| name | seo-audit |
| description | Use when the user wants to audit, review, or diagnose SEO issues on their site. Also use when the user mentions 'SEO audit,' 'technical SEO,' 'why am I not ranking,' 'SEO issues,' 'on-page SEO,' 'site audit,' or 'how do I improve my Google rankings.' |
SEO Audit
Expert knowledge for diagnosing technical SEO issues, on-page problems, and content gaps that prevent sites from ranking.
Audit Framework
1. Crawlability → 2. Indexation → 3. On-Page → 4. Content → 5. Authority
Work through in order — technical issues block all subsequent gains.
Layer 1: Crawlability
robots.txt: Check /robots.txt for blocked URLs that should be indexed. Disallow: / blocks the entire site — a catastrophic error.
XML Sitemap: Must exist at /sitemap.xml, include all important URLs, no noindex URLs, submitted to GSC.
Core Web Vitals:
| Metric | Good | Needs Work | Poor |
|---|
| LCP | < 2.5s | 2.5-4s | > 4s |
| INP | < 200ms | 200-500ms | > 500ms |
| CLS | < 0.1 | 0.1-0.25 | > 0.25 |
Common CWV fixes: Compress images to WebP, add fetchpriority="high" to hero image, defer non-critical JS, add font-display: swap.
Layer 2: Indexation
GSC Coverage report:
- "Crawled, currently not indexed" → thin content, duplicate content, or low quality signal
- "Discovered, currently not indexed" → low PageRank signal, crawl budget issues
- "Duplicate, submitted URL not selected as canonical" → Google chose a different canonical
Duplicate content: URL parameter duplication, HTTP/HTTPS duplication, www/non-www duplication. Pick one; redirect the other.
Layer 3: On-Page SEO
Title tags: Unique on every page, contains primary keyword near the front, 50-60 characters.
H1 tags: One H1 per page, contains primary keyword, different from the title tag.
Internal linking: All important pages have internal links, no orphaned pages, descriptive anchor texts.
Layer 4: Content (E-E-A-T)
- Experience: Author bylines with relevant experience, first-hand accounts, original data
- Expertise: Author credentials, depth and accuracy, citations of reputable sources
- Authoritativeness: Backlinks from authoritative sites, brand mentions, press coverage
- Trustworthiness: HTTPS, clear privacy policy, accurate up-to-date content
Keyword cannibalization: Multiple pages targeting the same keyword confuses Google. Consolidate into one page or clearly differentiate intent.
Layer 5: Authority
Key metrics: Domain Rating (Ahrefs), total referring domains, anchor text distribution, lost backlinks.
Toxic link signals: Link farms, sites with DR < 10 and no organic traffic, sudden spikes from unrelated foreign sites.
Audit Report Structure
Critical (1 week): Crawl blocks, site-wide noindex, wrong canonical, 5xx errors.
High (1 month): CWV fails, duplicate titles, missing/duplicate H1s, key pages not indexed.
Medium (quarter): Missing meta descriptions, thin content, missing alt text, broken internal links.
Low (when possible): Suboptimal title lengths, missing schema markup, image size optimization.
Common Rationalizations
| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|
| "We rank for our brand — SEO is fine" | Brand rankings are easy. Non-branded organic traffic is the revenue driver. |
| "We did an SEO audit 2 years ago" | Algorithm updates and site changes require annual audits at minimum. |
| "Our developer handles technical SEO" | Developers fix technical issues; they don't diagnose SEO strategy. |
| "CWV requires a site rebuild" | Most CWV improvements are targeted changes, not full rebuilds. |
Verification
