This skill performs comprehensive technical SEO audits to identify issues that may prevent search engines from properly crawling, indexing, and ranking your site.
When to Use This Skill
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Launching a new website
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Diagnosing ranking drops
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Pre-migration SEO audits
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Regular technical health checks
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Identifying crawl and index issues
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Improving site performance
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Fixing Core Web Vitals issues
What This Skill Does
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Crawlability Audit: Checks robots.txt, sitemaps, crawl issues
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Indexability Review: Analyzes index status and blockers
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Site Speed Analysis: Evaluates Core Web Vitals and performance
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Mobile-Friendliness: Checks mobile optimization
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Security Check: Reviews HTTPS and security headers
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Structured Data Audit: Validates schema markup
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URL Structure Analysis: Reviews URL patterns and redirects
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International SEO: Checks hreflang and localization
How to Use
Full Technical Audit
Perform a technical SEO audit for [URL/domain]
Specific Issue Check
Check Core Web Vitals for [URL]
Audit crawlability and indexability for [domain]
Pre-Migration Audit
Technical SEO checklist for migrating [old domain] to [new domain]
Instructions
When a user requests a technical SEO audit:
- Audit Crawlability
## Crawlability Analysis
### Robots.txt Review
**URL**: [domain]/robots.txt
**Status**: [Found/Not Found/Error]
**Current Content**:
[robots.txt content]
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| File exists | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| Valid syntax | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [errors found] |
| Sitemap declared | ✅/❌ | [sitemap URL] |
| Important pages blocked | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [blocked paths] |
| Assets blocked | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [CSS/JS blocked?] |
| Correct user-agents | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
**Issues Found**:
- [Issue 1]
- [Issue 2]
**Recommended robots.txt**:
User-agent: * Allow: / Disallow: /admin/ Disallow: /private/
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
---
### XML Sitemap Review
**Sitemap URL**: [URL]
**Status**: [Found/Not Found/Error]
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Sitemap exists | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| Valid XML format | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [errors] |
| In robots.txt | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| Submitted to GSC | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| URLs count | [X] | [appropriate?] |
| Only indexable URLs | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Includes priority | ✅/⚠️ | [notes] |
| Includes lastmod | ✅/⚠️ | [accurate?] |
**Issues Found**:
- [Issue 1]
---
### Crawl Budget Analysis
| Factor | Status | Impact |
|--------|--------|--------|
| Crawl errors | [X] errors | [Low/Med/High] |
| Duplicate content | [X] pages | [Low/Med/High] |
| Thin content | [X] pages | [Low/Med/High] |
| Redirect chains | [X] found | [Low/Med/High] |
| Orphan pages | [X] found | [Low/Med/High] |
**Crawlability Score**: [X]/10
- Audit Indexability
## Indexability Analysis
### Index Status Overview
| Metric | Count | Notes |
|--------|-------|-------|
| Pages in sitemap | [X] | |
| Pages indexed | [X] | [source: site: search] |
| Index coverage ratio | [X]% | [good if >90%] |
### Index Blockers Check
| Blocker Type | Found | Pages Affected |
|--------------|-------|----------------|
| noindex meta tag | [X] | [list or "none"] |
| noindex X-Robots | [X] | [list or "none"] |
| Robots.txt blocked | [X] | [list or "none"] |
| Canonical to other | [X] | [list or "none"] |
| 4xx/5xx errors | [X] | [list or "none"] |
| Redirect loops | [X] | [list or "none"] |
### Canonical Tags Audit
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Canonicals present | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [X]% of pages |
| Self-referencing | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Consistent (HTTP/HTTPS) | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Consistent (www/non-www) | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| No conflicting signals | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
### Duplicate Content Issues
| Issue Type | Count | Examples |
