Tech SEO Audit

/digital-marketing-pro:tech-seo-audit

Script location. If your host does not set ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}, the scripts are in this plugin's scripts/ folder, next to skills/.

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