TECHNICAL SEO AUDITING — OPERATIONAL SKILL

This skill contains actionable, production-ready systems for performing comprehensive technical SEO audits and delivering prioritized optimization recommendations for traditional search engines (Google, Bing).

Use this skill when the user asks for:

• Technical SEO audits (full or targeted)
• Core Web Vitals optimization (LCP, INP, CLS)
• Crawlability and indexation issues
• Structured data/Schema.org implementation
• Mobile-first optimization
• Site speed and performance fixes
• Internal linking architecture
• Duplicate content and canonical handling
• International SEO (hreflang)
• Security and HTTPS configuration

Quick Reference

10-Point Audit Framework

Every technical SEO audit follows this systematic checklist:

Scoring: Rate each area 0-10, calculate weighted average for overall Technical Health Score.

Decision Trees

### Audit Type Selection
Full site audit needed
  └─ Use templates/audits/full-technical-audit.md
Quick issue check
  └─ Use templates/audits/quick-audit-checklist.md
CWV-only deep dive
  └─ Use templates/cwv/core-web-vitals-report.md
Schema validation only
  └─ Use templates/schema/schema-validation-report.md

### Core Web Vitals Failing
LCP >2.5s
  └─ Preload LCP element, optimize images, add CDN
  └─ See resources/core-web-vitals-guide.md
INP >200ms
  └─ Reduce JavaScript, optimize event handlers
  └─ See resources/core-web-vitals-guide.md
CLS >0.1
  └─ Add dimensions to images/ads, avoid layout shifts
  └─ See resources/core-web-vitals-guide.md

### Indexation Issues
Pages not indexed
  └─ Check robots.txt blocking
  └─ Verify sitemap inclusion
  └─ Check canonical tags
  └─ See resources/crawlability-indexing.md
Crawl budget problems
  └─ Remove low-value pages from crawl
  └─ Fix redirect chains
  └─ Optimize pagination
  └─ See resources/crawlability-indexing.md

### Mobile Issues
Mobile-unfriendly
  └─ Check viewport meta tag
  └─ Verify responsive CSS
  └─ Test touch target sizes
  └─ See resources/mobile-seo-guide.md

### Security Issues
Mixed content warnings
  └─ Update all HTTP resources to HTTPS
  └─ See resources/security-https-guide.md
SSL/TLS issues
  └─ Run SSL Labs test
  └─ See resources/security-https-guide.md

Navigation

Core Resources

• resources/core-web-vitals-guide.md - LCP, INP, CLS thresholds and optimization
• resources/crawlability-indexing.md - Robots.txt, sitemaps, GSC, indexation
• resources/site-speed-optimization.md - TTFB, render-blocking, image optimization
• resources/mobile-seo-guide.md - Mobile-first indexing, responsive design
• resources/structured-data-guide.md - Schema.org, JSON-LD, rich snippets
• resources/security-https-guide.md - HTTPS, HSTS, security headers
• resources/internal-linking-strategy.md - Link architecture, orphan pages
• resources/duplicate-content-handling.md - Canonicals, pagination, parameters
• resources/internationalization-hreflang.md - Hreflang, geo-targeting

Templates

Audits

• templates/audits/full-technical-audit.md - Complete 10-point audit checklist
• templates/audits/quick-audit-checklist.md - Fast abbreviated audit

Core Web Vitals

• templates/cwv/core-web-vitals-report.md - CWV-specific audit report

Structured Data

• templates/schema/schema-validation-report.md - Schema audit report

Prioritization

• templates/priority/impact-effort-matrix.md - Issue prioritization matrix

Related Skills

Marketing & SEO

• ../marketing-ai-search-optimization/SKILL.md - Search visibility beyond classic SERPs (complements technical SEO)
• ../marketing-social-media/SKILL.md - Social media marketing and content distribution

Technical Implementation

• ../software-frontend/SKILL.md - Frontend performance optimization, SSR
• ../software-backend/SKILL.md - Server-side optimization, API performance
• ../software-security-appsec/SKILL.md - Security hardening, HTTPS implementation