|------------|-------|----------|
| Exact duplicates | [X] | [URLs] |
| Near duplicates | [X] | [URLs] |
| Parameter duplicates | [X] | [URLs] |
| WWW/non-WWW | [X] | [notes] |
| HTTP/HTTPS | [X] | [notes] |
**Indexability Score**: [X]/10
- Audit Site Speed & Core Web Vitals
## Performance Analysis
### Core Web Vitals
| Metric | Mobile | Desktop | Target | Status |
|--------|--------|---------|--------|--------|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | [X]s | [X]s | <2.5s | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| FID (First Input Delay) | [X]ms | [X]ms | <100ms | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | [X] | [X] | <0.1 | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | [X]ms | [X]ms | <200ms | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
### Additional Performance Metrics
| Metric | Value | Status |
|--------|-------|--------|
| Time to First Byte (TTFB) | [X]ms | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| First Contentful Paint (FCP) | [X]s | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Speed Index | [X] | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Total Blocking Time | [X]ms | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Page Size | [X]MB | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Requests | [X] | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
### Performance Issues
**LCP Issues**:
- [Issue]: [Impact] - [Solution]
- [Issue]: [Impact] - [Solution]
**CLS Issues**:
- [Issue]: [Impact] - [Solution]
**Resource Loading**:
| Resource Type | Count | Size | Issues |
|---------------|-------|------|--------|
| Images | [X] | [X]MB | [notes] |
| JavaScript | [X] | [X]MB | [notes] |
| CSS | [X] | [X]KB | [notes] |
| Fonts | [X] | [X]KB | [notes] |
### Optimization Recommendations
**High Impact**:
1. [Recommendation] - Est. improvement: [X]s
2. [Recommendation] - Est. improvement: [X]s
**Medium Impact**:
1. [Recommendation]
2. [Recommendation]
**Performance Score**: [X]/10
- Audit Mobile-Friendliness
## Mobile Optimization Analysis
### Mobile-Friendly Test
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Mobile-friendly overall | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| Viewport configured | ✅/❌ | [viewport tag] |
| Text readable | ✅/⚠️/❌ | Font size: [X]px |
| Tap targets sized | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Content fits viewport | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| No horizontal scroll | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
### Responsive Design Check
| Element | Desktop | Mobile | Issues |
|---------|---------|--------|--------|
| Navigation | [status] | [status] | [notes] |
| Images | [status] | [status] | [notes] |
| Forms | [status] | [status] | [notes] |
| Tables | [status] | [status] | [notes] |
| Videos | [status] | [status] | [notes] |
### Mobile-First Indexing
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Mobile version has all content | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Mobile has same structured data | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Mobile has same meta tags | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Mobile images have alt text | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
**Mobile Score**: [X]/10
- Audit Security & HTTPS
## Security Analysis
### HTTPS Status
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| SSL certificate valid | ✅/❌ | Expires: [date] |
| HTTPS enforced | ✅/❌ | [redirects properly?] |
| Mixed content | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [X] issues |
| HSTS enabled | ✅/⚠️ | [notes] |
| Certificate chain | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
### Security Headers
| Header | Present | Value | Recommended |
|--------|---------|-------|-------------|
| Content-Security-Policy | ✅/❌ | [value] | [recommendation] |
| X-Frame-Options | ✅/❌ | [value] | DENY or SAMEORIGIN |
| X-Content-Type-Options | ✅/❌ | [value] | nosniff |
| X-XSS-Protection | ✅/❌ | [value] | 1; mode=block |
| Referrer-Policy | ✅/❌ | [value] | [recommendation] |
**Security Score**: [X]/10
- Audit URL Structure
## URL Structure Analysis
### URL Pattern Review
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| HTTPS URLs | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [X]% HTTPS |
| Lowercase URLs | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| No special characters | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Readable/descriptive | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Appropriate length | ✅/⚠️/❌ | Avg: [X] chars |
| Keywords in URLs | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Consistent structure | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
### URL Issues Found
| Issue Type | Count | Examples |
|------------|-------|----------|
| Dynamic parameters | [X] | [URLs] |
| Session IDs in URLs | [X] | [URLs] |
| Uppercase characters | [X] | [URLs] |
| Special characters | [X] | [URLs] |
