technical-seo-monitor

Technical SEO Monitor

Purpose

Diagnose and resolve technical SEO issues using Google Search Console data. This skill covers indexing status, sitemap health, crawl diagnostics, canonical issues, and mobile usability — the foundational technical elements that determine whether Google can find, crawl, and index your pages.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when user mentions:

• Indexing: "Why isn't my page showing up in Google?"
• Sitemaps: "Is my sitemap working correctly?"
• Crawl issues: "Google can't access my pages"
• Canonical problems: "Google is indexing the wrong URL"
• Mobile issues: "Mobile usability errors in Search Console"
• Rich results: "My structured data isn't showing"
• Technical audit: "Check my site's technical SEO health"
• Deindexing: "Pages were removed from Google's index"

Required Tools

Tool	Purpose
gsc_manage_url(action="inspect")	Per-page indexing status and crawl diagnostics
gsc_list_sites(include_sitemaps=true)	Property overview with sitemap health and status
gsc_manage_url(action="submit_sitemap")	Submit new or updated sitemaps
gsc_search_analytics	Identify pages with impressions but no clicks (indexed but poor)
gsc_search_analytics(dimensions=["page"])	Page-level performance for cross-referencing

---

Part 1: Indexing Status Interpretation

URL Inspection Verdicts

Verdict	Meaning	Action
PASS	URL is indexed and eligible to appear in search	No action needed
NEUTRAL	URL found but not indexed (not an error)	May be low value or duplicate
FAIL	URL has critical issues preventing indexing	Immediate investigation needed
VERDICT_UNSPECIFIED	No data available	Page may not have been crawled yet

Coverage States

State	Meaning	Priority
Submitted and indexed	In sitemap and indexed	OK
Indexed, not submitted in sitemap	Found via crawling, indexed	Low — add to sitemap
Crawled - currently not indexed	Crawled but Google chose not to index	Medium — improve content quality
Discovered - currently not indexed	Known to Google but not yet crawled	Low — will be crawled eventually
Excluded by 'noindex' tag	Intentionally excluded	OK if intentional
Blocked by robots.txt	Cannot be crawled	High — fix if page should be indexed
URL is unknown to Google	Never discovered	High — submit sitemap or add internal links
Redirect	URL redirects elsewhere	OK if intentional
Soft 404	Page returns 200 but appears empty/low value	High — add content or return 404
Not found (404)	Page doesn't exist	Medium — redirect or remove links
Server error (5xx)	Server failed to respond	Critical — fix server issues
Duplicate without user-selected canonical	Duplicate, Google chose canonical	Low — set canonical tag if preferred
Duplicate, Google chose different canonical	Your canonical differs from Google's	Medium — investigate canonical conflict

Diagnosis Decision Tree

Page not appearing in Google?
│
├─► Run gsc_manage_url(site_url, action="inspect", url=page_url)
│   │
│   ├─► Verdict: PASS → Page IS indexed
│   │   └─► Check: Is it ranking for the right queries?
│   │       Use gsc_search_analytics with page_filter
│   │
│   ├─► Verdict: FAIL
│   │   ├─► robots.txt blocking? → Fix robots.txt
│   │   ├─► noindex tag? → Remove if page should be indexed
│   │   ├─► Server error? → Fix backend issues
│   │   └─► Soft 404? → Add meaningful content
│   │
│   ├─► Verdict: NEUTRAL (crawled, not indexed)
│   │   ├─► Thin content? → Expand to 300+ words
│   │   ├─► Duplicate? → Set canonical or consolidate
│   │   ├─► Low authority? → Add internal links
│   │   └─► Recently published? → Wait 1-2 weeks
│   │
│   └─► No data → Page never discovered
│       ├─► In sitemap? → Check gsc_list_sites(include_sitemaps=true)
│       ├─► Internal links? → Add links from indexed pages
│       └─► Submit sitemap with gsc_manage_url(action="submit_sitemap")

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Part 2: Sitemap Health Check

Sitemap Status Indicators

Status	Meaning	Action
Success	Sitemap processed without errors	Healthy
Pending	Submitted but not yet processed	Wait (usually < 24h)
Has errors	Sitemap has parsing or URL errors	Fix errors
Warnings > 0	Non-critical issues found	Review and fix
Errors > 0	Critical issues found	Immediate fix needed

Sitemap Health Checklist

Check	Good	Warning	Critical
Processing status	Success	Pending > 48h	Has errors
URL count	Matches expected pages	Differs by > 20%	0 URLs or missing
Last downloaded	< 7 days ago	7-30 days ago	> 30 days ago
Errors	0	1-5	> 5
Warnings	0	1-10	> 10
URLs in index vs sitemap	> 80% indexed	50-80% indexed	< 50% indexed

Common Sitemap Issues

Issue	Cause	Fix
0 URLs discovered	XML parsing error	Validate XML, check encoding
Not downloaded recently	robots.txt blocks sitemap	Add Sitemap: directive to robots.txt
Many URLs not indexed	Low quality or duplicate pages	Clean up sitemap, only include indexable URLs
Sitemap too large	> 50,000 URLs or > 50MB	Split into sitemap index with child sitemaps
Wrong URL format	HTTP vs HTTPS mismatch	Ensure all URLs match property URL scheme

