/technical-seo

name: technical-seo
description: "Use this skill to implement technical SEO optimizations in code — meta tags, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, crawlability, robots.txt, sitemaps, and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) for AI search engines. This is the implementation skill — for strategy see seo, for content writing see seo-content, for auditing see seo-audit."

Technical SEO Implementation

This skill is the implementation reference for technical SEO. Use it when you need to add, fix, or optimize SEO elements in code — meta tags, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, crawlability, and GEO.

This skill covers **how to implement in code**. For the other SEO concerns:

• **seo** — Strategy and planning (keyword research, content architecture, what to build)
• **seo-content** — Writing content (briefs, humanized prose, SERP feature targeting)
• **seo-audit** — Auditing an existing codebase (scan, diagnose, produce action plan)

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Metadata

Every indexable page needs these elements correct:

• **Title tag:** 50-60 chars, primary keyword front-loaded
• **Meta description:** 120-155 chars, includes CTA
• **Canonical:** self-referencing or correct target
• **Robots:** no accidental noindex
• **Open Graph:** og:title, og:description, og:image for social sharing

For detailed specs and code examples, see [ON-PAGE-SEO.md](ON-PAGE-SEO.md).

HTML Structure

• Exactly one H1 per page, contains primary keyword
• No skipped header levels (H1 → H2 → H3)
• Semantic HTML: `<header>`, `<nav>`, `<main>`, `<article>`, `<section>`

Crawlability

• robots.txt exists, not blocking important paths
• XML sitemap exists, all important URLs included
• Canonical tags on every page
• No orphan pages, proper internal linking

For detailed crawlability checklist, see [TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md](TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md).

Core Web Vitals

Target metrics (2026 thresholds):

| Metric | Good | Needs Improvement | Poor | |--------|------|-------------------|------| | **LCP** (Largest Contentful Paint) | ≤ 2.5s | 2.5s - 4s | > 4s | | **INP** (Interaction to Next Paint) | ≤ 200ms | 200ms - 500ms | > 500ms | | **CLS** (Cumulative Layout Shift) | ≤ 0.1 | 0.1 - 0.25 | > 0.25 |

**Note**: INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital in March 2024.

For optimization techniques (LCP, INP, CLS), see [TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md](TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md).

E-E-A-T & Schema

| Signal | Implementation | |--------|----------------| | **Experience** | First-hand testing, case studies, original photos | | **Expertise** | Author credentials, certifications | | **Authoritativeness** | Quality backlinks, industry mentions | | **Trustworthiness** | HTTPS, contact info, privacy policy, citations |

Required JSON-LD schema: Organization, WebSite, Article/BlogPosting, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Person (author).

For schema code examples and author bio templates, see [EEAT-AND-SCHEMA.md](EEAT-AND-SCHEMA.md).

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Optimize for AI-powered search engines:

| Aspect | Traditional SEO | GEO | |--------|----------------|-----| | **Goal** | Rank in search results | Be cited in AI answers | | **Success Metric** | Click-through rate | Citation frequency | | **Approach** | Keywords, backlinks | Entity clarity, authority signals | | **Optimization** | Pages and snippets | Citable facts and answers |

For GEO techniques, llms.txt implementation, and AI crawler management, see [GEO.md](GEO.md).

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Fix Priorities

When issues are identified, fix in this order:

Priority 1: Critical (Fix Immediately)

• 404 errors and broken links
• Missing or duplicate title tags
• Broken canonical tags
• noindex on important pages
• HTTPS/security issues
• Blocked by robots.txt

Priority 2: High (Fix Within 1 Week)

• Core Web Vitals failures
• Missing meta descriptions
• Multiple H1 tags
• Missing alt text on key images
• Orphan pages (no internal links)
• Missing schema markup

Priority 3: Medium (Fix Within 1 Month)

• Thin content pages
• Header hierarchy issues
• Internal link optimization
• Image optimization (format, compression)
• Anchor text improvements
• Content freshness updates

Priority 4: Low (Ongoing Optimization)

• A/B testing improvements
• Advanced schema types
• International SEO expansion
• New content for topic clusters
• Competitive gap analysis

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Post-Fix Validation

After applying fixes:

1. **Re-crawl** the affected pages 2. **Verify** DOM changes are live 3. **Check** robots.txt isn't blocking new paths 4. **Validate** schema with Google's Rich Results Test 5. **Test** Core Web Vitals with Lighthouse 6. **Monitor** Search Console for indexing issues

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Monitoring Cadence

**Daily:** Check Search Console for crawl errors. Monitor site uptime. Review security alerts.

**Weekly:** Review Core Web Vitals trends. Check for new 404s. Monitor AI referral traffic. Review ranking changes.

**Monthly:** Full technical audit. Content freshness review. Backlink profile analysis. Schema validation.

**Quarterly:** Full SEO strategy review. GEO performance analysis. Content gap analysis.

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Quick Reference

SEO Specifications

| Element | Specification | |---------|---------------| | Title Tag | 50-60 chars, keyword front-loaded | | Meta Description | 120-155 chars, includes CTA | | H1 | Exactly 1 per page, contains keyword | | URL | Lowercase, hyphens, descriptive | | Images | WebP/AVIF, <200KB, alt text, dimensions | | Canonical | Self-referencing on every page | | robots.txt | Allow important paths, block admin | | Sitemap | All indexable URLs, lastmod dates |

GEO Checklist

| Element | Required | |---------|----------| | FAQPage Schema | Yes | | Answer-first content | Yes | | Statistics with sources | Yes | | Expert quotes | Recommended | | TL;DR blocks | Recommended | | llms.txt | Recommended | | Fresh content (<90 days) | Yes |

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Supporting Files

• [TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md](TECHNICAL-AUDIT.md) — Core Web Vitals optimization, crawlability, mobile-first, HTTPS
• [ON-PAGE-SEO.md](ON-PAGE