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name: seo-audit description: > Audit a website or page for SEO issues: technical SEO, on-page optimization, content quality, backlink profile, and keyword strategy. TRIGGER when: user says /seo-audit, "SEO review", "audit my site", "check SEO", "search optimization". argument-hint: "[URL or domain to audit]" user-invocable: true

SEO Audit

Perform a structured SEO audit covering technical health, on-page optimization, content quality, backlink profile, and keyword strategy. Produces a prioritized list of findings with actionable recommendations.

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Process

Step 1 — Gather Inputs and Scope

Determine the scope of the audit before beginning.

Input	Required?	Notes
URL or domain	Yes	Single page, subdomain, or full domain
Target keywords	Recommended	5-20 primary keywords to evaluate against
Competitor domains	Optional	2-3 competitors for benchmarking
Google Search Console data	Optional	Crawl errors, indexing stats, query data
Google Analytics / traffic data	Optional	Organic traffic trends, landing pages
Current sitemap URL	Optional	Usually at /sitemap.xml
robots.txt URL	Optional	Usually at /robots.txt

If the user provides only a URL, proceed with what can be inferred and note where additional data would strengthen the audit.

Step 2 — Technical SEO Audit

Evaluate the technical foundation that search engines need to crawl and index the site.

Check	What to Look For	Severity
Crawlability	robots.txt blocking important pages, noindex tags on key pages	Critical
Indexation	Pages missing from index, duplicate content indexed, index bloat	Critical
Site speed	Core Web Vitals (LCP > 2.5s, FID > 100ms, CLS > 0.1)	High
Mobile-friendliness	Viewport meta tag, responsive layout, tap target sizing	High
HTTPS	Mixed content warnings, HTTP pages, certificate issues	High
XML Sitemap	Missing, outdated, includes non-200 URLs, exceeds 50K URLs	Medium
Canonical tags	Missing, self-referencing, conflicting with other signals	Medium
Structured data	Missing schema markup, validation errors	Medium
Hreflang	Incorrect language/region codes, missing return tags	Medium (if international)
Redirect chains	More than 2 hops, redirect loops, 302 instead of 301	Medium
404 errors	Broken internal links, high-authority pages returning 404	Medium
URL structure	Non-descriptive URLs, excessive parameters, duplicate paths	Low

For each issue found, record:

• Issue: What is wrong
• Location: Specific URL(s) affected
• Impact: How it affects rankings or crawl efficiency
• Fix: Concrete remediation steps
• Priority: Critical / High / Medium / Low

Step 3 — On-Page SEO Audit

Evaluate how well individual pages are optimized for their target keywords.

Element	Best Practice	Common Issues
Title tag	50-60 chars, primary keyword near front, unique per page	Too long, duplicate across pages, missing keyword
Meta description	150-160 chars, includes keyword, compelling CTA	Missing, duplicate, no call to action
H1 tag	One per page, includes primary keyword, matches search intent	Multiple H1s, missing H1, generic text
Header hierarchy	Logical H2-H6 nesting, keywords in H2s	Skipped levels, keyword stuffing
URL slug	Short, descriptive, hyphenated, includes keyword	Long parameter strings, underscores, no keyword
Image alt text	Descriptive, includes keyword where natural	Missing, generic ("image1.jpg"), keyword-stuffed
Internal linking	Relevant anchor text, links to related pages, reasonable count	Orphan pages, generic anchors ("click here")
Keyword placement	In first 100 words, naturally distributed, semantic variants	Keyword stuffing, missing from body entirely
Content length	Competitive with top-ranking pages for target query	Thin content (< 300 words for informational queries)

Step 4 — Content Quality Assessment

Evaluate content against what search engines reward.

Factor	Evaluation Criteria
Search intent match	Does the content format match what ranks? (listicle vs. guide vs. tool vs. product page)
E-E-A-T signals	Author bylines, credentials, citations, first-hand experience, editorial standards
Freshness	Last updated date, outdated statistics or references, stale examples
Comprehensiveness	Covers subtopics that top-ranking competitors cover, answers related questions
Uniqueness	Original research, unique angle, not just rewritten competitor content
Readability	Short paragraphs, clear headings, bullet points, appropriate reading level
Multimedia	Relevant images, videos, diagrams, interactive elements
User engagement signals	Bounce rate, time on page, scroll depth (if analytics available)

Step 5 — Backlink Profile Analysis

Assess the quantity, quality, and risk of the site's backlink profile.

