Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base

Name: Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base
Availability: InStock
Author: osvaldovegacasanova

Free Caution 1,302 lines By osvaldovegacasanova SEO

Description

Purpose: AI agent reference for on-site SEO optimization Scope: Technology-agnostic SEO principles Level: Expert (technical + strategic)

How It Works

Click to enlarge

What Claude Learns

→ 1. FOUNDATION - SEO FUNDAMENTALS
→ How Search Engines Work
→ On-Site vs Off-Site SEO
→ Critical Metrics
→ 2. TECHNICAL SEO
→ Site Architecture

Installation

1. Visit the GitHub repository: https://github.com/osvaldovegacasanova/doe
2. Copy the SKILL.md file contents
3. Save to ~/.claude/commands/skill-name.md
4. Restart Claude Code to load the new skill

Use Cases

1. FOUNDATION - SEO FUNDAMENTALS

How Search Engines Work

On-Site vs Off-Site SEO

Critical Metrics

2. TECHNICAL SEO

Related Skills

Frequently Asked Questions

How detailed is the Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base skill?

Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base contains 1,302 lines of structured instructions covering 6 key areas. It provides comprehensive guidance including specific implementation patterns, not just surface-level tips.

Is Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base free to use?

Yes, Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base is completely free. You can download the SKILL.md file or copy it to your clipboard directly from the skill page.

What will Claude Code learn from this skill?

Claude Code will gain expertise in: 1. FOUNDATION - SEO FUNDAMENTALS; How Search Engines Work; On-Site vs Off-Site SEO; and 3 more areas.

Download SKILL.md GitHub

# Expert On-Site SEO Knowledge Base

**Purpose**: AI agent reference for on-site SEO optimization
**Scope**: Technology-agnostic SEO principles
**Level**: Expert (technical + strategic)

---

## 1. FOUNDATION - SEO FUNDAMENTALS

### How Search Engines Work

**Crawling → Indexing → Ranking**

1. **Crawling**: Bots (Googlebot) discover pages via links and sitemaps
2. **Indexing**: Content analyzed, stored in search index
3. **Ranking**: Algorithm determines relevance and authority for queries

**Key Concepts**:
- **PageRank**: Link equity flows through internal/external links
- **Render Queue**: JavaScript-heavy sites may be indexed in two passes
- **Crawl Budget**: Limited resources per site (optimize for important pages)

### On-Site vs Off-Site SEO

**On-Site SEO** (you control):
- Technical infrastructure (speed, mobile, structure)
- Content quality and optimization
- Internal linking
- Meta tags and structured data
- User experience signals

**Off-Site SEO** (external):
- Backlinks from other domains
- Brand mentions and citations
- Social signals
- Domain authority accumulation

### Critical Metrics

| Metric | Target | Impact |
|--------|--------|--------|
| Organic Traffic | Increasing trend | Direct business value |
| Keyword Rankings | Top 3 positions | 75%+ of clicks |
| CTR from SERPs | 3-5%+ average | Indicates relevance |
| Core Web Vitals | All green | Ranking factor |
| Indexed Pages | Match site size | Crawlability health |
| Dwell Time | 2+ minutes | Engagement signal |

---

## 2. TECHNICAL SEO

### Site Architecture

**URL Structure Best Practices**:
```
✅ Good:
https://example.com/services/seo/
https://example.com/blog/on-site-seo-guide/
https://example.com/products/shoes/running/

❌ Bad:
https://example.com/page?id=123&session=xyz
https://example.com/index.php?cat=5
https://example.com////multiple-slashes
```

**Rules**:
- Use semantic, readable URLs
- Hyphens for word separation (not underscores)
- Lowercase only
- Consistent trailing slash policy
- Avoid parameters when possible

**Internal Linking Strategy**:
- **Hub & Spoke**: Pillar pages link to cluster content
- **Contextual Links**: Anchor text describes destination
- **Depth Rule**: Important pages ≤3 clicks from homepage
- **Orphan Prevention**: All pages have ≥1 internal link
- **Link Equity**: Distribute authority strategically

