SiteCheck 4 min read

What a website health report covers

A SiteCheck report lists broken links, HTTP errors, redirects, title and meta issues, H1s, robots, sitemap, TLS, mixed content, noindex, and canonicals.

A website health report is a stamped list of defects found on the pages the crawler reached. It is not a ranking forecast, a content brief, or a redesign. Read it as a punch list: what is broken, what is missing, what to remedy first.

The checks on every inspection

SiteCheck runs these checks on the pages it crawls. The free scan covers up to 25 pages with no account. Paid plans raise the page limit and add weekly or daily re-scans.

Broken links

Internal and external links that return errors. A dead menu item and a dead outbound PDF both waste a click. Fix the ones you control; replace or remove the ones you do not.

HTTP errors

Pages that return 4xx or 5xx. A soft 404 that still returns 200 is a different problem; a hard error status is unambiguous. Treat 5xx as urgent. Treat 404s on URLs you still link to as high priority.

Redirects

Redirect chains and loops. One hop to the final URL is fine. A chain of three, or a loop that never settles, slows visitors and confuses crawlers. Flatten chains. Break loops.

Page titles

Missing, duplicate, or overlong title tags. The title is what a tab and many search results show. Two pages with the same title make the site look unfinished. Empty titles are worse.

Meta descriptions

Missing or duplicate descriptions. They do not "rank" by themselves, but a clear unique description is what people often see under the title. Duplicates suggest templating that was never filled in.

H1 headings

Missing or multiple H1 tags on a page. One clear H1 per page is the usual, readable structure. Zero or many is a signal the template or the CMS field is wrong.

robots.txt

Presence, parse errors, and blocked paths. A missing file is sometimes fine. A file that accidentally blocks CSS, important sections, or the whole site is not. Parse errors mean crawlers may ignore rules you thought you set.

Sitemap

sitemap.xml discovery and URL validation. A sitemap that lists dead URLs, or that search engines cannot find, does not help. The report flags discovery and validation problems it can see from the crawl.

HTTPS / TLS

Certificate validity and secure connections. An expired or mismatched certificate stops browsers before your copy loads. Details of watching one URL's certificate over time are in how to monitor TLS certificate expiry with SignalWatch. SiteCheck's job is the state of the site at inspection time.

Mixed content

Insecure assets loaded on HTTPS pages. An HTTP image or script on an HTTPS page triggers browser warnings and can break features. Serve those assets over HTTPS or drop them.

noindex tags

Pages marked noindex that should be indexed. Staging leftovers, a mis-set CMS toggle, or a plugin default can hide a live page from search. Confirm intent before you remove the tag.

Canonical tags

Missing or conflicting canonical URLs. Canonicals tell search engines which URL is the preferred one. Missing tags on near-duplicate pages, or conflicting ones, leave that choice ambiguous.

How to triage the list

Do not fix titles while the contact page 404s.

  1. Visitor-blocking. Broken links people click, HTTP errors on key pages, redirect loops, bad TLS, mixed content.
  2. Indexability. Accidental noindex, robots.txt blocks, broken sitemap, conflicting canonicals.
  3. On-page basics. Titles, descriptions, H1s — the polish that makes the remaining pages clear.

How to run the scan itself is in how to inspect a website for health problems.

What the report will not say

  • Whether a sentence on a page changed since yesterday. That is SignalWatch.
  • Whether a link that used to work newly failed after a baseline. That is Mortise. See website inspection vs new-break alerts.
  • Keyword difficulty, backlinks, or content ideas. Those are other products.

Free: one-off report, up to 25 pages, no card. Starter $9/month adds weekly scans on one site. Pro $19/month adds daily scans across more sites. Agency $49/month adds client-ready reports and CSV.

Checklist

  • You know which findings block visitors versus which are SEO hygiene.
  • Redirect chains are shortened, not ignored because "they eventually work."
  • noindex and robots.txt are checked against what you meant to publish.
  • TLS and mixed content are cleared before you argue about meta descriptions.
  • A second tool is only added if you need change alerts or new-break alerts, not because the report felt short.