Technical SEO Specialist

Overview

A comprehensive technical SEO expert that performs in-depth audits and provides actionable recommendations to improve website discoverability, crawlability, and search engine performance. This skill follows 2025 best practices including Core Web Vitals, mobile-first indexing, and modern SEO standards.

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Core Audit Workflow

When conducting a technical SEO audit, follow this systematic approach:

1. Initial Assessment

Gather fundamental information:

• Domain and current URL
• CMS/platform used
• Business goals and target keywords
• Current Google Search Console access
• Recent migrations or major changes
• Known technical issues

2. Crawlability Audit

Verify search engines can access and index the site:

Robots.txt Check:

• Verify file exists at domain.com/robots.txt
• Ensure no critical pages are blocked with Disallow
• Confirm XML sitemap is referenced
• Check for proper User-agent directives

XML Sitemap Analysis:

• Validate sitemap structure and accessibility
• Verify only canonical, indexable URLs included
• Check for errors (404s, redirects, noindex pages)
• Confirm submission to Google Search Console
• Review sitemap size (max 50,000 URLs per file)

Indexation Status:

• Use site:domain.com operator to check indexed pages
• Review Google Search Console Coverage Report
• Identify "Crawled but not indexed" issues
• Find "Discovered but not indexed" URLs
• Check for duplicate content signals

3. Site Architecture Review

Analyze internal structure and navigation:

• Audit internal linking strategy
• Check URL structure (logical, readable, keyword-rich)
• Verify flat architecture (important pages ≤3 clicks from homepage)
• Identify orphan pages (no internal links)
• Review pagination and faceted navigation
• Check for deep nesting or inaccessible content

URL Best Practices:

• Use hyphens, not underscores
• Keep URLs short and descriptive
• Include target keywords naturally
• Avoid parameters when possible
• Use lowercase consistently

4. On-Page Technical Elements

Meta Tags Audit:

• Title tags: 50-60 characters, unique, keyword-optimized
• Meta descriptions: 150-160 characters, compelling CTAs
• Check for duplicates across pages
• Verify proper Open Graph and Twitter Card tags
• Review viewport and charset meta tags

Heading Structure:

• One H1 per page containing primary keyword
• Logical H2-H6 hierarchy
• Natural keyword incorporation
• Semantic HTML usage

Canonical Tags:

• Verify <link rel="canonical"> implementation
• Check for self-referencing canonicals
• Identify canonical conflicts
• Review canonical chains

5. Mobile-First Optimization

Critical checks (Google uses mobile-first indexing):

• Responsive design verification
• Mobile viewport configuration
• Touch target sizing (minimum 48x48 pixels)
• Mobile-friendly font sizes
• No mobile-blocking interstitials
• Content parity (mobile = desktop content)
• Mobile rendering validation

Testing Methods:

• Google Mobile-Friendly Test
• Chrome DevTools device emulation
• Real device testing
• Search Console Mobile Usability Report

6. Core Web Vitals Analysis

Three critical metrics (2025 standards):

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint):

• Target: <2.5 seconds
• Measures loading performance
• Optimize images, server response, render-blocking resources

INP (Interaction to Next Paint):

• Target: <200ms (replaces FID in 2025)
• Measures responsiveness to user interactions
• Optimize JavaScript execution, reduce main thread work

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift):

• Target: <0.1
• Measures visual stability
• Set explicit dimensions for images/videos
• Avoid injecting content above existing content
• Use CSS containment

Optimization Tools:

• Google PageSpeed Insights
• Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX)
• Lighthouse CI
• WebPageTest

7. Page Speed Optimization

Critical factors:

• Server response time (<200ms)
• Image optimization (WebP, lazy loading, compression)
• Minify CSS, JavaScript, HTML
• Enable compression (Gzip, Brotli)
• Implement browser caching
• Use CDN for static assets
• Eliminate render-blocking resources
• Reduce redirects

8. Structured Data & Schema

Validate implementation:

• Review schema.org markup (JSON-LD preferred)
• Test with Google Rich Results Test
• Common schemas: Organization, Article, Product, FAQ, BreadcrumbList
• Verify no errors or warnings
• Check for appropriate schema types per page

9. Security & HTTPS

Essential security checks:

• Full HTTPS implementation (all pages, assets)
• Valid SSL certificate
• No mixed content warnings
• HSTS header implementation
• Secure forms and sensitive pages
• Check for security issues in Search Console

10. JavaScript & Rendering

For JavaScript-heavy sites:

• Verify server-side rendering (SSR) or pre-rendering
• Test with JavaScript disabled
• Check for critical content in initial HTML
• Review dynamic content loading
• Validate that Googlebot can render properly
• Use Google's URL Inspection Tool

11. International & Multilingual SEO

If applicable:

• Verify hreflang tags implementation
• Check language/region targeting accuracy
• Review URL structure (subdomain vs subdirectory)
• Validate x-default specification
• Test regional redirects

12. Link Quality Audit

Internal and external link health:

• Scan for broken links (404 errors)
• Identify redirect chains (301→301→301)
• Fix 302 redirects (should be 301 for SEO)
• Review external link destinations
• Check for nofollow attributes on internal links
• Audit navigation menus

13. Duplicate Content Detection

Find and resolve duplicates:

• Identify near-duplicate pages
• Review URL parameters creating duplicates
• Check printer-friendly versions
• Audit e-commerce product variations
• Verify canonical implementation
• Use URL parameters handling in Search Console

14. Accessibility (WCAG Standards)

SEO-relevant accessibility:

• Alt text for all images
• Proper heading hierarchy
• Keyboard navigation support
• Color contrast ratios (minimum 4.5:1)
• Semantic HTML elements
• ARIA labels where appropriate
• Screen reader compatibility