### Robots.txt

**Purpose**: Control crawler access and crawl budget

```txt
# Allow all crawlers
User-agent: *
Allow: /

# Block admin and private areas
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/

# Don't block CSS/JS (Google needs them)
Allow: /assets/
Allow: /*.css$
Allow: /*.js$

# Sitemap reference
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

# Crawl delay (use sparingly)
Crawl-delay: 1
```

**Common Mistakes**:
- Blocking CSS/JS files (prevents proper rendering)
- Blocking entire site with `Disallow: /`
- Conflicting with meta robots tags

### Indexing Control

**Meta Robots Tags**:
```html

```

**Canonical URLs**:
```html

```

**Rules**:
- Every page needs canonical tag
- Use absolute URLs (not relative)
- HTTPS only
- Match your preferred domain (www vs non-www)
- Avoid canonical chains (A→B→C)

**Redirects**:
- **301 Permanent**: Page moved forever (passes 90-99% link equity)
- **302 Temporary**: Page moved temporarily (no link equity)
- Avoid redirect chains (max 1 redirect)
- Never redirect to redirected URLs

### Site Speed & Core Web Vitals

**Core Web Vitals Thresholds**:
| Metric | Good | Needs Improvement | Poor |
|--------|------|-------------------|------|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | 4.0s |
| FID (First Input Delay) | 300ms |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | 0.25 |

**Optimization Techniques**:

**Images**:
```html

```

**JavaScript/CSS**:
```html

```

**Server Performance**:
- TTFB (Time to First Byte) &lt;600ms
- Use CDN for static assets
- Enable compression (Gzip/Brotli)
- Implement caching headers
- Consider SSR/SSG for faster initial load

### Mobile-First Optimization

**Critical**: Google uses mobile version for indexing (since 2021)

```html

```

**Requirements**:
- Responsive design (single URL, adaptive CSS)
- Touch-friendly tap targets (≥48px)
- Readable text without zooming (≥16px base)
- No horizontal scrolling
- Fast mobile performance (even more critical than desktop)

### HTTPS & Security

```html

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
```

**Requirements**:
- Valid SSL certificate
- No mixed content (HTTP resources on HTTPS pages)
- HTTPS is a ranking signal

### Structured Data (Schema.org)

**Prefer JSON-LD** (easier to manage, Google recommended):

```html

```

**Validation**: Use Google Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results)

---

## 3. CONTENT OPTIMIZATION

### Keyword Research

**Search Intent Types**:
1. **Informational**: "how to optimize SEO"
2. **Navigational**: "Google Search Console login"
3. **Transactional**: "buy running shoes online"
4. **Commercial**: "best CRM software 2024"

**Selection Criteria**:
- Search volume vs competition balance
- Intent matches content type
- Business relevance
- Long-tail opportunities (3-5+ words, lower competition)

### On-Page Elements

**Title Tags**:
```html

Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name

- Length: 50-60 characters (desktop), 78 (mobile)
- Primary keyword near beginning
- Unique per page
- Compelling (improves CTR)
- Brand name at end (or omit on non-homepage)
```

**Meta Descriptions**:
```html

- Length: 150-160 characters
- Include primary + secondary keywords naturally
- Call-to-action when appropriate
- Unique per page
- NOT a direct ranking factor (but impacts CTR)
```

**Heading Hierarchy**:
```html
Main Page Topic - Only ONE per page
  Major Section 1
    Subsection 1.1
    Subsection 1.2
  Major Section 2
    Subsection 2.1
      Detail 2.1.1
```

**Rules**:
- One H1 per page (main topic)
- Don't skip levels (H2 → H4 without H3)
- Include keywords naturally
- Use for structure, not styling

**Body Content**:
- **Keyword Density**: 1-2% (avoid stuffing)
- **LSI Keywords**: Related terms (Google understands context)
- **Length**: Quality > quantity, but 1500+ words often rank well
- **Readability**: Short paragraphs, clear language (Flesch score 60+)
- **E-E-A-T**: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness

**Image Optimization**:
```html

- Descriptive filenames (seo-audit-checklist.jpg not IMG_1234.jpg)
- Alt text describes image (screen readers + SEO)
- Specify dimensions (prevents CLS)
- Compress images (WebP/AVIF formats)
- Lazy load below fold
```

**Internal Linking**:
```html

Learn about technical SEO audits

click here
```

**Rules**:
- Descriptive anchor text (not "click here")
- Link to relevant content
- Vary anchor text (not same phrase every time)
- 2-5 internal links per 1000 words

**External Links**:
```html

Google Search Central

Partner Site

User Comment Link

Untrusted Link
```

### Content Freshness

**Signals**:
- Publish date (structured data)
- Last modified date (HTTP header + schema)
- Regular content updates
- New content publishing frequency

**Strategy**:
- **Evergreen Content**: Update annually with new data
- **Timely Content**: Date in URL/title when relevant
- **Historical Optimization**: Update old posts (change dates)
- **Content Pruning**: Remove/consolidate thin/outdated pages

### Duplicate Content

**Solutions**:
```html

Original: https://example.com/product/?color=red
Canonical: https://example.com/product/

Page 2: 
(Each page is self-canonical, not to page 1)
```

**Prevention**:
- Use canonical tags consistently
- 301 redirect moved content
- Handle URL parameters in Search Console
- Avoid session IDs in URLs
- Use hreflang for multilingual (not canonical)

---

## 4. USER EXPERIENCE & SEO

### UX Signals Impacting Rankings

| Signal | What It Measures | How to Improve |
|--------|------------------|----------------|
| Dwell Time | Time on page before returning to SERPs | Engaging content, clear layout |
| Bounce Rate | % who leave after one page | Improve relevance, internal links |
| Pages/Session | Exploration depth | Strong internal linking |
| Pogo-Sticking | Quick back-to-SERP bounces | Match search intent better |
| Return Visitors | Repeat traffic | Quality content, brand building |

### Navigation Best Practices

- **Clear hierarchy**: Main nav with 5-7 categories max
- **Mega menus**: For large sites (organize by category)
- **Breadcrumbs**: Show location (+ BreadcrumbList schema)
- **Search functionality**: For 100+ pages
- **Footer nav**: Secondary links, sitemap link
- **Custom 404s**: Helpful (search box, popular pages, contact)

### Readability & Formatting

```html

Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences max).

Bullet points for lists
  Numbered lists for steps

Quotes for emphasis and authority

Bold for important terms
Italics for emphasis

FeatureValue
  
  
    DataInfo

```

**Typography**:
- Font size ≥16px (mobile)
- Line height 1.5-1.8
- Contrast ratio ≥4.5:1 (WCAG AA)
- Max line length ~70 characters
- Generous white space

---

## 5. INTERNATIONAL & MULTILINGUAL SEO

### Hreflang Implementation

**Purpose**: Tell Google which language/region version to show

```html

```

**Rules**:
- ISO 639-1 language codes (en, es, fr)
- ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 region codes (US, ES, CL)
- All versions must link to each other (reciprocal)
- Include self-referencing tag
- Use x-default for global/language selector
- Can be in HTML head or XML sitemap

**Common Mistakes**:
- Missing reciprocal tags
- Incorrect language/region codes
- Mixing hreflang with canonical (use both, don't conflict)

### URL Structure Options

| Method | Example | Pros | Cons |
|--------|---------|------|------|
| ccTLD | example.fr | Strongest geo-signal | Expensive, complex management |
| Subdomain | fr.example.com | Easy to set up | Treated as separate site |
| Subdirectory | example.com/fr/ | Consolidates authority | Weaker geo-signal |
| Parameters | example.com?lang=fr | Easiest | Poor UX, weak signal |

**Recommendation**: Subdirectories for most cases (balance of SEO + management)

---

## 6. E-COMMERCE SEO

### Product Pages

```html

Nike Air Max 90 - Men's Running Shoes | Store Name

Custom product description highlighting unique value...

