` tag | Required for indexing | | Has `<meta name="description">` | Required for SERP snippets | | Has unique content (not empty `<body>`) | Required | | Not blocked by `noindex` | Required | | Has canonical URL | Recommended | | Is HTTPS (check canonical/og:url) | ⚠️ WARN if HTTP | ## 8. Pagination | Check | Status | |---|---| | `<link rel="prev">` / `<link rel="next">` present | ✅ PASS "Pagination properly marked" | | Paginated content without prev/next | ⚠️ WARN "Add for multi-page content" | ## 9. Duplicate content signals | Check | Status | |---|---| | Same `<title>` as canonical page but different URL | ⚠️ WARN | | No canonical + URL has query parameters | ⚠️ WARN "URL parameters may create duplicate pages" | | Multiple pages with identical meta description | ⚠️ WARN | ## Edge cases - Next.js app router generates canonical tags automatically via the `metadata` export — audit the rendered HTML output - `robots.txt` may not be accessible if auditing a single HTML file — note this limitation and skip robots.txt checks - Pages behind authentication (login walls) may intentionally use `noindex` — flag as ⚠️ WARN but note context - Single-page applications with client-side routing may have a single canonical URL for all "pages" — flag as ⚠️ WARN - Staging/preview environments often have `noindex` — distinguish between intentional and accidental noindex when possible - Pages with `rel="prev"` / `rel="next"` are deprecated by Google (since 2019) but still supported by Bing

--- name: thisisahsaniqbal/technical-seo source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/thisisahsaniqbal-technical-seo@1/SKILL.md source_sha256: 5be963b8d59c --- # Technical SEO Audit fundamental technical SEO factors that affect crawlability and indexability. ## 1. Canonical URL | Check | Status | |---|---| | `` missing | ⚠️ WARN "Add canonical to prevent duplicate content" | | Canonical present but empty `href` | ❌ FAIL | | Canonical points to a different domain | ⚠️ WARN "Cross-domain canonical — verify this is intentional" | | Canonical is relative (not absolute URL) | ⚠️ WARN "Use absolute URLs for canonical tags" | | Canonical present and valid | ✅ PASS | | Multiple canonical tags | ❌ FAIL "Only one canonical allowed per page" | | Canonical is self-referencing | ✅ PASS (best practice) | ## 2. Robots meta | Check | Status | |---|---| | `` | ⚠️ WARN "Page will not appear in search results" | | `` | ⚠️ WARN "Links on this page will not be followed" | | `` | ⚠️ WARN "Page excluded from search entirely" | | `` or absent | ✅ PASS "Page is indexable" | | `` present | ✅ PASS — report its content | ## 3. Robots.txt references Check if the page references or is affected by robots.txt: - Look for `` directives - If analysing a full site, check `robots.txt` at site root for: - `Disallow` rules that block the current page - `Sitemap` directive pointing to sitemap location - `Crawl-delay` directives (may slow indexing) ## 4. Sitemap references | Check | Status | |---|---| | `` present | ✅ PASS | | No sitemap reference found | ⚠️ WARN "Consider adding sitemap reference" | If sitemap URL is available, verify: - Valid XML format - Contains the current page URL - No URLs returning 4xx/5xx status codes ## 5. URL structure Analyse the page URL (from `` or ``): | Check | Status | |---|---| | URL contains uppercase letters | ⚠️ WARN "Use lowercase-only URLs" | | URL contains underscores | ⚠️ WARN "Use hyphens instead of underscores" | | URL contains special characters or spaces (encoded `%20`) | ⚠️ WARN "Simplify URL structure" | | URL exceeds 100 characters | ⚠️ WARN "Keep URLs concise" | | URL has double slashes (`//path`) | ❌ FAIL "Fix double slashes" | | URL has trailing slash inconsistency | ⚠️ WARN "Be consistent with trailing slashes" | | Clean, descriptive, lowercase with hyphens | ✅ PASS | ## 6. HTTP status hints | Check | Status | |---|---| | `` present | ⚠️ WARN "Use 301 redirects instead of meta refresh" | | Page contains `window.location` redirect in inline script | ⚠️ WARN "JS redirects are not SEO-friendly" | ## 7. Indexability checklist | Check | Status | |---|---| | Has `` tag | Required for indexing | | Has `<meta name="description">` | Required for SERP snippets | | Has unique content (not empty `<body>`) | Required | | Not blocked by `noindex` | Required | | Has canonical URL | Recommended | | Is HTTPS (check canonical/og:url) | ⚠️ WARN if HTTP | ## 8. Pagination | Check | Status | |---|---| | `<link rel="prev">` / `<link rel="next">` present | ✅ PASS "Pagination properly marked" | | Paginated content without prev/next | ⚠️ WARN "Add for multi-page content" | ## 9. Duplicate content signals | Check | Status | |---|---| | Same `<title>` as canonical page but different URL | ⚠️ WARN | | No canonical + URL has query parameters | ⚠️ WARN "URL parameters may create duplicate pages" | | Multiple pages with identical meta description | ⚠️ WARN | ## Edge cases - Next.js app router generates canonical tags automatically via the `metadata` export — audit the rendered HTML output - `robots.txt` may not be accessible if auditing a single HTML file — note this limitation and skip robots.txt checks - Pages behind authentication (login walls) may intentionally use `noindex` — flag as ⚠️ WARN but note context - Single-page applications with client-side routing may have a single canonical URL for all "pages" — flag as ⚠️ WARN - Staging/preview environments often have `noindex` — distinguish between intentional and accidental noindex when possible - Pages with `rel="prev"` / `rel="next"` are deprecated by Google (since 2019) but still supported by Bing — note as informational, not FAIL