Framer SEO Checklist: 60 Checks to Rank Your Framer Site in 2025
Most Framer SEO guides cover the basics. This one covers everything — including the Framer-specific issues that generic tools miss entirely. 15 checks free below. Full 60-point checklist delivered to your inbox.
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Why most Framer SEO checklists miss the point
Generic SEO checklists are built for WordPress or Webflow. Framer is different. It has its own rendering pipeline, its own CMS collection behavior, its own sitemap generation logic — and its own failure modes that don't show up in Ahrefs or Semrush.
This checklist is built from auditing 300+ Framer sites. Every item on this list is something we've seen broken in the wild. Not theory. Observed failure patterns with specific fixes.
1. Crawlability & Indexing
Can Google actually find and read your pages?
6 checks
Site is verified in Google Search Console
GSC is your direct line to how Google sees your site. Without it, you're blind. Add your site at search.google.com/search-console and verify via DNS or HTML tag.
In Framer: add the GSC meta verification tag under Site Settings → Custom Code → Head.
CRITICAL
XML sitemap submitted to Google
Framer auto-generates a sitemap at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Confirm it exists, then submit it in GSC under Indexing → Sitemaps. Verify it includes all your key pages.
Framer's sitemap won't include pages set to noindex. Check your CMS collection pages are not accidentally excluded.
CRITICAL
robots.txt is not blocking Googlebot
Check yourdomain.com/robots.txt. Framer auto-generates this. Confirm it doesn't have "Disallow: /" which would block all crawling. You cannot edit it manually in Framer.
If you need to block specific pages, use the noindex toggle in page settings instead.
CRITICAL
No key pages accidentally set to noindex
In Framer, every page has a "Show page in search engines" toggle. Check your homepage, pricing page, and any CMS collection pages to make sure this is ON.
This is the single most common critical issue we find. Easy to miss on CMS collection pages when publishing quickly.
CRITICAL
CMS collection pages are included in the sitemap
Framer's CMS collections (blog posts, case studies, etc.) sometimes aren't included in the auto-generated sitemap. Visit /sitemap.xml and confirm your CMS URLs appear there.
If CMS pages are missing, toggle them off and back on in Framer's CMS settings, then republish.
HIGH
No 404 errors on internal links
Run a crawl with Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) or use GSC's Coverage report. Every internal link pointing to a dead page is wasted crawl budget and a bad user signal.
In Framer, links to deleted pages don't auto-update. Check any navigation or CTA links manually.
HIGH
2. Metadata & Page Titles
What Google shows in search results
5 checks
Every page has a unique title tag (under 60 characters)
In Framer: page settings → SEO → Title. Write a unique title for every page. Include your primary keyword near the start. Don't use the same title on multiple pages.
Common mistake: leaving Framer's default page name as the title tag. "Home" is not a title tag.
CRITICAL
Every page has a unique meta description (under 155 characters)
In Framer: page settings → SEO → Description. Google uses this as the snippet in search results. Make it compelling and specific. Avoid duplicate descriptions across pages.
CMS collection pages are the most common offender. Set a description field in your CMS and bind it to the meta description.
CRITICAL
One H1 tag per page, containing the target keyword
In Framer, select your hero heading and check the "Tag" dropdown in the right panel. It should be set to H1. Only one H1 per page. It should include your primary keyword naturally.
Framer defaults text elements to paragraph tags. Every heading needs to be manually tagged as H1, H2, or H3.
CRITICAL
Open Graph tags configured for social sharing
Set og:title, og:description, and og:image in Framer's page settings. Without these, links shared on Slack, LinkedIn, or Twitter show broken previews that damage click-through rates.
OG image should be 1200x630px. Upload it under the Social Image field in Framer's SEO settings.
HIGH
H2 and H3 tags used correctly on every page
H2 for major sections, H3 for sub-sections. In Framer, every text element defaults to a paragraph tag. You must manually assign heading tags from the tag dropdown.
A page with zero H2/H3 tags is harder for Google to parse and misses keyword opportunities in semantic headings.
HIGH
3. Core Web Vitals & Performance
Speed is a ranking factor. Framer has specific pitfalls.
6 checks
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) is under 2.5 seconds
Measure at PageSpeed Insights. The LCP element is usually your hero image or headline. In Framer, heavy hero images and Lottie animations are the most common LCP killers.
Set your hero image as eager-loaded and add explicit width/height attributes to avoid layout shifts that hurt LCP.
