1. Technical SEO Factors

Security & Access

• ✔ SSL certificate (HTTPS)
• ✔ Secure and stable hosting/server
• ✔ No malware or hacked content
• ✔ No suspicious redirects
• ✔ No frequent 4xx or 5xx errors

Crawling & Indexing

• ✔ Properly configured robots.txt
• ✔ Updated sitemap.xml (pages, images, videos if needed)
• ✔ Important pages reachable within few clicks from home
• ✔ Clear internal linking structur
• ✔ No important content blocked by mistake
• ✔ Correct use of canonical tags
• ✔ Minimal thin or low-value content indexed
• ✔ Avoid duplicate content (URL parameters, tags, categories, etc.)

Speed & Performance

• ✔ Fast load times (good Largest Contentful Paint)
• ✔ Optimized and compressed images (e.g. WebP)
• ✔ Lazy loading for images and videos
• ✔ Minified CSS and JavaScript
• ✔ Gzip or Brotli compression enabled
• ✔ Efficient caching (browser cache, server cache)
• ✔ Low Time to First Byte (TTFB)
• ✔ Use of CDN for global traffic
• ✔ Good Core Web Vitals overall

Mobile Friendliness

• ✔ Fully responsive design
• ✔ Readable font sizes on mobile
• ✔ Tap-friendly buttons and links
• ✔ No mobile-incompatible elements (e.g. Flash)
• ✔ Stable layout (low Cumulative Layout Shift)

2. On-Page & Content Factors

Content Quality

• ✔ Original, non-duplicated content
• ✔ Depth and expertise in each topic
• ✔ Matches the user’s search intent (info, transactional, navigational)
• ✔ Regularly updated and maintained content
• ✔ Clear, compelling page titles
• ✔ Optimized meta descriptions that drive clicks
• ✔ Natural use of keywords (no keyword stuffing)
• ✔ Proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3…)
• ✔ Use of images, videos, tables, and lists to improve clarity
• ✔ Helpful, unique information vs competitors (“content gap” filled)

Content Optimization

• ✔ Clean, friendly URLs (short, descriptive, keyword-relevant)
• ✔ Primary keyword in H1 and early in the content
• ✔ Strategic internal links to relevant pages
• ✔ Outbound links to trustworthy external sources where relevant
• ✔ Images with descriptive ALT text
• ✔ Descriptive file names for images
• ✔ Optimized multimedia (compressed, lazy loaded)
• ✔ Avoiding mass auto-generated low-value content
• ✔ Avoiding unnecessary tag/category duplication

Structured Data

• ✔ Use of Schema.org structured data (JSON-LD)
• ✔ FAQ Schema for Q&A content
• ✔ HowTo, Product, Article, Review schema where appropriate
• ✔ Breadcrumb structured data
• ✔ Correct implementation, no spammy markup

3. User Experience (UX) Factors

Engagement & Behavior

• ✔ Low bounce rate (or better: satisfied users)
• ✔ Good dwell time / time on page
• ✔ Strong click-through rate (CTR) from search results
• ✔ Easy and intuitive site navigation
• ✔ Clear menu structure and breadcrumbs
• ✔ Logical pagination and category browsing
• ✔ Limited and non-intrusive pop-ups
• ✔ No aggressive full-screen interstitials on mobile

Accessibility

• ✔ Sufficient color contrast
• ✔ Readable typography and line spacing
• ✔ ARIA attributes where needed
• ✔ Accessible forms and buttons
• ✔ Compatible with screen readers

4. Authority & Off-Page Factors

Backlinks

• ✔ Backlinks from high-authority domains
• ✔ Links from relevant sites in your niche
• ✔ Natural link acquisition (not manipulative or bought)
• ✔ Diversity of referring domains
• ✔ Healthy, varied anchor text profile
• ✔ Minimal toxic or spammy links
• ✔ Disavow used carefully for clearly harmful links

Brand & Trust Signals

• ✔ Users searching directly for your brand name
• ✔ Repeat visitors and direct traffic
• ✔ Positive online reviews (Google, industry sites)
• ✔ Mentions of your brand on other websites
• ✔ Social media presence and engagement (indirect signal)
• ✔ Press mentions and industry references

5. EEAT: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust

• ✔ Content created or reviewed by subject-matter experts
• ✔ Authors with visible profiles and credentials
• ✔ Real-world experience demonstrated in content
• ✔ Transparent “About Us” page
• ✔ Clear contact information (email, address, phone where relevant)
• ✔ Privacy policy and terms & conditions pages
• ✔ Citing reputable sources and references
• ✔ Genuine testimonials and case studies
• ✔ Trust elements: badges, certifications, guarantees (where relevant)

6. Multimedia & Image Optimization

• ✔ Images compressed and optimized (prefer WebP or modern formats)
• ✔ Descriptive ALT text for all important images
• ✔ Lazy loading for images and videos
• ✔ Defined width and height to prevent layout shift
• ✔ Custom thumbnails for videos
• ✔ Video hosting that doesn’t slow down the site
• ✔ Image and video sitemaps for large media libraries

7. Semantic & Modern Search Factors

• ✔ Semantically rich content (related terms, entities, synonyms)
• ✔ Content that answers specific questions clearly
• ✔ Sections formatted for Featured Snippets (lists, tables, Q&A)
• ✔ FAQ sections targeting common user queries
• ✔ Content formatted for voice search (natural, conversational)
• ✔ Use of structured data for FAQs, HowTo, Products, etc.

8. Site Architecture & Internal Structure

• ✔ Clear hierarchy of categories and subcategories
• ✔ Logical siloing of topics
• ✔ Strong internal linking between related pages
• ✔ Avoiding orphan pages (pages with no internal links)
• ✔ Clean URL structure that reflects the architecture
• ✔ Proper handling of filters and facets (no index bloat)
• ✔ Dedicated landing pages for key topics or products

9. Engagement & Conversion Signals

• ✔ Users interacting with content (scrolling, clicking, etc.)
• ✔ Comments or discussions on key pages (where appropriate)
• ✔ Returning visitors
• ✔ Strong conversion rates (leads, sales, sign-ups)
• ✔ Clear calls to action (CTAs)
• ✔ Easy checkout process for e-commerce