15. Content Quality Signals

Technical content factors:

• Unique, substantial content per page
• Avoid thin content (<300 words for main pages)
• Check for keyword cannibalization
• Review content freshness
• Verify E-E-A-T signals (expertise, authoritativeness, trust)

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Reporting Format

After completing an audit, structure findings as follows:

Executive Summary

• Overall SEO health score (1-100)
• Critical issues count
• Priority recommendations
• Estimated impact of fixes

Critical Issues (Fix Immediately)

Impact: High ranking impact or technical failures

• Issue description
• Pages affected
• Why it matters
• How to fix
• Expected outcome

High Priority Issues (Fix Soon)

Impact: Significant ranking opportunity

• [Same structure as Critical]

Medium Priority Issues (Schedule)

Impact: Moderate improvements

• [Same structure as Critical]

Low Priority Issues (Nice to Have)

Impact: Minor enhancements

• [Same structure as Critical]

Technical Metrics Dashboard

Present key metrics in table format:

Metric	Current	Target	Status
LCP	X.Xs	<2.5s	⚠️/✅
INP	Xms	<200ms	⚠️/✅
CLS	X.XX	<0.1	⚠️/✅
Mobile Score	XX/100	>90	⚠️/✅
Indexed Pages	X,XXX	X,XXX	⚠️/✅

Next Steps Roadmap

Week 1: Critical fixes Week 2-4: High priority optimizations Month 2: Medium priority improvements Ongoing: Monitoring and maintenance

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Best Practices & Guidelines

URL Structure

✅ DO:

• Use lowercase letters
• Separate words with hyphens
• Keep under 60 characters
• Include target keyword
• Make human-readable

❌ DON'T:

• Use underscores
• Include parameters unnecessarily
• Use session IDs
• Create deep folder nesting
• Use special characters

Robots.txt Best Practices

User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

Canonical Tag Implementation

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/preferred-url/" />

Common SEO Mistakes to Identify

1. Blocking Search Engines:

• Meta robots noindex on important pages
• Robots.txt blocking critical resources
• X-Robots-Tag HTTP headers

2. Poor Mobile Experience:

• Small text (< 16px)
• Clickable elements too close
• Horizontal scrolling required
• Flash or incompatible plugins

3. Slow Page Speed:

• Oversized images
• No compression
• Too many HTTP requests
• Render-blocking resources

4. Indexation Issues:

• Duplicate content
• Thin content pages
• Orphan pages
• Incorrect canonicals

5. Technical Errors:

• 404 errors in navigation
• Redirect loops
• Mixed content (HTTP + HTTPS)
• Broken structured data

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Tools & Resources

Recommended SEO Tools:

• Google Search Console - Primary monitoring
• Screaming Frog - Technical crawling
• Google PageSpeed Insights - Performance
• Lighthouse - Comprehensive auditing
• Ahrefs/Semrush - Competitive analysis
• Google Mobile-Friendly Test - Mobile validation
• Google Rich Results Test - Schema validation
• GTmetrix - Speed analysis
• Sitebulb - Visual crawling

Chrome DevTools:

• Network panel for load analysis
• Lighthouse integration
• Mobile device emulation
• Coverage tool for unused code

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Automation Capabilities

When appropriate, use the scripts/seo-audit.py script for:

• Automated crawling and analysis
• Bulk URL checking
• Status code verification
• Meta tag extraction
• Performance metrics collection

Usage:

python scripts/seo-audit.py --url https://example.com --output audit-report.json

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Continuous Monitoring

Quarterly Full Audits:

• Complete technical review
• Update optimization strategy
• Benchmark progress

Monthly Mini-Audits:

• Check new issues in Search Console
• Monitor Core Web Vitals
• Review new content indexation
• Check for crawl errors

Weekly Monitoring:

• Search Console error notifications
• Indexation status changes
• Critical ranking fluctuations
• Site availability

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Special Considerations

E-commerce Sites

• Product schema markup
• Out-of-stock handling (404 vs 410 vs soft 404)
• Faceted navigation crawl optimization
• Pagination management
• Dynamic URL parameter handling

JavaScript Frameworks (React, Vue, Angular)

• Server-side rendering verification
• Dynamic rendering for bots
• Pre-rendering services
• Critical content in initial HTML
• Google's JavaScript rendering tests

SaaS Platforms

• User-generated content indexation
• Authentication page handling
• Dynamic content accessibility
• API-driven content rendering

News & Publishing

• Article schema implementation
• Freshness signals
• Author authority markup
• Update dates and versioning

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Security & Permissions

This skill may require:

• Read access to website files
• Google Search Console API access
• Google Analytics integration
• Server log analysis
• DNS record verification

Always verify:

• Website ownership before auditing
• Permission to run automated tools
• Compliance with website's robots.txt
• Respect for rate limiting

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References

For detailed checklists and advanced techniques:

• references/CORE_WEB_VITALS_GUIDE.md - Deep dive into performance metrics
• references/SCHEMA_TEMPLATES.md - Common structured data patterns
• references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Solutions to common issues
• references/INTERNATIONAL_SEO.md - Hreflang and multi-region optimization

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Success Metrics

Track these KPIs post-optimization:

• Indexed pages (increase)
• Average position (decrease = better)
• Click-through rate (increase)
• Core Web Vitals scores (improvement)
• Organic traffic (increase)
• Crawl errors (decrease)
• Mobile usability issues (decrease)
• Page load time (decrease)

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Version History

v1.0 - Initial release with 2025 SEO best practices

• Core Web Vitals (INP replaces FID)
• Mobile-first indexing priorities
• Modern schema.org implementations
• Accessibility integration