CRITICAL
All images compressed and using explicit width/height
Framer converts images to WebP automatically, but doesn't compress them. Compress before upload. Always set width and height to prevent CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift).
Use Squoosh or TinyPNG before uploading. Target under 150KB for hero images, under 80KB for everything else.
HIGH
No render-blocking custom fonts above the fold
Every custom font you add in Framer's font settings delays first paint. Limit to 2 font families max and use display:swap to prevent invisible text while fonts load.
Add font-display: swap via Framer's custom code head if using Google Fonts directly.
HIGH
Lottie animations are lazy-loaded and sized correctly
Lottie files in Framer are one of the biggest performance offenders. A single heavy Lottie can add 2–3 seconds to your LCP. Keep them under 50KB and only use them below the fold.
Use LottieFiles' optimizer tool before importing. Avoid Lottie in hero sections entirely if possible.
HIGH
INP (Interaction to Next Paint) is under 200ms
INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital in 2024. It measures how quickly your page responds to user input. Heavy Framer scroll animations and large JS bundles are the main causes of slow INP.
Check in Chrome DevTools → Performance tab. Reduce the number of scroll-triggered animations on mobile.
MEDIUM
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) score is under 0.1
Layout shifts happen when elements move after load — usually from images without dimensions, embeds, or dynamic content injected above existing content. Measure at PageSpeed Insights.
The most common cause in Framer is images without explicit dimensions in CMS collection layouts. Set fixed width/height on all CMS images.
MEDIUM
4. Schema Markup
Structured data for rich results in Google
6 checks
Organization schema added to the homepage
JSON-LD Organization schema tells Google your business name, URL, logo, and social profiles. Add it via Site Settings → Custom Code → Head. It's the baseline schema every Framer site should have.
Validate at search.google.com/test/rich-results after adding. Errors in schema are silent — they won't break the page but won't help rankings either.
HIGH
Article schema on all blog/CMS posts
Framer doesn't add Article schema automatically to CMS posts. Add JSON-LD Article schema to your CMS page template via Framer's custom code panel, using CMS field bindings for headline, datePublished, and author.
This is one of the most commonly missed opportunities on Framer blog sites. Article schema helps Google understand and surface your content in news results.
HIGH
FAQ schema on pages with Q&A content
FAQ schema earns expandable rich results in Google — your FAQ answers show directly in the SERP, dramatically increasing click-through. Add JSON-LD FAQPage schema to any page with question/answer sections.
One client saw a 50% CTR increase after adding FAQ schema. It's one of the highest-ROI schema types available.
HIGH
BreadcrumbList schema on inner pages
Breadcrumb schema shows your site's navigation path in search results (e.g. Home › Blog › Post Title). This improves both click-through rate and Google's understanding of your site structure.
Add to all CMS template pages. The breadcrumb path should reflect your actual URL structure.
MEDIUM
No schema validation errors in Rich Results Test
Schema with errors is ignored by Google. Run every page with schema through Google's Rich Results Test to confirm it's valid. Common errors: missing required fields, wrong data types, mismatched URLs.
Test URL: search.google.com/test/rich-results — paste your page URL and check for warnings and errors.
HIGH
Schema details match your Google Business Profile
If your Organization or LocalBusiness schema has different information than your Google Business Profile (name, address, phone), Google may distrust both. Keep them in sync.
Mismatches between schema and GBP are a common cause of Knowledge Panel inconsistencies.
MEDIUM
5. Internal Linking
How Google understands your site structure
6 checks
Every important page is reachable within 3 clicks from homepage
Google's crawlers follow links. If a key page is buried 5+ clicks deep, it gets crawled less frequently and treated as lower priority. Map your site structure and ensure nothing important is orphaned.
Use Screaming Frog's crawl depth report to visualize which pages are deepest in your site.
HIGH
No orphaned pages (pages with zero internal links pointing to them)
Orphaned pages don't get crawled or ranked. Every page on your site should have at least one internal link pointing to it from another page. CMS posts published without being linked anywhere are a common issue.
Check for orphans in GSC → Coverage, or run a Screaming Frog crawl and filter by "inlinks = 0".
HIGH
Anchor text is descriptive, not generic
Links with "click here" or "learn more" anchor text waste a ranking signal. Use descriptive anchor text that tells Google what the linked page is about. "Framer SEO audit process" is better than "read more".
Audit your navigation and CTA copy. Every link is an opportunity to pass keyword context to the destination page.
