If you’re serious about growing your business online, you need to have a website with more than a polished look—you need to build a website for SEO success. Search Engine Optimization is what helps your site appear when people search for products or services like yours.
When it comes to building a site that will grow your online presence, getting the fundamentals right can be the difference between getting found—or getting buried. At Unita Marketing, we’ve helped small businesses across industries improve their visibility and drive more qualified traffic by focusing on practical, sustainable SEO strategies. If you’re wondering whether your site is set up for success, this checklist will help you evaluate what’s working—and what’s missing.
Use this as a self-audit to identify gaps and opportunities. Whether you’re planning a full site redesign or just tightening up your existing pages, these 10 essentials will help ensure you have a website for SEO in Raleigh, NC, that is working for your business—not against it.
1. Mobile-Friendly Design
More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site isn’t responsive and easy to navigate on phones and tablets, search engines will notice—and penalize your rankings. A mobile-friendly site automatically adjusts to different screen sizes and offers a seamless user experience.
- Does your site look great on both phones and desktops?
- Is all content readable without zooming or scrolling sideways?
2. Fast Page Speed
Load speed affects both user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading pages can increase bounce rates, reduce conversions, and signal to search engines that your content isn’t worth waiting for.
- Use Google PageSpeed Insights to test your load times.
- Optimize image sizes, use efficient code, and minimize third-party scripts.
3. Clear Site Structure & Navigation
A clear, well-organized website structure is essential for search engines to crawl and for visitors to use. Your site should have a logical hierarchy, with pages grouped by topic and accessible within a few clicks from the homepage. Just as importantly, it helps visitors quickly find what they’re looking for without frustration.
- Are your menu categories clear and intuitive?
- Can users (and search engines) find important content in 3 clicks or fewer?
4. Keyword Optimization (Without Overstuffing)
Using the right keywords in the right places helps search engines understand your content—but overloading your pages with repetitive phrases can do more harm than good. The goal is to strike a natural balance: write clearly and purposefully, keeping your audience in mind at all times.
- Are keywords naturally included in your page titles, headers, and text?
- Is your content written for real humans, not just search bots?
5. Unique Title Tags & Meta Descriptions
Every page on your site should have its own distinct title tag and meta description. These elements not only help search engines understand what each page is about—they’re also what users see in search results. A well-crafted title and description can be the difference between a scroll-past and a click.
- Do all pages have unique, descriptive title tags (60 characters or less)?
- Are your meta descriptions engaging and under 160 characters?
6. Quality Content That Answers Questions
Search engines want to deliver helpful, relevant content. Your site should include informative blog posts, detailed service pages, and resourceful FAQs that answer your audience’s real questions. Providing thoughtful, well-written content will build credibility, earn trust, and position your business as an expert in your field.
- Are you consistently publishing original, valuable content?
- Does your content provide answers, insights, or solutions?
7. Internal & External Linking Strategy
Linking related pages within your site helps users navigate and distributes ranking power across your content. It also gives search engines context about how your pages are connected. Linking to authoritative external sources can boost credibility by signaling to search engines that your content is well-researched and aligned with trusted industry information.
- Are you linking to relevant pages or blog posts within your site?
- Do your anchor texts make sense and describe the linked content?
- Are you linking to authoritative, trustworthy external sources that enhance the value of your content?
8. Optimized Images with Alt Text
Images make your site more engaging, but they also need to be properly optimized to support performance and visibility. Large, uncompressed files can slow down load times, while missing alt text is a missed opportunity for accessibility and context. Alt text not only describes the image for users with screen readers (those with a visual impairment)—it also helps search engines understand the visual content on your site.
- Are all images compressed without losing quality?
- Have you added descriptive, keyword-relevant alt text?
9. Secure Site
Security matters. Google favors sites that use HTTPS over HTTP. A secure site builds trust with your visitors and protects sensitive data.
- Is your SSL certificate installed and functioning?
- Does your URL begin with “https://”?
10. Up-to-Date XML Sitemap and Robots.txt
These files help search engines crawl your site more efficiently. An XML sitemap tells search engines what pages exist. A robots.txt file tells them what not to index.
- Is your XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console?
- Is your robots.txt file correctly configured?
Final Thoughts: It’s All About Building a Better Website
Improving your website is about creating a user-friendly, well-structured, and content-rich experience that both humans and search engines trust.
We specialize in building strategic digital solutions that drive real results—including custom website design built with SEO in mind. Whether you’re starting from scratch or updating your current site, we combine conversion-focused design and search optimization to help your business stand out.
Not sure where to start? Contact us for a complimentary audit and see how we’d improve your website for SEO in Raleigh, NC—for better visibility and higher rankings.
