# SEO

> Improving organic search rankings through technical and content SEO — keyword/intent research, on-page optimization, crawlability, structured data, Core Web Vitals, topic clusters, and measuring results in Search Console. Use when the user wants to rank a page, fix a technical SEO issue, plan content for search, audit a site, recover lost traffic, or asks "why isn't this ranking." Keywords SEO, search engine optimization, keywords, SERP, ranking, meta tags, schema, structured data, Core Web Vitals, Search Console, backlinks, canonical, sitemap.

- Skill: `5dive-ai/seo` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add 5dive-ai/seo`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/5dive-ai/seo/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- License: MIT
- Author: 5dive-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/5dive-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/5dive-ai/seo

---


# SEO

Rankings follow relevance and authority. Most "SEO advice" is busywork that moves neither.
Spend your time on the three things that actually move rankings: matching search intent,
being technically crawlable, and earning links/citations. Everything else is hygiene.

## What moves the needle vs cargo cult

| Actually moves rankings              | Cargo cult (skip or stop)                          |
| ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Matching the intent behind the query | Keyword density / "use the keyword 7 times"        |
| Genuinely useful, current content    | Spinning thin pages for every keyword variant      |
| Internal links from relevant pages   | Meta keywords tag (dead since ~2009)               |
| Editorial backlinks from real sites  | Buying links, PBNs, comment-spam                   |
| Fast, crawlable, indexable pages     | Exact-match domains, hidden text, "LSI keywords"   |
| Topical depth (cluster of pages)     | Submitting your URL to 500 search engines          |

If a tactic doesn't make the page more useful, faster, or more linkable, it's probably a waste.

## 1. Keyword & intent research

Volume is a vanity number. **Intent** is the unit of work. Every query maps to one of four:

| Intent        | Query shape                  | What ranks                        | Your move                |
| ------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| Informational | "how to", "what is", "best"  | Guides, tutorials, listicles      | Educational content      |
| Commercial    | "X vs Y", "best X for Z"     | Comparisons, reviews, roundups    | Comparison/eval content  |
| Transactional | "buy", "pricing", "X tool"   | Product/pricing/category pages    | Money pages              |
| Navigational  | a brand or product name      | The official site                 | Own your brand SERP      |

**Process:**
1. Pull seed terms (the words customers actually use — mine support tickets, reviews, sales calls, not your internal jargon).
2. Expand with a keyword tool, "People Also Ask," and autocomplete.
3. **Open the SERP for the target query.** Whatever Google currently ranks IS the intent. If page 1 is all listicles and you wrote a product page, you'll lose — change the format, not the keyword.
4. Score each keyword: `priority = relevance × (achievable difficulty) × business value`. Chase winnable terms, not the biggest volume.
5. Target long-tail (3+ words) early — lower competition, higher intent, faster wins. Earn authority, then climb to head terms.

## 2. On-page optimization

| Element        | Rule                                                                          |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Title tag      | ~50–60 chars, primary keyword near the front, written for the click not the bot |
| Meta description | ~150–160 chars; doesn't affect rank but drives CTR — write it like ad copy   |
| H1             | One per page, states the topic, close to the title                            |
| H2/H3          | Structure for scanning; mirror the questions in "People Also Ask"             |
| URL slug       | Short, lowercase, hyphenated, keyword-bearing — `/blue-widgets` not `/p?id=8347` |
| First 100 words| State what the page is and answer the query early — don't bury the lede       |
| Internal links | Link to/from related pages with descriptive anchor text (not "click here")    |
| Images         | Descriptive `alt` text; compressed; lazy-load below the fold                  |

Internal linking is the most underused on-page lever: it passes authority to money pages and tells crawlers your site structure. Link new posts from existing high-authority pages.

## 3. Technical SEO

If Google can't crawl, render, and index it, nothing else matters.

- **Crawlability:** logical site structure, every important page reachable within ~3 clicks of the homepage. Check Search Console → Pages for "Crawled, not indexed" / "Discovered, not indexed."
- **robots.txt:** block crawlers only from genuinely useless paths (cart, internal search, faceted dupes). Never accidentally `Disallow: /`.
- **XML sitemap:** list canonical, indexable URLs only; submit in Search Console; keep it auto-generated and fresh.
- **Canonicals:** `<link rel="canonical">` on every page to its preferred URL. Pick one host (www vs non-www, http vs https) and 301 the rest. Kills duplicate-content dilution.
- **Status codes:** 301 (not 302) for permanent moves; fix 404s on linked pages; avoid redirect chains.
- **Indexability:** watch for stray `noindex` tags and `Disallow` rules shipped by accident — the classic way to nuke traffic in a deploy.
- **Mobile:** Google indexes the mobile version. If it's broken on mobile, it's broken.
- **JS rendering:** client-only content may not get indexed reliably. Server-render or pre-render anything that must rank.

