audit-search-console-setup

# Audit Search Console Setup This skill produces a structured GSC configuration audit. Output is a prioritised fix list — each issue has severity, root cause, user-visible impact, and effort estimate. The skill is opinionated about a few things: Domain property is almost always the right choice (URL-prefix is legacy); sitemap should re-submit on major changes (not "set and forget"); CWV field data is what matters for rankings (not lab data); coverage exclusions deserve weekly attention; access permissions drift and should be reviewed quarterly. ## When to use this skill - The user has GSC verified but is unsure if it's configured optimally. - The user is noticing missing data, unexpected coverage exclusions, or schema validation errors. - The user just verified GSC and wants confidence the setup is clean before running reports. - The user is running a quarterly analytics review. ## When NOT to use this skill - The user wants to verify GSC for the first time (point them to Google's verification docs). - The user wants to analyse query / page performance — use `analyse-search-performance`. - The user wants to audit GA4 — use `audit-ga4-setup`. - The user wants to fix indexing issues found in coverage — use `audit-indexing-status` (Technical SEO). ## Inputs required 1. **Business context and SEO foundation** — read `businesses/<slug>/business_context.md` and, for SEO-specific work, `businesses/<slug>/seo_foundation.md`. Resolve `<slug>` by listing `businesses/`: if exactly one folder exists, use it; if multiple, ask which business; if none, recommend running `business-context` first. If SEO foundation is missing, recommend running `seo-foundation` before producing output. Critical sections: products/services (3) for site-structure context, goals (7) for prioritisation. 2. **GSC access** — required. Skill needs visibility into property setup, coverage, enhancements, links, settings. 3. **Site URL(s)** — required. All canonical hostnames the brand operates (apex, www, subdomains). 4. **Sitemap location(s)** — required if known; otherwise the audit identifies them. 5. **Existing properties** — list of GSC properties currently verified for the brand. Audit consolidates / recommends. If GSC access is missing, ask. The audit needs to see the actual configuration. ## Process 1. **Property structure.** - Domain property exists and is verified (preferred). - URL-prefix property as backup or legacy: flag duplicates and recommend Domain consolidation. - All canonical hostnames covered (apex, www, m., shop., etc.). 2. **Verification.** - Verification method documented (DNS TXT for Domain; HTML file / meta tag / GA / GTM for URL-prefix). - Backup verification methods enabled (DNS plus one other) so verification doesn't lapse if one method fails. 3. **Sitemaps.** - At least one canonical sitemap submitted at `/sitemap.xml`. - Programmatic templates have segment-specific sitemaps if they exist. - Last-fetched date within reasonable cadence (weekly or on-publish for active sites). - Indexed-vs-submitted ratio reviewed; large gaps are a flag. 4. **Coverage / pages report.** - Total indexed count makes sense vs. site size. - "Crawled — currently not indexed" investigated (sample 5-10 URLs; identify pattern). - "Discovered — currently not indexed" investigated (often crawl-budget signal on large sites). - Excluded by canonical / robots / noindex: each reason reviewed; flag accidental noindex. - Soft 404s investigated. 5. **Enhancements reports.** - Mobile usability: any errors? URL count flagged. - Schema validation: which schema types reporting; errors / warnings flagged with URL examples. - CWV field data (Mobile + Desktop): URL groups in "Good," "Needs improvement," "Poor." - Search appearance categories: which surfaces eligible / serving (Sitelinks, FAQ, Product, etc.). 6. **Sitemaps + Robots.** - `robots.txt` accessible at `/robots.txt`. - No blanket disallows blocking critical paths. - Sitemap reference present in `robots.txt`. 7. **Manual actions / security issues.** - Status check; flag immediately if present. 8. **Links report.** - Top linking sites + top linked pages reviewed (high-level). - Spam / toxic-link patterns flagged for further review (handoff to Off-page). 9. **Settings & integrations.** - GA4 association linked. - International targeting (if applicable; deprecated for most cases now but legacy properties may still have settings). - Crawl rate (legacy; rarely needed but flag if non-default). 10. **Users and permissions.** - Owner accounts current (no ex-employees / contractors). - Edit / Restricted access reviewed; remove stale. - Verification ownership stable (don't lose Owner status). 11. **Bulk data export (BigQuery).** - For large sites: bulk data export to BigQuery configured. Bypasses 1,000-row UI limit and provides full historical data. 12. **Data freshness.** - GSC has 2-3 day data lag; flag if suspected staleness beyond that. - Some reports (CWV) update weekly, not daily; expectation set. 13. **Triangulation (light).** - GSC clicks (28-day) vs GA4 organic-search sessions: should correlate within ~20% on most sites. - Large discrepancies suggest measurement issues (consent mode, cross-domain, GTM issues) — handoff to GA4 audit. 14. **Write the audit.