MEDIUM
High-authority pages link to pages you want to rank
Your homepage has the most PageRank. Linking from your homepage (or high-traffic pages) to the pages you most want to rank passes authority internally. Most Framer sites leave this entirely unconfigured.
Identify your 3 most important pages to rank, then ensure your homepage and nav link to them directly.
HIGH
CMS posts link to related content and key service pages
Blog posts that don't link to anything waste their traffic. Every CMS post should have 2–3 contextual internal links: one to a related post, one to a relevant service/product page, one to a high-priority ranking target.
Add an "internal links" field to your Framer CMS schema so you can manage this systematically per post.
MEDIUM
No broken internal links or redirect chains
A redirect chain (A → B → C) loses PageRank at each hop. Broken links waste crawl budget entirely. In Framer, URL changes don't automatically create redirects — you must handle this manually.
Audit with Screaming Frog monthly. Update any internal links that point to redirecting URLs to point directly to the final destination.
MEDIUM
6. Keyword Strategy
Targeting the right queries for Framer sites
8 checks
Each page targets exactly one primary keyword
Trying to rank for 5 keywords on one page dilutes your signal. Each page should have a single primary keyword it's optimized for, used in the H1, title tag, meta description, and first paragraph.
Map your keywords to pages in a spreadsheet before writing any copy. One page, one primary keyword, several supporting semantic variants.
HIGH
Primary keyword appears in the URL slug
In Framer, set your page slug under Page Settings → Path. A URL like /framer-seo-audit is stronger than /services or /p1. Short, keyword-rich slugs outperform long descriptive ones.
Keep slugs under 5 words. Use hyphens, not underscores. Avoid dates and stop words like "the" and "a".
HIGH
No keyword cannibalization across pages
If two pages target the same keyword, Google has to pick one and often picks the wrong one. Check your pages — especially blog posts vs. service pages — for overlapping keyword targets.
Run a site:yourdomain.com "keyword" search in Google to see which page ranks. If both show up, consolidate or differentiate.
HIGH
Long-tail keywords targeted in CMS content
Long-tail keywords (3+ words, lower volume, high intent) are where Framer sites can win quickly against larger competitors. Map 3–5 long-tail variants per service or product page.
MEDIUM
Search intent matches page content type
A page targeting "what is Framer SEO" should be informational. A page targeting "Framer SEO audit service" should be transactional. Mismatched intent is one of the most common ranking failures.
CRITICAL
Get the remaining 18 checks free
You've worked through 42 checks across 5 sections. The final 18 cover keyword strategy, competitor gap analysis, and technical infrastructure — the highest-leverage items for Framer sites.
Keyword Strategy (8 checks)
Competitor Gap Analysis (5 checks)
Technical Infrastructure (5 checks)
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Get the full audit — $100 →Framer SEO: Frequently Asked Questions
Does Framer have built-in SEO?
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Framer has basic SEO settings: page titles, meta descriptions, an auto-generated sitemap, and a noindex toggle per page. What it doesn't handle automatically: schema markup, canonical tags, CMS collection indexing edge cases, Core Web Vitals optimization, or internal linking structure. Those all require manual setup.
How do I get my Framer site indexed by Google?
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Step 1: Verify your site in Google Search Console. Step 2: Submit your sitemap (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) via GSC. Step 3: Use the URL Inspection tool in GSC on your key pages and click "Request Indexing." Step 4: Make sure no key pages have the noindex toggle enabled in Framer's page settings.
Why is my Framer site not ranking on Google?
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The most common reasons: CMS collection pages not being crawled or indexed, missing or duplicate title tags, no H1 tags on key pages, no schema markup, poor Core Web Vitals from uncompressed images, and no internal linking strategy. Generic SEO tools won't catch all of these because they don't understand how Framer's rendering pipeline works.
Can I add schema markup to a Framer site?
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Yes. Framer doesn't generate schema automatically, but you can add JSON-LD schema via Site Settings → Custom Code → Head for site-wide schema (like Organization), or via individual page settings for page-specific schema (Article, FAQ, Product). Validate with Google's Rich Results Test after adding.
Is Framer good for SEO compared to Webflow or WordPress?
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Framer can rank just as well as Webflow or WordPress — it serves static HTML, which Google indexes well. The difference is that Framer requires more manual SEO setup than WordPress (where plugins handle a lot), and has fewer built-in SEO controls than Webflow. The fundamentals are all achievable in Framer, they just need to be set up deliberately.
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