Here is my Ready-to-Rank Checklist.
1. The “Human” Quality Check
* Does it solve a problem?
If the reader is not walking away with an answer, I rewrite the intro.
* Is it conversational?
If it sounds like a robot wrote it, I go back and add my own voice.
* Is it easy to scan?
People are busy. I make sure my paragraphs are short and my subheadings are clear.
2. The Internal Linking Strategy
Connecting the dots:
I make sure I have linked to at least 2–3 of my other articles. It’s like building a roadmap for Google’s crawlers so they don’t get lost on my site.
3. Technical Performance (The “Speed” Side)
* Mobile-first: Most of you are reading this on your phone. I check every post on mobile to make sure it looks great.
* Image check: I always compress my images. A fast site is a site that stays on Page 1.