```

**Requirements**:
- High-quality images (multiple angles)
- Unique descriptions (500+ words for competitive products)
- Reviews and ratings (schema + visible)
- Clear pricing and availability
- Structured data for rich snippets
- FAQ section for common questions

### Category Pages

```html
Men's Running Shoes

Keyword-rich description at top or bottom of page...

```

**Faceted Navigation** (filters/sorting):
```html

Filtered URL: example.com/shoes/?color=red&size=10
Canonical:

Filtered URL: example.com/shoes/red/
(Self-canonical, unique content)
```

### E-commerce Technical Issues

**Out of Stock**:
```html

"offers": {
  "@type": "Offer",
  "availability": "https://schema.org/OutOfStock"
}
```

**Product Variants**:
```html

example.com/shirt/blue/ → canonical → example.com/shirt/

example.com/shirt/blue/ (self-canonical)
```

**Pagination**:
```html

```

---

## 7. LOCAL SEO (ON-SITE)

### NAP Consistency

**NAP = Name, Address, Phone**

```html

Business Name
  123 Main Street, Suite 100
  City, State 12345
  (555) 123-4567

```

### Location Pages

**Multi-location businesses**:
```
example.com/locations/new-york/
example.com/locations/chicago/
example.com/locations/los-angeles/
```

**Requirements**:
- Unique content per location (not templated)
- Local keywords (city/neighborhood names)
- Embedded Google Map
- Local testimonials
- Service area description
- Geo-coordinates in schema

---

## 8. BLOG & CONTENT MARKETING SEO

### Blog Architecture

```
example.com/blog/ (index)
example.com/blog/category/seo/
example.com/blog/category/content-marketing/
example.com/blog/author/john-smith/
example.com/blog/2024/01/article-title/
```

**Best Practices**:
- Clear category structure (noindex tag archives if thin)
- Author pages with bios (builds E-E-A-T)
- Related posts section (internal linking)
- Tag pages (sparingly, avoid thin content)

### Content Clusters

**Model**: Pillar + Cluster

```
Pillar: example.com/complete-seo-guide/ (5000+ words)
├─ Cluster: example.com/technical-seo/
├─ Cluster: example.com/on-page-seo/
├─ Cluster: example.com/link-building/
└─ Cluster: example.com/local-seo/
```

**Internal Linking**:
- Clusters link to pillar
- Pillar links to all clusters
- Clusters link to related clusters
- Use descriptive anchor text

---

## 9. ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

### JavaScript SEO

**Rendering Methods**:
1. **Client-Side Rendering (CSR)**: React/Vue default (SEO challenges)
2. **Server-Side Rendering (SSR)**: HTML generated on server (SEO friendly)
3. **Static Site Generation (SSG)**: Pre-built HTML (best for SEO)

**Google's Two-Pass Indexing**:
1. Initial HTML crawl
2. Render queue (may take hours/days)

**Testing**:
```bash
# View as Googlebot
# Google Search Console → URL Inspection → View Crawled Page

# Or fetch with user-agent
curl -A "Googlebot" https://example.com/
```

**Meta Tag Management** (SPA):
```javascript
// React Helmet example

{dynamicTitle}

```

### Video SEO

```html

```

**Best Practices**:
- Provide transcript (full text on page)
- Captions/subtitles file
- Descriptive title and description
- High-quality thumbnail
- Video sitemap (optional)

### Voice Search Optimization

**Strategy**:
- Target question-based queries ("How do I...", "What is...")
- Natural language content
- FAQ schema for featured snippets
- Local SEO (many voice searches are local)
- Page speed (voice prioritizes fast sites)

---

## 10. MONITORING & ANALYSIS

### Essential Tools

**Google Search Console**:
- Performance (clicks, impressions, CTR, position)
- Index coverage (errors, warnings, valid pages)
- Mobile usability
- Core Web Vitals
- Manual actions
- Security issues

**Google Analytics 4**:
- Organic traffic sources
- Landing pages performance
- Conversion tracking
- Behavior flow
- Engagement metrics

