Free SEO check

What the free check looks at

The check fetches the page you enter, just as a search engine would, and runs these tests:

• Secure connection: whether the page loads over HTTPS, and whether the http:// version redirects to it.
• Redirects: how many redirects happen before the page loads. One or two is normal.
• Indexing: whether a noindex tag or header is keeping the page out of Google.
• Page title: that there is one, and that it’s roughly 10 to 60 characters.
• Meta description: that there is one, and that it’s roughly 50 to 160 characters.
• Main heading: that the page has exactly one H1.
• Mobile viewport: that the page tells phones to use the screen width.
• Canonical tag: that the page names its main address.
• robots.txt: that the file exists and isn’t blocking the whole site.
• XML sitemap: that a sitemap exists, either listed in robots.txt or at the usual address.
• Server response time: how long the server takes to start sending the page. Google’s guidance treats 0.8 seconds or less as good.
• HTML size: how heavy the page’s HTML is. Under about 500 KB is our rule of thumb.
• Render-blocking files: scripts without async or defer, and stylesheets, in the page head.
• Images: how many images there are, which lack width and height, and which don’t use lazy loading.
• Structured data: whether the page has JSON-LD schema, and which types.
• Broken links: a sample of up to 20 links to other pages on your site, each tested for errors.

How the score works

The score is the share of checks that passed, out of 100. If 12 of 15 checks pass, you score 80. Checks marked ‘Needs work’ or ‘Fail’ don’t count as passed. If we couldn’t run a check, for example because your server didn’t answer in time, it’s left out rather than counted against you.

There’s no weighting and no guesswork. Each result comes with a short note on what we found and why it matters, so you can decide what to fix.

What it can’t tell you

This is a quick test of one page and a sample of its links. It can’t see how your site performs in Google, how your content compares with competitors, or problems on pages it didn’t load. Speed figures are measured from Cloudflare’s network, so they’ll differ a little from what your visitors see. For a fuller picture, use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights and Search Console, or ask us for the free audit below.

Want the full picture? Get a free SEO audit

The instant check is automated and looks at one page. Our free SEO audit looks at your whole site, with a person reviewing what the software finds. You get a written audit by email covering:

• Whether Google can find and index your main pages
• Technical problems such as broken links, redirect chains, slow pages and mobile issues
• How the titles, descriptions and headings read on your key pages
• Your Google Business Profile and local listings, if you serve an area
• A written list of the fixes we’d make first, in order of importance

It’s free, with no card and no obligation. If you then want us to do the work, the plan is £99 a month with no contract. If we don’t think the plan suits your site, we’ll say so.

Your privacy

We don’t store the address you check or the results, and you don’t need to give us your name or email. To stop the tool being misused, it limits how many checks can be run from one connection in a short time. It only checks public websites, so addresses on private networks are refused.

Questions about the free check