seo-audit

Overview of seo-audit skill

What the seo-audit skill does

The seo-audit skill helps an agent run a structured SEO review instead of jumping straight into generic advice. It is built for diagnosing why a site is underperforming in organic search, what to inspect first, and how to turn findings into a prioritized action plan.

Who should install this seo-audit skill

Best fit:

• marketers and founders who want a repeatable SEO diagnosis workflow
• agents auditing SaaS, content, or business sites
• teams dealing with traffic drops, indexing issues, weak rankings, or unclear on-page problems
• anyone who wants a stronger seo-audit guide than a one-off prompt

Less ideal fit:

• users looking specifically for schema implementation details only
• users doing programmatic SEO page generation
• users focused on AI search optimization rather than classic search auditing

The real job to be done

Most people asking for an SEO audit do not just want a checklist. They want to know:

• what is likely blocking rankings
• what evidence to gather first
• what not to claim without proper access
• which issues matter most right now

This skill is useful because it forces an audit order: crawlability and indexation first, then technical foundations, on-page optimization, content quality, and authority or links. That sequencing prevents low-value recommendations from crowding out more serious site health problems.

What makes this skill different from a generic prompt

The practical differentiators are:

• it tells the agent to check for product marketing context first if a local context file exists
• it asks for missing business and site context before auditing blindly
• it uses a clear priority order for findings
• it explicitly warns about a schema markup detection limitation when relying on fetched HTML alone
• it expects a report structure with an executive summary and prioritized actions

Those details matter because many weak SEO audits sound confident while skipping indexing basics or overstating what can be verified from limited access.

How to Use seo-audit skill

seo-audit install context

Install from the repo with:

npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill seo-audit

This adds the skill from skills/seo-audit in the coreyhaines31/marketingskills repository. There is no separate installer inside the skill itself, so the practical seo-audit install step is the standard Skills command above.

Read these files before first use

For a fast, high-signal repository reading path, open:

1. skills/seo-audit/SKILL.md
2. skills/seo-audit/evals/evals.json
3. skills/seo-audit/references/ai-writing-detection.md

Why this order:

• SKILL.md gives the audit workflow and scope
• evals/evals.json shows what good execution looks like
• the writing reference helps keep audit output readable and less synthetic, which matters if you will share findings with clients or stakeholders

What inputs the skill needs

The seo-audit usage quality depends heavily on the inputs you provide. At minimum, give:

• the site URL
• site type: SaaS, e-commerce, publisher, local business, marketplace, etc.
• SEO goal: more leads, more non-brand traffic, recovery after a drop, better rankings for key pages
• target keywords or topic clusters
• known issues: migration, redesign, CMS change, traffic loss, indexing complaints
• scope: full site, section, template, or single page
• access level: public web only, Search Console data, analytics, crawl exports, competitor URLs

If you omit these, the skill will still be usable, but the output will skew toward visible on-page checks and broad technical heuristics.

Check for local context before asking questions

One of the most useful but easy-to-miss parts of this seo-audit skill is the instruction to read .agents/product-marketing-context.md or .claude/product-marketing-context.md first if present. If you are using the skill inside a project repo, this can eliminate basic back-and-forth about audience, positioning, and priority pages.

That improves audit quality because SEO recommendations are much better when tied to the actual product, funnel, and market.

Turn a rough request into a strong audit prompt

Weak input:

• "Do an SEO audit of our site"

Stronger input:

• "Run an SEO audit for https://example.com. We are a B2B SaaS company selling payroll software for remote teams. Primary goal is demo signups from non-brand organic search. Priority keywords are global payroll software, employer of record payroll, and multi-country payroll. Organic traffic dropped about 25% after a site redesign six weeks ago. Focus on crawlability, indexation, title and heading quality, internal linking, and content gaps on money pages. If something cannot be verified from public fetch alone, say so clearly."

Why this works:

• it gives business context
• it defines success
• it narrows the scope
• it invites evidence-based uncertainty instead of fake certainty

Follow the intended audit order

A common mistake is starting with copy tweaks. This skill is more valuable when used in its intended sequence:

1. Crawlability and indexation
2. Technical foundations
3. On-page optimization
4. Content quality
5. Authority and links

That order changes outcomes. If pages are blocked, canonicalized incorrectly, or poorly linked, rewriting meta descriptions will not fix the core problem.

What the skill should inspect in practice

From the repository signals and eval expectations, good seo-audit usage should include checks such as:

• robots.txt
• XML sitemap presence and quality
• indexation and crawl signals
• site architecture and internal linking logic
• title tags and meta descriptions
• heading structure
• content relevance and optimization
• likely technical issues affecting discoverability or performance

It should then organize findings into a decision-ready report rather than a flat list of observations.

Respect the schema detection limitation

This is a real adoption detail, not a minor note. The skill explicitly warns not to claim "no schema markup found" based only on basic page fetch results. Many sites inject schema client-side or in ways a simple fetch will miss.

