemap submission. When checked, the robots.txt was accidentally set to disallow all crawlers from the /wp-content/ directory, which contained the sitemap. The sitemap was not being crawled. After fixing the rule and resubmitting, the site was indexed within a week.

Three common checklist mistakes

  • Discourage indexing left enabled The WordPress setting 'Discourage search engines from indexing this site' is often overlooked during launch, blocking all indexing until unchecked.
  • Conflicting noindex and sitemap A page marked noindex in the sitemap or via plugin settings creates confusion for crawlers; ensure consistency across all controls.
  • Outdated meta keywords focus Current checklists prioritise title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and URLs over meta keywords, which Google ignores.

Key areas to verify

  • Crawlability and robots.txt Confirm that robots.txt does not block important resources like CSS, JS, or the sitemap URL. Follow robot SEO best practices.
  • URL structure and permalinks Use clean, readable permalinks such as /post-name/ to improve crawl consistency, avoid duplicate URL issues, and make links easier for users to read and share.
  • Mobile friendliness and performance Include Core Web Vitals checks, caching, image optimisation, and mobile responsiveness in the checklist. For online stores, extend with an ecommerce SEO checklist.

Common questions

Should I include meta keywords in my WordPress SEO checklist?

No, meta keywords are obsolete for Google; focus on title tags, descriptions, and structured data instead.

How often should I update my WordPress SEO checklist?

Update it whenever Google changes ranking signals like Core Web Vitals thresholds or when your SEO plugin updates.

What is the first step in a WordPress SEO checklist?

Verify that the site is not set to discourage indexing in WordPress Settings > Reading.

Sources

  1. Google Search Central Official documentation on crawling, indexing, and structured data.
  2. WordPress Developer Resources WordPress core settings and best practices for permalinks and site visibility.
  3. Google SEO Starter Guide Foundational SEO tasks applicable to any CMS.
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