SEO for developers: the technical checklist that actually matters
A no-fluff technical SEO checklist for developers, the on-page signals Google reads first, and how to fix each one directly in your code.
Most SEO tools are built for marketers: dashboards, charts, and a to-do list you're supposed to hand to "the dev." But if you are the dev, you're the one person who can actually fix these things, usually in minutes, right in your editor. You don't need a 60-page report. You need to know which signals Google reads first and how to change them in code.
Here's the checklist that covers the majority of on-page SEO, in rough priority order.
1. Page titles
The <title> is the single most important on-page tag, it's the headline Google shows in results. Every page needs a unique, specific one under ~60 characters. The most common bugs are duplicates (many pages sharing one title) and generic values like Home. See the common title-tag mistakes.
2. Meta descriptions
The <meta name="description"> is the pitch under your link. It doesn't directly affect ranking, but it drives clicks, and a blank one means Google writes its own, usually badly. Keep it under ~155 characters and specific to the page. More on writing meta descriptions.
3. Exactly one H1
Each page should have one <h1> that states the topic clearly. Zero H1s (common on JS-rendered homepages) or multiple H1s both confuse crawlers. Here's why H1s matter and how to structure them.
4. Semantic headings and structure
Use <h2>/<h3> in a logical hierarchy, not for styling. Crawlers (and screen readers) use them to understand the page. This is free and most sites get it wrong.
5. Structured data (JSON-LD)
Add application/ld+json for your real entities, Organization, Product, Article, FAQPage. It powers rich results and makes your content machine-readable so AI tools can cite it. This is increasingly the difference between being read and being ignored.
6. Canonical URLs
Set <link rel="canonical"> so duplicate or parameterized URLs don't split your ranking signals. Especially important for e-commerce and paginated content.
7. Core Web Vitals
Google measures real-user performance, LCP, INP, CLS. As a developer this is your home turf: ship less JavaScript, lazy-load images, set explicit dimensions to avoid layout shift.
8. Internal links, sitemap, and robots
Give every page a path from the homepage via internal links. Ship a sitemap.xml and a sane robots.txt. These help crawlers find and prioritize your pages.
The developer advantage
Everything above lives in your codebase. You can fix it faster than any agency can email you a PDF, the bottleneck is usually just knowing which fix matters most right now.
That's exactly what Dascenda does: it audits your live site, tells you the single highest-impact fix in plain English, and, with the VS Code / Cursor extension, writes the change into your code so you accept it inline or open a pull request. SEO handled where you already work.
Run a free audit on your site → or read the full SEO crash course.