| Very long URLs (>100) | [X] | [URLs] |
### Redirect Analysis
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Redirect chains | [X] found | [max chain length] |
| Redirect loops | [X] found | [URLs] |
| 302 → 301 needed | [X] found | [URLs] |
| Broken redirects | [X] found | [URLs] |
**URL Score**: [X]/10
- Audit Structured Data
## Structured Data Analysis
### Schema Markup Found
| Schema Type | Pages | Valid | Errors |
|-------------|-------|-------|--------|
| [Type 1] | [X] | ✅/❌ | [errors] |
| [Type 2] | [X] | ✅/❌ | [errors] |
### Validation Results
**Errors**:
- [Error 1]: [affected pages] - [solution]
- [Error 2]: [affected pages] - [solution]
**Warnings**:
- [Warning 1]: [notes]
### Missing Schema Opportunities
| Page Type | Current Schema | Recommended |
|-----------|----------------|-------------|
| Blog posts | [current] | Article + FAQ |
| Products | [current] | Product + Review |
| Homepage | [current] | Organization |
**Structured Data Score**: [X]/10
- Audit International SEO (if applicable)
## International SEO Analysis
### Hreflang Implementation
| Check | Status | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Hreflang tags present | ✅/❌ | [notes] |
| Self-referencing | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Return tags present | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| Valid language codes | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [notes] |
| x-default tag | ✅/⚠️ | [notes] |
### Language/Region Targeting
| Language | URL | Hreflang | Status |
|----------|-----|----------|--------|
| [en-US] | [URL] | [tag] | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| [es-ES] | [URL] | [tag] | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
**International Score**: [X]/10
- Generate Technical Audit Summary
# Technical SEO Audit Report
**Domain**: [domain]
**Audit Date**: [date]
**Pages Analyzed**: [X]
## Overall Technical Health: [X]/100
Score Breakdown: ████████░░ Crawlability: 8/10 ███████░░░ Indexability: 7/10 █████░░░░░ Performance: 5/10 ████████░░ Mobile: 8/10 █████████░ Security: 9/10 ██████░░░░ URL Structure: 6/10 █████░░░░░ Structured Data: 5/10
## Critical Issues (Fix Immediately)
1. **[Issue]**: [Impact]
- Affected: [pages/scope]
- Solution: [specific fix]
- Priority: 🔴 Critical
2. **[Issue]**: [Impact]
- Affected: [pages/scope]
- Solution: [specific fix]
- Priority: 🔴 Critical
## High Priority Issues
1. **[Issue]**: [Solution]
2. **[Issue]**: [Solution]
## Medium Priority Issues
1. **[Issue]**: [Solution]
2. **[Issue]**: [Solution]
## Quick Wins
These can be fixed quickly for immediate improvement:
1. [Quick fix 1]
2. [Quick fix 2]
3. [Quick fix 3]
## Implementation Roadmap
### Week 1: Critical Fixes
- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
### Week 2-3: High Priority
- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
### Week 4+: Optimization
- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
## Monitoring Recommendations
Set up alerts for:
- Core Web Vitals drops
- Crawl error spikes
- Index coverage changes
- Security issues
Example
User: "Check the technical SEO of example.com"
Output: [Comprehensive technical audit following the structure above]
Technical SEO Checklist
### Crawlability
- [ ] robots.txt is valid and not blocking important content
- [ ] XML sitemap exists and is submitted to GSC
- [ ] No crawl errors in Search Console
- [ ] No redirect chains or loops
### Indexability
- [ ] Important pages are indexable
- [ ] Canonical tags are correct
- [ ] No duplicate content issues
- [ ] Pagination is handled correctly
### Performance
- [ ] Core Web Vitals pass
- [ ] Page speed under 3 seconds
- [ ] Images are optimized
- [ ] JS/CSS are minified
### Mobile
- [ ] Mobile-friendly test passes
- [ ] Viewport is configured
- [ ] Touch elements are properly sized
### Security
- [ ] HTTPS is enforced
- [ ] SSL certificate is valid
- [ ] No mixed content
- [ ] Security headers present
### Structure
- [ ] URLs are clean and descriptive
- [ ] Site architecture is logical
- [ ] Internal linking is strong
Tips for Success
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Prioritize by impact - Fix critical issues first
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Monitor continuously - Use Search Console alerts
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Test changes - Verify fixes work before deploying widely
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Document everything - Track changes for troubleshooting
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Regular audits - Schedule quarterly technical reviews
Related Skills
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on-page-seo-auditor - On-page SEO audit
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schema-markup-generator - Fix schema issues
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performance-reporter - Monitor improvements
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internal-linking-optimizer - Fix link issues