🧟 SEO Zombie Slayer

Transform Your SEO Audit Into An Epic Battle Against Website Issues

Discover and eliminate SEO zombies lurking in your website with this gamified, comprehensive SEO audit tool. Get actionable insights, competitive intelligence, and interactive reports that make fixing SEO issues actually fun.

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🎯 What Does This Actor Do?

SEO Zombie Slayer is a comprehensive website auditing tool that:

✅ Crawls your website and analyzes every page for SEO issues
✅ Detects 15+ types of SEO "zombies" (broken links, missing meta tags, accessibility issues, etc.)
✅ Performs competitive analysis - Compare your site against competitors
✅ Runs Lighthouse audits - Get Google PageSpeed scores for mobile and desktop
✅ Checks security headers - Audit your site's security posture
✅ Validates SSL certificates - Get expiry warnings before it's too late
✅ Measures Core Web Vitals - LCP, CLS, FID, INP, and more
✅ Generates interactive HTML reports - Beautiful, shareable reports with fix recommendations
✅ Gamifies the experience - Level up, earn XP, unlock achievements!

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🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Run on Apify Console

1. Go to the Apify Console
2. Create a new task from this actor
3. Add your website URL
4. Click Start and get your report in minutes!

Option 2: API Integration

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const input = {
    websiteUrl: "https://example.com",
    maxPages: 50,
    maxDepth: 3,
    analysisMode: "full_audit",
    enableLighthouse: true,
    enableSecurityAudit: true,
    enableSSLCheck: true,
    enableGameMode: true
};

const run = await client.actor("YOUR_ACTOR_ID").call(input);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

console.log(items);

Option 3: CLI

apify call YOUR_ACTOR_ID \
  --input '{"websiteUrl": "https://example.com"}'

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📊 Input Configuration

Basic Settings

Field	Type	Required	Description	Default
websiteUrl	String	✅	The main website URL to analyze	-
startUrls	Array	❌	Additional URLs to analyze (for competitive analysis)	[]
maxPages	Number	❌	Maximum pages to crawl per site	50
maxDepth	Number	❌	Maximum crawl depth	3
analysisMode	String	❌	Analysis type: full_audit, competitive, link_resurrector	full_audit

Advanced Settings

Field	Type	Description	Default
difficultyLevel	String	Affects XP multiplier: easy, normal, hard, nightmare	normal
enableGameMode	Boolean	Enable gamification features	true
enableLighthouse	Boolean	Run Google Lighthouse audits	true
enableCoreWebVitals	Boolean	Measure Core Web Vitals	true
enableStructuredData	Boolean	Check Schema.org markup	true
enableSecurityAudit	Boolean	Audit security headers	true
enableSSLCheck	Boolean	Validate SSL certificates	true
checkExternalLinks	Boolean	Check external links for 404s	true
includeWayback	Boolean	Search Wayback Machine for broken links	true
generateHtmlReport	Boolean	Generate interactive HTML report	true
webhookUrl	String	Webhook URL for completion notification	null
googlePSIApiKey	String	Google PageSpeed Insights API key (highly recommended)	null

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🧟 Zombie Types Detected

The actor detects 15 different types of SEO zombies:

🔴 Critical Issues (Severity: 70-100)

Zombie	Description	Impact
🔗 Canonical Chain Zombie	Canonical URL points elsewhere	HIGH - Dilutes page authority
💀 Dead Page Zombie	Page returns 404 but is in sitemap	CRITICAL - Wastes crawl budget
🔒 HTTPS Mixed Content Zombie	HTTPS page loads HTTP resources	HIGH - Security warnings
🕷️ Noindex Trap Zombie	Important page has noindex	CRITICAL - Page won't rank

🟡 High Priority (Severity: 60-69)

Zombie	Description	Impact
📝 Meta Missing Zombie	Missing title or meta description	HIGH - Poor CTR
💔 Broken Internal Link Zombie	Internal link returns 404	HIGH - Bad for crawlability
⚡ JavaScript-Dependent Zombie	Content only via JavaScript	HIGH - Googlebot issues

🟢 Medium/Low Priority (Severity: 0-59)

Zombie	Description	Impact
🖼️ Broken Image Zombie	3+ broken images on page	MEDIUM - User experience
♿ Accessibility Zombie	Missing alt text on images	MEDIUM - Legal + SEO risk
📊 Schema Zombie	No structured data markup	MEDIUM - No rich snippets
🐌 Slow Load Zombie	Page load time > 5 seconds	MEDIUM - Ranking factor
👻 Orphan Page Zombie	No internal links to page	MEDIUM - Discoverability
🔄 Redirect Loop Zombie	Redirect chain detected	MEDIUM - Wastes crawl budget
📱 Mobile Unfriendly Zombie	Not mobile responsive	MEDIUM - Mobile rankings
🏴 Duplicate Content Zombie	Content duplicated elsewhere	LOW - Dilutes authority

