| name | seo-fundamentals |
| description | Use when doing technical SEO setup or audits for websites, including metadata checks, canonical rules, sitemap and robots validation, Google Search Console troubleshooting, and indexing readiness. Trigger phrases: SEO fundamentals, technical SEO, fix sitemap, GSC could not fetch, indexing issues, on-page SEO checklist. |
SEO Fundamentals
Purpose
Use this skill to implement and validate SEO essentials so pages are crawlable, indexable, and ready for Google Search Console.
Inputs
- Site base URL (for example
https://example.com)
- Key page URLs (home and major landing pages)
sitemap.xml URLrobots.txt URL- Current deployment platform (for example Vercel)
Workflow
1. Validate Crawl Access
- Check
robots.txt returns HTTP 200 and is publicly reachable.
- Confirm it does not block important paths by mistake.
- Keep sitemap declarations accurate and only include existing sitemap files.
Decision point:
- If robots blocks target pages or includes invalid sitemap links, fix
robots.txt first.
2. Validate Sitemap Health
- Check
sitemap.xml returns HTTP 200 and valid XML.
- Confirm
<loc> URLs are absolute, canonical, and use the correct domain.
- Verify sample URLs from sitemap return
200 (or valid indexable status).
- Ensure sitemap size and URL count are reasonable for the site.
Decision point:
- If sitemap has wrong domain, stale URLs, or malformed XML, regenerate/fix before GSC resubmission.
3. Validate On-Page Basics
For each key page, verify:
- One clear
<title> and one useful meta description.
- Correct canonical URL pointing to the preferred page URL.
meta robots allows indexing where intended.- Proper heading structure and meaningful page content.
- Open Graph and Twitter tags are present for share previews.
Decision point:
- If canonical, robots, or title tags conflict, correct tags before indexing requests.
4. Validate Platform and Routing
- Confirm deployed routes match sitemap URLs.
- For static hosts (for example Vercel), ensure paths like
/city-slug/ resolve correctly.
- Remove stale generation artifacts that cause duplicate or broken paths.
Decision point:
- If deployed route returns
404, fix folder structure or routing config before SEO submission.
5. Submit and Troubleshoot in GSC
- Submit full sitemap URL in the correct property scope.
- If GSC shows "Couldn’t fetch":
- Re-check HTTP status and content type from external request.
- Confirm property URL matches protocol/host exactly.
- Remove and re-submit sitemap after fixes.
- Wait for cache refresh and recheck.
Decision point:
- If live checks are
200 but GSC still fails, assume GSC cache/property mismatch and retry with exact property URL.
6. Final Verification
- Confirm
robots.txt and sitemap.xml are reachable in production.
- Confirm at least 2-5 sitemap URLs are live and indexable.
- Confirm no placeholder domains remain.
- Confirm deployment includes latest SEO file changes.
Quality Criteria
Treat task as complete only when all are true:
robots.txt is valid, minimal, and references only real sitemap files.sitemap.xml is valid XML and uses the live canonical domain.- Sample sitemap URLs return valid responses (typically
200).
- Key pages include title, meta description, canonical, and indexable robots directives.
- GSC submission uses the exact matching property and sitemap URL.
Common Mistakes to Catch
- Placeholder domain still present in sitemap or canonicals.
robots.txt referencing non-existent sitemap files.- Property mismatch in GSC (
http vs https, subdomain mismatch).
- Sitemap works in browser but was previously cached as failed in GSC.
- Deployed routes differ from generated URLs.
Output Format
When using this skill, produce:
- Findings list ordered by severity.
- Exact files/URLs fixed.
- Verification results (status codes and key checks).
- Next action in GSC (submit/re-submit/wait and recheck timeline).
