# technical-seo-audit > Deep technical SEO audit covering Core Web Vitals, crawlability, indexation, structured data, canonical/hreflang, redirect chains, and site architecture. Complements seo-auditor which focuses on on-page/off-page factors. - Skill: `ekatasingh1107/technical-seo-audit` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add ekatasingh1107/technical-seo-audit` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/ekatasingh1107/technical-seo-audit/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: ekatasingh1107 (https://skillmd.com/u/ekatasingh1107) - Updated: 2026-08-19 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/ekatasingh1107/technical-seo-audit --- # Technical SEO Audit Performs a deep technical SEO audit of a website, focusing on infrastructure-level issues that affect search engine crawling, indexing, and ranking. Complements `seo-auditor` (which covers on-page content and off-page signals) by going deeper into the technical foundation. ## Prerequisites - Target website URL - `agency.config.json` populated (for reporting context) - WebSearch and WebFetch tools available - Optional: Google Search Console access for indexation data ## Phase 0: Intake Read `agency.config.json`: - `agency.name` -- for report branding - `services[]` -- to flag relevant service recommendations Accept parameters: - `url` -- (required) target website root URL - `depth` -- (optional) `quick` (homepage + 5 pages), `standard` (up to 25 pages), `deep` (up to 100 pages). Default: `standard` - `focus_areas` -- (optional) array to limit scope: `core-web-vitals`, `crawlability`, `indexation`, `structured-data`, `redirects`, `security`, `mobile`, `international`. Default: all - `competitor_urls` -- (optional) array of competitor URLs for comparison - `gsc_data` -- (optional) Google Search Console export data ## Phase 1: Core Web Vitals Analysis Use WebFetch to check PageSpeed Insights API or Chrome UX Report signals: ### Metrics to Assess | Metric | Good | Needs Improvement | Poor | |--------|------|-------------------|------| | LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | < 2.5s | 2.5-4.0s | > 4.0s | | INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | < 200ms | 200-500ms | > 500ms | | CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | < 0.1 | 0.1-0.25 | > 0.25 | | FCP (First Contentful Paint) | < 1.8s | 1.8-3.0s | > 3.0s | | TTFB (Time to First Byte) | < 800ms | 800-1800ms | > 1800ms | ### Page Types to Test - Homepage - Category/collection page - Product/detail page - Blog/content page - Search results page (if applicable) ### Analysis For each failing metric: ``` ISSUE: [metric] is [value] on [page type] IMPACT: [how this affects rankings and UX] CAUSE: [likely technical cause based on page analysis] FIX: [specific technical recommendation] PRIORITY: [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] EFFORT: [quick-win / medium / major-refactor] ``` ## Phase 2: Crawlability Audit ### Robots.txt Analysis - Fetch and parse `robots.txt` - Check for overly restrictive rules blocking important content - Check for missing rules allowing crawl of admin/private pages - Verify sitemap reference is present - Check for user-agent specific rules ### XML Sitemap Analysis - Fetch sitemap(s) from robots.txt or common locations (`/sitemap.xml`, `/sitemap_index.xml`) - Count total URLs - Check for: - URLs returning non-200 status codes - Orphaned URLs (in sitemap but not linked from site) - Missing URLs (important pages not in sitemap) - Last modified dates (are they accurate or all the same?) - Sitemap file size (under 50MB, under 50,000 URLs per file) - Proper XML formatting ### Crawl Depth Analysis - Map internal link structure from homepage - Flag pages requiring 4+ clicks to reach from homepage - Identify orphan pages (no internal links pointing to them) - Check for crawl traps (infinite pagination, faceted navigation creating duplicate URLs) ### Internal Linking - Check for broken internal links (404s) - Check for redirect chains in internal links - Identify pages with very few internal links (low PageRank flow) - Check for excessive internal links on single pages (>100) ## Phase 3: Indexation Audit ### Index Status Checks - `site:domain.com` search to estimate indexed pages - Compare indexed count vs sitemap count vs actual page count - Flag significant discrepancies (indexed >> actual = duplicates; indexed << actual = indexation issues) ### Common Indexation Issues Check for: - `noindex` meta tags on pages that should be indexed - `noindex` in HTTP headers (X-Robots-Tag) - Pages blocked by robots.txt that have inbound links - Thin content pages (under 300 words) that may be filtered - Duplicate title tags across multiple pages - Duplicate meta descriptions - Missing or duplicate H1 tags ### Canonical Tag Audit - Every page has a canonical tag - Self-referencing canonicals on unique pages - Canonical points to correct URL (not HTTP when HTTPS, not non-www when www) - No canonical chains (A canonicals to B, B canonicals to C) - Canonical matches the version in the sitemap ## Phase 4: Structured Data Validation ### Check for Existing Schema Inspect pages for JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa markup: | Page Type | Expected Schema | Priority | |----------|----------------|----------| | Homepage | Organization, WebSite, SearchAction | HIGH | | Product | Product, Offer, AggregateRating, Review | HIGH | | Collection | CollectionPage, ItemList | MEDIUM | | Blog post | Article, BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList | MEDIUM | | FAQ page | FAQPage | HIGH | | About page | Organization, Person | LOW | | Contact | LocalBusiness, ContactPoint | MEDIUM | ### Validation For each schema found: - Valid JSON-LD syntax - Required properties present (per schema.org spec) - No deprecated properties - Proper nesting - Consistent with page content (no schema spam) ### Missing Schema Opportunities Flag pages where adding schema would provide rich result eligibility: - Product pages without Product schema - FAQ content without FAQPage schema - Review content without Review schema - Events without Event schema - Breadcrumbs without BreadcrumbList schema ## Phase 5: Redirect Audit ### Redirect Chain Analysis - Identify redirect chains (A -> B -> C) -- all should be A -> C - Identify redirect loops - Check for mixed HTTP/HTTPS redirects - Check for mixed www/non-www redirects - Verify 301 (permanent) vs 302 (temporary) usage is correct ### Common Redirect Issues - Old URLs redirecting through multiple hops - Trailing slash inconsistency (some URLs with, some without) - Case sensitivity issues (uppercase URLs not redirecting to lowercase) - Parameter-based redirects missing - Deleted page 404s that should 301 to relevant alternatives ## Phase 6: Security & HTTPS - Full HTTPS: no mixed content warnings - HSTS header present and correctly configured - SSL certificate valid and not expiring within 30 days - No insecure resources loaded (images, scripts, stylesheets over HTTP) - Security headers check: CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options - Cookie security: Secure flag, HttpOnly, SameSite ## Phase 7: Mobile Friendliness - Viewport meta tag present and correct - No horizontal scroll on mobile viewports - Touch targets adequately sized (min 48x48px) - Font sizes readable without zooming (min 16px body text) - No intrusive interstitials blocking content - Mobile page speed (separate from desktop CWV) ## Phase 8: International SEO (if applicable) - Hreflang tags present and correct - Return tags (each hreflang pair must be bidirectional) - x-default tag present - Language/region targeting consistent across pages - No conflicting canonical and hreflang signals ## Phase 9: Output Return structured JSON: ```json { "url": "https://example.com", "audit_date": "2026-03-13", "audit_depth": "standard", "pages_analyzed": 25, "overall_health_score": 72, "score_breakdown": { "core_web_vitals": 65, "crawlability": 80, "indexation": 75, "structured_data": 60, "redirects": 85, "security": 90, "mobile": 70 }, "critical_issues": [ { "category": "core-web-vitals", "issue": "LCP 4.2s on product pages", "impact": "Ranking penalty, 53% bounce rate increase above 3s", "fix": "Optimize hero image: compress, add srcset, preload LCP image", "priority": "HIGH", "effort": "quick-win", "pages_affected": 45 } ], "warnings": [ { "category": "structured-data", "issue": "Product pages missing AggregateRating schema", "impact": "Missing star ratings in search results", "fix": "Add AggregateRating to Product JSON-LD", "priority": "MEDIUM", "effort": "medium" } ], "opportunities": [ { "category": "indexation", "opportunity": "45 blog posts with thin content could be consolidated", "impact": "Reduce index bloat, concentrate PageRank", "effort": "major-refactor" } ], "competitor_comparison": { "our_score": 72, "competitor_scores": [ {"url": "competitor1.com", "score": 68}, {"url": "competitor2.com", "score": 81} ] }, "recommendations_summary": [ {"priority": 1, "action": "Fix LCP on product pages", "impact": "HIGH", "effort": "quick-win"}, {"priority": 2, "action": "Add Product schema to all product pages", "impact": "HIGH", "effort": "medium"}, {"priority": 3, "action": "Resolve 12 redirect chains", "impact": "MEDIUM", "effort": "quick-win"} ], "generated_at": "2026-03-13T10:00:00Z" } ``` ## Phase 10: Report & Handoff Present findings as a prioritized action plan: 1. **Critical** (fix immediately): Issues causing ranking loss or indexation failures 2. **High priority** (fix this week): Significant performance or schema issues 3. **Medium priority** (fix this month): Optimization opportunities 4. **Low priority** (backlog): Nice-to-haves and future improvements If `write_to_crm` context exists, log the audit as a prospect touchpoint. ## Example Usage Trigger phrases: - "Run a technical SEO audit on [url]" - "Check Core Web Vitals for [url]" - "Audit the structured data on [url]" - "Check [url] for crawlability issues" - "Run a redirect chain analysis on [url]" - "Full technical SEO check on this prospect's site" - "Compare our client's technical SEO against competitors"