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📦 Output Data Structure

The actor produces a comprehensive dataset with multiple record types:

1. Site Results (dataType: "site_result")

{
  "dataType": "site_result",
  "site": "https://example.com",
  "analysis_mode": "full_audit",
  "difficulty": "normal",
  "zombie_score": 37,
  "final_score": 37,
  "rating": "🟡 Needs Attention",
  "stats": {
    "pages_crawled": 45,
    "total_zombies": 12,
    "links_checked": 287,
    "critical_zombies": 2,
    "high_priority_zombies": 3,
    "medium_priority_zombies": 5,
    "low_priority_zombies": 2
  },
  "zombies_by_type": {
    "canonical_chain": 1,
    "meta_missing_zombie": 3,
    "broken_internal_link": 4,
    "accessibility_zombie": 2,
    "schema_zombie": 2
  },
  "category_breakdown": {
    "technical": { "score": 95, "issues": [], "count": 0 },
    "content": { "score": 88, "issues": [...], "count": 2 },
    "performance": { "score": 92, "issues": [...], "count": 1 },
    "accessibility": { "score": 85, "issues": [...], "count": 2 },
    "seo": { "score": 78, "issues": [...], "count": 3 },
    "security": { "score": 100, "issues": [], "count": 0 },
    "mobile": { "score": 100, "issues": [], "count": 0 },
    "links": { "score": 82, "issues": [...], "count": 4 }
  },
  "fix_recommendations": [
    {
      "zombie_type": "canonical_chain",
      "zombie_name": "🔗 Canonical Chain Zombie",
      "category": "seo",
      "affected_pages": 1,
      "priority": "CRITICAL",
      "severity": 80,
      "fix": "Point canonical to self or consolidate pages",
      "impact": "HIGH - Dilutes page authority",
      "affected_urls": ["https://example.com/page"]
    }
  ],
  "lighthouse": {
    "mobile": {
      "scores": {
        "performance": 85,
        "accessibility": 92,
        "bestPractices": 88,
        "seo": 95
      }
    },
    "desktop": {
      "scores": {
        "performance": 92,
        "accessibility": 95,
        "bestPractices": 90,
        "seo": 97
      }
    }
  },
  "coreWebVitals": {
    "metrics": {
      "FCP": 1200,
      "LCP": 2400,
      "CLS": 0.05,
      "FID": 100,
      "INP": 150,
      "TTFB": 300
    },
    "grades": {
      "FCP": { "grade": "A", "status": "good" },
      "LCP": { "grade": "A", "status": "good" }
    },
    "overall": "A"
  },
  "securityAudit": {
    "score": 85,
    "grade": "B",
    "vulnerabilities": []
  },
  "sslCertificate": {
    "valid": true,
    "grade": "A+",
    "daysUntilExpiry": 217
  },
  "game_stats": {
    "final_level": 5,
    "total_xp": 2500,
    "max_combo": 15,
    "rank": "🦸 Master Slayer"
  },
  "crawled_at": "2026-01-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}

2. Individual Zombies (dataType: "zombie")

{
  "dataType": "zombie",
  "zombie_id": "zombie_abc123",
  "zombie_type": "canonical_chain",
  "zombie_name": "🔗 Canonical Chain Zombie",
  "affected_url": "https://example.com/page",
  "parent_site": "https://example.com",
  "severity": 80,
  "category": "seo",
  "description": "Canonical URL points elsewhere",
  "fix": "Point canonical to self or consolidate pages",
  "impact": "HIGH - Dilutes page authority",
  "details": "Canonical points to: https://example.com/other-page",
  "priority": "CRITICAL",
  "detected_at": "2026-01-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}

3. Performance Data

Additional records for Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, Security, and SSL checks are included with dataType: "lighthouse", "core_web_vitals", "security_audit", and "ssl_check".

