Content Optimization Checklist: 15 Steps Before You Hit Publish

Why You Need a Pre-Publish Checklist

Explain how even experienced content teams miss basic optimization steps when they rush to publish. Cover the compounding cost of publishing unoptimized content that never gets fixed.

The 15-Step Content Optimization Checklist

Step 1: Confirm Your Primary Keyword

Verify that your primary keyword has search volume and that your content matches the search intent. If you skipped keyword research, go back to the complete keyword research guide.

Step 2: Check Your Title Tag

How to write a title tag that includes your primary keyword, stays under 60 characters, and compels clicks.

Step 3: Write a Compelling Meta Description

Cover meta description best practices: 150-160 characters, includes primary keyword, has a clear value proposition.

Step 4: Optimize Your H1

Why your H1 should match or closely mirror your title tag. Cover common H1 mistakes.

Step 5: Structure H2s and H3s With Keywords

How to use subheadings to create a logical content hierarchy that includes secondary keywords naturally.

Step 6: Place Keywords in the First 100 Words

Why early keyword placement signals relevance to search engines without resorting to keyword stuffing.

Step 7: Add Internal Links

How to link to 3-5 relevant internal pages per post. Cover anchor text best practices. For content funnel strategy, see content funnel for SaaS conversion.

Step 8: Add External Links to Authoritative Sources

Why linking out to quality sources improves your content’s credibility with both search engines and AI systems.

Step 9: Optimize Images

Cover alt text, file names, compression, and lazy loading for all images.

Step 10: Check Content Length Against Competitors

How to determine the right content length by analyzing what currently ranks, not by following arbitrary word count targets.

Step 11: Add Schema Markup Where Applicable

Cover FAQ schema, how-to schema, and article schema. Link to optimizing for featured snippets for SERP feature targeting.

Step 12: Verify Mobile Readability

Quick checks to ensure your content reads well on mobile: paragraph length, heading frequency, and media placement.

Step 13: Check Page Speed Impact

How to verify that your new content does not slow down the page with unoptimized images or heavy embeds.

Step 14: Set Up Tracking

Ensure you have UTM parameters for any links you will promote and that the page is set up for proper analytics tracking.

Step 15: Plan Your Content Distribution

Publishing is not the finish line. Outline where and how you will promote this content post-publish.

Making This Checklist a Habit

How to integrate this checklist into your content workflow so it becomes automatic. Cover template options and team review processes.

Beyond Traditional SEO: AI Optimization

Why you should also check whether your content is structured for AI discoverability. Link to creating AI-friendly content for the GEO-specific checklist. Mention that Delulu9 can help verify your keyword targeting across Google, Bing, and Reddit sources.