How to install a Claude Skill
A Skill is a single file of instructions you add to Claude once. After that Claude picks it up on its own whenever the task matches. Installing one takes about a minute and involves no code.
Before you start
You need a Claude account. The free tier is enough. You don't need Claude Code, a developer environment, Python or an API key — those are for a different kind of extension.
If you'd rather not install anything, the prompt on the home page does the same job. Copy it into a conversation and it works immediately. The only thing you lose is having Claude remember it for next time.
The three steps
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Download the skill file
Save
seo-audit.mdto your computer. It's a plain text file you can open and read before installing, which is worth doing — you'll see exactly what you're asking Claude to do. -
Add it to Claude under Skills
Open Claude, go into Settings, and find the Skills section (it sits under the Capabilities or Customize area depending on which version you're using). Click the plus button and upload the file you just downloaded.
Anthropic moves these menus around from time to time. If Skills isn't where this says, search the settings for "Skills" — the upload works the same way wherever it lives.
-
Ask for an audit
Start a new conversation and type something like
audit example.comorwhy isn't my site ranking? mysite.com.au. Claude recognises the request, loads the skill, and starts working through the pages.You don't need to mention the skill by name or turn it on. That's the whole point of installing it.
How to tell it worked
Claude will start by telling you which pages it found and which it's fetching. If instead you get generic SEO advice with no mention of your actual pages, the skill didn't load — check it appears in your Skills list and that it's switched on.
Where the skill works
| Where | Works? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude on the web | Yes | The main way most people use it. Install once, available everywhere you're signed in. |
| Claude desktop app | Yes | Same skill, same settings. Handy if you want the report files saved locally. |
| Claude mobile | Yes | Skills installed elsewhere carry across. Long audits are easier on a bigger screen. |
| Cowork | Yes | Works well here, and it's the easiest place to get the audit written out as a document. |
| Claude Code | Yes | Works as-is. If you're comfortable in a terminal you can also point it at local HTML files. |
Removing it
Go back to the same Skills screen and delete it. Nothing else is left behind — a Skill is one file of instructions, not software installed on your machine.
If something goes wrong
Claude gives generic advice instead of auditing my site
The skill isn't loading. Confirm it's listed and enabled in Skills, then include
the full address with https:// in your message.
It says it can't reach my site
Check the site is publicly reachable — not on a staging password, not behind
Cloudflare's bot protection at a strict setting, and not blocking crawlers in
robots.txt. Try opening the address in a private browser window.
It reports my pages as nearly empty
Your site probably renders its content with JavaScript. The skill should say so explicitly. More on that here.
It stopped partway through
Long audits can run into message length limits. Say "continue" and it picks up where it left off. On a free account, asking for six pages rather than ten helps.
Ready to run one?
Download the file, or skip installing and paste the prompt straight into a conversation.