| name | seo-auditor |
| description | Audit websites for SEO issues and optimize content for search engine visibility. |
SEO Auditor & Content Optimizer
Audit websites for technical SEO issues, analyze on-page optimization, and provide actionable recommendations to improve search engine visibility and rankings.
When to Use
- User wants an SEO audit of their website
- User asks how to improve search rankings
- User wants to optimize content for specific keywords
- User needs meta tag, title, or description improvements
- User wants to compare their SEO against competitors
When NOT to Use
- Paid advertising strategy (use ad-creative skill)
- Social media content creation (use content-machine skill)
- General competitive analysis without SEO focus (use competitive-analysis)
- Building pages at scale for SEO (use programmatic-seo skill)
Methodology
Audit 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?)
Step 1: Crawlability & Indexation
Robots.txt:
- Check for unintentional blocks
- Verify important pages allowed
- Check sitemap reference
XML Sitemap:
- Exists and accessible
- Contains only canonical, indexable URLs
- Updated regularly
Site Architecture:
- Important pages within 3 clicks of homepage
- Logical hierarchy
- No orphan pages (pages with no internal links)
Index Status:
- site:domain.com check
- Compare indexed vs. expected page count
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
- HTTP → HTTPS canonicals
- www vs. non-www consistency
- Trailing slash consistency
Step 2: Technical Foundations
Core Web Vitals (2025-2026):
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): < 2.5s
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): < 200ms — replaced FID in 2025 as the responsiveness metric
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): < 0.1
Speed Factors:
- Server response time (TTFB)
- Image optimization and modern formats (WebP)
- JavaScript execution and bundle size
- CSS delivery
- Caching headers and CDN usage
- Font loading strategy
Mobile-Friendliness:
- Responsive design (not separate m. site)
- Tap target sizes
- Viewport configured
- No horizontal scroll
- Mobile-first indexing readiness
Security:
- HTTPS across entire site
- Valid SSL certificate
- No mixed content
- HSTS header
URL Structure:
- Readable, descriptive URLs
- Keywords where natural
- Consistent structure (lowercase, hyphen-separated)
- No unnecessary parameters
Note: Google now excludes pages returning non-200 status codes (4xx, 5xx) from the rendering queue entirely — critical for SPAs.
Step 3: On-Page SEO
Title Tags:
- Unique per page, 50-60 characters
- Primary keyword near beginning
- Compelling and click-worthy
- Brand name at end
- Common issues: duplicates, too long/short, keyword stuffing, missing
Meta Descriptions:
- Unique per page, 150-160 characters
- Includes primary keyword
- Clear value proposition with CTA
- Common issues: duplicates, auto-generated, no compelling reason to click
Heading Structure:
- One H1 per page containing primary keyword
- Logical hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipping)
- Headings describe content, not used just for styling
Content Optimization:
- Keyword in first 100 words
- Related keywords naturally used
- Sufficient depth for topic
- Answers search intent
- Better than current top-ranking competitors
Image Optimization:
- Descriptive file names and alt text
- Compressed file sizes, modern formats (WebP)
- Lazy loading, responsive images
Internal Linking:
- Important pages well-linked with descriptive anchor text
- No broken internal links
- No orphan pages
Keyword Targeting (per page):
- Clear primary keyword target
- Title, H1, URL aligned with keyword
- Content satisfies search intent
- Not competing with other pages (cannibalization)
Step 4: Content Quality — E-E-A-T Signals
Experience: First-hand experience demonstrated, original insights/data, real examples
Expertise: Author credentials visible, accurate and detailed information, properly sourced claims
Authoritativeness: Recognized in the space, cited by others, industry credentials
Trustworthiness: Accurate information, transparent about business, contact info available, privacy policy, HTTPS
Step 5: Bot Governance & AI Readiness
- Review robots.txt to differentiate between beneficial retrieval agents (OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot) and non-beneficial training scrapers
- Use structured data (schema.org) as the language of LLMs
- Use "BLUF" (Bottom Line Up Front) formatting to help content get cited in AI Overviews
Schema Markup Detection Warning: webFetch and curl cannot reliably detect structured data — many CMS plugins inject JSON-LD via client-side JavaScript. Never report "no schema found" based solely on webFetch. Recommend using Google Rich Results Test or browser DevTools for accurate schema verification.
Step 6: Competitor SEO Comparison
- Search for target keywords and analyze top-ranking pages
- Identify content gaps and opportunities
- Compare meta tags, content depth, structure, and E-E-A-T signals
Common Issues by Site Type
SaaS/Product Sites: Product pages lack content depth, blog not integrated with product pages, missing comparison/alternative pages, thin feature pages
E-commerce: Thin category pages, duplicate product descriptions, missing product schema, faceted navigation creating duplicates
Content/Blog Sites: Outdated content not refreshed, keyword cannibalization, no topical clustering, poor internal linking
Local Business: Inconsistent NAP, missing local schema, no Google Business Profile optimization
Output Format
SEO Audit Report Structure
# SEO Audit Report: [Website]
## Executive Summary
- Overall health assessment
- Top 3-5 priority issues
- Quick wins identified
## Critical Issues (Fix Immediately)
| Issue | Page | Impact | Evidence | Fix |
|-------|------|--------|----------|-----|
## High-Impact Improvements
| Issue | Page | Impact | Evidence | Fix |
|-------|------|--------|----------|-----|
## Quick Wins
| Opportunity | Page | Potential Impact |
|------------|------|-----------------|
## Page-by-Page Analysis
### [Page URL]
- **Title**: Current | Recommended
- **Meta Description**: Current | Recommended
- **H1**: Current | Recommended
- **Content Score**: X/10
- **Issues**: [list]
## Prioritized Action Plan
1. Critical fixes (blocking indexation/ranking)
2. High-impact improvements
3. Quick wins (easy, immediate benefit)
4. Long-term recommendations
Tools
Free: Google Search Console, Google PageSpeed Insights, Rich Results Test (use for schema validation — it renders JavaScript), Mobile-Friendly Test, Schema Validator
Paid (if available): Screaming Frog, Ahrefs / Semrush, Sitebulb
Best Practices
- Prioritize by impact -- fix critical issues before optimizing nice-to-haves
- Write for humans first -- keyword-stuffed content hurts rankings
- Check actual SERPs -- search for target keywords to understand what Google currently rewards
- Focus on search intent -- match content type to what users actually want
- Monitor competitors -- see what top-ranking pages do well and identify gaps
Limitations
- Cannot access Google Search Console or Analytics data
- Cannot measure actual page speed (use Google Lighthouse separately)
- Cannot check backlink profiles (recommend Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz)
- Cannot run full site crawls (recommend Screaming Frog or Sitebulb)
- Cannot guarantee ranking improvements -- SEO involves many factors
- Cannot access pages behind authentication or paywalls
