/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.

Technical SEO and algorithm updates

Status as of 2026-10-04 (time-boxed — re-check after ~2026-12): per the Google Search Status Dashboard, the most recent core update began 21 May 2026 (completed after ~12 days). Since then Google has run only spam updates: the August 2026 spam update (18–21 Aug) and the September 2026 spam update (started 24 Sep; not yet marked complete on 2026-10-04). There was no September 2026 core update — several SEO blogs reported one; the dashboard lists none. Attribute only to updates the dashboard lists. Separately, Google's site reputation abuse policy has split at the EEA border since 30 Aug 2026: outside the EEA a manual action demotes the affected section; inside the EEA the section is separated and ranks on its own instead (Search Central) — word audit findings on third-party/"parasite" sections per region.

Algorithm updates are quality/policy reweightings, not technical signal changes. When a brand asks about ranking volatility that coincides with a listed update:

• Run this audit anyway — updates 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 the damage.
• Resist crawler/rendering "fixes" pitched as update remedies. No technical change undoes a quality or spam-policy hit if the underlying 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. Two structured-data notes from Google's docs changelog: VideoObject gained a creator property (24 Sep 2026), and review snippets got a guideline against fake and undisclosed incentivised reviews (24 Jul 2026) (Search Central updates).

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