Short answer
What matters most
Start with crawlable server-rendered pages, stable canonical URLs, descriptive metadata, a complete sitemap, accessible navigation, and structured data that matches what people can see on the page. Then verify the actual HTML instead of assuming the framework handled everything.
Give every important idea a real URL
A buyer should be able to link directly to a service, case study, or article. Use stable paths for those pages and keep navigation links real instead of hiding important content behind client-only state or fragment-only URLs.
Make the page understandable before styling
Use one clear page title, a meaningful description, a predictable heading hierarchy, and visible links to related pages. Server-rendered text makes the content available to readers and crawlers before any interaction is needed.
- One visible H1 that describes the page’s primary job.
- A description that explains the outcome, not just the topic label.
- Headings that follow the reader’s questions in order.
- Links with labels that describe what opens next.
Keep metadata aligned with visible content
Titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, Open Graph values, and JSON-LD should describe the same page. Structured data is useful when it makes the page’s meaning explicit; it is harmful when it claims facts the page does not show.
Treat accessibility as search infrastructure
Semantic landmarks, keyboard-accessible links, visible focus states, readable contrast, and usable mobile layouts make the page easier for everyone to navigate. They also create a cleaner document for systems that interpret page structure.
Verify the delivered page
A green build is only the start. Open the page in a browser, inspect the source, follow the canonical link, and check that the sitemap contains the route. Small mismatches are easier to fix before a site has dozens of articles pointing at the wrong URL.