Use this skill when optimizing for search engines, conducting keyword research, implementing technical SEO, or building link strategies. Triggers on SEO, keyword research, meta tags, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, sitemap, robots.txt, link building, search console, and any task requiring search engine optimization.
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Use this skill when optimizing for search engines, conducting keyword research, implementing technical SEO, or building link strategies. Triggers on SEO, keyword research, meta tags, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, sitemap, robots.txt, link building, search console, and any task requiring search engine optimization.
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SEO Mastery
A practitioner's framework for search engine optimization covering keyword research,
on-page signals, technical foundations, structured data, Core Web Vitals, and authority
building. This skill treats SEO as an engineering discipline: measurable inputs, observable
outputs, and iterative improvement - not guesswork.
When to use this skill
Trigger this skill when the user:
Researches keywords or analyzes search intent for content
Writes or audits page titles, meta descriptions, headings, or body copy
Implements structured data (JSON-LD, schema.org)
Configures sitemaps, robots.txt, canonicals, or hreflang
Diagnoses poor rankings, low organic traffic, or crawl coverage gaps
Optimizes Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP)
Plans a link building or digital PR strategy
Sets up Google Search Console, GA4, or rank tracking
Do NOT trigger this skill for:
Paid search / PPC campaigns - budget bidding and ad copy are a separate domain
Social media content strategy where search ranking is not the goal
Key principles
Content quality first - Google's ranking goal is to surface the most helpful answer
for a query. No technical trick compensates for thin, unhelpful content. Write for
humans, then ensure machines can understand it.
Technical foundation enables ranking - A great page that cannot be crawled, indexed,
or rendered earns zero organic traffic. Fix crawl/index issues before investing in content.
User intent matches content - Every query has an intent (informational, navigational,
transactional, commercial). Misaligning content type with intent kills rankings no matter
how well-optimized the page is.
Build authority, not just links - Backlinks are votes of trust. Ten links from
authoritative, relevant sites outweigh a thousand links from irrelevant or low-quality
domains. Pursue earned links through genuine value creation.
Measure and iterate - Rankings fluctuate. Traffic converts. Use Search Console,
GA4, and rank tracking to form hypotheses, ship changes, and measure outcomes over
90-day windows - not days.
Core concepts
On-page vs off-page vs technical SEO
Pillar
Scope
Examples
On-page
What is on the page
Title, headings, copy, images, internal links
Off-page
Signals from other sites
Backlinks, brand mentions, digital PR
Technical
How search engines access the page
Crawl budget, indexing, speed, structured data
All three pillars compound. Technical issues block the others from working.
Crawling, indexing, ranking pipeline
Googlebot crawls URL
-> Renders JavaScript (Chromium-based)
-> Parses content and signals
-> Indexes page (adds to search database)
-> Ranks against competing pages for relevant queries
-> Serves result to user
A breakdown at any stage stops organic visibility. Use Search Console's URL Inspection
tool to diagnose where in this pipeline a page is stuck.
Search intent types
Intent
What the user wants
Content match
Informational
Learn something
Blog posts, guides, how-tos, FAQs
Navigational
Find a specific site/page
Brand pages, login pages
Transactional
Complete a purchase or action
Product pages, checkout, sign-up
Commercial
Research before buying
Comparison pages, reviews, "best X" lists
Mismatching content type to intent is the most common reason well-written pages under-rank.
