New Page Copy Checklist: Headline, Slug, Meta Description, CTA, and Keyword Checks

Key points

What to take from this guide

• Start with the page promise before drafting the headline, slug, description, or CTA.
• A headline should sell the right promise, while the slug should describe a stable destination.
• Use meta description length and keyword density as sanity checks, not as guarantees of rankings or display.

Guide section

The page copy order

Before a new page goes live, check the copy in this order: promise, headline, slug, meta description, CTA, keyword use, and final character fit.

That order keeps each field from doing the wrong job. The headline earns the click, the slug clarifies the destination, the meta description summarizes the page, the CTA points to one next step, and the keyword check catches awkward repetition.

• Promise: what the page helps the reader do.
• Headline: the visible reason to keep reading.
• Slug: the stable, readable URL path.
• Meta description: the concise search snippet draft.
• CTA: the next step the page can actually support.
• Keyword check: a readability check, not a target percentage.

Guide section

Use it before the page goes live

This checklist is useful when you are launching a new article, landing page, product page, tool page, help page, or resource page. It also helps when several people contributed copy and the fields no longer match each other.

The point is not to make every field say the exact same sentence. The point is to make every field support the same destination without duplication, stuffing, or a broken next step.

• Use the headline to make the promise visible.
• Use the slug to describe the destination in durable words.
• Use the meta description to summarize the value without keyword stuffing.
• Use the CTA only after the next step is real.
• Use keyword density to catch repetition after the copy is useful.

Guide section

Check each field by job

Start by writing one plain sentence for the page promise. If that sentence is vague, every other field will drift. Next, draft a headline that puts the topic and payoff early without promising more than the page delivers.

Then generate or trim the slug. A slug can be shorter than the headline because it only needs to identify the destination. After that, write a unique meta description, choose one CTA, and run a keyword check on the visible copy.

• Do not let a clever headline hide the actual topic.
• Do not pack temporary campaign language into a permanent slug.
• Do not copy the headline as the full meta description.
• Do not use a CTA if the button or link destination does not match it.
• Do not add repeated keyword phrases just to raise a density number.

Guide section

Worked example

Suppose the new page is for a reading time tool. The page promise is simple: help writers estimate reading, speaking, and skim time before publishing.

The fields should support that promise in different ways. The headline can be more descriptive, the slug can stay compact, the meta description can summarize the task, and the CTA can ask for one low-friction action.

• Headline: Reading Time Calculator for Drafts, Speeches, and Skim Checks. It is 61 characters, so it is descriptive without becoming a paragraph.
• Slug: reading-time-calculator. It is 23 characters and stable enough to keep after launch.
• Meta description: Estimate reading, speaking, and skim time from pasted text, then check word count before publishing a draft, script, or page. It is 125 characters.
• CTA: Check reading time. It is 18 characters and points to one action.
• Keyword check: the exact phrase reading time calculator appears once in a 75-word draft, about 1.3%, so the copy is not leaning on repetition.

Guide section

Common mistakes

A common mistake is using the headline as the slug, meta description, social preview, and CTA. Repetition can make the page look consistent, but it often leaves each field less useful.

Another mistake is checking keyword density before the page has enough helpful coverage. If the copy is thin, adding the phrase again will not fix the page.

• Choosing a slug that depends on a temporary campaign name.
• Changing a published slug without a redirect plan.
• Writing a meta description that is only a list of keywords.
• Using a CTA that points to a mismatched or unfinished destination.
• Treating a character range as a guarantee of search display.

Worked example

A new page copy pass

The same page promise becomes different fields instead of duplicate copy.