Good output should say something like:

• "Schema markup could not be reliably verified from current fetch-based inspection."
• "Validate with rendered HTML, source inspection, or a schema testing workflow before concluding it is missing."

That makes the seo-audit skill more trustworthy than audits that overstate certainty.

Use the expected report structure

For practical handoff quality, have the skill produce:

• Executive Summary
• Technical SEO Findings
• On-Page SEO Findings
• Content Findings
• Prioritized Action Plan

This matters because stakeholders rarely act on raw notes. They act on ranked issues with rationale, impact, and next steps.

Use evals to judge output quality

skills/seo-audit/evals/evals.json is one of the best files for deciding whether to trust and keep using this skill. It shows the expected behaviors:

• ask clarifying questions when context is missing
• prioritize crawlability before content polish
• inspect robots and sitemap basics
• avoid unsupported schema claims
• present findings in a usable structure

If your agent is not doing those things, it is not really following the skill well.

seo-audit skill FAQ

Is this seo-audit skill good for beginners

Yes, especially for beginners who need a sensible audit sequence. It helps prevent random SEO checking and gives a clearer starting framework. But beginners still need to provide business context, because the skill is not a substitute for knowing which pages and queries matter.

How is this different from asking an AI for an SEO audit directly

A normal prompt may produce a plausible list of SEO tips. This skill is better when you want:

• a defined audit order
• better scoping questions
• fewer unsupported claims
• a more usable final report

The biggest practical advantage is not "more features." It is lower guesswork and better prioritization.

Can I use seo-audit for SEO Content work

Yes, but with the right expectation. The skill supports seo-audit for SEO Content by reviewing on-page optimization, content quality, and likely relevance issues. It is not mainly a content brief generator. Use it to diagnose whether existing pages are aligned with search intent, metadata, headings, and site structure before deciding what content to rewrite or create.

Does it require Search Console or analytics access

No. You can use it with public-site inspection only. But the quality ceiling is lower. Without Search Console, analytics, or crawl exports, the skill can identify likely issues, not fully validate every performance or indexation claim.

When should I not use this skill

Skip this skill if your main need is:

• adding or debugging schema markup only
• large-scale page generation for keyword coverage
• AI search visibility strategy rather than classic SEO diagnosis

It is also a weak fit when the user wants immediate implementation of fixes without first understanding the underlying problem.

Is the writing reference actually relevant

Yes, if audit output will be client-facing or published internally. The reference at references/ai-writing-detection.md is not an SEO framework file, but it does improve delivery quality. Cleaner, less obviously machine-written recommendations tend to be easier for teams to trust and adopt.

How to Improve seo-audit skill

Give the skill better business context

The fastest way to improve the seo-audit skill is to stop treating it like a generic scanner. Tell it:

• who the audience is
• what pages matter most
• what conversion event matters
• what changed recently
• what queries you care about

This changes the audit from "SEO observations" to "SEO decisions."

Narrow the scope when the site is large

For large sites, ask for one of these instead of a vague full audit:

• homepage plus top 5 revenue pages
• one directory or blog section
• one template type
• one traffic-loss cluster

Smaller scopes produce sharper findings and more actionable recommendations.

Ask for evidence and uncertainty labels

To avoid fluffy output, request:

• observed issue
• why it matters
• confidence level
• recommended fix
• expected impact
• what requires further validation

This is especially helpful for technical and indexation claims where public inspection may be incomplete.

Prevent shallow recommendations

Common failure mode: the first output over-focuses on titles, keywords, and generic "improve content quality" advice.

Fix it by prompting for:

• crawl and index blockers first
• page template patterns, not one-page nitpicks only
• internal linking paths to priority pages
• mismatch between business intent and ranking page types

That keeps the seo-audit focused on leverage, not cosmetic edits.

Provide examples of strong and weak pages

If you know which pages perform well and which do not, share both. The skill can then compare:

• title format
• heading depth
• content structure
• internal links
• intent match
• conversion alignment

Comparative input often produces better recommendations than asking for a cold audit of the entire domain.

Iterate after the first audit

The first pass should usually produce a prioritized list, not the final roadmap. Good follow-up prompts include:

• "Expand only the top 3 technical issues with validation steps."
• "Turn the content findings into page-specific rewrite priorities."
• "Separate quick wins from engineering-heavy fixes."
• "Map each recommendation to likely impact and effort."

This is the best way to turn seo-audit usage into an execution plan.

Watch for overclaiming on limited access

If the agent cannot crawl, render JavaScript, or inspect platform settings, do not let it speak as if it has full visibility. The skill already points in the right direction here. Preserve that caution. It improves trust and reduces false positives.

Use the output as a triage layer

This seo-audit guide works best as a first-pass diagnostic layer before specialist work. Use it to:

• identify likely blockers
• rank investigation paths
• prepare stakeholder summaries
• decide whether you need deeper technical SEO, content work, or implementation support

That is a stronger role than expecting the skill alone to replace full SEO tooling or live site access.