4. Summary (dataType: "summary")

{
  "dataType": "summary",
  "sites_analyzed": 2,
  "sites_successful": 2,
  "sites_failed": 0,
  "total_zombies": 24,
  "average_score": 42,
  "total_pages_crawled": 98,
  "critical_issues_found": 5,
  "success_rate": 100,
  "total_execution_time_seconds": 245
}

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🎮 Game Mode Features

When enableGameMode: true, the actor gamifies your SEO audit:

🎖️ Level System

• Level 1-3: 🌱 Novice Slayer
• Level 4-6: ⚔️ Apprentice Hunter
• Level 7-9: 🔥 Veteran Exterminator
• Level 10-15: 🦸 Master Slayer
• Level 16+: 👑 Legendary Destroyer

💰 XP System

• Kill zombies to earn XP
• Higher severity = more XP
• Difficulty multipliers: Easy (0.5x), Normal (1x), Hard (1.5x), Nightmare (2x)
• Combo multiplier for rapid kills

🏆 Achievements

• 🩸 First Blood - Kill your first zombie
• ⚡ Speed Demon - Complete scan in <60s
• 💀 Zombie Apocalypse - Find 50+ zombies
• 🔥 Combo Master - Achieve 10x combo
• 🌐 Domain Dominator - Crawl 100+ pages
• 🎯 Perfectionist - Site with 0 zombies
• 🔄 Time Traveler - Rescue 5+ links from Wayback Machine
• 👑 Boss Slayer - Defeat a boss zombie

👑 Boss Battles

When you find 10+ zombies of the same type, a Boss Zombie appears with 5x health!

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📊 Interactive HTML Report

The actor generates a beautiful, interactive HTML report stored in the Key-Value Store:

Features

✨ Competitive Rankings - See how your site stacks up against competitors
✨ Score Explanations - Understand WHY your score is what it is
✨ Category Breakdown - 8 categories with click-to-expand details
✨ Top Issues List - See the 3 most critical problems at a glance
✨ Performance Analysis - Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, Security, SSL
✨ Fix Roadmap - Prioritized list of issues to fix
✨ Whack-A-Zombie Mini-Game - Yes, there's a game in your report!

Accessing the Report

// Get the report URL
const run = await client.actor("YOUR_ACTOR_ID").call(input);
const reportUrl = `https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/${run.defaultKeyValueStoreId}/records/REPORT`;

console.log(`View report: ${reportUrl}`);

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🔧 Common Use Cases

1. Pre-Launch Website Audit

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://staging.example.com",
  "maxPages": 100,
  "maxDepth": 5,
  "analysisMode": "full_audit",
  "enableLighthouse": true,
  "enableSecurityAudit": true,
  "difficultyLevel": "hard"
}

Perfect for: Finding all issues before going live

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2. Competitive SEO Analysis

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://yoursite.com",
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://competitor1.com" },
    { "url": "https://competitor2.com" },
    { "url": "https://competitor3.com" }
  ],
  "maxPages": 50,
  "analysisMode": "competitive"
}

Perfect for: Understanding your competitive position

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3. Quick Health Check

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
  "maxPages": 10,
  "maxDepth": 1,
  "analysisMode": "full_audit",
  "enableLighthouse": true
}

Perfect for: Quick daily/weekly monitoring

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4. Broken Link Finder

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
  "maxPages": 100,
  "analysisMode": "link_resurrector",
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "includeWayback": true
}

Perfect for: Finding and fixing broken links with Wayback alternatives

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5. Security-Focused Audit

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
  "maxPages": 50,
  "enableSecurityAudit": true,
  "enableSSLCheck": true,
  "enableLighthouse": false,
  "enableCoreWebVitals": false
}

Perfect for: Security compliance checks

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💡 Pro Tips

🔑 Get a FREE Google PageSpeed API Key

Without an API key, you're limited to 10 Lighthouse requests per day. With a free API key, you get 25,000 requests per day!

Get your key here: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/get-started

Then add it to your input:

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
  "googlePSIApiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}

---

⚡ Optimize Crawl Speed

For faster results:

• Reduce maxPages for quick checks
• Set maxDepth: 1 for shallow crawls
• Disable features you don't need (e.g., enableLighthouse: false)

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🎯 Focus on What Matters

Different modes for different needs:

• full_audit - Comprehensive analysis (recommended)
• competitive - Focus on competitive insights
• link_resurrector - Focus on broken links

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📊 Webhook Integration

Get notified when your audit completes:

{
  "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
  "webhookUrl": "https://your-webhook-endpoint.com/seo-audit"
}

Webhook payload:

{
  "status": "completed",
  "sites_successful": 1,
  "sites_failed": 0,
  "total_zombies": 12,
  "average_score": 37,
  "critical_issues": 2,
  "execution_time_seconds": 145,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}

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🐛 Troubleshooting

❌ "Lighthouse scores showing 0"

Cause: Google PageSpeed API rate limit hit (10 requests/day without API key)

Solution: Get a free API key (25,000 requests/day) from Google PageSpeed Insights

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❌ "Actor times out"

Cause: Too many pages to crawl

Solutions:

• Reduce maxPages (try 50 or fewer)
• Reduce maxDepth (try 2 or 3)
• Disable intensive features temporarily

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❌ "No zombies found but I know there are issues"

Cause: Detection sensitivity or crawl depth

Solutions:

• Increase maxDepth to crawl deeper
• Try difficultyLevel: "hard" or "nightmare" for more sensitive detection
• Check if pages are actually being crawled (check pages_crawled in stats)

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❌ "SSL check failing"

Cause: Certificate issues or network restrictions

Solution: Set enableSSLCheck: false to skip SSL validation if not needed

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📈 Performance Considerations

Crawl Speed

• Fast mode (10 pages, depth 1): ~30-60 seconds
• Standard mode (50 pages, depth 3): ~3-5 minutes
• Comprehensive mode (100+ pages, depth 5): ~10-15 minutes

Memory Usage

• Light: < 100 MB (few pages, no Lighthouse)
• Medium: 100-300 MB (50 pages with Lighthouse)
• Heavy: 300-500 MB (100+ pages, full analysis)

API Rate Limits

Without Google API Key:

• Lighthouse: 10 requests/day

With Google API Key:

• Lighthouse: 25,000 requests/day (FREE!)

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🤝 Integration Examples

Zapier Integration

1. Use webhook to trigger Zapier when audit completes
2. Parse the JSON payload
3. Send results to Slack, email, or Google Sheets

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CI/CD Pipeline

# .github/workflows/seo-audit.yml
name: Weekly SEO Audit

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1' # Every Monday at 9 AM

jobs:
  audit:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Run SEO Zombie Slayer
        uses: apify/apify-action@v1
        with:
          actor: YOUR_ACTOR_ID
          input: |
            {
              "websiteUrl": "https://example.com",
              "webhookUrl": "${{ secrets.WEBHOOK_URL }}"
            }

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Monitoring Dashboard

Use the dataset API to build a custom dashboard:

// Fetch historical data
const runs = await client.actor("YOUR_ACTOR_ID").runs().list();

const scoreHistory = runs.items.map(run => ({
  date: run.finishedAt,
  score: run.output.zombie_score
}));

// Plot score over time
plotChart(scoreHistory);

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📚 Advanced Configuration

Custom Zombie Detection Sensitivity

The difficultyLevel parameter affects how aggressively zombies are detected:

// Easy mode - Only critical issues
{ "difficultyLevel": "easy" } // 0.75x sensitivity

// Normal mode - Balanced detection
{ "difficultyLevel": "normal" } // 1x sensitivity (default)

// Hard mode - More sensitive
{ "difficultyLevel": "hard" } // 1.25x sensitivity

// Nightmare mode - Catches everything
{ "difficultyLevel": "nightmare" } // 1.5x sensitivity

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Analysis Modes Explained

full_audit (Default)

• Crawls all pages within limits
• Checks all zombie types
• Runs all enabled audits
• Best for comprehensive analysis

competitive

• Compares multiple sites
• Generates competitive rankings
• Highlights advantages/disadvantages
• Best for market analysis

link_resurrector

• Focuses on broken links
• Searches Wayback Machine for alternatives
• Provides replacement suggestions
• Best for link maintenance

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🎯 Feature Roadmap

Coming Soon

• Historical tracking (compare audits over time)
• Custom zombie definitions
• Email report delivery
• PDF export
• Slack integration
• Mobile app companion
• Team collaboration features
• White-label reports

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🙋 FAQ

Q: How many sites can I analyze at once?

A: Up to 5 sites per run. For competitive analysis, use startUrls to add competitors.

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Q: Does this affect my website performance?

A: The crawler is polite and respects robots.txt. It won't overload your server. Default concurrency is 2 requests/second.

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Q: Can I schedule automatic audits?

A: Yes! Use Apify Schedules or integrate with your CI/CD pipeline.

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Q: Is my data private?

A: Yes. Data is stored in your private Apify dataset and automatically deleted after 7 days (configurable).

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Q: Can I export the data?

A: Yes! Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Dataset tab.

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Q: What about JavaScript-heavy sites?

A: The actor uses Playwright with full JavaScript rendering. SPAs, React, Vue, Angular - all supported!

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Q: Can I customize the HTML report?

A: The report is generated automatically. For custom reports, export the JSON data and build your own visualization.

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Q: Does this work with password-protected sites?

A: Not directly. For staging sites, consider IP whitelisting or using a public URL temporarily.

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📞 Support

Need Help?

• 📖 Documentation: Check this README first
• 💬 Apify Discord: Join the Apify community
• 📧 Email Support: Use Apify support for technical issues
• 🐛 Bug Reports: Create an issue in the Apify Console

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📄 License

This actor is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

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🙏 Credits

Built with:

• Apify SDK
• Playwright
• Crawlee
• Chart.js

Special thanks to the Apify team and community!

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🌟 Show Your Support

If this actor helps you find and fix SEO issues, give it a ⭐ star in the Apify Store!

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