Metric	What to Evaluate
Total referring domains	Trend over time (growing, flat, declining)
Domain authority / rating	Compared to competitors
Link quality distribution	% from high-authority vs. low-quality domains
Anchor text distribution	Over-optimized exact-match vs. natural/branded mix
Toxic / spammy links	Links from PBNs, link farms, irrelevant foreign-language sites
Lost links	Recently lost high-value links that could be reclaimed
Competitor link gap	Domains linking to competitors but not to the audited site
Content linkability	Does the site have assets that naturally attract links?

Recommended anchor text distribution for a healthy profile:

Anchor Type	Healthy Range
Branded (company name)	30-50%
URL / naked link	15-25%
Generic ("click here", "learn more")	10-20%
Topical / partial match	10-20%
Exact match keyword	1-5%

Step 6 — Keyword Strategy Review

Evaluate the current keyword targeting approach.

Analysis	Method
Keyword coverage	Map existing pages to target keywords — identify gaps and cannibalization
Search intent alignment	For each target keyword, verify the page type matches SERP intent (informational, commercial, transactional, navigational)
Keyword difficulty vs. authority	Flag keywords where site authority is too low to realistically compete
Quick wins	Pages ranking positions 4-20 that could move up with optimization
Cannibalization	Multiple pages targeting the same keyword, diluting authority
Long-tail opportunities	Related queries with lower competition and clear intent
SERP feature opportunities	Featured snippets, People Also Ask, image packs the site could capture

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Output Format

Structure the audit report as follows:

1. Executive Summary — Overall SEO health score (Critical / Needs Work / Good / Excellent), top 3 wins, top 3 risks.
2. Technical SEO Findings — Table of issues sorted by priority.
3. On-Page Optimization Findings — Page-by-page or pattern-based findings.
4. Content Quality Assessment — Strengths and weaknesses with examples.
5. Backlink Profile Summary — Key metrics, risk assessment, opportunities.
6. Keyword Strategy Gaps — Coverage map, cannibalization issues, quick wins.
7. Prioritized Action Plan — Ranked list of recommendations with estimated effort (Low / Medium / High) and expected impact (Low / Medium / High).

Use an Impact vs. Effort matrix to help the user prioritize:

	Low Effort	Medium Effort	High Effort
High Impact	DO FIRST	PLAN NEXT	STRATEGIC BET
Medium Impact	QUICK WIN	SCHEDULE	CONSIDER
Low Impact	IF TIME ALLOWS	BACKLOG	SKIP

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Quality Checklist

• Every finding has a specific location (URL or pattern), not just a general observation
• Recommendations are actionable — the user knows exactly what to change
• Priority is assigned based on impact, not just best practice
• Technical issues are verified, not assumed (e.g., confirm noindex is present, not just possible)
• Content recommendations reference actual competitor content, not generic advice
• Backlink analysis distinguishes between correlation and causation
• Quick wins are genuinely quick (can be done in under a day)
• The report avoids jargon without explanation — assume the reader may not be an SEO expert
• Metrics include benchmarks or competitor comparisons for context
• The action plan has a clear sequence, not just a flat list

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Edge Cases

• Single page audit (not full site): Focus on on-page and content quality. Note that technical and backlink analysis is limited without site-wide context.
• Brand new site (< 6 months): Backlink profile will be thin — focus on technical foundation and content strategy rather than link metrics. Set expectations for timeline to results.
• Site migration in progress: Flag that audit results may be temporary. Prioritize redirect mapping, canonical tags, and indexation monitoring.
• JavaScript-heavy / SPA site: Emphasize crawlability concerns — check if content is rendered for Googlebot, test with URL Inspection Tool, look for hydration issues.
• Local business: Add local SEO checks — Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, local schema, review signals, local pack rankings.
• E-commerce site: Add product-specific checks — product schema, faceted navigation crawl traps, out-of-stock page handling, review markup.
• No access to Search Console or Analytics: Clearly state which parts of the audit are limited and recommend the user grant access for a more complete picture.
• Penalized or de-indexed site: Check for manual actions in Search Console, review for thin/duplicate content at scale, examine backlink profile for spam patterns. Recommend a recovery plan rather than a standard optimization plan.