What the checker looks at
The checker reads your page the way a search engine does and runs 39 checks in eight areas:
- On-page content: your page title, meta description, main heading, subheadings, amount of text, image alt text, links and broken links.
- Indexing and crawling: whether Google is allowed to list the page, your canonical tag, robots.txt, XML sitemap and structured data, whether the www and non-www addresses lead to the same place, whether AI search tools can read the site, and how missing pages are handled.
- Speed: how quickly your server responds, the size of the page, compression, the number of scripts and stylesheets, scripts that hold the page up, redirects and HTTP/2.
- Mobile and basics: the mobile viewport, page language, character set and favicon.
- Security: HTTPS, the redirect from http://, HSTS, insecure files, security headers and whether your server reveals its software versions.
- Local signals: tappable contact details, and structured data describing your business and the areas you serve.
- Social sharing: the Open Graph tags that control how your links look on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Teams.
- Email security: the SPF, DMARC and DKIM records that stop criminals sending fake emails in your name. These don’t count towards the SEO score.
You also get a preview of how the page may look in Google, and a to-do list with the most important fixes first. Every result says what we found and how to fix it. Our website SEO checklist explains each check in more detail.
How the score works
Each check is marked as passed, to improve or a problem. Checks that matter most, such as your page title, being allowed in Google, HTTPS and working on phones, count for more. Your score is the share of points earned, out of 100 (email security is shown separately and doesn’t count): 90 or more is an A, 80 a B, 70 a C, 60 a D, and below that an E.
A high score means the technical basics are in place. It doesn’t guarantee rankings: useful content, reviews and links from other websites matter just as much.
What a tool can’t check
Some of the most important parts of SEO can’t be measured by reading one page:
- Your Google Business Profile: for local searches, it often matters more than your website.
- Reviews on Google and other sites.
- Links from other websites, such as suppliers, associations and local news.
- Whether your content answers what customers search for.
- Real-world speed on phones, which Google’s PageSpeed Insights measures.
- Problems across the whole site, such as broken links and pages Google hasn’t indexed. Google Search Console shows these for free.
The full checklist covers these too.
Questions
Is the SEO checker free?
Yes. There’s nothing to sign up for and nothing to pay. To stop misuse, each visitor can run about a dozen checks an hour.
Does it check my whole website?
No. Each check looks at one page and the links on it, plus your site’s robots.txt, sitemap, redirects and email settings. Check your home page first, then your most important service pages one at a time.
Why is my score different from other SEO checkers?
Every tool checks different things and weighs them differently, so scores rarely match. Focus on the individual problems rather than the number: if two tools flag the same issue, it’s worth fixing.
Why couldn’t it check my website?
Some websites block automated tools, are too slow to respond, or have a security certificate problem. The message will say which. If your site blocks our checker, it may also be blocking some search engines.
Do you keep my website address or email address?
We keep the report for up to two hours so it can be emailed to you, then it’s deleted. Your email address is used only to send the report, unless you tick the box asking us to get in touch. See our privacy policy.
Can InstaIT fix the problems it finds?
Yes. Email the report to yourself and tick the box, or contact us. Many fixes, such as titles, descriptions, redirects and security headers, take minutes for someone who knows the site. Our SEO services start from €200 a month plus VAT, and we’re happy to work within your budget.