SEO — Audit & Optimization

Expert guidance for identifying SEO issues and implementing improvements to boost organic search performance.

Initial Assessment

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it before asking questions.

Before auditing, understand:

1. Site Context — Type (SaaS, e-commerce, blog), primary SEO goal, priority keywords
2. Current State — Known issues, organic traffic level, recent changes/migrations
3. Scope — Full site or specific pages? Technical + on-page, or one focus area?

Audit Framework

⚠️ Schema Markup Detection Limitation

web_fetch and curl cannot reliably detect structured data / schema markup. Many CMS plugins inject JSON-LD via client-side JavaScript.

To check for schema markup, use:

1. Browser tool — render page and run: document.querySelectorAll('script[type="application/ld+json"]')
2. Google Rich Results Test — https://search.google.com/test/rich-results

Never report "no schema found" based solely on web_fetch or curl.

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

Crawlability

• Robots.txt — Check for unintentional blocks, verify sitemap reference
• XML Sitemap — Exists, submitted to Search Console, contains only canonical indexable URLs
• Site Architecture — Important pages within 3 clicks, logical hierarchy, no orphan pages
• Crawl Budget (large sites) — Parameterized URLs, faceted navigation, infinite scroll

Indexation

• Index Status — site:domain.com check, Search Console coverage
• Issues — Noindex on important pages, wrong canonicals, redirect chains, soft 404s, duplicates
• Canonicalization — Self-referencing canonicals, HTTP→HTTPS, www consistency, trailing slashes

Core Web Vitals

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): < 2.5s
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): < 200ms
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): < 0.1

Speed Factors: TTFB, image optimization, JS execution, CSS delivery, caching, CDN, font loading

Mobile & Security

• Responsive design, tap targets, viewport, no horizontal scroll
• HTTPS everywhere, valid SSL, no mixed content, HSTS

URL Structure

• Readable, descriptive, keyword-rich, lowercase, hyphen-separated

On-Page SEO

Title Tags

• Unique per page, primary keyword near beginning, 50-60 chars, compelling
• Common issues: Duplicate, truncated, keyword-stuffed, missing

<!-- Good -->
<title>Ultimate Guide to React Hooks - Learn useEffect & useState</title>

Meta Descriptions

• Unique per page, 150-160 chars, includes keyword, clear CTA
• Common issues: Duplicate, auto-generated, too long/short

Heading Structure

• One H1 per page with primary keyword, logical H1→H2→H3 hierarchy
• Common issues: Multiple H1s, skipped levels, headings for styling only

Content Optimization

• Keyword in first 100 words, related terms used naturally
• Sufficient depth/length, answers search intent, better than competitors

Image Optimization

<img
  src="/images/react-hooks-diagram.webp"
  alt="React Hooks lifecycle diagram showing useState and useEffect"
  width="800" height="600" loading="lazy"
/>

Internal Linking

• Descriptive anchor text, 3-5 internal links per 1000 words
• No orphan pages, no broken links, reasonable link count

Schema Markup (Structured Data)

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Complete Guide to React Hooks",
  "datePublished": "2024-01-15",
  "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Developer" }
}

Common types: Article, Product, FAQ, HowTo, Organization, LocalBusiness, BreadcrumbList

Content Quality

E-E-A-T Signals

• Experience — First-hand experience, original insights/data
• Expertise — Author credentials, accurate detailed info
• Authoritativeness — Recognized in space, cited by others
• Trustworthiness — Transparent, contact info, HTTPS

Content Depth

• Comprehensive coverage, answers follow-up questions
• Better than top competitors, updated and current

Advanced Strategies

Topic Clusters & Pillar Pages

Pillar: "Complete Guide to React"
  ├── "React Hooks Tutorial"
  ├── "React Context API Guide"
  ├── "React Performance Optimization"
  └── "React Testing Best Practices"

Featured Snippet Optimization

• Question-based content with concise answers
• List-based and table-based content formats

Common Issues by Site Type

SEO Content Checklist

• Title tag with primary keyword (under 60 chars)
• Meta description (150-160 chars, compelling)
• H1 with primary keyword
• URL slug optimized
• Images compressed with alt text
• 3-5 internal links
• Schema markup implemented
• Mobile-friendly and responsive
• Page speed optimized (< 3s)
• Canonical tag set correctly
• Open Graph + Twitter Card tags

Output Format

Executive Summary — Health assessment, top 3-5 priorities, quick wins

Per Issue: Issue → Impact (H/M/L) → Evidence → Fix → Priority

Action Plan:

1. Critical fixes (blocking indexation)
2. High-impact improvements
3. Quick wins (easy, immediate benefit)
4. Long-term recommendations

Tools

Free: Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, Rich Results Test, Bing Webmaster Tools Paid: Screaming Frog, Ahrefs/Semrush, Sitebulb

References

• AI Writing Detection: Common AI writing patterns to avoid

Related Skills

• audit-website: Automated website auditing with squirrelscan CLI (230+ rules)
• page-cro: Optimizing pages for conversion (not just ranking)