Post-Publish SEO Validation

Validate a published blog post's on-page SEO, performance, and initial search visibility using DataForSEO tools.

Reference

Read ../../references/dataforseo-workflows.md (relative to this skill's base directory) — Workflow 4 (Post-Publish Validation) for exact tool parameters.

Inputs

1. Published URL — provided by user
2. Primary keyword — provided by user (or read from docs/seo/<slug>/keyword-data.md)
3. Outline — docs/seo/<slug>/outline.md (optional, for verification against plan)
4. Article directory — user specifies docs/seo/<slug>/ or skill infers from keyword-data.md location

Article Directory Convention

All per-article files live in docs/seo/<slug>/. The user provides the slug, or the skill searches for the directory containing keyword-data.md with the matching primary keyword.

Process

Step 1 — On-Page Verification

Use on_page_content_parsing with the published URL.

Verify against outline (if available):

| Element | Expected | Actual | Match? | | -------------------- | --------------------- | ---------- | ------ | | Title tag | {{from outline}} | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | Meta description | {{from outline}} | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | H1 | {{from outline}} | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | H2 count | {{from outline}} | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | Word count | {{from outline ±10%}} | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | Internal links | ≥ 3 | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | External links | ≥ 1 | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ | | Images with alt text | ≥ 1 | {{parsed}} | ✅/❌ |

Step 2 — Lighthouse Audit

Use on_page_lighthouse with mobile device.

Score targets:

| Category | Target | Status | | ------------- | ------ | --------------------------------- | | SEO | > 90 | ✅ Good / ⚠️ Needs work / ❌ Poor | | Performance | > 50 | ✅/⚠️/❌ | | Accessibility | > 80 | ✅/⚠️/❌ |

Report specific Lighthouse audit failures (missing meta tags, slow LCP, missing alt text, etc.).

Step 3 — Ranking Check

Use dataforseo_labs_google_ranked_keywords filtered for the primary keyword.

Note: New content may take days or weeks to be indexed. If not found:

"Page not yet indexed for '{{primary keyword}}'. This is normal for new content. Re-run /seo-optimize in 1-2 weeks to check ranking position."

If found, report:

• Position (rank)
• Estimated traffic
• SERP features triggered (featured snippet, PAA, etc.)

Step 4 — Content Mentions

Use content_analysis_search with the brand name or article title.

Report:

• Number of web mentions found
• Sentiment distribution (positive/neutral/negative)
• Notable mention sources

Step 5 — AI Search Visibility

Use ai_opt_llm_ment_search with the primary keyword.

Check if the content or brand appears in AI-generated search results.

Report:

• Mentioned: Yes/No
• Context of mention (if found)
• Competing mentions

Step 6 — Traffic Baseline

Use dataforseo_labs_bulk_traffic_estimation with the published URL.

Record baseline traffic estimate for future comparison.

Output

Present the report directly in the conversation:

# Post-Publish Health Report

**URL**: {{published URL}}
**Primary keyword**: {{keyword}}
**Date checked**: {{YYYY-MM-DD}}

---

## On-Page Verification

| Element          | Expected        | Actual     | Status |
| ---------------- | --------------- | ---------- | ------ |
| Title tag        | {{expected}}    | {{actual}} | ✅/❌  |
| Meta description | {{expected}}    | {{actual}} | ✅/❌  |
| H1               | {{expected}}    | {{actual}} | ✅/❌  |
| Word count       | {{target ±10%}} | {{actual}} | ✅/❌  |
| Internal links   | ≥ 3             | {{count}}  | ✅/❌  |
| External links   | ≥ 1             | {{count}}  | ✅/❌  |
| Images w/ alt    | ≥ 1             | {{count}}  | ✅/❌  |

**On-page score**: {{N}}/7 checks passing

---

## Lighthouse Scores

| Category      | Score | Target | Status   |
| ------------- | ----- | ------ | -------- |
| SEO           | {{N}} | > 90   | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Performance   | {{N}} | > 50   | ✅/⚠️/❌ |
| Accessibility | {{N}} | > 80   | ✅/⚠️/❌ |

**Key issues** (if any):

- {{Lighthouse audit failure 1}}
- {{Lighthouse audit failure 2}}

---

## Search Visibility

| Metric                    | Value               |
| ------------------------- | ------------------- |
| Indexed                   | {{Yes / Not yet}}   |
| Ranking position          | {{#N / Not ranked}} |
| Featured snippet          | {{Yes / No}}        |
| PAA appearance            | {{Yes / No}}        |
| AI search mention         | {{Yes / No}}        |
| Estimated monthly traffic | {{N}}               |

---

## Web Mentions

| Metric          | Value                              |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Total mentions  | {{N}}                              |
| Sentiment       | {{Mostly positive / Mixed / None}} |
| Notable sources | {{Source 1, Source 2}}             |

---

## Recommendations

### Immediate Fixes

(Only list if on-page or Lighthouse issues found)

1. {{Specific fix with context}}

### Growth Actions

(Longer-term improvements)

1. {{Action — e.g., build backlinks, create supporting content}}

### Re-check Timeline

- **1 week**: Re-run to check indexing status
- **1 month**: Re-run to check ranking position and traffic
- **3 months**: Full re-evaluation against keyword targets

Notes

• Some checks (ranking, traffic) won't return data for newly published content. This is expected. Note the timeline for re-checking.
• If Lighthouse fails to load the page (e.g., behind auth, geo-restricted), note this and skip to other checks.
• If the outline file isn't available, skip the "Expected" column comparisons and just report what was found on the live page.