SEO Audit

Framework

IRON LAW: Technical Foundation Before Content Optimization

A site with brilliant content but broken crawlability, slow speed, or
no mobile support will not rank. Fix technical issues FIRST, then optimize
content. A technically sound site with mediocre content outranks a
technically broken site with great content.

Priority: Crawlability → Speed → Mobile → On-Page → Content → Links

Audit Checklist

1. Crawlability & Indexing | Check | Tool | Red Flag | |-------|------|----------| | robots.txt blocking important pages | robots.txt tester | Disallow on key pages | | Sitemap.xml exists and is valid | XML sitemap validator | Missing or has errors | | Index coverage | Google Search Console | Excluded pages growing | | Canonical tags correct | Manual check | Missing or pointing to wrong URL | | 404 errors | Screaming Frog / GSC | > 5% of URLs return 404 | | Redirect chains | Screaming Frog | Chain > 2 hops |

2. Site Speed (Core Web Vitals) | Metric | Target | Tool | |--------|--------|------| | LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | < 2.5s | PageSpeed Insights | | INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | < 200ms | PageSpeed Insights | | CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | < 0.1 | PageSpeed Insights |

3. Mobile-Friendliness

• Responsive design (passes Google mobile-friendly test)
• Touch targets > 48px
• No horizontal scrolling
• Text readable without zooming

4. On-Page SEO (per page) | Element | Best Practice | |---------|-------------| | Title tag | Primary keyword + brand, < 60 chars | | Meta description | Compelling, includes keyword, < 155 chars | | H1 | One per page, includes primary keyword | | URL structure | Short, descriptive, includes keyword | | Image alt text | Descriptive, includes keyword naturally | | Internal linking | Link to related pages with descriptive anchor text |

5. Content Quality

• Keyword targeting: each important page targets a primary keyword
• Content depth: covers the topic comprehensively (not thin content)
• E-E-A-T signals: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
• Freshness: key content updated within last 12 months

6. Backlink Profile

• Total referring domains (Ahrefs, Moz)
• Domain authority / domain rating
• Toxic links (spammy, irrelevant)
• Anchor text distribution (natural vs over-optimized)

Output Format

markdown
# SEO Audit: {Website}

## Summary
| Category | Score | Priority Issues |
|----------|-------|----------------|
| Crawlability | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |
| Speed | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |
| Mobile | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |
| On-Page | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |
| Content | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |
| Backlinks | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | {top issue} |

## Critical Issues (fix immediately)
1. {issue + impact + fix}

## High Priority (fix within 30 days)
1. {issue + fix}

## Opportunities
1. {keyword/content opportunity}

## Action Plan
| Priority | Action | Impact | Effort | Timeline |
|----------|--------|--------|--------|----------|
| 1 | {action} | H/M/L | H/M/L | {weeks} |

Gotchas

• SEO results take 3-6 months: Don't expect ranking changes within weeks. Measure over quarters, not days.
• Google Search Console is the source of truth: Third-party tools estimate. GSC shows actual Google data (clicks, impressions, index status).
• Core Web Vitals are ranking factors: Since 2021, Google uses page experience (speed, interactivity, visual stability) as ranking signals. Not optional.
• AI-generated content: Google doesn't penalize AI content per se, but penalizes low-quality, unhelpful content regardless of how it was produced. E-E-A-T matters.
• Local SEO for Taiwan: For local businesses, Google 我的商家 (Google Business Profile) is critical. Optimize GBP before worrying about organic rankings.

References

• For keyword research methodology, see references/keyword-research.md
• For content optimization guidelines, see references/content-seo.md