Quick SEO Checklist
15 minute seo
Concrete, fast actions you can do now to improve your website visibility and performance — no tech expertise required.
Follow this focused, minute-by-minute guide. Each step takes 1–5 minutes and directly improves rankings, speed, or click-throughs.
15 min
Actionable changes
+10–30%
Potential traffic lift
5 easy
High-impact tasks
15-minute SEO: The quick checklist
Do these high-impact tasks now. Each task includes the exact place to click and what to change.
Meta Titles
Add or improve the page title to include the primary keyword and your location or unique benefit. Keep 50-60 characters.
Meta Descriptions
Write a short benefit-led description, 120–155 characters, with a call to action (e.g., Call now, Get a quote).
Page Speed
Compress one large image, enable lazy-loading, and remove unused plugins. Aim to shave seconds off load time.
Google Business
Verify your Google Business Profile, ensure phone, hours and categories are correct — this improves local visibility instantly.
Image Alt Text
Add descriptive alt text to key images using target keyword naturally — helps accessibility and image search.
Internal Links
Link to one related page on your site with keyword-rich anchor text — helps crawlers and session time.
Quick tip: Do these in the order above. Title & description improve clicks, images and speed improve rankings, and internal links help site structure.
Minute-by-minute: Exactly what to do
This plan assumes you have your website and content management login open. Stopwatch ready? Let's go.
-
Minute 0–2 — Search intent & top keyword
Open Google and type what customers would search (e.g., "plumber near me [suburb]"). Note the exact phrase used and any FAQs or wording Google shows in results.
-
Minute 2–5 — Update the page title
In your CMS, edit the page Title tag to: Primary keyword — Service | Business Name (keep within 50–60 chars). Example: "Emergency Plumber Melbourne — Fast Callouts | Joe's Plumbing".
-
Minute 5–7 — Update the meta description
Write 120–155 characters that sell: mention service, suburb, benefit and CTA. Example: "Fast emergency plumbing in Melbourne — same-day callouts. Call now for a free quote."
-
Minute 7–9 — Fix one image
Pick the largest image on the page: compress it (use TinyPNG or built-in CMS tool) and set alt text to include the keyword and describe the image e.g., "Melbourne plumber fixing burst pipe". Replace if >200KB.
-
Minute 9–11 — Add or fix internal link
Find a related page and add one internal link with descriptive anchor text (e.g., "emergency plumbing services").
-
Minute 11–13 — Quick speed trim
Disable one unused plugin/module or enable image lazy-loading. If on shared host, enable gzip/ Brotli compression via host control panel or caching plugin.
-
Minute 13–15 — Local check & publish
Open your Google Business Profile — confirm phone, address, hours and primary category. Publish your page changes and test the page on mobile. Done.
Result: Better title & description increase clicks; smaller images + lazy-loading improve speed; internal links and alt text improve crawlability and relevance.
Speed quick wins you can do in 5 minutes
Page speed is a ranking factor and strongly affects conversions. These quick fixes are tiny effort, big impact.
Compress one image
Upload the largest hero image to TinyPNG or compress in your CMS. Replace the image file; you may cut 1–2s off load time.
Enable lazy-loading
If your CMS supports lazy-loading images, turn it on. Images below the fold won't load until scrolled — reduces initial payload.
Remove one unused plugin
Deactivate a plugin or app you don't use. Many sites run marketing plugins that add JS and slow pages.
Check impact: run Google PageSpeed Insights before and after — you'll see immediate improvements.
Local SEO: 3-minute checklist
Local searches convert best. These are high-impact items that improve your visibility in "near me" searches.
- Google Business Profile: Make sure your listing is verified, category is correct, phone and address exact, and business hours are set.
- NAP consistency: Ensure your Name, Address, Phone appear exactly the same on your website footer and directory listings.
- Add a local signal on the page: If you serve suburbs, list them in a short sentence near the top (e.g., "Serving Richmond, Collingwood and surrounding suburbs").
These tasks often produce fast ranking improvements for queries with local intent.
Tools to run in minutes
Free tools that give instant guidance and results.
Google PageSpeed Insights
Run a quick report to see load time, largest contentful paint, and image suggestions.
Google Search Console
Check for indexation issues, mobile usability errors, and the top search queries for your site.
Mobile-Friendly Test
Verify your page is mobile-optimised — critical for rankings and conversions.
TinyPNG / Squoosh
Compress images quickly to lower page weight without visible quality loss.
Pro tip: open PageSpeed Insights, compress your largest image, make the meta changes, and run PageSpeed again to measure gains — all within 10 minutes.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Aggressively stuffing keywords in titles — write for humans first.
- Compressing images too much — watch for visible quality loss (aim for balanced compression).
- Changing titles without publishing or clearing cache — confirm live changes.
- Relying on a single tactic — combine meta, speed, and local signals for best impact.
Quick FAQs
Will these quick changes really move my rankings?
Yes — title and meta improvements can boost CTR almost immediately; speed, images and local checks influence ranking and conversions. Combined, they produce measurable gains for small business pages.
Do I need technical skills?
No. Most CMS platforms (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix) let you edit titles, descriptions and alt text directly. For speed tasks, a single plugin toggle or image compression is usually enough.
How often should I repeat this 15-minute check?
Run it weekly for your most important pages, or whenever you publish new content. Monthly audits catch technical issues.
Want results faster than 15 minutes?
Congero builds fully optimised, mobile-first websites in under 60 seconds with local SEO, unlimited updates and analytics — all for a predictable monthly fee. If you prefer done-for-you, we do the heavy lifting so you can focus on customers.
All sites include hosting, SSL, local SEO setup and unlimited text-in updates — no lock-in contracts.
Category:
Guides