Quality & Performance

• ../qa-observability/SKILL.md - Performance monitoring, observability
• ../ops-devops-platform/SKILL.md - CDN setup, infrastructure optimization

Key Differentiators

Audit Output Format:

• Critical Issues - Fix immediately (high impact)
• Important Optimizations - Fix soon (medium impact)
• Recommended Enhancements - Nice to have

Each finding includes:

• What's wrong and why it matters
• Step-by-step fix instructions
• Expected outcome
• Validation method

External Resources

See data/sources.json for 46 primary sources across:

• Google Search Central, web.dev, and Chrome developer docs (CWV, Lighthouse, CrUX)
• Bing Webmaster Guidelines and diagnostic tooling
• Crawl/index/render fundamentals (robots, sitemaps, canonicals, JS SEO)
• Structured data eligibility and validation tooling
• Optional automation references (Search Console API, CrUX API, Lighthouse CI)

Getting Started

Quick audit (15 minutes):

1. Run PageSpeed Insights on key pages
2. Check robots.txt and sitemap.xml accessibility
3. Validate structured data with Rich Results Test
4. Review GSC Coverage report for indexation issues
5. Use templates/audits/quick-audit-checklist.md

Full audit (2-4 hours):

1. Use templates/audits/full-technical-audit.md
2. Work through all 10 audit areas systematically
3. Score each area 0-10
4. Prioritize findings with templates/priority/impact-effort-matrix.md
5. Document fixes with validation steps

Ongoing monitoring:

1. Set up GSC alerts for indexation issues
2. Monitor Core Web Vitals in CrUX
3. Schedule quarterly audits
4. Track improvements against baseline

Core: SEO Testing & Monitoring

Testing Framework

Monitoring Checklist

Do (Testing)

• Set up automated Lighthouse CI in your deployment pipeline
• Use GSC API to monitor indexation programmatically
• Test staging environments with noindex before launch
• Track CWV in CrUX (field data) not just lab data
• Create baseline measurements before optimization

Avoid (Testing)

• Testing only on fast dev machines (test on throttled mobile)
• Ignoring field data (CrUX) in favor of lab data (Lighthouse)
• Making multiple changes simultaneously (can't isolate impact)
• Deploying without crawling staging first

Success Criteria

A successful technical SEO audit delivers a prioritized list of issues with clear fix instructions and validation methods that measurably improve search visibility and Core Web Vitals scores.

Optional: AI / Automation

Note: Core technical SEO fundamentals above work without AI tools. This section covers optional automation capabilities.

Automated Auditing Tools

Log Analysis Automation

AI-Assisted Analysis

Do (AI/Automation)

• Automate crawling on a schedule (weekly minimum)
• Use alerts for critical issues (500 errors, robots.txt changes)
• Combine automated findings with manual analysis
• Version control robots.txt and critical SEO files

Avoid (AI/Automation)

• Trusting automated recommendations without validation
• Over-relying on tools without understanding fundamentals
• Auto-implementing schema without testing
• Ignoring false positives (tools over-report)

Collaboration Notes

With Product

• Site redesigns: SEO requirements in early planning, not post-launch
• URL changes: Redirect mapping before launch
• New features: Consider indexability and crawlability impact
• Page deprecation: Proper 301/410 handling

With Engineering

• Deployment pipeline: Add Lighthouse CI, crawl staging pre-launch
• Performance budgets: Set CWV thresholds in CI
• Server config: robots.txt, redirects, canonical implementation
• JavaScript: SSR/SSG for critical content, hydration impact
• CDN setup: Cache headers, edge optimization

With Design

• Image optimization: WebP/AVIF formats, responsive images
• Layout stability: Reserve space for dynamic elements (CLS)
• Above-the-fold: Prioritize LCP element rendering
• Fonts: Font loading strategy (font-display: swap)

Anti-Patterns