** ## Output format ```markdown # GSC Setup Audit — [Business name] **Audit date:** [date] **Property type:** [Domain / URL-prefix] **Auditor:** [name] ## Executive summary - **P0 issues:** [n] - **P1 issues:** [n] - **P2 issues:** [n] - **Estimated total fix effort:** [n] days - **Headline finding:** [1-2 sentence summary] ## Findings ### P0 — Critical (data missing or broken) #### [Issue title] - **Symptom:** [what the user sees] - **Root cause:** [technical reason] - **Impact:** [reports / decisions affected] - **Fix:** [steps] - **Effort:** [hours / days] - **Verification:** [how to confirm] [Repeat] ### P1 — Material (data incomplete or misleading) [Same structure] ### P2 — Hygiene (cleanup; doesn't block reports) [Same structure] ## Configuration summary ### Properties - Domain property: [verified / missing] - URL-prefix properties: [list with verification status] - Recommendation: [consolidate / keep / add] ### Sitemaps | Sitemap | Submitted | Last fetched | Submitted URLs | Indexed | Errors | |---------|-----------|--------------|----------------|---------|--------| | /sitemap.xml | yes | [date] | n | n | [list] | ### Coverage | Status | URL count | Notes | |--------|-----------|-------| | Indexed | n | | | Crawled — currently not indexed | n | [pattern observation] | | Discovered — not indexed | n | [pattern observation] | | Excluded — canonical | n | | | Excluded — noindex | n | [list flagged accidental noindex] | ### Enhancements - Mobile usability: [n errors] / [n URLs flagged] - Schema types reporting: [list] - Schema errors: [list with URL examples] - CWV mobile: Good [n] / Needs improvement [n] / Poor [n] - CWV desktop: Good [n] / Needs improvement [n] / Poor [n] ### Manual actions / security - Manual actions: [None / present — describe] - Security issues: [None / present — describe] ### Integrations - GA4 association: [linked / missing] - BigQuery bulk export: [enabled / not enabled] ### Users - Owners: [list — flag stale] - Edit / Restricted: [n] users — [stale count] ### Triangulation - GSC clicks (28d): [n] - GA4 organic-search sessions (28d): [n] - Correlation: [%] - Verdict: [Pass / Investigate] ## Prioritised fix list (one-page version) | # | Issue | Severity | Effort | Owner | |---|-------|----------|--------|-------| | 1 | Missing Domain property | P1 | 30 min | Marketing | | 2 | 2 blog posts have accidental `noindex` | P0 | 1 hr | Dev | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ## Recommendations beyond fixes - [ ] Re-audit in [n] months. - [ ] Set up Looker Studio dashboard for weekly review. - [ ] Establish weekly 30-min GSC review habit. - [ ] Configure BigQuery bulk export. ``` Save the produced file to `businesses/<slug>/analytics/gsc-audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].md`. Create the `analytics/` sub-folder if it doesn't already exist. After writing, tell the user the file path so they can open it. ## Quality bar - Every finding has severity, root cause, impact, fix, effort, and verification. - Property structure verified with all canonical hostnames covered. - Coverage exclusions investigated by sampling specific URLs (not just count totals). - CWV field data summarised; URL groups identified. - Triangulation with GA4 done at high level. - Access permissions reviewed; stale users flagged. - Output is actionable for both technical (dev) and marketing owners. ## Common mistakes to avoid - Don't trust only one URL-prefix property when a Domain property would cover more. - Don't ignore "Crawled — currently not indexed." It's diagnostically rich and underused. - Don't conflate lab CWV (Lighthouse / PageSpeed Insights) with field CWV (GSC). Field is what matters. - Don't skip the manual-actions / security check. Rare but critical; should be the first thing checked in any new GSC engagement. - Don't propose changing canonical strategy without coordinating with Technical SEO's canonical / indexing leaves. - Don't audit and walk away. Schedule re-audit in 90 days. - Don't ignore GSC ↔ GA4 discrepancy. Large gaps suggest tracking-side issues that affect every downstream report. ## Example **Input (abbreviated):** Field & Sun. GSC verified since 2023 via URL-prefix on `https://www.fieldandsun.com`. **Output (abbreviated):** P0 (1): - 2 blog posts have accidental `noindex` (`/blog/skincare-routine-basics` and `/blog/spf-myths`); 1 hr fix. P1 (3): - Missing Domain property; URL-prefix only; 30 min to add via DNS. - 2 PDPs missing `aggregateRating` in Product schema; 2 hrs. - 12 blog posts in CWV "Needs improvement" on mobile (mainly hero images > 500KB); ~2 days handoff to image-optimisation. P2 (2): - 3 ex-contractors retain Edit access. - BigQuery bulk export not configured. Coverage: 138 indexed, 4 in "Crawled — currently not indexed" (3 are recently retired URLs that will drop; 1 is a low-quality test post that should be de-published). CWV: mobile 73 Good / 12 Needs improvement / 0 Poor; desktop 95 Good / 0 / 0. Manual actions: None. Security issues: None. Triangulation: GSC 28d clicks 18,400 vs GA4 28d organic sessions 16,200 → 12% correlation gap (within tolerance, no investigation needed). Total fix effort: 1 day immediate + 2 days image work. Saved to `businesses/field-and-sun/analytics/gsc-audit-2026-05-01.md`.