The Drupal SEO Checklist
Drupal is the only platform on this list where the SEO tooling is a module you install rather than a panel you fill in. The SEO Tools add-on brings Metatag, Real-time SEO, Simple XML Sitemap, an HTML sitemap, and a checklist module in one install. This checklist covers the 18 checks that turn those modules into working configuration.
18 checks for a Drupal site, each with the exact admin path, the frequency, and the time it takes.
What Drupal Already Handles
A default Drupal site has no meta tags worth reading and no sitemap at all, because the tooling is deliberately not installed by default. The fix is one add-on from the Extend screen, and it brings five modules with it. What it does not bring is the configuration, which is where the work is.
Drupal also gets one thing right that most platforms get wrong. Update a URL alias and the platform creates a redirect for the old one automatically, so a rename does not silently break the links pointing at it. That single behaviour removes a whole category of migration work.
This page sits inside the complete technical SEO checklist, and the platform-specific work it covers is the same work the general pages cover, with the exact admin path to each setting.
Handled by Drupal
The 18 Drupal SEO Checks
Every check with the admin path it lives in, how often to run it, and how long it takes.
| # | Check | Frequency | Tool | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Install Screen That Decides the Rest
Drupal is installed with a list of modules, and the SEO ones are not on it. The add-on exists, and it takes one click.
1 What the add-on brings with it
Installing SEO Tools from Extend, then Recommended, installs Metatag with the Open Graph and Twitter Card sub-modules, Real-time SEO, the SEO Checklist module, Simple XML Sitemap, and an HTML Sitemap module. One deprecated module stays inactive, which is expected and harmless.
2 The step that gets forgotten afterwards
The add-on adds the SEO field set to the content types that existed when you installed it. Add a content type afterwards and the fields are not there, so you reapply the add-on from the same screen, which adds the fields to every existing type.
3 The permissions half of the install
Metatag writes the meta tags on the page, so anyone who can edit a content type can change the title of that page. Give the Metatag settings to a trusted role only, and leave the field set available to the editors who need it.
What Drupal Cannot Do For You
The limits worth knowing before you start.
It cannot judge a title for you
Real-time SEO gives a focus keyword and an analysis, which is a check rather than a verdict. The words still have to be written, and the field is an aid rather than an instruction.
It cannot stop a generic alias
Aliases are generated from the title, so a title that is a sentence produces a sentence in the URL. It is the cheapest thing on the list to change and the most visible.
It cannot set a canonical across a domain
The alias redirect handles the change you make inside Drupal. It does not stop a second hostname, a staging copy, or a marketing domain from serving the same page, and those need server-level redirects.
It cannot keep a sitemap fresh on its own
The Simple XML Sitemap settings decide how the file is generated and when. The default is a manual trigger, so a site with daily content needs the cron schedule set.
It cannot tell you a FAQ will show a rich result
Google limits FAQ results to well-known government and health sites, so the markup is worth having for the AI layer and not for a rich result.
It cannot launch with the sample content still in place
The core launch checklist covers removing it, along with the certificate, the host redirect, and a check that the index has refreshed to 100 percent.
Get the Full Checklist as a Template
Every checklist in the library, in a printable PDF and a spreadsheet with a Status and an Owner column, so the work can be assigned and tracked between passes.
The data is open source under CC BY 4.0 on GitHub. The broader platform work is in the technical SEO checklist.
Drupal SEO FAQs
Direct answers on the platform, the settings that get missed, and the AI layer.
Yes. The platform writes clean semantic markup, generates clean URL aliases from the title, and creates a redirect for you whenever an alias changes, which removes an entire category of migration work. What it does not do is ship the SEO tooling, and that is the gap this checklist closes.
Install the SEO Tools add-on from the Extend screen. It brings Metatag with the Open Graph and Twitter Card sub-modules, Real-time SEO for the per-page fields and the focus keyword analysis, Simple XML Sitemap, an HTML sitemap, and a checklist module. Add Schema Metatag separately for JSON-LD.
The Real-time SEO field set on the content edit form carries an SEO title, an SEO description, an SEO image, and a focus keyword. The site-wide defaults live under Configuration, then Search and metadata, and the per-page field overrides them, so the defaults matter most for the pages nobody edits.
Yes, which is one of the platform's best behaviours. When the alias of a piece of content is updated, a redirect is created for the old alias. It covers renames inside Drupal, and it does not cover a second hostname or a staging copy, which need a server-level redirect.
Install the Simple XML Sitemap module, then configure how the file is generated and updated under Configuration, then Search and metadata. Submit the file in Search Console. For a site with daily content, set a schedule rather than relying on the manual trigger.
Set the site to noindex and nofollow on the staging environment, and put a password on it as well, because a noindex is a request rather than a lock. A crawler that ignores the request can still read the pages, so the password is what actually keeps them out.
For renames inside Drupal, no, because the platform creates the redirect with the alias change. For a migration, a new domain, or a move between environments, yes, and those belong at the server level, where you can map every old URL to its new one in one file.
Install the Schema Metatag module, which adds a group of fields named for it to the Metatag defaults under Configuration, then Search and metadata, then Metatag. Edit each type and find the Schema.org fields at the bottom of the form, then choose the values that match what the page actually contains.