# Audit Human Guide

## What This Is For
Run a comprehensive SEO audit covering technical foundations, on-page optimization, content quality, link profile, and competitive positioning. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for audit: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Audit agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for audit.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Audit guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Domain.** What site are we auditing?
- **Goals.** What are you trying to achieve? (More traffic, better rankings, fix a drop, pre-launch check)
- **Known issues.** Anything you already suspect is wrong?
- **Access.** Do you have Google Search Console and Google Analytics data? (Improves the audit significantly)
- **Scope.** Full audit or focused on a specific area? (If unsure, run the full audit)
- [ ] `robots.txt` — fetch and review. No critical paths blocked? Sitemap directive present?
- [ ] XML sitemap — exists, valid XML, lists all important pages, excludes noindex/redirected pages?
- [ ] Site architecture — important pages reachable within 3 clicks from homepage?
- [ ] Orphan pages — any pages with zero internal links pointing to them?
- [ ] Redirect chains — any paths with 2+ redirects in sequence?
- [ ] HTTP status — all important pages return 200? No unexpected 301s, 404s, or soft 404s?
- [ ] `noindex` tags — any important pages accidentally noindexed?

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Audit Framework, Layer 1: Technical Foundation, Crawlability, Indexability, Performance, Rendering, Layer 2: On-Page Optimization, Title Tags, Meta Descriptions.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- [ ] XML sitemap — exists, valid XML, lists all important pages, excludes noindex/redirected pages?
- [ ] Site architecture — important pages reachable within 3 clicks from homepage?
- [ ] HTTP status — all important pages return 200? No unexpected 301s, 404s, or soft 404s?
- [ ] `noindex` tags — any important pages accidentally noindexed?
- [ ] Titles are under 60 characters (avoid truncation)
- [ ] Every important page has a unique meta description
- [ ] Important pages have sufficient incoming internal links (3+)
- | <50 | F | Poor — comprehensive overhaul required |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Audit human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the calm-north/seojuice-skills skill entry for `audit`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# SEO Audit

Run a comprehensive SEO audit covering technical foundations, on-page
optimization, content quality, link profile, and competitive positioning.

## Before You Start

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. **Domain.** What site are we auditing?
2. **Goals.** What are you trying to achieve? (More traffic, better rankings, fix a drop, pre-launch check)
3. **Known issues.** Anything you already suspect is wrong?
4. **Access.** Do you have Google Search Console and Google Analytics data? (Improves the audit significantly)
5. **Scope.** Full audit or focused on a specific area? (If unsure, run the full audit)

## Audit Framework

A complete SEO audit covers five layers. Work through them in order — problems
in earlier layers undermine everything that follows.

```
Layer 1: Technical Foundation     ← Can Google crawl and index the site?
Layer 2: On-Page Optimization     ← Are pages optimized for target keywords?
Layer 3: Content Quality          ← Is the content worth ranking?
Layer 4: Link Profile             ← Does the site have authority?
Layer 5: Competitive Position     ← How does the site compare to competitors?
```

## Layer 1: Technical Foundation

Check whether search engines can properly access, crawl, render, and index the site.

### Crawlability
- [ ] `robots.txt` — fetch and review. No critical paths blocked? Sitemap directive present?
- [ ] XML sitemap — exists, valid XML, lists all important pages, excludes noindex/redirected pages?
- [ ] Site architecture — important pages reachable within 3 clicks from homepage?
- [ ] Orphan pages — any pages with zero internal links pointing to them?
- [ ] Redirect chains — any paths with 2+ redirects in sequence?
- [ ] HTTP status — all important pages return 200? No unexpected 301s, 404s, or soft 404s?

### Indexability
- [ ] `noindex` tags — any important pages accidentally noindexed?
- [ ] Canonical tags — self-referencing on all pages? No conflicting canonicals?
- [ ] Duplicate content — same content accessible at multiple URLs (www/non-www, HTTP/HTTPS, trailing slash)?
- [ ] Search Console index coverage — how many pages submitted vs indexed? Any excluded pages that should be indexed?

### Performance
- [ ] Core Web Vitals — LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200ms?
- [ ] TTFB — < 800ms from major regions?
- [ ] Mobile-friendly — passes Google's mobile usability tests?
- [ ] HTTPS — enforced across the entire site? Valid certificate?

### Rendering
- [ ] JavaScript-dependent content — is critical content in the initial HTML or loaded via JS?
- [ ] Content visibility — can search engines see the full page content?

## Layer 2: On-Page Optimization

Check whether individual pages are properly optimized for their target keywords.

### Title Tags
- [ ] Every page has a unique `<title>`
- [ ] Titles include the primary target keyword
- [ ] Titles are under 60 characters (avoid truncation)
- [ ] Titles are descriptive and click-worthy (not keyword-stuffed)

### Meta Descriptions
- [ ] Every important page has a unique meta description
- [ ] Descriptions are 150-160 characters
- [ ] Descriptions include a value proposition and call to action

### Heading Structure
- [ ] One H1 per page containing the primary keyword
- [ ] Logical heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3, no level skipping)
- [ ] Headings describe section content accurately

### URL Structure
- [ ] URLs are clean, readable, and descriptive
- [ ] URLs use hyphens (not underscores)
- [ ] No excessive URL parameters or session IDs in indexed URLs