SEO Quick Wins: 37 Fast Fixes

Add an og:image meta tag to your homepage. Google uses og:image as one source for thumbnails in Search and Discover. Facebook recommends images at least 1200 x 630 pixels.

Audit every page for missing or duplicate meta descriptions. Each should give a short summary and a clear call to action.

Check every page for a missing H1 (the main heading). Each page should have one main heading that names its topic.

Check that each title tag reads well in full. Google sets no length limit for a title element, but the title link is truncated in search results, typically to fit the device width.

Rename image files from 'IMG_4032.jpg' to descriptive, hyphenated names like 'seo-audit-dashboard.jpg'.

Write a short, direct answer right after each H2 subheading. Featured snippets show a result's content in a box above the regular listing, so a clear answer suits that format.

Audit each content page and add several contextual internal links. Google crawls links written as <a href> elements, so internal links also help it find pages.

Link sibling pages within the same topic cluster to each other. For example, if you cover several subtopics in a category, link them so readers can move between them.

Rewrite main H2 subheadings as the questions readers ask, such as 'How long does a site move take?'. Pair each with a short direct answer.

Add a full text transcript beneath each video, so readers who prefer text can read the same content. Add timestamps where possible.

Preload your primary web font in the HTML head so the browser fetches it early.

Add fetchpriority='high' to the largest above-fold image to tell the browser to prioritize loading it.

loading='lazy' on above-fold images (the part of the page visible without scrolling) can delay the largest contentful paint (LCP). Remove it from any image visible on first load.

Set width and height attributes on every <img>. Without them, the page shifts as images load, which raises cumulative layout shift (CLS).

Use a <picture> element with an AVIF source, a WebP fallback, and a JPEG last resort. web.dev reports AVIF savings of more than 50% against JPEG.

Run PageSpeed Insights on your top 5 pages. Targets: largest contentful paint (LCP) of 2.5 seconds or less, interaction to next paint (INP) of 200 milliseconds or less, and cumulative layout shift (CLS) of 0.1 or less.

Run hero and banner images through an image compressor such as Squoosh, TinyPNG, or ShortPixel before you upload them.

Use the Coverage tab in Chrome DevTools to find unused CSS and JavaScript. Remove unused code, or load it only where it is needed, to cut page weight.

Add <link rel='preload' as='image' href='hero.avif' fetchpriority='high'> so the browser fetches your hero image before render.

Use a sizes attribute on any <img> with srcset width descriptors (for example sizes='(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px') so the browser picks the right file. MDN says the sizes attribute applies only when srcset uses width descriptors.

Add a self-referencing canonical tag to all major pages. It tells Google which URL you prefer when several URLs show the same content.

Check that every image on your homepage and main landing pages has descriptive alt text. Alt text helps screen reader users and helps Google understand the image.

Add a 'robots.txt' file to control crawling of main pages and sensitive routes. It controls crawling only. robots.txt does not keep a page out of Google, so use noindex or password protection for that.

Create a sitemap listing all public routes to help search engines find the pages on the site.

Go to Google Search Console → Sitemaps → paste your sitemap URL. A sitemap helps Google find your URLs, but it does not guarantee that every page is crawled or indexed.

Bing had 4.8% of worldwide search and 18.8% of US desktop search in October 2026 (StatCounter). Submit your sitemap in Bing Webmaster Tools.

Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console, then 'View tested page', to confirm Googlebot sees your rendered content, not a blank page.

Find redirect chains, where one redirect points to another, using Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) or a free redirect checker. Google counts each hop as a separate request, and chains add latency for users. Point each redirect straight to the final URL.

Use the IndexNow protocol to tell participating search engines when a URL is added, updated, or deleted.

Add BreadcrumbList JSON-LD to pages that sit in a site hierarchy. The breadcrumb trail shows readers where a page sits, and Google's breadcrumb feature is available on desktop.

Add Organization JSON-LD with name, logo, URL, and social profile links (sameAs). Google says this helps it understand your organization and can influence which logo appears in results and your knowledge panel.

Add Article or BlogPosting JSON-LD to content pages, with the properties that apply, such as headline, datePublished, dateModified, and author. Google lists no required properties for Article.

Add explicit Allow rules for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, and CCBot if you want those crawlers to read your content. Google-Extended controls use of your content by Gemini and Vertex AI. It does not affect inclusion in Google Search.

Add Person JSON-LD with the author's name, credentials, and professional profile URLs. Google's helpful content guidance calls experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness E-E-A-T.

Run your main pages through Google's Rich Results Test to confirm your JSON-LD (for example Article or Product) is valid. Valid markup does not guarantee a rich result.

Create a helpful 404 page with a search bar, navigation links to main sections, and popular content. Return a real 404 status code for missing pages, not a 200.

Check that every button and link in the navigation and mobile menu is large enough to tap with a thumb, with space between them.