v1.0.0 to v1.0.0

---

name: seo-audit

version: 1.0.0

description: 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:

1. **Site Context**

- What type of site? (SaaS, e-commerce, blog, etc.)

- What's the primary business goal for SEO?

- What keywords/topics are priorities?

2. **Current State**

- Any known issues or concerns?

- Current organic traffic level?

- Recent changes or migrations?

3. **Scope**

- Full site audit or specific pages?

- Technical + on-page, or one focus area?

- Access to Search Console / analytics?

---

## Audit Framework

### Priority Order

1. **Crawlability & Indexation** (can Google find and index it?)

2. **Technical Foundations** (is the site fast and functional?)

3. **On-Page Optimization** (is content optimized?)

4. **Content Quality** (does it deserve to rank?)

5. **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**