Webflow SEO: the complete checklist for an optimized website

This is the checklist I work through on Webflow websites. It is split by where the work happens: in the Designer, in the CMS, in the project settings and outside Webflow.

In the Webflow Designer

• Standard elements first. Sections, containers, headings, paragraphs and lists from Webflow’s own elements give a clean HTML structure that search engines read without guessing.
• One H1 per page. Every page has exactly one H1. The other headings follow in a logical order, without jumping from H2 to H5 for styling reasons.
• Title and description. Every page gets its own title tag and meta description, written for the search the page should answer.
• Open Graph images. Every page gets an OG image, so links shared on LinkedIn or in messengers show a proper preview.
• Alt texts. Every meaningful image gets a description. Decorative images get an empty alt text, so screen readers skip them.
• Internal links. Pages link to each other where it helps the reader. A sitemap page for visitors can help, too, in addition to sitemap.xml.
• A scalable class system. I build with Client-First, so the project stays clean when new pages are added later.
• Structured data. JSON-LD describes the company, the people behind it and the content of each page. More on that in Advanced schema markup in Webflow.

In the Webflow CMS

• Short slugs. Slugs are short, readable and describe the content.
• Fields for title and description. Every collection gets its own SEO fields, connected in the collection page settings.
• Alt text fields. Every image field gets a matching alt text field, filled dynamically.
• OG images per item. Blog posts and other CMS items get their own OG image.
• 301 redirects. When content is removed or merged, its old URL redirects to the best matching page.
• RSS feed. For blogs, the RSS feed is switched on, so readers and tools can follow new posts.

In the project settings

• Favicon and web clip. They make the site recognizable in tabs, bookmarks and on phones.
• SSL. HTTPS is on for every domain.
• Minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Smaller files, slightly faster pages.
• No indexing of webflow.io. The staging subdomain stays out of Google, so it doesn’t compete with your real domain.
• Sitemap.xml. Webflow generates it automatically. Exclude pages that shouldn’t be indexed.
• Search Console. The site is verified in Google Search Console, the sitemap is submitted, and Bing Webmaster Tools imports it from there.
• Global canonical URL. It tells search engines which domain version is the real one and prevents duplicate content.

Outside of Webflow

• Local directories. Name, address and phone number match your website in every directory.
• Social profiles. Your profiles link to the website, and the website links back.
• Google Business Profile. A complete profile makes you visible in local searches and in the map section.
• Reviews. Ask happy customers for a review. Genuine reviews help locally and build trust.

Why structured data matters

Structured data puts content into categories machines understand. Google uses it for some rich results, such as breadcrumbs or product information, and AI assistants use it to attribute information to the right company. Since 2023, Google only shows FAQ rich results for a small number of authoritative government and health websites, so don’t add FAQ markup expecting extra space in search results. It still helps machines read your answers.

Tools

• Schema.org for the vocabulary of structured data.
• Google’s Rich Results Test to check your markup.
• PageSpeed Insights for load time and Core Web Vitals.

If you’d rather have someone go through this list for you, I do that as part of technical SEO.