Web SEO
Purpose
Plan search visibility for the surfaces that need it: metadata and social cards per page, crawlability (sitemap, robots, canonicals), structured data, and a rendering strategy that serves real HTML to crawlers. SEO effort is scoped to the apps where it matters — a marketing site, yes; an internal dashboard, no.
When to Use
- For public web / marketing / indexable content surfaces (per
../../application-selection and web-stack-selection).
- When an existing public app underperforms in search or unfurls badly when shared.
- Not for authenticated SPAs or admin dashboards — record "SEO: not applicable" and move on.
Inputs
- Which pages/routes are public and should rank; content/keyword intent per page.
- Rendering strategy from
nextjs-foundation (SEO-relevant apps normally chose Next.js — content must be server-rendered or static).
- Domain/URL structure plans (
web-deployment).
Discovery Questions
- Which pages carry the search value (home, product/landing pages, blog, docs), and what should each rank for?
- What social-share behavior is expected (OG/Twitter cards per page type)?
- Which structured-data types fit (Organization, Product, Article, FAQ, Breadcrumb)?
- Are there duplicate-content risks needing canonicals (params, pagination, staging)? Multiple locales (hreflang)?
Responsibilities
- Plan per-page metadata: unique title/description per indexable page, templated by page type; Open Graph/Twitter card fields with correctly sized images.
- Plan crawlability: XML sitemap generation (kept current), robots rules (block staging/preview and non-indexable areas, never block what should rank), canonical URLs for parameterized/duplicate views.
- Plan structured data (JSON-LD) per page type where it earns rich results — valid and truthful, not markup spam.
- Confirm the rendering strategy serves complete HTML for indexable content (static/ISR/SSR per
nextjs-foundation) — client-only rendering for content that must rank is a finding to escalate to web-stack-selection.
- Align with Core Web Vitals (
web-performance) and semantic heading structure (web-accessibility) — both feed ranking.
- Define URL conventions: stable, readable, lowercase paths; redirects for moved content.
Required Workflow
- Scope: list indexable pages; explicitly exempt non-SEO surfaces.
- Define metadata + social-card templates per page type.
- Plan sitemap/robots/canonical mechanics.
- Select structured-data types per page and their data sources.
- Verify rendering serves indexable HTML; record the plan and validation approach (Lighthouse SEO, rich-results test — run or mark "unverified until run").
Decision Rules
- SEO scope follows the application decision — spend nothing on surfaces that will never be indexed.
- Content that must rank is rendered server-side/static; no exceptions built on "Google runs JS."
- One canonical URL per piece of content; parameters/variants point at it.
- Structured data only where the page genuinely is that thing.
Rules
- Staging/preview environments are never indexable (robots + auth, both).
- Metadata is data-driven per page — no site-wide duplicate titles.
- No cloaking, keyword stuffing, or markup describing content that isn't on the page.
Anti-Patterns
- Retrofitting SEO onto a client-only SPA that should have escalated the framework decision.
- Same title/description on every page.
- Sitemap listing 404s/redirects; robots.txt blocking the whole site in production (or staging left indexable).
- JSON-LD claiming reviews/ratings the page doesn't show.
Validation Checklist
Definition of Done
A recorded SEO plan scoped to the surfaces that need it — metadata templates, crawlability mechanics, structured data, and confirmed indexable rendering — with validation steps run or explicitly marked unverified.
Related Skills
web-stack-selection, nextjs-foundation, web-performance, web-accessibility, web-routing, web-deployment.
Related Knowledge
../../../knowledge/ (content strategy, target queries).
Related References
../../../references/web/seo/ (metadata templates, schema examples — when populated).
Context Loading Guidance
- Requires: indexable-page list, rendering strategy, URL/domain plans.
- Does not require: dashboard skills, state/data internals.
- May load:
web-performance for Core Web Vitals; web-deployment for domain/redirect mechanics.
- Stop when: the SEO plan and validation status are recorded.
Token Efficiency Guidance
Template metadata by page type instead of enumerating every page. Keep schema examples in references; the plan lists types and sources only.
