This checklist covers the technical SEO aspects that InspectWP analyzes, helping you ensure your WordPress site is optimized for search engines.
On-Page SEO Basics
- Add unique meta descriptions to every page (120-160 characters)
- Use one H1 tag per page (the page/post title)
- Follow proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipping)
- Add canonical tags to prevent duplicate content
- Use descriptive, keyword-rich URLs (permalinks)
Technical SEO
- Create and submit an XML sitemap
- Configure robots.txt properly
- Implement hreflang tags for multilingual sites
- Add JSON-LD structured data (Article, Organization, BreadcrumbList)
- Ensure mobile-friendly responsive design
- Use HTTPS across the entire site
Social SEO
- Add Open Graph meta tags (og:title, og:description, og:image)
- Add Twitter Card meta tags
- Set featured images for every post (at least 1200x630px)
Performance (SEO Impact)
- Enable Gzip/Brotli compression
- Use HTTP/2
- Optimize images (compression, WebP, lazy loading)
- Minimize CSS and JavaScript files
- Use a caching plugin
- Aim for good Core Web Vitals scores
Content & Images
- Add alt text to all images
- Use internal linking between related posts
- Keep URLs short and descriptive
Verify with InspectWP
InspectWP checks meta descriptions, headings, canonical tags, sitemaps, robots.txt, JSON-LD, compression, HTTP version, and more — covering most items on this checklist in a single scan.