# Howells Arc SEO

> <arc_runtime>

- Skill: `tomevault-io/howells-arc-seo` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/howells-arc-seo`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/howells-arc-seo/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/howells-arc-seo

---


<arc_runtime>
Arc-owned files live under the Arc install root for full-runtime installs.

Set `${ARC_ROOT}` to that root and use `${ARC_ROOT}/...` for Arc bundle files such as
`references/`, `disciplines/`, `agents/`, `templates/`, `scripts/`, and `rules/`.

Project-local files stay relative to the user's repository.
</arc_runtime>

<tasklist_context>
**Use TaskList tool** to check for existing tasks related to this work.

If a related task exists, note its ID and mark it `in_progress` with TaskUpdate when starting.
</tasklist_context>

<rules_context>
**Read SEO rules NOW:**

**Use Read tool:** `rules/seo.md`

This defines page classification (marketing vs app), all required vitals, and configuration requirements. The skill goes deeper than these rules, but they are the shared baseline.
</rules_context>

<progress_context>
**Use Read tool:** `docs/arc/progress.md` (first 50 lines)

Check for recent changes that might affect SEO (new pages, redesigns, migrations).
</progress_context>

# SEO Audit Workflow

Deep SEO audit for web projects. Analyzes codebase for technical SEO compliance, content optimization, and social sharing readiness. Optionally validates against a live site.

## Process

### Phase 1: Detect & Classify

#### Step 1: Detect Framework

**Use Glob + Grep to detect project type:**

| Check | Tool | Pattern |
|-------|------|---------|
| Next.js | Grep | `"next"` in `package.json` |
| Remix | Grep | `"@remix-run"` in `package.json` |
| Astro | Grep | `"astro"` in `package.json` |
| SvelteKit | Grep | `"@sveltejs/kit"` in `package.json` |
| Nuxt | Grep | `"nuxt"` in `package.json` |
| Static HTML | Glob | `*.html` in root or `public/` |

Record framework — this determines where to look for routes, meta tags, and config.

#### Step 2: Find All Routes/Pages

**Framework-specific route discovery:**

| Framework | Glob Pattern | Route Pattern |
|-----------|-------------|---------------|
| Next.js (App Router) | `app/**/page.{tsx,jsx,ts,js}` | Directory = route |
| Next.js (Pages Router) | `pages/**/*.{tsx,jsx,ts,js}` | File = route |
| Remix | `app/routes/**/*.{tsx,jsx,ts,js}` | File = route |
| Astro | `src/pages/**/*.{astro,md,mdx}` | File = route |
| SvelteKit | `src/routes/**/+page.svelte` | Directory = route |
| Static HTML | `**/*.html` | File = route |

Present discovered routes to user.

#### Step 3: Classify Pages

**Ask the user to classify pages:**

Present the route list and ask which are app-only (authenticated/gated). Use the AskUserQuestion interaction pattern with concise multi-option choices.

Default: treat all as marketing unless user marks as app-only.

Example:
```
"I found these routes. Which are app pages (authenticated/gated)?
Marketing pages get full SEO audit. App pages get basics only (title, noindex)."

Routes:
- / (homepage)
- /about
- /pricing
- /blog
- /blog/[slug]
- /dashboard
- /settings
- /api/*
```

API routes are automatically excluded from SEO checks.

#### Step 4: Check Existing SEO Config

**Scan for what's already in place:**

| Check | Where to Look |
|-------|--------------|
| robots.txt | `public/robots.txt`, `app/robots.ts` (Next.js) |
| sitemap | `public/sitemap.xml`, `app/sitemap.ts` (Next.js) |
| Meta setup | Root layout, page-level metadata exports |
| Structured data | JSON-LD in layouts or pages |
| OG images | `app/opengraph-image.*`, static OG images in public/ |
| Favicons | `app/icon.*`, `app/favicon.ico`, `public/favicon.ico` |
| Google Search Console | `<meta name="google-site-verification">` in root layout, `public/google*.html` verification file |

Report what exists:
```markdown
## Existing SEO Config
- ✓ robots.txt present
- ✓ Meta titles in root layout
- ✗ sitemap.xml missing
- ✗ No structured data found
- ✗ OG images not configured
- ✗ Google Search Console not verified
```

#### Step 5: Ask for Live URL

"Do you have a live URL (dev or production) for this site? If so, I can run Lighthouse and PageSpeed for additional analysis. This is optional."

If provided, store for Phase 2.

### Phase 2: Audit

Run checks against the codebase, organized by category. Marketing pages get full treatment. App pages get basics only.

#### Category 1: Crawlability

- **robots.txt** — Present? Any marketing paths blocked? Sitemap referenced?
- **Meta robots** — Any marketing pages with `noindex`? Common pitfall: Vercel preview noindex leaking to production.
- **Sitemap** — Present? Lists all marketing pages? Doesn't list app pages? Dynamically generated or static?
- **Redirect chains** — Any 301 → 301 → page chains? (Check middleware, vercel.json, next.config redirects)
- **Google Search Console** — Site verification detected? (meta tag `google-site-verification` or `public/google*.html` file). If not verified, flag as **High** — without Search Console, Google won't notify you of indexing issues, manual actions, or crawl errors.

#### Category 2: Indexability

- **Canonical tags** — Present on every marketing page? Absolute URLs? Self-referencing where appropriate?
- **Duplicate content** — Same title or description on multiple pages? Multiple URLs serving identical content?
- **Hreflang** — If i18n detected (next-intl, i18next, locale folders): hreflang tags present? Return links correct?

#### Category 3: On-Page

- **Titles** — Present? Unique per page? Under 60 chars? Not generic ("Home", "Page", "Untitled")? Descriptive of page content?
- **Meta descriptions** — Present? Unique per page? Under 160 chars? Not boilerplate? Includes call-to-action where appropriate?
- **Heading hierarchy** — Single h1 per page? Logical nesting (h1 → h2 → h3)? No skipped levels? h1 content meaningful?
- **Image alt text** — All meaningful images have descriptive alt? Decorative images use alt=""? No generic alt ("image", "photo")?
- **URL structure** — Clean, readable URLs? No UUIDs? No excessive nesting? No query params for content pages?

#### Category 4: Structured Data

- **Presence** — JSON-LD blocks present on key page types?
- **Schema types** — Appropriate for content?
  - Homepage: Organization or WebSite
  - Blog posts: Article or BlogPosting
  - Product pages: Product
  - FAQ pages: FAQPage
  - About: Organization or Person
- **Coverage gaps** — Some page types have structured data but others don't?
- **Validity** — Required properties present for each schema type?

#### Category 5: Social & Meta

- **Open Graph** — og:title, og:description, og:image set on all marketing pages?
- **OG image** — 1200x630 dimensions? Exists and loads?
- **Twitter Cards** — twitter:card type set (summary or summary_large_image)? twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image present?
- **Consistency** — OG title/description match or complement the page title/description?

#### Category 6: Technical Foundations

- **Language** — `<html lang="...">` set to correct language code?
- **Viewport** — `<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">` present?
- **Charset** — `<meta charset="utf-8">` or equivalent declared?
- **HTTPS** — Site enforces HTTPS? No mixed content?

#### Live Site Checks (Optional)

If user provided a live URL and wants live checks:

"Running Lighthouse and PageSpeed on `[URL]`. This may take a moment."

**Run programmatic tools (blocking — results go into the report):**

```bash
# Lighthouse SEO audit
npx lighthouse [URL] --output=json --only-categories=seo --chrome-flags="--headless=new" 2>/dev/null

# Lighthouse Performance (Core Web Vitals)
npx lighthouse [URL] --output=json --only-categories=performance --chrome-flags="--headless=new" 2>/dev/null
```

**PageSpeed Insights API (no key needed for light usage):**
```
GET https://www.googleapis.com/pagespeedonline/v5/runPagespeed?url=[URL]&category=seo&strategy=mobile
GET https://www.googleapis.com/pagespeedonline/v5/runPagespeed?url=[URL]&category=seo&strategy=desktop
```

**If user wants full-site crawl:**
```bash
npx unlighthouse --site [URL] --reporter jsonExpanded
```

**Failure handling:** If any check fails (timeout, auth wall, network error), note in the report: "Could not access [URL] — [reason]. Skipping live check." Continue with codebase-only findings.

**Extract from Lighthouse JSON:**
- SEO score (0-100)
- Specific audit failures (missing meta descriptions, missing alt text, etc.)
- Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP)

**Extract from PageSpeed API:**
- Mobile and desktop SEO scores
- Opportunities for improvement

### Phase 3: Report & Act

#### Step 1: Generate Report

**Create:** `docs/audits/YYYY-MM-DD-seo-audit.md`

```markdown
# SEO Audit Report

**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Framework:** [detected framework]
**Marketing pages:** [count]
**App pages:** [count] (basics only)
**Live URL:** [URL or "not provided"]
**Live checks:** [run / not run]

## Summary

[1-2 paragraph overview of findings]

- **Critical:** X issues
- **High:** X issues
- **Medium:** X issues

## Critical Issues

> Indexing is broken or severely impaired

### [Issue Title]
**File:** `path/to/file.ts:123`
**Category:** [Crawlability / Indexability / On-page / etc.]
**Issue:** [What's wrong]
**Impact:** [How this affects SEO]
**Fix:** [Specific change needed]

## High Priority

> Core SEO elements missing

[Same format per finding]

## Medium Priority

> Suboptimal but not broken

[Same format per finding]

## Live Site Results

> From Lighthouse and PageSpeed (if run)

**Lighthouse SEO Score:** [X/100]
**Core Web Vitals:**
- LCP: [value] — [good/needs improvement/poor]
- CLS: [value] — [good/needs improvement/poor]
- INP: [value] — [good/needs improvement/poor]

**PageSpeed:**
- Mobile SEO: [X/100]
- Desktop SEO: [X/100]

[Specific audit failures from Lighthouse]

## Google Search Console

**Status:** [Verified / Not verified]

If not verified, submit your site now:
→ **Add your site:** [https://search.google.com/search-console/welcome](https://search.google.com/search-console/welcome)

After verification, submit your sitemap:
→ **Submit sitemap:** `https://search.google.com/search-console/sitemaps?resource_id=https://[DOMAIN]/`

Without Search Console, Google won't alert you to indexing problems, crawl errors, or manual actions. This is not optional for any site that needs organic traffic.

## Manual Validation Tools

Check these tools for additional validation:
- [Google Rich Results Test](https://search.google.com/test/rich-results?url=[URL])
- [Facebook Sharing Debugger](https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/?q=[URL])
- [Twitter Card Validator](https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator)
- [LinkedIn Post Inspector](https://www.linkedin.com/post-inspector/)

## Framework-Specific Recommendations

[Tailored to detected framework — Next.js Metadata API, Astro SEO patterns, etc.]
```

#### Step 2: Determine Fix Approach

Count the number of files affected by findings.

**Fix heuristic:**
- **1-3 files affected:** Offer to fix directly. "I found [N] issues across [N] files. I can fix these now. Should I?"
- **4-10 files affected:** Give the user a choice. "There are [N] issues across [N] files. Want me to fix them now, or create an implementation plan with `/arc:detail`?"
- **10+ files affected:** Recommend a plan. "There are [N] issues across [N] files. This needs a structured approach. Want me to create an implementation plan with `/arc:detail`?"

**Use the AskUserQuestion interaction pattern** to present the appropriate options based on file count.

#### Step 3: Framework-Specific Advice

Tailor recommendations to the detected framework:

**Next.js (App Router):**
- Use Metadata API (`export const metadata` or `generateMetadata`)
- Use `opengraph-image.tsx` for dynamic OG images
- Use `robots.ts` for programmatic robots.txt
- Use `sitemap.ts` for dynamic sitemap generation
- Use `icon.tsx` for dynamic favicons

**Next.js (Pages Router):**
- Use `next/head` for meta tags
- Use `next-seo` package or custom SEO component
- Static sitemap generation with `next-sitemap`

**Remix:**
- Use `meta` function exports per route
- Handle OG images in resource routes

**Astro:**
- Use `<head>` in layout components
- SEO component pattern for reusable meta
- Built-in sitemap integration (`@astrojs/sitemap`)

**Other:**
- Standard HTML meta tag patterns
- Suggest popular SEO packages if applicable

#### Step 4: Commit Report

```bash
mkdir -p docs/audits
git add docs/audits/YYYY-MM-DD-seo-audit.md
git commit -m "docs: add SEO audit report"
```

#### Step 5: Present Summary & Next Steps

```
## SEO Audit Complete

**Scope:** [N] marketing pages, [N] app pages
**Live checks:** [Yes — score X/100 / No]
**Report:** docs/audits/YYYY-MM-DD-seo-audit.md

### Findings
- Critical: X | High: X | Medium: X
- Files affected: X

### [Fix option based on heuristic]
```

<success_criteria>
SEO audit is complete when:
- [ ] Framework detected
- [ ] Routes discovered and classified (marketing vs app)
- [ ] Existing SEO config checked
- [ ] All 6 categories audited against marketing pages
- [ ] App pages checked for basics (title, noindex)
- [ ] Live site checks run (if opted in) and results in report
- [ ] Report generated in docs/audits/
- [ ] Report committed
- [ ] Fix approach offered (direct fix, plan, or done)
- [ ] Framework-specific recommendations included
- [ ] Manual validation tool links included (with pre-filled URLs if live URL provided)
- [ ] Google Search Console verification checked; if missing, user given direct link to submit
- [ ] Progress journal updated
</success_criteria>

## Interop

- Reads **rules/seo.md** for baseline vitals
- References **/arc:detail** for creating implementation plans (10+ file fixes)
- Can be invoked after **/arc:letsgo** for deeper analysis
- SEO agent (**seo-engineer**) handles the lighter audit in `/arc:audit`

<arc_log>
**After completing this skill, append to the activity log.**
See: `${ARC_ROOT}/references/arc-log.md`

Entry: `/arc:seo — [scope] audit ([N] issues)`
</arc_log>

---
> Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/howells) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.
<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-11 -->