1---2name: web-seo3description: Use to plan SEO for web apps where search visibility matters — per-page metadata, Open Graph/Twitter cards, sitemap, robots, canonical URLs, structured data (JSON-LD), and rendering strategy for indexable content. Applies to public/marketing surfaces; skip for authenticated dashboards.4---56# Web SEO78## Purpose910Plan search visibility for the surfaces that need it: metadata and social cards per page, crawlability (sitemap, robots, canonicals), structured data, and a rendering strategy that serves real HTML to crawlers. SEO effort is scoped to the apps where it matters — a marketing site, yes; an internal dashboard, no.1112## When to Use1314- For public web / marketing / indexable content surfaces (per `../../application-selection` and `web-stack-selection`).15- When an existing public app underperforms in search or unfurls badly when shared.16- **Not** for authenticated SPAs or admin dashboards — record "SEO: not applicable" and move on.1718## Inputs1920- Which pages/routes are public and should rank; content/keyword intent per page.21- Rendering strategy from `nextjs-foundation` (SEO-relevant apps normally chose Next.js — content must be server-rendered or static).22- Domain/URL structure plans (`web-deployment`).2324## Discovery Questions2526- Which pages carry the search value (home, product/landing pages, blog, docs), and what should each rank for?27- What social-share behavior is expected (OG/Twitter cards per page type)?28- Which structured-data types fit (Organization, Product, Article, FAQ, Breadcrumb)?29- Are there duplicate-content risks needing canonicals (params, pagination, staging)? Multiple locales (hreflang)?3031## Responsibilities3233- Plan **per-page metadata**: unique title/description per indexable page, templated by page type; Open Graph/Twitter card fields with correctly sized images.34- Plan **crawlability**: XML sitemap generation (kept current), robots rules (block staging/preview and non-indexable areas, never block what should rank), canonical URLs for parameterized/duplicate views.35- Plan **structured data** (JSON-LD) per page type where it earns rich results — valid and truthful, not markup spam.36- Confirm the **rendering strategy** serves complete HTML for indexable content (static/ISR/SSR per `nextjs-foundation`) — client-only rendering for content that must rank is a finding to escalate to `web-stack-selection`.37- Align with **Core Web Vitals** (`web-performance`) and semantic heading structure (`web-accessibility`) — both feed ranking.38- Define URL conventions: stable, readable, lowercase paths; redirects for moved content.3940## Required Workflow41421. Scope: list indexable pages; explicitly exempt non-SEO surfaces.432. Define metadata + social-card templates per page type.443. Plan sitemap/robots/canonical mechanics.454. Select structured-data types per page and their data sources.465. Verify rendering serves indexable HTML; record the plan and validation approach (Lighthouse SEO, rich-results test — run or mark "unverified until run").4748## Decision Rules4950- SEO scope follows the application decision — spend nothing on surfaces that will never be indexed.51- Content that must rank is rendered server-side/static; no exceptions built on "Google runs JS."52- One canonical URL per piece of content; parameters/variants point at it.53- Structured data only where the page genuinely is that thing.5455## Rules5657- Staging/preview environments are never indexable (robots + auth, both).58- Metadata is data-driven per page — no site-wide duplicate titles.59- No cloaking, keyword stuffing, or markup describing content that isn't on the page.6061## Anti-Patterns6263- Retrofitting SEO onto a client-only SPA that should have escalated the framework decision.64- Same title/description on every page.65- Sitemap listing 404s/redirects; robots.txt blocking the whole site in production (or staging left indexable).66- JSON-LD claiming reviews/ratings the page doesn't show.6768## Validation Checklist6970- [ ] Indexable pages scoped; non-SEO surfaces exempted explicitly.71- [ ] Per-page metadata + social cards planned by page type.72- [ ] Sitemap, robots, and canonical mechanics planned (staging blocked).73- [ ] Structured data planned per page type, truthfully.74- [ ] Rendering verified to serve indexable HTML (or escalated).75- [ ] Validation runs planned or executed (marked if unrun).7677## Definition of Done7879A recorded SEO plan scoped to the surfaces that need it — metadata templates, crawlability mechanics, structured data, and confirmed indexable rendering — with validation steps run or explicitly marked unverified.8081## Related Skills8283`web-stack-selection`, `nextjs-foundation`, `web-performance`, `web-accessibility`, `web-routing`, `web-deployment`.8485## Related Knowledge8687`../../../knowledge/` (content strategy, target queries).8889## Related References9091`../../../references/web/seo/` (metadata templates, schema examples — when populated).9293## Context Loading Guidance9495- **Requires:** indexable-page list, rendering strategy, URL/domain plans.96- **Does not require:** dashboard skills, state/data internals.97- **May load:** `web-performance` for Core Web Vitals; `web-deployment` for domain/redirect mechanics.98- **Stop when:** the SEO plan and validation status are recorded.99100## Token Efficiency Guidance101102Template metadata by page type instead of enumerating every page. Keep schema examples in references; the plan lists types and sources only.
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