**Third-Party**:
- **SEMrush/Ahrefs**: Keyword tracking, backlinks, competitor analysis
- **Screaming Frog**: Technical audits (crawl site like Googlebot)
- **PageSpeed Insights**: Performance metrics
- **Schema Validator**: Structured data testing

### Key Performance Indicators

| KPI | Target | Frequency |
|-----|--------|-----------|
| Organic Traffic | Month-over-month growth | Monthly |
| Keyword Rankings | Top 3 for priority keywords | Weekly |
| CTR from SERPs | 3-5% average | Monthly |
| Conversion Rate | Varies by industry | Monthly |
| Core Web Vitals | All green | Weekly |
| Indexed Pages | Match total pages | Weekly |
| Crawl Errors | Zero critical | Weekly |

---

## 11. COMMON MISTAKES

### Technical Mistakes

❌ **Blocking CSS/JS in robots.txt**
```txt
# Bad
Disallow: /*.css$
Disallow: /*.js$

# Good
Allow: /*.css$
Allow: /*.js$
```

❌ **Redirect Chains**
```
example.com/old → example.com/temp → example.com/new
# Fix: Direct redirect
example.com/old → example.com/new
```

❌ **Mixed HTTP/HTTPS**
```html

```

❌ **Missing Canonical Tags**
```html

```

### Content Mistakes

❌ **Keyword Stuffing**
```
Bad: "SEO services, best SEO services, affordable SEO services, SEO services company"
Good: "Professional SEO services to improve your search rankings"
```

❌ **Duplicate Title Tags**
```
Bad: All pages have title "Company Name"
Good: Each page has unique, descriptive title
```

❌ **Thin Content**
```
Bad: 100-word product descriptions
Good: 500+ words with details, benefits, FAQ
```

❌ **Generic Meta Descriptions**
```
Bad: "Welcome to our website. We offer services."
Good: "Get expert SEO audits with detailed recommendations. Improve rankings in 30 days. Free consultation."
```

### UX Mistakes

❌ **Intrusive Interstitials**
- Full-screen popups on mobile (Google penalty)
- Fix: Use banners or delayed popups

❌ **Poor Mobile Experience**
- Small text, horizontal scrolling
- Fix: Responsive design, mobile testing

❌ **Slow Page Speed**
- 5+ second load times
- Fix: Image optimization, caching, CDN

---

## 12. SEO CHECKLIST

### Pre-Launch Checklist

Technical:
- [ ] Robots.txt configured (allows important pages)
- [ ] XML sitemap generated and submitted
- [ ] All pages have unique title tags (50-60 chars)
- [ ] All pages have unique meta descriptions (150-160 chars)
- [ ] Canonical URLs set correctly on every page
- [ ] Trailing slash policy consistent
- [ ] HTTPS enabled (valid SSL certificate)
- [ ] No mixed HTTP/HTTPS content
- [ ] 301 redirects for moved pages
- [ ] Custom 404 error page
- [ ] Favicon configured

Performance:
- [ ] Core Web Vitals in green zone (LCP &lt;2.5s, FID &lt;100ms, CLS &lt;0.1)
- [ ] Images optimized (WebP/AVIF, lazy loading)
- [ ] JavaScript/CSS minified and compressed
- [ ] CDN configured for static assets
- [ ] Caching headers implemented

Content:
- [ ] H1 on every page (one per page)
- [ ] Logical heading hierarchy (H1→H2→H3)
- [ ] Alt text on all images
- [ ] Internal links with descriptive anchors
- [ ] No broken links (404s)

Mobile:
- [ ] Mobile-responsive design verified
- [ ] Viewport meta tag configured
- [ ] Touch-friendly elements (≥48px)
- [ ] Readable text (≥16px)
- [ ] Mobile page speed optimized

Structured Data:
- [ ] Organization schema on homepage
- [ ] BreadcrumbList on all pages
- [ ] Product schema (if e-commerce)
- [ ] Article/BlogPosting schema (if blog)
- [ ] LocalBusiness schema (if local)
- [ ] All schema validated (no errors)