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Part 3: Canonical URL Diagnostics

Canonical Conflicts

When gsc_manage_url(action="inspect") returns different google_canonical vs user_canonical:

Scenario	Cause	Fix
Google chose HTTPS, you set HTTP	HTTPS migration incomplete	Update canonicals to HTTPS
Google chose www, you set non-www	Mixed signals	Standardize + redirect
Google chose different page	Content overlap/duplication	Consolidate or differentiate content
Google ignoring your canonical	Canonical contradicts signals	Check: hreflang, internal links, sitemap consistency
No user canonical set	Missing <link rel="canonical">	Add canonical tags to all pages

Canonical Best Practices

1. Every page should have a self-referencing canonical tag
2. Canonical URL must be accessible (not 404, not redirect, not noindex)
3. Canonical should match the URL in sitemap
4. All internal links should point to the canonical version
5. Canonical must use the correct protocol (HTTPS) and domain (www vs non-www)

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Part 4: Core Web Vitals & Mobile Usability

Core Web Vitals (as of 2024-2026)

Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking signal. The three active metrics are:

Metric	What It Measures	Good	Needs Improvement	Poor
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)	Loading speed of main content	< 2.5s	2.5-4.0s	> 4.0s
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)	Responsiveness to user input	< 200ms	200-500ms	> 500ms
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)	Visual stability	< 0.1	0.1-0.25	> 0.25

INP replaced FID (First Input Delay) in March 2024. INP measures the full interaction latency (from input to next frame paint), not just the initial response delay. If you have old references to FID in your performance reports, those are outdated. Focus on INP.

Common INP issues:

• Heavy JavaScript executing during user interactions
• Long tasks blocking the main thread
• React/Vue re-renders triggered by click handlers
• Third-party scripts (chat widgets, analytics) delaying response

Mobile Verdicts from URL Inspection

Issue	Impact	Fix
Text too small to read	Poor mobile UX	Use min 16px font, responsive typography
Clickable elements too close	Accidental taps	Min 48px touch targets, 8px spacing
Content wider than screen	Horizontal scrolling	Set viewport meta, use responsive CSS
Viewport not set	Page not mobile-optimized	Add <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

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Part 5: Output Format

================================================================================
                     TECHNICAL SEO HEALTH CHECK
                     Property: [site_url]
                     Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
================================================================================

OVERALL HEALTH: [HEALTHY / NEEDS ATTENTION / CRITICAL]

SITEMAP STATUS
──────────────
| Sitemap | URLs | Status | Last Downloaded | Errors | Warnings |
|---------|------|--------|-----------------|--------|----------|
| /sitemap.xml | 1,240 | Success | 2 days ago | 0 | 0 |
| /blog-sitemap.xml | 380 | Has errors | 5 days ago | 3 | 2 |

INDEXING SUMMARY (sampled pages)
────────────────────────────────
| Status | Count | % | Action |
|--------|-------|---|--------|
| Indexed | [X] | [Y%] | Monitor |
| Crawled, not indexed | [X] | [Y%] | Improve content quality |
| Discovered, not indexed | [X] | [Y%] | Wait or add internal links |
| Blocked/Excluded | [X] | [Y%] | Review if intentional |
| Errors | [X] | [Y%] | Fix immediately |

CRITICAL ISSUES (Fix Now)
─────────────────────────
1. [Issue description + affected URL + fix]
2. [Issue description + affected URL + fix]

WARNINGS (Plan to Fix)
──────────────────────
1. [Warning description + affected URL + fix]

CANONICAL ISSUES
────────────────
| Page | Your Canonical | Google's Canonical | Issue |
|------|---------------|-------------------|-------|
| [url] | [url] | [different url] | Google chose different page |

RECOMMENDATIONS
───────────────
1. CRITICAL: [Most important fix]
2. HIGH: [Second priority]
3. MEDIUM: [Third priority]

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Part 6: Monitoring Cadence

Check	Frequency	Tool
Sitemap status	Weekly	gsc_list_sites(include_sitemaps=true)
Key page indexing	Weekly	gsc_manage_url(action="inspect") (sample 10-20 pages)
Overall impressions trend	Weekly	gsc_search_analytics with dimensions=["date"]
New page indexing	Within 48h of publish	gsc_manage_url(action="inspect")
After technical changes	Immediately	gsc_manage_url(action="inspect") + gsc_list_sites(include_sitemaps=true)
Full technical audit	Monthly	All GSC tools combined

AI Overviews: Technical SEO Implications

Google AI Overviews (launched broadly 2024) directly affect organic performance. From a technical SEO perspective:

• Structured data matters more: Pages with well-implemented schema (FAQ, HowTo, Article) are more likely to be cited in AI Overviews
• E-E-A-T signals: Author markup, About pages, and expertise signals help Google trust your content for AI sourcing
• Indexing is still required: Pages must be indexed to appear in AI Overviews
• Monitor CTR separately: Impressions may remain stable while clicks drop — this is often AI Overviews, not an indexing problem

gsc_search_analytics(site_url="...", dimensions=["query"], days=90)

Compare CTR trends against position trends. If position is stable but CTR is declining on informational queries, AI Overviews are likely the cause — not a technical issue.