SEO Checklist for The Honest Ape

✅ Current SEO Implementation Status

Technical SEO - EXCELLENT

  • Jekyll SEO Tag plugin (automatic meta tags)
  • Jekyll Sitemap plugin (automatic sitemap.xml)
  • Jekyll Feed plugin (RSS/Atom feeds)
  • Enhanced sitemap with images (sitemap-enhanced.xml)
  • Robots.txt with smart disallows
  • Canonical URLs
  • Schema.org structured data (WebSite, Person, Article)
  • Mobile-responsive viewport
  • Performance optimizations (preload, preconnect, dns-prefetch)
  • Security headers (X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, etc.)

Content SEO - STRONG

  • Descriptive page titles with brand
  • Meta descriptions on all pages
  • H1-H6 heading hierarchy
  • Alt text for images
  • Internal linking structure
  • Clean URL structure (/title/ format)

Social Media SEO - EXCELLENT

  • Open Graph meta tags (automatic via jekyll-seo-tag)
  • Twitter Cards configuration
  • Enhanced social media meta tags
  • Default sharing images
  • LinkedIn-specific tags
  • Facebook domain verification

Performance SEO - EXCELLENT

  • Fast loading times with optimized assets
  • Critical CSS inlining
  • Resource preloading
  • Font optimization (display=swap)
  • Image optimization
  • FOUC prevention

🚀 Next Steps to Complete Your SEO Setup

1. Analytics & Tracking (Ready to Configure)

# Add to _config.yml when ready:
google_analytics: "G-XXXXXXXXXX"  # Your GA4 Measurement ID
clarity_id: "your-clarity-id"      # Microsoft Clarity (optional)
hotjar_id: your-hotjar-id          # Hotjar (optional)
  1. Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console/
    • Add property for https://thehonestape.com
    • Submit your sitemap: https://thehonestape.com/sitemap.xml
    • Add verification code to _config.yml: 
      webmaster_verifications:
google: "your-verification-code"
  2. Bing Webmaster Tools: https://www.bing.com/webmasters/
    • Import from Google Search Console or add manually

3. Content Optimization (Ongoing)

  • Add structured data for specific content types (FAQ, How-to, etc.)
  • Create topic clusters and pillar pages
  • Add reading time to blog posts
  • Optimize images with descriptive filenames
  • Add breadcrumb navigation

4. Advanced SEO Features (Optional)

  • Add search functionality with results page
  • Implement AMP pages for mobile
  • Add multilingual support if needed
  • Create rich snippets for reviews/ratings

📊 How to Monitor Your SEO

Essential Tools

  1. Google Search Console - Track rankings, clicks, impressions
  2. Google Analytics 4 - Traffic analysis and user behavior
  3. PageSpeed Insights - Performance monitoring
  4. Microsoft Clarity - User session recordings
  5. SEMrush/Ahrefs - Keyword research and competitor analysis

Key Metrics to Track

  • Organic traffic growth
  • Search rankings for target keywords
  • Click-through rates from search results
  • Page load times
  • Core Web Vitals scores
  • Social sharing metrics

🎯 Keyword Strategy Recommendations

Primary Keywords

  • "design for meaning"
  • "brand identity designer"
  • "Charleston designer"
  • "digital craftsman"
  • "web design Charleston"

Content Ideas

  • Case studies for each project
  • Design process articles
  • "Behind the scenes" content
  • Local Charleston design scene
  • Design tools and resources

📈 Expected Results Timeline

  • Week 1-2: Analytics setup and baseline measurement
  • Month 1: Search Console data starts appearing
  • Month 2-3: Initial ranking improvements for long-tail keywords
  • Month 3-6: Consistent organic traffic growth
  • Month 6+: Rankings for competitive keywords

🛠️ Maintenance Tasks

Weekly

  • Check Google Search Console for issues
  • Monitor site performance
  • Review analytics for insights

Monthly

  • Analyze keyword rankings
  • Update content based on performance
  • Check for broken links
  • Review and optimize underperforming pages

Quarterly

  • Comprehensive SEO audit
  • Competitor analysis
  • Update content strategy
  • Review and update schema markup

Your site is already excellently optimized for SEO! The main missing pieces are analytics setup and search console configuration. Everything else is already implemented or ready to configure when you need it.