On-page SEO checklist 2026 — everything to check on every page

On-page SEO is the part entirely under your control — unlike link building or domain authority. In 2026, Google uses a combination of relevance, E-E-A-T signals, and Core Web Vitals for ranking. Good news: most sites ignore the basics, which means consistent optimisation delivers results.

Title tag: maximum 60 characters, primary keyword at the start, brand name at the end. Do not repeat the same title across multiple pages. Meta description: 150–160 characters, active verb, clear benefit. Does not directly affect ranking but affects CTR which Google takes into account. An example that works: 'Website Development Belgrade | Next.js and WordPress from €1,500 — Feather Studio'.

H1 should appear only once per page and should contain the primary keyword. H2 headings are for sections — use keyword variations, not literal repetition. H3 for sub-points. Alt text on images should describe the image and contextually include the keyword where it makes sense — not keyword stuffing.

Internal linking: every new page should receive at least 2–3 internal links from relevant pages. Anchor text should be descriptive (not 'click here'). Use a crawl tool (Screaming Frog free version for up to 500 URLs) to find isolated pages with no internal links — so-called orphan pages.

Schema markup (JSON-LD) for local business, services, FAQ, and blog posts increases the chance of rich snippets. Core Web Vitals: LCP below 2.5s, INP below 200ms, CLS below 0.1 — Google Search Console shows pages that fail. Feather Studio includes complete on-page SEO optimisation in every website build — see our references or get in touch for an audit.