Tech SEO Audit

/digital-marketing-pro:tech-seo-audit

Purpose

Run a comprehensive technical SEO audit that covers the infrastructure and code-level factors that affect search engine crawling, indexation, and ranking. This audit focuses on the technical foundation rather than content or backlinks. Produces a prioritized report with specific fixes, expected impact, and implementation guidance.

Important — technical SEO during the May 2026 Core Update

Time-boxed guidance — valid until ~2026-08. This block is specific to the May 2026 Core Update window. After ~August 2026 it is stale: re-check the Google Search Status Dashboard for the current/most-recent core update and its dates before applying the timing advice below.

The Google broad core update that started 21 May 2026 is primarily a quality/relevance reweighting, not a technical signal change. If a brand contacts you about ranking volatility in May/June 2026:

• Run this audit anyway — Core Updates frequently surface pre-existing technical debt because relative quality matters more during reweighting. Crawl-budget waste on low-quality pages, broken canonical chains, soft-404s, and orphaned JS-rendered routes all amplify Core Update damage.
• Resist crawler/rendering "fixes" pitched as Core Update remedies. No technical change will undo a Core Update hit if the underlying content quality issue isn't addressed. Pair this audit with /digital-marketing-pro:seo-audit (content/E-E-A-T side) — both are needed.
• Hreflang, structured data, and Core Web Vitals carry their normal weight — the update did not change technical priorities, only how much E-E-A-T deficits hurt.

Input Required

The user must provide (or will be prompted for):

• Website URL (required): The domain or specific section to audit
• CMS/Platform (helpful): WordPress, Shopify, Next.js, custom, etc.
• Known issues (optional): Any specific technical concerns
• Site size (helpful): Approximate number of pages
• International presence (optional): Whether site serves multiple countries/languages
• Access to Google Search Console data (optional): Enables real data vs estimates

Process

1. Load brand context: Read ~/.claude-marketing/brands/_active-brand.json for the active slug, then load ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json. Apply brand voice, compliance rules for target markets (skills/context-engine/compliance-rules.md), and industry context. Also check for guidelines at ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/guidelines/_manifest.json — if present, load restrictions and relevant category files. Check for custom templates at ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/templates/. Check for agency SOPs at ~/.claude-marketing/sops/. If no brand exists, ask: "Set up a brand first (/digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup)?" — or proceed with defaults.
2. Load reference files: Read skills/technical-seo/core-web-vitals.md, skills/technical-seo/crawlability.md, skills/technical-seo/site-architecture.md, skills/technical-seo/indexation.md, and skills/technical-seo/international-seo.md for detailed technical SEO frameworks
3. Run tech-seo-auditor script (if Python available): python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/tech-seo-auditor.py" --url {url} to get automated checks on status codes, redirects, meta tags, and page structure
4. Core Web Vitals assessment: Evaluate LCP, INP, and CLS using known thresholds. If GSC MCP is connected, pull real CrUX data. Otherwise, provide optimization checklist based on CMS/platform
5. Crawlability audit: Check robots.txt configuration, XML sitemap presence and structure, crawl budget considerations, JavaScript rendering impact
6. Indexation review: Canonical tag usage, meta robots directives, duplicate content risks, index bloat potential, pagination handling
7. Site architecture analysis: URL structure, internal linking patterns, site depth, navigation efficiency, breadcrumbs
8. Page speed optimization: Image optimization, render-blocking resources, compression, caching, CDN usage
9. Mobile-first compliance: Viewport configuration, responsive design, mobile usability, touch targets
10. Redirect health check: Redirect chain detection, mixed HTTP/HTTPS, trailing slash consistency
11. Structured data review: Schema markup presence, validation, completeness, opportunity identification
12. International SEO (if applicable): Hreflang implementation, language targeting, URL structure
13. Security check: HTTPS enforcement, HSTS, mixed content
14. Compile prioritized report: Group findings by severity (Critical / High / Medium / Low), include specific fix instructions, estimated effort, and expected impact for each issue

Output

A structured technical SEO audit report containing:

• Audit header: Brand name, URL, date, CMS/platform, overall health score (0-100)
• Executive summary: 3-5 sentence overview of technical health
• Critical issues (fix immediately): Issues blocking crawling, indexation, or causing significant ranking impact
• High priority (fix this week): Issues with measurable ranking or UX impact
• Medium priority (fix this month): Optimization opportunities with moderate impact
• Low priority (backlog): Minor improvements and best-practice alignment
• Each finding includes: Description, affected URLs/pages, specific fix with code/config examples, estimated effort (hours), expected impact (traffic/ranking)
• Core Web Vitals scorecard: LCP, INP, CLS with current estimates and target values
• Quick wins list: Top 5 highest-impact, lowest-effort fixes
• Implementation roadmap: Suggested timeline for addressing all findings

Tips & caveats

• Core Web Vitals from synthetic tests (Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights) often disagree with field data (CrUX, GSC). Field data is what Google ranks against. If lab says PASS but field says FAIL, trust field.
• JavaScript rendering is the #1 silent killer of indexation on modern sites. Always check whether the rendered HTML (post-JS) matches the source HTML at critical content. Use view-source: vs DevTools.
• Don't fix what isn't broken. A site at 95th-percentile CWV doesn't need re-engineering — that effort is better spent on content. Tech-SEO is necessary, not sufficient.
• Robots.txt + meta robots conflicts are common. If both fire, Google obeys the most restrictive. Always cross-check.
• For a Core Update window, run this audit anyway — Core Updates often surface pre-existing tech debt, but the fixes are background work, not Core Update remedies.
• Link-profile work is out of scope for this technical audit. This audit covers own-domain technical health (crawlability, indexation, redirects, canonicals, CWV, schema) — not backlinks. For own-domain link health see /digital-marketing-pro:seo-audit; for competitor link-gap analysis hand off to /digital-marketing-pro:backlink-gap.

Agents Used

• seo-specialist — Runs the technical audit across all dimensions, generates structured data recommendations, provides CMS-specific fix guidance, prioritizes findings by impact/effort