Publishing Articles – Checklist

Basic SEO checklist

Below is a quick checklist of items you need to inspect before hitting publish on a new WordPress article:

  1. Title – Keep the title short and concise. 50–60 characters is a good rule of thumb. If the title wraps in the input field, it is probably too long.
  2. Copy ‘n Paste – Check to make sure no spaces or oddities show up from copy and pasting from a Word document.
  3. Headers – Remove any h1‘s in the content. Look for proper hierarchy; h2 for the main headings, followed by h3 etc… for subtitles.
  4. Link Targets – Set all links as Target _blank. Add appropriate Href Tags (USG, NoFollow…)
  5. Images – Save images for web (photoshop), at a reasonable size (1,000-1600px, unless its a slider image), file type JPG (logos use PNG), preferably under 100kb.
  6. Yoast – Add a Focus Keyword, and custom meta description (if provided by author)
  7. Subtitle – Check to see if theme requires a subtitle, this custom field is normally located around the bottom of the page, close to the Yoast settings.
  8. Author – If you are uploading articles for a business, double-check your Author attribution is correct.
  9. URL Slug – Keep the URL slug short and descriptive, without being repetitive (avoid keyword stuffing). If you sound like an Auctioneer, you are doing it wrong.
  10. Featured Image – Add a featured Image, make sure it’s the same aspect ratio as previous uploads.
  11. Template – If required, select the required template.
  12. Parent Page – You want to organize articles accordingly. Articles should be silo’d under programs, services, topics. This is normally outlined in the content brief.
  13. Internally link Articles – Internally backlink the new article, so its article gets noticed and doesn’t become orphaned content.
  14. Track Content Creation – It is important to keep track of articles you upload; including the date, word count, and URL.

If you haven’t already, please check out our writing articles checklist.

FAQ

  • What is a Web Article?

Published on: 2020-11-03
Updated on: 2022-05-22

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Isaac Adams-Hands

Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. Isaac has considerable expertise in Search Engine Optimization, Server Administration, and Cyber Security, which gives him a leg up as a Google Algorithm Analyst and SEO Expert.