Next.js App Router SEO Checklist for Content Sites

I used to think SEO issues came from missing tools.

Most of the time, they came from inconsistency.

One route changed but canonical didn’t.
Sitemap included URLs that no longer existed.
Titles got updated, descriptions didn’t.

If you run a content site with Next.js App Router, SEO is less about hacks and more about discipline.
This is the workflow I now use to keep indexing predictable.

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Route and Metadata Must Move Together

Every page has three URLs that should agree:

• the actual route
• alternates.canonical
• openGraph.url

When one of these drifts, trust drops. Search engines and social previews start disagreeing.

The fix is simple: treat route changes as metadata changes by default.

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Sitemap Hygiene Is Non-Negotiable

Sitemaps should describe reality, not history.

• remove stale URLs quickly
• include indexable listing pages (/articles, /notes, /docs)
• resubmit after structural changes

This one change solved a surprising amount of crawl confusion on my side.

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Metadata Quality Should Be Boring

I keep this range because it works well for readability and snippets:

• title: 45-60 chars
• description: 120-160 chars

Not because it is magic, but because it forces clarity.

If a description is 700 characters, it is usually trying to do too much.

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Internal Links Are Part of Publishing

I stopped treating internal links as “later.”

Now, every new piece ships with:

• contextual links inside the body
• a ## Related reading section
• connections to pages in the same cluster

It helps users discover more, and it helps crawlers understand structure.

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The Three Commands I Run Before Shipping

yarn validate:content
yarn validate:seo
yarn build

This catches most regressions before production:

• missing or invalid frontmatter
• canonical and metadata drift
• route/build breakages

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Final Thought

On App Router projects, SEO failures are usually process failures, not framework failures.

Keep routes, metadata, sitemap, and links in sync and indexing gets much more stable.

FAQ

Do I need advanced SEO tools to run this checklist?

No. The core workflow here relies on consistent metadata, canonical URLs, internal links, and validation commands you already run in the project.

How often should I run this checklist?

Run it every time you publish or significantly update content. Consistency is more important than complexity.

Which command catches most regressions first?

Start with yarn validate:seo, then run yarn validate:content, and finish with yarn build.

Related reading

• SEO URL and Canonical Policy for The Tech Pulse
• 30-Day SEO Ranking Plan
• Articles