A step-by-step SEO checklist you can implement this week to rank higher and drive more orders

Every bakery website needs a solid foundation before adding complexity. This layer covers the fundamentals that affect all pages—mobile responsiveness, page speed, and indexability.

• Mobile responsiveness: Test your site on an iPhone and Android device. Google prioritizes mobile versions in ranking. Check that buttons are tappable, text is readable without zooming, and forms don't have horizontal scroll.
• Page load speed: Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check speed. Compress images aggressively—a 2MB photo of your almond croissant will slow everything down. Aim for pages under 2 seconds on 3G.
• Site structure clarity: Your main navigation should show: Home, Products (or Menu), About, Contact, and Blog (if you have one). Avoid nested menus deeper than two levels.
• SSL certificate: Confirm your URL is https:// not http://. Google treats non-SSL sites as less trustworthy.
• XML sitemap: Create a sitemap.xml listing all product pages, service pages, and blog posts. Submit it in Google Search Console.
• Robots.txt check: Verify you're not accidentally blocking Google from crawling your product pages. Use the robots.txt tester in Google Search Console.

This layer takes 2–3 hours to audit and typically has quick wins (like removing Disallow: / from robots.txt or enabling compression in your hosting settings).

Product pages are where bakery SEO either works or fails. Most bakeries copy text from suppliers or use generic descriptions. Google ranks specific, original content.

Unique descriptions (100–150 words per product): Write descriptions that answer what customers actually search for. Instead of "sourdough bread," say "Authentic San Francisco-style sourdough with 48-hour fermentation, tangy crust, and open crumb structure. Baked fresh daily. Available for local pickup or Friday delivery." Include keywords naturally: bake time, ingredients, occasion (birthday cake, wedding cupcakes), dietary (gluten-free brownies, vegan donuts).

Schema markup (Recipe or Product schema): Add structured data to tell Google what you're selling. Use Product schema if you sell items, or Recipe schema if you publish recipes. This makes your products eligible for rich snippets in search results.

H1 and H2 hierarchy: Each product page has one H1 (the product name). Use H2 for subsections: "Ingredients," "Availability," "Customization Options," "Reviews." Don't skip levels (H1 → H3).

Internal linking: Link related products. If someone reads your chocolate chip cookie page, link to your cookie assortment, gift boxes, or seasonal flavors. This signals content relationships to Google and keeps visitors engaged.

Allocate 2–3 hours per 10 product pages. Start with your top sellers.

Bakery websites live or die on photos. An unoptimized image gallery kills page speed and ignores Google Image Search potential.

File naming: Instead of IMG_0847.jpg, rename to "chocolate-layer-cake-with-berries.jpg." Use hyphens, not underscores. Be specific: Google reads file names.

Alt text (required on every image): Write 8–12 words describing what's in the photo. For a croissant image: "Buttery croissant with flaky layers and golden crust." Don't keyword-stuff ("best croissants in Austin bakery shop"). Alt text helps visually impaired users and feeds Google Image Search.

Image compression (critical for speed): Use TinyPNG or ImageOptim to compress without visible quality loss. A 5MB photo should compress to 100–200KB. Bakery photos are often large; compression saves 3–5 seconds per page load.

Image dimensions: Resize images to the exact display size on your page. Don't upload a 4000×3000 image and shrink it in HTML; the browser still loads the full file. Aim for 800×600 or 1200×800 for product galleries.

Image captions and Schema: Add captions under key photos ("Our sourdough starter, maintained for 12 years"). Use ImageObject schema to make images more discoverable in Google Image Search.

Allocate 3–4 hours to batch-rename, compress, and add alt text to your product gallery.

For bakeries, local search matters more than organic. A fully optimized Google Business Profile and local schema drive map pack visibility and foot traffic.

Google Business Profile completeness: Fill out every field: business name (exact match with your website), address, phone, hours (including weekend hours), website URL, categories (bakery, coffee shop if applicable), business description (50–70 words—mention what makes you unique), and photos (upload 10+ high-quality images of baked goods, storefront, team, happy customers).

Local business schema on your homepage: Add Organization schema with your business name, address, phone, and hours in structured data. Tools like schema.org/LocalBusiness make this easier. This tells Google where you are even if they can't read your website text clearly.

Reviews and Q&A: Encourage customers to leave reviews on Google ("Leave us a review on Google—it helps local bakeries compete"). Respond to all reviews—positive and negative—within 24 hours. Google weighs review recency and response rate.

Google Posts: Use the Posts feature in Google Business Profile to announce new products, seasonal offerings ("Fresh pumpkin donuts available now"), or events ("In-store cake decorating class Saturday 2pm"). Posts refresh your profile weekly and appear in search results.

Service area and delivery: If you deliver or ship, set your service area in Google Business Profile. Add delivery schema to product pages if applicable.

Allocate 1–2 hours to complete GBP; ongoing reviews and posts take 20 minutes weekly.

Mobile users come from map searches and local ads. If they can't easily place an order on mobile, they'll call a competitor.

Mobile-first design: Your website is viewed on mobile 60–70% of the time (varies by bakery). Test every flow on an actual phone: viewing your menu, adding items to cart, checkout. Remove friction: if your form asks for 15 fields, you'll lose customers.

Click-to-call buttons: On mobile, use tel: links so customers can tap to call instantly. Example: <a href="tel:+15125551234">Call us to order</a>. Place this above the fold on your homepage and contact page.

Above-the-fold CTA: Your primary CTA (Order Online, Reserve a Cake, View Menu) should be visible without scrolling on mobile. Use contrasting colors. Test that it's not hidden by a sticky header or notification banner.

Ordering simplification: If you use a third-party ordering system (Shopify, WooCommerce, custom tool), optimize the checkout. Remove optional fields, enable guest checkout, and show progress (Step 1 of 3). A 3-step checkout has higher completion than 8 steps.

Breadcrumbs for category navigation: On your menu or product pages, add breadcrumb markup (Home > Cakes > Layer Cakes > Chocolate Layer Cake). This improves mobile UX and SEO.

Allocate 2–3 hours to audit mobile UX; conversion optimization is ongoing.

SEO is not a one-time task. Bakeries benefit from seasonal inventory changes, new product launches, and competitive shifts.

Seasonal content calendar: Plan updates 4–6 weeks in advance. Example: Add Valentine's Day cake pages in December, Mother's Day gift boxes in March, Halloween treats in August. Each seasonal product gets a dedicated page with unique description, schema, and internal links.

Monthly monitoring: Check Google Search Console for new search queries (look for "cake near me" variants you didn't target), crawl errors (404s on old product pages), and click-through rate. If a page ranks 5th and has decent clicks, improve its description or add schema to push it to top 3.

Review performance quarterly: Compare rankings and organic traffic month-over-month. Use Google Analytics to see which product pages drive the most visits. Double down on what works: if "custom birthday cake" pages get traffic, create more variations.

Competitor monitoring: Monitor 3–5 competitor bakery websites quarterly. Check their product page structure, schema, review counts, and content updates. You don't copy, but you notice gaps you can fill.

Link building (low-touch): Ask suppliers (flour mills, cocoa distributors), local media, and community calendars to link to your website. Guest blogging on food blogs or neighborhood sites builds authority.

Allocate 2–3 hours monthly for updates and monitoring.