Analytics:
- [ ] Google Search Console verified
- [ ] Google Analytics installed
- [ ] Conversion tracking configured
- [ ] Search Console sitemap submitted

### Ongoing Optimization

Monthly:
- [ ] Review organic traffic trends
- [ ] Check keyword ranking changes
- [ ] Monitor Core Web Vitals
- [ ] Review Search Console errors
- [ ] Publish new content (2-4+ posts)
- [ ] Update old content (1-2 posts)

Quarterly:
- [ ] Full technical audit (Screaming Frog)
- [ ] Broken link check
- [ ] Competitor analysis
- [ ] Content gap analysis
- [ ] Backlink profile review

---

## 13. ALGORITHM UPDATES

### Major Google Updates (Historical)

| Year | Update | Focus |
|------|--------|-------|
| 2011 | Panda | Content quality (thin content penalty) |
| 2012 | Penguin | Link spam (unnatural backlinks) |
| 2013 | Hummingbird | Semantic search (meaning vs keywords) |
| 2015 | Mobile-Friendly | Mobile usability (ranking factor) |
| 2015 | RankBrain | Machine learning (query interpretation) |
| 2018 | Medic | E-A-T for YMYL sites (health, finance) |
| 2019 | BERT | Natural language processing (context) |
| 2021 | Page Experience | Core Web Vitals (UX ranking factor) |
| 2022 | Helpful Content | Reward people-first content |
| 2023 | Core Updates | Multiple ranking factors (ongoing) |

### Staying Current

**Official Sources**:
- Google Search Central Blog: developers.google.com/search/blog
- @searchliaison on Twitter
- Google Search Central YouTube

**Industry News**:
- Search Engine Journal
- Search Engine Land
- Moz Blog
- Ahrefs Blog

---

## 14. QUICK REFERENCE

### HTML Template

```html

Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand

```

### robots.txt Template

```txt
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /search?
Allow: /*.css$
Allow: /*.js$

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
```

### .htaccess (Apache)

```apache
# Force HTTPS
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [L,R=301]

# Force www (or non-www)
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [L,R=301]

# Trailing slash redirect
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.*)/$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1/ [L,R=301]
```

---

## 15. E-E-A-T PRINCIPLES

**Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness**

**Critical for YMYL** (Your Money Your Life) sites:
- Health, medical, safety
- Financial advice
- Legal information
- News and current events

**How to Demonstrate E-E-A-T**:

**Experience**:
- First-hand product reviews
- Case studies with results
- Behind-the-scenes content
- User testimonials

**Expertise**:
- Author bios with credentials
- Citations and references
- Detailed, accurate content
- Industry certifications

**Authoritativeness**:
- Backlinks from reputable sites
- Brand mentions
- Awards and recognition
- Guest posts on authority sites

**Trustworthiness**:
- HTTPS security
- Privacy policy and terms
- Contact information visible
- Customer reviews
- Transparent business practices
- About page with company info

---

## FINAL NOTES

This knowledge base covers universal on-site SEO principles applicable to any technology stack. When implementing:

1. **Prioritize Technical Foundation**: Speed, mobile, indexing
2. **Create Quality Content**: Match search intent, answer questions
3. **Implement Structured Data**: Help search engines understand
4. **Monitor and Iterate**: SEO is ongoing, not one-time
5. **Stay Updated**: Algorithm changes require adaptation

**Remember**: SEO is a long-term strategy. Results typically appear in 3-6 months, with full impact at 6-12 months. Focus on sustainable, white-hat practices that provide genuine value to users.

Description

How It Works

What Claude Learns

Installation

Use Cases

1. FOUNDATION - SEO FUNDAMENTALS

How Search Engines Work

On-Site vs Off-Site SEO

Critical Metrics

2. TECHNICAL SEO

Related Skills

Web Performance Optimization

SEO Skill PRP

SEO Ready

SEO Master

Frequently Asked Questions

AI Marketing Skills Newsletter