SEO Fundamentals (2025)

Use this skill when the user asks for SEO guidance, on-page optimization, Core Web Vitals, E-E-A-T, technical SEO, meta tags, structured data, or content format for search. Apply the checklist and targets below to any website or content task.

Core Framework: E-E-A-T

Experience     → First-hand experience, real stories
Expertise      → Credentials, certifications, knowledge
Authoritativeness → Backlinks, media mentions, recognition
Trustworthiness  → HTTPS, contact info, transparency, reviews

2025 Algorithm Updates

Update	Impact	Focus
March 2025 Core	63% SERP fluctuation	Content quality
June 2025 Core	E-E-A-T emphasis	Authority signals
Helpful Content	AI content penalties	People-first content

Core Web Vitals Targets

Metric	Target	Measurement
LCP	< 2.5s	Largest Contentful Paint
INP	< 200ms	Interaction to Next Paint
CLS	< 0.1	Cumulative Layout Shift

Technical SEO Checklist

Site Structure:
☐ XML sitemap submitted
☐ robots.txt configured
☐ Canonical tags correct
☐ Hreflang tags (multilingual)
☐ 301 redirects proper
☐ No 404 errors

Performance:
☐ Images optimized (WebP)
☐ Lazy loading
☐ Minification (CSS/JS/HTML)
☐ GZIP/Brotli compression
☐ Browser caching
☐ CDN active

Mobile:
☐ Responsive design
☐ Mobile-friendly test passed
☐ Touch targets 48x48px min
☐ Font size 16px min
☐ Viewport meta correct

Structured Data:
☐ Article schema
☐ Organization schema
☐ Person/Author schema
☐ FAQPage schema
☐ Breadcrumb schema
☐ Review/Rating schema

AI Content Guidelines

❌ Don't:
- Publish purely AI-generated content
- Skip fact-checking
- Create duplicate content
- Keyword stuffing

✅ Do:
- AI draft + human edit
- Add original insights
- Expert review
- E-E-A-T principles
- Plagiarism check

Content Format for SEO Success

Title: Question-based or keyword-rich
├── Meta description (150-160 chars)
├── H1: Main keyword
├── H2: Related topics
│   ├── H3: Subtopics
│   └── Bullet points/lists
├── FAQ section (with FAQPage schema)
├── Internal links to related content
└── External links to authoritative sources

Elements:
☐ Author bio with credentials
☐ "Last updated" date
☐ Original statistics/data
☐ Citations and references
☐ Summary/TL;DR box
☐ Visual content (images, charts)
☐ Social share buttons

Quick Reference

// Essential meta tags
<meta name="description" content="...">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page">

// Open Graph for social
<meta property="og:title" content="...">
<meta property="og:description" content="...">
<meta property="og:image" content="...">

// Schema markup example
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "...",
  "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "..." },
  "datePublished": "2025-12-30",
  "dateModified": "2025-12-30"
}
</script>

SEO Tools (2025)

Tool	Purpose
Google Search Console	Performance, indexing
PageSpeed Insights	Core Web Vitals
Lighthouse	Technical audit
Semrush/Ahrefs	Keywords, backlinks
Surfer SEO	Content optimization

Directive Check (Workspace Rules)

When doing SEO work in this workspace:

• Directive:

  systems/doe-engine/directives/seo-fundamentals.md

  — read and follow for process.
• Run directive check; report "DIRECTIVE FOUND: seo-fundamentals.md" or "NO DIRECTIVE FOUND."
• Align with

  master-website-directive.md

  for website builds (SEO is a non-negotiable there).

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Last Updated: 2025-12-30