Blog SEO Standards

What it does

blog-seo-standards is a Claude Code skill — a checklist for the findability half of a technical post: will search rank it, and can an AI answer engine (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) quote it?

The thing it does best is separate two kinds of rules that usually get blended together:

• Editorial / readability — craft choices (length, voice). Great for the reader, but not search-ranking rules. Break them on purpose when a topic needs it.
• SEO facts — verified against Google Search Central, Ahrefs, Backlinko, Moz. Real numbers, and not always the ones a writer memorized years ago.

When to use it

• You’re drafting a new post and want it found by search + AI as you write.
• You want a quick audit of an existing post — title length, meta description, headings, alt text, link text.
• You’re not sure whether a long-held writing rule is an SEO rule or just a habit.

How it works

It’s a plain instruction file — no code. It leads with three numbers worth getting right against current guidance:

• Post length is not an SEO rule. Google doesn’t rank on word count. It’s a fine readability guideline — so the skill keeps it, labeled editorial, not SEO.
• Title: ~50-60 characters. Google truncates the title link in results at ~600 px, so a longer title gets cut off.
• Meta description: ~155-160 characters (~120 on mobile). Past that, the snippet is truncated and the rest never displays.

A few ideas here generalize to any “standards” skill: say what’s a fact vs. a preference (and cite sources for the facts), and correct advice that risks a penalty rather than just softening it — the old “the meta description doesn’t need to be in the article” is a clickbait trap, so the skill says plainly to describe what’s genuinely on the page. It also folds in what a classic checklist misses: E-E-A-T and author bylines, matching search intent, descriptive internal links (never “click here”), AEO for AI answer engines, and keeping the URL slug stable.

The skill definition

Here’s the actual SKILL.md, verbatim. It cross-references two sibling writing skills; the SEO facts and the editorial-vs-SEO split stand on their own for any technical blog.

---
name: blog-seo-standards
description: >-
  SEO + AEO standards for writing or reviewing a technical blog post — title, meta description,
  headings, images, structured data, and the frontmatter that feeds them. Use when the user asks
  whether a post is "SEO-friendly", wants a title/description/heading/alt-text check, or is drafting
  an article to be found by search + AI answer engines. Separates EDITORIAL guidelines from the
  actual 2026 SEO numbers for word count, title length, and meta-description length. This is the SEO
  source of truth; for readability/structure see [[technical-content-structure]], for numbered
  walkthroughs [[tutorial-writing]].
---

# SEO + AEO standards for a technical blog post

The findability half of writing a post: will search rank it, and can an AI answer engine (ChatGPT,
Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) quote it? Pairs with [[technical-content-structure]] (readability)
and [[tutorial-writing]] (numbered walkthroughs).

**Two kinds of rules — keep them apart when you report:**

- **Editorial** — craft choices (length, voice). Fine for UX, NOT ranking rules.
- **SEO facts** — verified against Google Search Central + Ahrefs/Backlinko/Moz (2025-2026).

## The numbers that matter

| Field | The 2026 number | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Post length | No SEO target | Google doesn't rank on word count — length is a *readability* choice, not a ranking factor. |
| Title | ~50-60 characters | Google truncates the title link at ~600 px; longer titles get cut off in results. |
| Meta description | ~155-160 chars (~120 mobile) | The snippet truncates past that; the rest never shows. |

## Title (the H1 + browser/tab title)

- **~50-60 characters** — the safe zone before Google's ~600 px truncation.
- **Front-load the primary keyword** — the phrase a reader types. One primary + a natural secondary
  is plenty; **don't stuff 2-5 keywords**. Keyword-in-title is a "ticket to entry," not a boost, and
  stuffing reads as spam.
- **Match the title to the actual format.** A conceptual headline on a hands-on walkthrough is a
  scope mismatch — searchers and AI won't connect it to the direct query. If the body is a
  walkthrough, say so in the H1; save the clever framing for the lede.
- **Write for the click**, and keep every title unique. Positive framing out-clicks clickbait.