### Structured data (schema.org)

JSON-LD in the `<head>`. Doesn't directly boost rank but earns **rich results** (stars, FAQ, prices) that lift CTR. Match type to content: `Article`, `Product` + `Offer`, `FAQPage`, `HowTo`, `BreadcrumbList`, `Organization`, `LocalBusiness`. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test. Only mark up content actually visible on the page — fake markup gets manual penalties.

### Core Web Vitals (target the "good" threshold)

| Metric | Measures              | Good      | Common fix                                      |
| ------ | --------------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| LCP    | Largest paint         | ≤ 2.5 s   | Optimize hero image, preload, faster server/CDN |
| INP    | Interaction latency   | ≤ 200 ms  | Break up long JS tasks, defer non-critical JS   |
| CLS    | Visual stability      | ≤ 0.1     | Set width/height on images, reserve ad/space    |

CWV is a tiebreaker, not a magic ranking lever — fix it because it helps conversions and because it's a ranking signal at the margin, not because it'll vault you from #20 to #1.

## 4. Content & E-E-A-T

- **Topic clusters:** one pillar page (broad term) linked to many cluster pages (specific subtopics), all interlinked. Beats scattered one-off posts — builds topical authority and a clean internal-link graph.
- **Match the format the SERP rewards.** If page 1 is step-by-step guides, ship a better step-by-step guide.
- **E-E-A-T** (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust): show real authorship, cite sources, keep content current (refresh dates + actual updates), and earn mentions. Matters most for YMYL topics (health, finance, legal).
- **Refresh beats republish:** updating a decaying post that already ranks is usually higher-ROI than writing a new one.

## 5. Off-page / links

Backlinks remain a top-tier ranking factor. Quality over quantity — one editorial link from a relevant authoritative site beats 100 directory links.

- Earn them: genuinely linkable assets (original data, tools, definitive guides), digital PR, guest posts on relevant sites, getting cited as a source.
- Avoid: paid links, link exchanges at scale, PBNs — these risk manual penalties.
- Track referring domains, not raw link count.

## Audit checklist

```
Indexing
[ ] Site indexed? (site:domain.com in Google; Search Console coverage)
[ ] No accidental noindex / robots Disallow on important pages
[ ] One canonical host; http→https and non-www→www (or vice versa) 301'd
[ ] XML sitemap submitted, lists only canonical indexable URLs
On-page
[ ] Unique title + meta description per page, correct length
[ ] One H1; logical heading hierarchy
[ ] Internal links to/from money pages with descriptive anchors
[ ] Image alt text + compression
Technical
[ ] Core Web Vitals in "good" on mobile (Search Console / PageSpeed)
[ ] No broken internal links / redirect chains
[ ] Valid structured data for page type (Rich Results Test)
[ ] Mobile rendering correct; key content server-rendered
Content
[ ] Format matches current SERP intent
[ ] Clear authorship, sources, recency for YMYL
[ ] Pillar + cluster structure for priority topics
Off-page
[ ] Referring-domain trend flat or growing
[ ] No spammy/toxic link spikes
```

## Measuring (Search Console first)

Search Console is ground truth for organic — analytics tools estimate, Google reports.

- **Impressions:** how often you appeared. Rising = you're ranking for more/bigger queries.
- **Clicks:** actual visits. Clicks ÷ impressions = **CTR**.
- **Average position:** where you rank. Watch per-query, not site-wide (the average hides everything).
- **Diagnose with the Queries + Pages tabs:** high impressions + low CTR → fix title/meta or you're ranking too low for the query. High position + low clicks → SERP feature is eating the click (answer box, ads).
- Give changes **4–8 weeks** before judging. SEO is slow; don't A/B-panic over a 2-day dip.

Vanity to ignore: "keyword rankings" dashboards detached from clicks/conversions, Domain Authority as a goal (it's a third-party estimate, not a Google metric).