Google's quality rater guidelines use E-E-A-T as the quality signal framework. Practical
implementations:
Experience - first-hand demonstrations: screenshots, case studies, personal results
Expertise - author credentials, bylines, depth of coverage
Authoritativeness - third-party mentions, links from recognized industry sources
Trustworthiness - HTTPS, clear privacy/contact pages, accurate information, citations
Common tasks
Conduct keyword research
Use this framework to identify target keywords before writing any content:
1. Seed keywords - list 5-10 core topics your product/service addresses
2. Expand seeds:
- Google Autocomplete and "People Also Ask" for each seed
- Google Search Console "Queries" report for existing rankings
- Competitor gap analysis (Ahrefs / Semrush / free: Ubersuggest)
3. Evaluate each keyword on three dimensions:
- Search volume (how many searches/month)
- Keyword difficulty (how competitive, 0-100)
- Business relevance (how likely to convert)
4. Classify intent for each keyword (informational / transactional / commercial)
5. Cluster keywords by intent and topic:
- One primary keyword per page
- 2-5 semantically related secondary keywords per page
- Build topic clusters: one pillar page + multiple supporting pages
Priority formula (rough): score = (volume * relevance) / difficulty
Target low-difficulty / high-relevance keywords first to build topical authority
before going after high-difficulty head terms.
Optimize on-page SEO
Apply this checklist to every page:
Title tag - most important on-page signal:
<!-- Good: primary keyword near the front, under 60 characters --><title>Keyword Research Guide: 5-Step Framework (2024)</title><!-- Bad: brand-first, no keyword --><title>Acme Corp | Our Blog | How We Do Things</title>
Meta description - not a ranking factor but drives click-through rate:
<!-- Compelling, action-oriented, 120-158 characters --><metaname="description"content="Learn how to find low-competition keywords
that drive organic traffic. Step-by-step framework used to rank 200+ pages.">
Heading hierarchy - one H1 per page, H2 for major sections, H3 for subsections:
<h1>Keyword Research: The Complete Guide</h1><!-- One per page, matches title intent --><h2>What Is Keyword Research?</h2><h2>Step 1: Find Seed Keywords</h2><h3>Using Google Autocomplete</h3><h3>Using Search Console</h3><h2>Step 2: Evaluate Keyword Difficulty</h2>
Image optimization:
<!-- Descriptive alt text, compressed images, width/height to prevent CLS --><imgsrc="/images/keyword-research-tool-comparison.webp"alt="Comparison chart of keyword research tools: Ahrefs vs Semrush vs Ubersuggest"width="800"height="450"loading="lazy"
>
Internal linking - link from high-authority pages to target pages using descriptive
anchor text (not "click here"):
<ahref="/keyword-research-guide">keyword research framework</a>
Implement schema markup
Use JSON-LD injected in <head> or before </body>. Never use Microdata - JSON-LD is
Google's recommended format.
<scripttype="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is keyword difficulty?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Keyword difficulty is a 0-100 score estimating how hard it is to rank..."
}
}
]
}
</script>
See references/schema-markup.md for Product, BreadcrumbList, HowTo, LocalBusiness,
and SitelinksSearchbox schemas.
Set up technical SEO
sitemap.xml - submit to Search Console, update on publish:
<!-- Self-referencing canonical on every page --><linkrel="canonical"href="https://example.com/keyword-research-guide"><!-- On paginated series, canonical to first page or use rel=next/prev --><linkrel="canonical"href="https://example.com/blog">
Noindex for non-content pages:
<metaname="robots"content="noindex, follow">
Use noindex on: tag pages, filter facets, thank-you pages, staging environments.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) - improve render time of main image/text:
<!-- Preload the LCP image - do NOT lazy-load it --><linkrel="preload"as="image"href="/hero.webp"fetchpriority="high"><imgsrc="/hero.webp"alt="..."width="1200"height="600"><!-- No loading="lazy" on above-the-fold images -->
<!-- Always define width and height on images and videos --><imgsrc="..."width="800"height="450"alt="..."><!-- Reserve space for embeds and ads --><divstyle="min-height: 250px;"><!-- ad slot --></div>
INP (Interaction to Next Paint) - reduce main thread blocking:
Links remain among Google's top three ranking factors. Prioritize these in order:
Digital PR - create genuinely newsworthy data, research, or tools. Pitch to
journalists covering your industry. One Forbes or TechCrunch link > 1000 directory links.
Resource page link building - find "[topic] + resources" pages in your niche.
If your content is better than what they link to, pitch a replacement.
Broken link building - use Ahrefs/Semrush to find broken links on authoritative
sites. Offer your content as a replacement.