## Meta description (the search + social snippet)

This ONE field usually feeds the search snippet, the social card, AND the post card — it's what a
person reads in Google before clicking.

- **~155-160 characters** (~120 mobile). Past that it's truncated.
- **It must accurately summarize the page.** "It doesn't need to be in the article" is a clickbait
  trap — a mismatch tanks dwell time and trust. Describe what's genuinely there.
- **Phrase it as the reader's search** — state the concrete outcome, not just the topic. Google bolds
  matching query terms, so natural keywords help CTR. Not a ranking factor; a *click* factor.
- Keywords that belong to the topic but didn't fit the title can live here — if the post covers them.

## Structure & headings

- **One H1 (the title), then H2 → H3, never skip a level.** Body sections start at H2 (the title is
  the only H1). A H3-led post skips H2 → breaks WCAG 1.3.1 + the table of contents.
- **Land the primary keyword in at least one H2, not only the H1** — a common gap. Section headers
  double as topic signals for search and AI section-identification.
- **Descriptive, standalone headings** ("Handling the timeout error"), not bare "Step 1" — readers
  skim headings first.
- **Lead each section with the answer.** Buried answers don't win featured snippets or get quoted.

## Images & code

- **Explain what an image/code block shows BEFORE you show it** — inverted-pyramid; the reader knows
  what they're looking at and AI reads the lead-in prose for context.
- **Descriptive alt text on every meaningful image** (WCAG 1.1.1 + image search) — describe what's IN
  it ("the settings page with the API-key field highlighted"), don't keyword-stuff; empty alt for
  purely decorative images.
- **Optimize the file:** descriptive filename (`user-settings.png`, not `DSC_4536.png`), compressed,
  explicit dimensions (avoids layout shift), lazy-load offscreen images.

## Modern additions (what the classic checklist missed)

- **E-E-A-T — show a real author.** Google asks "is it self-evident who wrote this?" Set a per-post
  author byline + Article JSON-LD. First-hand experience — your own screenshots, "I hit this error
  and fixed it" — is what AI can't fabricate and E-E-A-T rewards. State first-party authority in one
  first-person sentence near the top when you built/operate the thing.
- **Match search intent.** Check what already ranks for the query — an opinion piece won't win a slot
  the top results fill with tutorials, however clean the on-page SEO.
- **Internal links, descriptive anchors.** Link related posts; anchor text that names the destination
  ("the setup guide"), **never "click here" / "read more"** (Google flags them; useless to screen
  readers). ~2-4 internal links per 1,000 words.
- **AEO.** Structure for extraction: question-shaped H2s, a direct answer first, standalone quotable
  sentences, one extractable "X is Y that does Z" definition in the first 100 words for any named
  concept, and a FAQs block.
- **Structured data.** Emit `Article` + `BreadcrumbList` (and `FAQPage`) JSON-LD — keep `author`,
  `pubDate`, `updatedDate` accurate because they feed it. (Google dropped the FAQ *rich result* in
  2026, but the visible FAQ text still helps AI + non-Google engines.)
- **URL slug:** short, human-readable, hyphenated, keyword-bearing. Keep it stable once published —
  changing it 404s the old URL and drops its link equity.
- **Freshness:** for version-/time-sensitive posts, make *substantive* updates then bump the modified
  date — a real update, not a cosmetic date change.

## How to apply

- **New post:** use this while drafting — title length, description length + accuracy, keyword in an
  H2, explain-before-show.
- **Reviewing:** read the post, then report findings grouped **Editorial** vs **SEO facts**. Flag:
  title > 60 chars, description > 160 or not reflecting the body, H3-led sections, empty alt, "click
  here" links, a missing author byline, an image/code block with no lead-in.
- **Verify** any change with a build.

## Sources

Google Search Central (title link, snippet, helpful-content, images, links, URL-structure); Ahrefs &
Backlinko on-page/title studies; Moz; Nielsen Norman Group. Verified 2026 — SEO numbers drift, so
re-check before treating any figure as gospel.