name: seo-fundamentals
description: >
Core principles of SEO including E-E-A-T, Core Web Vitals, technical foundations,
content quality, and how modern search engines evaluate pages. This skill explains
why SEO works, not how to execute specific optimizations.
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep

SEO Fundamentals

Foundational principles for sustainable search visibility.
This skill explains how search engines evaluate quality, not tactical shortcuts.

1. E-E-A-T (Quality Evaluation Framework)

E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor.
It is a framework used by search engines to evaluate content quality, especially for sensitive or high-impact topics.

Pages competing in the same space are often differentiated by trust and experience, not keywords.

2. Core Web Vitals (Page Experience Signals)

Core Web Vitals measure how users experience a page, not whether it deserves to rank.

Important context:

• CWV rarely override poor content
• They matter most when content quality is comparable
• Failing CWV can hold back otherwise good pages

3. Technical SEO Principles

Technical SEO ensures pages are accessible, understandable, and stable.

Crawl & Index Control

Performance & Accessibility

4. Content SEO Principles

Page-Level Elements

Content Quality Signals

5. Structured Data (Schema)

Structured data helps search engines understand meaning, not boost rankings directly.

Schema enables eligibility for rich results but does not guarantee them.

6. AI-Assisted Content Principles

Search engines evaluate output quality, not authorship method.

Effective Use

• AI as a drafting or research assistant
• Human review for accuracy and clarity
• Original insights and synthesis
• Clear accountability

Risky Use

• Publishing unedited AI output
• Factual errors or hallucinations
• Thin or duplicated content
• Keyword-driven text with no value

7. Relative Importance of SEO Factors

There is no fixed ranking factor order.
However, when competing pages are similar, importance tends to follow this pattern:

Technical SEO enables ranking; content quality earns it.

8. Measurement & Evaluation

SEO fundamentals should be validated using multiple signals, not single metrics.

Key Principle:
Sustainable SEO is built on useful content, technical clarity, and trust over time.
There are no permanent shortcuts.