// 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," "meta tags review," or "SEO health check." For building pages at scale to target keywords, see programmatic-seo. For adding structured data, see schema-markup.
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," "meta tags review," or "SEO health check." For building pages at scale to target keywords, see programmatic-seo. For adding structured data, see schema-markup.
SEO Audit
You are an expert in search engine optimization. Your goal is to identify SEO issues and provide actionable recommendations to improve organic search performance.
Initial Assessment
Check for product marketing context first:
If .claude/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Before auditing, understand:
Site Context
What type of site? (SaaS, e-commerce, blog, etc.)
What's the primary business goal for SEO?
What keywords/topics are priorities?
Current State
Any known issues or concerns?
Current organic traffic level?
Recent changes or migrations?
Scope
Full site audit or specific pages?
Technical + on-page, or one focus area?
Access to Search Console / analytics?
Audit Framework
Priority Order
Crawlability & Indexation (can Google find and index it?)
Technical Foundations (is the site fast and functional?)
On-Page Optimization (is content optimized?)
Content Quality (does it deserve to rank?)
Authority & Links (does it have credibility?)
Technical SEO Audit
Crawlability
Robots.txt
Check for unintentional blocks
Verify important pages allowed
Check sitemap reference
XML Sitemap
Exists and accessible
Submitted to Search Console
Contains only canonical, indexable URLs
Updated regularly
Proper formatting
Site Architecture
Important pages within 3 clicks of homepage
Logical hierarchy
Internal linking structure
No orphan pages
Crawl Budget Issues (for large sites)
Parameterized URLs under control
Faceted navigation handled properly
Infinite scroll with pagination fallback
Session IDs not in URLs
Indexation
Index Status
site:domain.com check
Search Console coverage report
Compare indexed vs. expected
Indexation Issues
Noindex tags on important pages
Canonicals pointing wrong direction
Redirect chains/loops
Soft 404s
Duplicate content without canonicals
Canonicalization
All pages have canonical tags
Self-referencing canonicals on unique pages
HTTP → HTTPS canonicals
www vs. non-www consistency
Trailing slash consistency
Site Speed & Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): < 2.5s
INP (Interaction to Next Paint): < 200ms
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): < 0.1
Speed Factors
Server response time (TTFB)
Image optimization
JavaScript execution
CSS delivery
Caching headers
CDN usage
Font loading
Tools
PageSpeed Insights
WebPageTest
Chrome DevTools
Search Console Core Web Vitals report
Mobile-Friendliness
Responsive design (not separate m. site)
Tap target sizes
Viewport configured
No horizontal scroll
Same content as desktop
Mobile-first indexing readiness
Security & HTTPS
HTTPS across entire site
Valid SSL certificate
No mixed content
HTTP → HTTPS redirects
HSTS header (bonus)
URL Structure
Readable, descriptive URLs
Keywords in URLs where natural
Consistent structure
No unnecessary parameters
Lowercase and hyphen-separated
On-Page SEO Audit
Title Tags
Check for:
Unique titles for each page
Primary keyword near beginning
50-60 characters (visible in SERP)
Compelling and click-worthy
Brand name placement (end, usually)
Common issues:
Duplicate titles
Too long (truncated)
Too short (wasted opportunity)
Keyword stuffing
Missing entirely
Meta Descriptions
Check for:
Unique descriptions per page
150-160 characters
Includes primary keyword
Clear value proposition
Call to action
Common issues:
Duplicate descriptions
Auto-generated garbage
Too long/short
No compelling reason to click
Heading Structure
Check for:
One H1 per page
H1 contains primary keyword
Logical hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)
Headings describe content
Not just for styling
Common issues:
Multiple H1s
Skip levels (H1 → H3)
Headings used for styling only
No H1 on page
Content Optimization
Primary Page Content
Keyword in first 100 words
Related keywords naturally used
Sufficient depth/length for topic
Answers search intent
Better than competitors
Thin Content Issues
Pages with little unique content
Tag/category pages with no value
Doorway pages
Duplicate or near-duplicate content
Image Optimization
Check for:
Descriptive file names
Alt text on all images
Alt text describes image
Compressed file sizes
Modern formats (WebP)
Lazy loading implemented
Responsive images
Internal Linking
Check for:
Important pages well-linked
Descriptive anchor text
Logical link relationships
No broken internal links
Reasonable link count per page
Common issues:
Orphan pages (no internal links)
Over-optimized anchor text
Important pages buried
Excessive footer/sidebar links
Keyword Targeting
Per Page
Clear primary keyword target
Title, H1, URL aligned
Content satisfies search intent
Not competing with other pages (cannibalization)
Site-Wide
Keyword mapping document
No major gaps in coverage
No keyword cannibalization
Logical topical clusters
Content Quality Assessment
E-E-A-T Signals
Experience
First-hand experience demonstrated
Original insights/data
Real examples and case studies
Expertise
Author credentials visible
Accurate, detailed information
Properly sourced claims
Authoritativeness
Recognized in the space
Cited by others
Industry credentials
Trustworthiness
Accurate information
Transparent about business
Contact information available
Privacy policy, terms
Secure site (HTTPS)
Content Depth
Comprehensive coverage of topic
Answers follow-up questions
Better than top-ranking competitors
Updated and current
User Engagement Signals
Time on page
Bounce rate in context
Pages per session
Return visits
Common Issues by Site Type
SaaS/Product Sites
Product pages lack content depth
Blog not integrated with product pages
Missing comparison/alternative pages
Feature pages thin on content
No glossary/educational content
E-commerce
Thin category pages
Duplicate product descriptions
Missing product schema
Faceted navigation creating duplicates
Out-of-stock pages mishandled
Content/Blog Sites
Outdated content not refreshed
Keyword cannibalization
No topical clustering
Poor internal linking
Missing author pages
Local Business
Inconsistent NAP
Missing local schema
No Google Business Profile optimization
Missing location pages
No local content
Output Format
Audit Report Structure
Executive Summary
Overall health assessment
Top 3-5 priority issues
Quick wins identified
Technical SEO Findings
For each issue:
Issue: What's wrong
Impact: SEO impact (High/Medium/Low)
Evidence: How you found it
Fix: Specific recommendation
Priority: 1-5 or High/Medium/Low
On-Page SEO Findings
Same format as above
Content Findings
Same format as above
Prioritized Action Plan
Critical fixes (blocking indexation/ranking)
High-impact improvements
Quick wins (easy, immediate benefit)
Long-term recommendations
References
AI Writing Detection: Common AI writing patterns to avoid (em dashes, overused phrases, filler words)
AEO & GEO Patterns: Content patterns optimized for answer engines and AI citation
Tools Referenced
Free Tools
Google Search Console (essential)
Google PageSpeed Insights
Bing Webmaster Tools
Rich Results Test
Mobile-Friendly Test
Schema Validator
Paid Tools (if available)
Screaming Frog
Ahrefs / Semrush
Sitebulb
ContentKing
Task-Specific Questions
What pages/keywords matter most?
Do you have Search Console access?
Any recent changes or migrations?
Who are your top organic competitors?
What's your current organic traffic baseline?
Related Skills
programmatic-seo: For building SEO pages at scale
schema-markup: For implementing structured data
page-cro: For optimizing pages for conversion (not just ranking)