Guest posts - write high-value articles for reputable industry blogs with a
contextual link back. Avoid link farms and PBNs - manual penalties are severe.
Unlinked mentions - set up Google Alerts for brand name. When mentioned without
a link, request one from the author.
Evaluate link quality before pursuing:
Domain Rating (DR) > 40 preferred
Topical relevance to your site
Editorial link (not paid or exchanged)
Site has real organic traffic (check Ahrefs/Semrush traffic estimate)
Set up Google Search Console tracking
Minimum viable Search Console setup:
Verify ownership - HTML tag method is most reliable:
Performance > Search results: track clicks, impressions, CTR, position
Coverage: watch for "Excluded" spikes (noindex, soft 404, crawl anomaly)
Core Web Vitals: identify poor URLs before they affect rankings
Links: track top linked pages and external link growth
Key Search Console queries to run regularly:
Filter by "Position > 10 and < 20" - pages close to page 1 are quick wins
Filter by "CTR < 2% and Impressions > 500" - titles/descriptions need work
Filter by "Clicks = 0 and Impressions > 100" - content intent may be misaligned
Gotchas
Noindex on staging left in production - A <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> tag or X-Robots-Tag: noindex header copied from staging to production will silently deindex pages. Google does not warn you - pages simply disappear from the index. Always audit robots directives post-deployment.
Self-referencing canonical conflicts with noindex - If a page has both <link rel="canonical" href="[this page]"> and <meta name="robots" content="noindex">, the signals conflict. Noindex wins for crawling, but the canonical may cause Google to retain the page in index longer than expected. Remove the canonical when noindexing.
Paginated pages canonicaling to page 1 loses deep content - Canonicalizing all paginated series pages (/blog?page=2) to the root (/blog) tells Google to ignore the content on pages 2+. Use self-referencing canonicals on each paginated page and ensure internal linking surfaces the paginated content.
Disavow file removes good links with bad - Submitting a broad disavow file (domain:example.com) removes all links from a domain including any legitimate ones. Only disavow specific URLs unless the entire domain is clearly spam/malicious.
Search Console impressions spike without a ranking change - A sudden impression spike in GSC often indicates Google started showing your page for a new query set, not that your ranking improved. Always check which queries drove the spike before concluding a campaign worked.
Anti-patterns
Mistake
Why it's wrong
What to do instead
Keyword stuffing
Triggers spam filters, degrades readability, penalized since Panda (2011)
Use primary keyword naturally 1-3x; rely on semantic synonyms for coverage
Targeting one keyword per page in isolation
Misses long-tail variations, leaves traffic on table
Build topic clusters: one pillar + supporting pages targeting related intents
Buying links in bulk
High risk of manual/algorithmic penalty, links devalued quickly
Earn links via digital PR, original research, and genuinely helpful tools
Ignoring crawl budget on large sites
Low-value pages consume crawl quota, important pages indexed slowly
Block crawl-waste via robots.txt; remove or noindex thin/duplicate pages
Setting meta robots noindex on staging, forgetting to remove
Pages never indexed in production, invisible traffic impact until audited
Use HTTP auth or IP allowlist for staging; never rely on noindex for security
Changing URLs without 301 redirects
Destroys accumulated link equity, creates 404 errors
Always 301 redirect old URLs; update internal links; submit new sitemap
References
For detailed implementation guidance on specific topics:
references/schema-markup.md - JSON-LD schemas for Article, Product, FAQ, HowTo,
LocalBusiness, BreadcrumbList, and SitelinksSearchbox
Only load the references file when the task requires it - it is long and will consume context.
Companion check
On first activation of this skill in a conversation: check which companion skills are installed by running ls ~/.claude/skills/ ~/.agent/skills/ ~/.agents/skills/ .claude/skills/ .agent/skills/ .agents/skills/ 2>/dev/null. Compare the results against the recommended_skills field in this file's frontmatter. For any that are missing, mention them once and offer to install:
