# Wp Audit SEO Standards > Rank Math SEO configuration reference, schema JSON-LD templates, meta patterns, and SEO seeding commands - Skill: `yojahny55/wp-audit-seo-standards` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add yojahny55/wp-audit-seo-standards` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/yojahny55/wp-audit-seo-standards/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: yojahny55 (https://skillmd.com/u/yojahny55) - Updated: 2026-08-19 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/yojahny55/wp-audit-seo-standards --- # SEO Standards — Rank Math Reference This skill defines the SEO configuration standards, schema templates, and seeding commands for WordPress sites using **Rank Math SEO** as the primary SEO plugin. --- ## 1. Rank Math Plugin Detection ```php // Plugin slug: seo-by-rank-math // Detection: defined('RANK_MATH_VERSION') or class_exists('RankMath') // WP-CLI install: $WP plugin install seo-by-rank-math --activate ``` Before running any Rank Math commands, verify the plugin is active: ```bash $WP eval " if (defined('RANK_MATH_VERSION')) { echo 'Rank Math v' . RANK_MATH_VERSION . ' is active.'; } else { echo 'Rank Math is NOT active.'; } " ``` --- ## 2. Rank Math Modules Reference | Module | Slug | Recommended | Notes | |--------|------|-------------|-------| | SEO Analysis | `seo-analysis` | Yes | On-page content scoring | | Sitemap | `sitemap` | Yes | XML sitemap generation | | Rich Snippets | `rich-snippet` | Yes | JSON-LD structured data | | Breadcrumbs | `breadcrumbs` | Yes | Breadcrumb trail + schema | | 404 Monitor | `404-monitor` | Yes | Track broken links | | Redirections | `redirections` | Yes | 301/302 redirect manager | | Local SEO | `local-seo` | Yes (business sites) | LocalBusiness schema | | Image SEO | `image-seo` | Yes | Auto alt/title attributes | | Instant Indexing | `instant-indexing` | Yes | IndexNow / Bing | | Link Counter | `link-counter` | Yes | Internal/external link audit | ### Enable All Recommended Modules ```bash $WP eval " \$modules = get_option('rank_math_modules', []); \$enable = ['seo-analysis','sitemap','rich-snippet','breadcrumbs','404-monitor','redirections','local-seo','image-seo','instant-indexing','link-counter']; foreach (\$enable as \$mod) { if (!in_array(\$mod, \$modules)) { \$modules[] = \$mod; } } update_option('rank_math_modules', \$modules); echo 'Enabled modules: ' . implode(', ', \$modules); " ``` --- ## 3. Rank Math Option Keys | Option | Purpose | |--------|---------| | `rank_math_modules` | Array of active module slugs | | `rank-math-options-general` | Breadcrumbs, links, image SEO, strip category base | | `rank-math-options-titles` | Title templates, schema type, social profiles, noindex rules | | `rank-math-options-sitemap` | Sitemap inclusions, ping settings | | `rank-math-options-instant-indexing` | IndexNow configuration | ### Reading Options ```bash # Get all general options $WP eval "print_r(get_option('rank-math-options-general'));" # Get all title options $WP eval "print_r(get_option('rank-math-options-titles'));" # Get active modules $WP eval "print_r(get_option('rank_math_modules'));" ``` ### Writing Options Rank Math stores options as serialized arrays. Always merge rather than overwrite: ```bash $WP eval " \$opts = (array) get_option('rank-math-options-general', []); \$opts['breadcrumbs'] = 'on'; \$opts['strip_category_base'] = 'on'; \$opts['nofollow_external_links'] = 'on'; \$opts['new_window_external_links'] = 'on'; \$opts['add_img_alt'] = 'on'; \$opts['add_img_title'] = 'on'; update_option('rank-math-options-general', \$opts); echo 'General options updated.'; " ``` --- ## 4. Rank Math Post Meta Keys | Meta Key | Purpose | Example Value | |----------|---------|---------------| | `rank_math_title` | SEO title template | `%title% %sep% %sitename%` | | `rank_math_description` | Meta description | Free text, 150-160 chars | | `rank_math_focus_keyword` | Focus keyword(s) | `keyword1,keyword2` | | `rank_math_robots` | Robots directives | `["index","follow"]` | | `rank_math_canonical_url` | Canonical URL override | `https://...` | | `rank_math_facebook_title` | OG title | Free text | | `rank_math_facebook_description` | OG description | Free text | | `rank_math_facebook_image` | OG image URL | `https://...` | | `rank_math_facebook_image_id` | OG image attachment ID | `42` | | `rank_math_twitter_card_type` | Twitter card type | `summary_large_image` | | `rank_math_twitter_title` | Twitter title | Free text | | `rank_math_twitter_description` | Twitter description | Free text | | `rank_math_schema_Article` | Article schema | Serialized array | | `rank_math_schema_FAQPage` | FAQ schema | Serialized array | | `rank_math_breadcrumb_title` | Breadcrumb label override | Free text | | `rank_math_pillar_content` | Pillar content flag | `on` | ### Seeding Post Meta via WP-CLI ```bash # Set SEO meta for a single post $WP eval " \$post_id = 42; update_post_meta(\$post_id, 'rank_math_title', '%title% %sep% %sitename%'); update_post_meta(\$post_id, 'rank_math_description', 'Your meta description here.'); update_post_meta(\$post_id, 'rank_math_focus_keyword', 'primary keyword'); update_post_meta(\$post_id, 'rank_math_robots', ['index','follow']); update_post_meta(\$post_id, 'rank_math_twitter_card_type', 'summary_large_image'); echo 'SEO meta set for post ' . \$post_id; " ``` ### Bulk-Seed Meta Descriptions from Content ```bash $WP eval " \$posts = get_posts(['post_type' => ['post','page'], 'posts_per_page' => -1, 'post_status' => 'publish']); foreach (\$posts as \$p) { \$existing = get_post_meta(\$p->ID, 'rank_math_description', true); if (!empty(\$existing)) continue; \$text = wp_strip_all_tags(\$p->post_excerpt ?: \$p->post_content); \$desc = mb_substr(trim(preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', \$text)), 0, 155); if (mb_strlen(\$desc) > 10) { update_post_meta(\$p->ID, 'rank_math_description', \$desc); echo 'Set description for: ' . \$p->post_title . PHP_EOL; } } " ``` --- ## 5. Schema JSON-LD Templates ### Organization ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "", "url": "", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/PROFILE", "https://www.instagram.com/PROFILE", "https://x.com/PROFILE", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/PROFILE" ] } ``` ### LocalBusiness ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "LocalBusiness", "name": "", "url": "", "image": "", "telephone": "", "email": "", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "", "addressLocality": "", "addressRegion": "", "postalCode": "", "addressCountry": "" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "", "longitude": "" }, "openingHoursSpecification": [ { "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"], "opens": "09:00", "closes": "17:00" } ], "sameAs": [] } ``` ### FAQPage ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the question?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The answer to the question." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Another question?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Another answer." } } ] } ``` ### BreadcrumbList ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://example.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Category", "item": "https://example.com/category/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Current Page" } ] } ``` ### Article ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "", "url": "" }, "datePublished": "2025-01-01T00:00:00+00:00", "dateModified": "2025-01-01T00:00:00+00:00", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://example.com/post-slug/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "" } } } ``` --- ## 6. Meta Title Formulas by Page Type | Page Type | Formula | |-----------|---------| | Homepage | `%sitename% %sep% %sitedesc%` | | Page | `%title% %sep% %sitename%` | | Blog Post | `%title% %sep% %sitename%` | | Category | `%term% %sep% %sitename% %page%` | | Search | `Search: %searchphrase% %sep% %sitename%` | | 404 | `Page Not Found %sep% %sitename%` | | Author | `%name% %sep% %sitename%` | ### Available Variables - `%title%` — Post/page title - `%sitename%` — Site name from Settings > General - `%sitedesc%` — Site tagline - `%sep%` — Separator character (default: `-`) - `%term%` — Category/tag name - `%searchphrase%` — Current search query - `%page%` — Page number (blank on page 1) - `%name%` — Author display name - `%date%` — Post publication date - `%excerpt%` — Post excerpt ### Seed Title Templates via WP-CLI ```bash $WP eval " \$opts = (array) get_option('rank-math-options-titles', []); \$opts['homepage_title'] = '%sitename% %sep% %sitedesc%'; \$opts['pt_post_title'] = '%title% %sep% %sitename%'; \$opts['pt_page_title'] = '%title% %sep% %sitename%'; \$opts['tax_category_title'] = '%term% %sep% %sitename% %page%'; \$opts['search_title'] = 'Search: %searchphrase% %sep% %sitename%'; \$opts['404_title'] = 'Page Not Found %sep% %sitename%'; \$opts['author_archive_title'] = '%name% %sep% %sitename%'; update_option('rank-math-options-titles', \$opts); echo 'Title templates updated.'; " ``` --- ## 7. Meta Description Generation ### Priority Order 1. **Manual** — `rank_math_description` post meta (highest priority) 2. **Excerpt** — Post excerpt if set 3. **First paragraph** — First `

` block in post content 4. **Trimmed content** — First 155 characters of stripped content **Target length:** 150–160 characters. ### Auto-Generate Description Function ```php function prefix_auto_meta_description( $post_id ) { $existing = get_post_meta( $post_id, 'rank_math_description', true ); if ( ! empty( $existing ) ) { return $existing; } $post = get_post( $post_id ); if ( ! $post ) { return ''; } // Try excerpt first if ( ! empty( $post->post_excerpt ) ) { $text = $post->post_excerpt; } else { // Try first paragraph $content = $post->post_content; if ( preg_match( '/]*>(.*?)<\/p>/is', $content, $matches ) ) { $text = $matches[1]; } else { $text = $content; } } $text = wp_strip_all_tags( $text ); $text = trim( preg_replace( '/\s+/', ' ', $text ) ); $desc = mb_substr( $text, 0, 155 ); // Avoid cutting mid-word if ( mb_strlen( $text ) > 155 ) { $desc = mb_substr( $desc, 0, mb_strrpos( $desc, ' ' ) ); $desc .= '...'; } return $desc; } ``` ### Bulk Seed via WP-CLI ```bash $WP eval " \$posts = get_posts(['post_type' => ['post','page'], 'posts_per_page' => -1, 'post_status' => 'publish']); \$count = 0; foreach (\$posts as \$p) { \$existing = get_post_meta(\$p->ID, 'rank_math_description', true); if (!empty(\$existing)) continue; \$text = wp_strip_all_tags(\$p->post_excerpt ?: \$p->post_content); \$text = trim(preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', \$text)); \$desc = mb_substr(\$text, 0, 155); if (mb_strlen(\$text) > 155) { \$desc = mb_substr(\$desc, 0, mb_strrpos(\$desc, ' ')); } if (mb_strlen(\$desc) > 10) { update_post_meta(\$p->ID, 'rank_math_description', \$desc); \$count++; } } echo \"Seeded \$count meta descriptions.\"; " ``` --- ## 8. llms.txt Template ``` # {Site Name} > {Site Description} ## Pages - [Page Title](url): excerpt or first 20 words ## Blog Posts - [Post Title](url): excerpt ## Contact - Website: {home_url} ``` ### Generate llms.txt via WP-CLI ```bash $WP eval " \$name = get_bloginfo('name'); \$desc = get_bloginfo('description'); \$home = home_url('/'); \$out = \"# \$name\n\n> \$desc\n\n\"; // Pages \$out .= \"## Pages\n\"; \$pages = get_posts(['post_type' => 'page', 'posts_per_page' => -1, 'post_status' => 'publish', 'orderby' => 'menu_order', 'order' => 'ASC']); foreach (\$pages as \$p) { \$url = get_permalink(\$p->ID); \$excerpt = \$p->post_excerpt ?: wp_trim_words(wp_strip_all_tags(\$p->post_content), 20, '...'); \$out .= \"- [\$p->post_title](\$url): \$excerpt\n\"; } // Blog posts \$out .= \"\n## Blog Posts\n\"; \$posts = get_posts(['post_type' => 'post', 'posts_per_page' => -1, 'post_status' => 'publish', 'orderby' => 'date', 'order' => 'DESC']); foreach (\$posts as \$p) { \$url = get_permalink(\$p->ID); \$excerpt = \$p->post_excerpt ?: wp_trim_words(wp_strip_all_tags(\$p->post_content), 20, '...'); \$out .= \"- [\$p->post_title](\$url): \$excerpt\n\"; } // Contact \$out .= \"\n## Contact\n\"; \$out .= \"- Website: \$home\n\"; file_put_contents(ABSPATH . 'llms.txt', \$out); echo 'Generated llms.txt at ' . ABSPATH . 'llms.txt'; echo PHP_EOL . '---' . PHP_EOL . \$out; " ``` --- ## 9. robots.txt Template ``` # robots.txt for WordPress User-agent: * Allow: / Disallow: /wp-admin/ Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php Disallow: /wp-includes/ Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/ Disallow: /readme.html Disallow: /license.txt Disallow: /?s= Disallow: /search/ Disallow: /cgi-bin/ Disallow: /trackback/ # AI Crawlers — Allow by default (confirm with user before changing) User-agent: GPTBot Allow: / User-agent: ClaudeBot Allow: / User-agent: Google-Extended Allow: / User-agent: PerplexityBot Allow: / User-agent: CCBot Allow: / User-agent: Bytespider Disallow: / # Sitemap Sitemap: {home_url}/sitemap_index.xml ``` > **Note:** AI crawler policy (Allow vs Disallow) should be confirmed with the site owner before writing. The defaults above allow all major AI crawlers except Bytespider. ### Generate robots.txt via WP-CLI ```bash $WP eval " \$home = home_url('/'); \$robots = 'User-agent: * Allow: / Disallow: /wp-admin/ Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php Disallow: /wp-includes/ Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/ Disallow: /readme.html Disallow: /license.txt Disallow: /?s= Disallow: /search/ Disallow: /cgi-bin/ Disallow: /trackback/ # AI Crawlers User-agent: GPTBot Allow: / User-agent: ClaudeBot Allow: / User-agent: Google-Extended Allow: / User-agent: PerplexityBot Allow: / User-agent: CCBot Allow: / User-agent: Bytespider Disallow: / Sitemap: ' . \$home . 'sitemap_index.xml '; file_put_contents(ABSPATH . 'robots.txt', \$robots); echo 'Generated robots.txt at ' . ABSPATH . 'robots.txt'; " ``` --- ## 10. Breadcrumb Integration Code ### PHP Function ```php function prefix_breadcrumbs() { if (is_front_page()) return; echo '

'; } ``` ### Breadcrumb CSS ```css .breadcrumbs { padding: 12px 0; font-size: 0.875rem; color: #6b7280; } .breadcrumbs a { color: #3b82f6; text-decoration: none; } .breadcrumbs a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } .breadcrumbs .separator { margin: 0 0.5rem; color: #9ca3af; } ``` ### Enable Breadcrumbs in Rank Math ```bash $WP eval " \$opts = (array) get_option('rank-math-options-general', []); \$opts['breadcrumbs'] = 'on'; update_option('rank-math-options-general', \$opts); echo 'Breadcrumbs enabled.'; " ``` --- ## 11. FAQ Detection Patterns FAQ content can appear in several forms. Detect and convert to JSON-LD schema automatically. ### Detection Sources 1. **ACF repeater fields** — field names: `faq_items`, `faqs`, `faq_cards`, `faq` 2. **`
/` HTML** — accordion-style FAQ in content 3. **H2/H3 headings ending with `?`** — followed by `

` answer content ### FAQ Auto-Detection and JSON-LD Generator ```php function prefix_detect_faq_jsonld( $post_id ) { $faqs = []; // 1. Check ACF repeater fields $acf_names = ['faq_items', 'faqs', 'faq_cards', 'faq']; foreach ( $acf_names as $field_name ) { if ( function_exists('have_rows') && have_rows( $field_name, $post_id ) ) { while ( have_rows( $field_name, $post_id ) ) { the_row(); $q = get_sub_field('question') ?: get_sub_field('title'); $a = get_sub_field('answer') ?: get_sub_field('content') ?: get_sub_field('text'); if ( $q && $a ) { $faqs[] = [ 'q' => wp_strip_all_tags($q), 'a' => wp_strip_all_tags($a) ]; } } } } // 2. Check

/ in content $content = get_post_field('post_content', $post_id); if ( preg_match_all('/]*>(.*?)<\/summary>\s*(.*?)<\/details>/is', $content, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER) ) { foreach ( $matches as $m ) { $q = wp_strip_all_tags( $m[1] ); $a = wp_strip_all_tags( $m[2] ); if ( $q && $a ) { $faqs[] = [ 'q' => $q, 'a' => $a ]; } } } // 3. Check H2/H3 headings ending with ? if ( preg_match_all('/]*>(.*?\?)<\/h[23]>\s*

(.*?)<\/p>/is', $content, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER) ) { foreach ( $matches as $m ) { $q = wp_strip_all_tags( $m[1] ); $a = wp_strip_all_tags( $m[2] ); if ( $q && $a ) { $faqs[] = [ 'q' => $q, 'a' => $a ]; } } } if ( empty( $faqs ) ) { return ''; } // Build JSON-LD $schema = [ '@context' => 'https://schema.org', '@type' => 'FAQPage', 'mainEntity' => [], ]; foreach ( $faqs as $faq ) { $schema['mainEntity'][] = [ '@type' => 'Question', 'name' => $faq['q'], 'acceptedAnswer' => [ '@type' => 'Answer', 'text' => $faq['a'], ], ]; } return ''; } ``` ### Inject FAQ Schema into Head ```php add_action('wp_head', function() { if ( is_singular() ) { $jsonld = prefix_detect_faq_jsonld( get_the_ID() ); if ( $jsonld ) { echo $jsonld; } } }); ``` --- ## 12. SEO Seeding Sequence Recommended order for bulk SEO setup on a new or existing site: 1. **Install + activate Rank Math** — `$WP plugin install seo-by-rank-math --activate` 2. **Enable modules** — activate all recommended modules (Section 2) 3. **Configure general settings** — breadcrumbs, link behavior, image SEO (Section 3) 4. **Configure title templates** — set formulas per page type (Section 6) 5. **Configure sitemap** — set post types and taxonomies to include 6. **Set Organization / LocalBusiness schema** — configure site-wide schema (Section 5) 7. **Configure OG / Social defaults** — set default OG image, social profiles 8. **Enable IndexNow** — activate instant indexing for Bing / Yandex 9. **Seed per-page SEO meta** — `rank_math_title`, `rank_math_focus_keyword`, robots (Section 4) 10. **Seed meta descriptions** — auto-generate from excerpt/content (Section 7) 11. **Set image alt texts** — bulk update missing alt attributes 12. **Generate robots.txt** — write optimized robots.txt (Section 9) 13. **Generate llms.txt** — write AI-readable site summary (Section 8) 14. **Flush sitemap cache + rewrite rules** — finalize: ```bash $WP eval " if (class_exists('RankMath')) { // Trigger sitemap regeneration delete_transient('rank_math_sitemap_cache'); \RankMath\Sitemap\Cache::invalidate_storage(); } " $WP rewrite flush ``` ### Verification Checklist After seeding, verify: ```bash # Check title templates are set $WP eval "print_r(get_option('rank-math-options-titles'));" # Count posts with meta descriptions $WP eval " global \$wpdb; \$count = \$wpdb->get_var(\"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM \$wpdb->postmeta WHERE meta_key = 'rank_math_description' AND meta_value != ''\"); echo \"Posts with meta descriptions: \$count\"; " # Verify sitemap exists $WP eval "echo home_url('/sitemap_index.xml');" # Verify robots.txt exists $WP eval "echo file_exists(ABSPATH . 'robots.txt') ? 'robots.txt exists' : 'robots.txt missing';" # Verify llms.txt exists $WP eval "echo file_exists(ABSPATH . 'llms.txt') ? 'llms.txt exists' : 'llms.txt missing';" ``` --- ## 13. Lighthouse SEO Audit Gotchas (hard-won) Non-obvious traps that make a fix *look* applied while the audit keeps failing. Verify against these before reporting an SEO finding fixed. ### `link-text` matches VISIBLE innerText — not `aria-label` The Lighthouse `link-text` audit (`core/audits/seo/link-text.js`) lowercases/trims the anchor's **`link.text`** (rendered innerText) and checks it against a blocklist: `click here`, `here`, `learn more`, `more`, `read more`, `this`, `start`, … (per-language). **`aria-label`, `title`, and `nodeLabel` are ignored** — adding an `aria-label` fixes the a11y accessible-name but does **not** satisfy this SEO audit. To keep a design's non-descriptive label (e.g. a "LEARN MORE" button) *and* pass, append a visually-hidden descriptive suffix **inside** the anchor so it becomes part of innerText: ```php ``` Now `link.text` = "LEARN MORE about Home Search" → not a blocklist match → audit passes; the button still visually reads "LEARN MORE". - **Critical:** the hidden span must use the `.screen-reader-text` **clip** pattern (`position:absolute; clip: rect(...); width:1px`) — NOT `display:none` or `visibility:hidden`, which are excluded from innerText and would fail again. (A `.screen-reader-text` rule is required in the theme CSS; see a11y standards.) - The same non-descriptive label often repeats across a reusable button component — fix the component/template part once, then re-check *every* page that uses it (Lighthouse audits per-URL; a homepage pass doesn't clear inner pages). - `identical-links-same-purpose` (a11y, weight 0) can also flag two same-text links (e.g. two "VIEW ALL") pointing to different destinations — the same hidden-suffix technique resolves it. ### Meta description: let the SEO plugin own it — don't emit a theme fallback If Rank Math (or Yoast) is active and configured, do **not** also `echo` a hardcoded `` from the theme `wp_head`. Two tags = a duplicate-description warning, and the plugin's dynamic/templated value is the one you want. A common failure mode: a theme adds a front-page meta-description fallback "to be safe" while the SEO plugin's setup wizard was incomplete → once the wizard is finished, the tag is duplicated. Remove the theme fallback; verify only one `` renders (`curl -s | grep -c 'name="description"'` → `1`).