10 Free Tools to Audit Your Website in One Afternoon

1. Can Google find and keep your pages?

1. Google Search ConsoleFree · needs site verification

   Google's own report on your site. The Pages report shows what isn't indexed and why; URL Inspection shows how Google sees one page.

   Best for: The first and most important audit check.

   Ritik's note: Open Indexing > Pages. Only worry about reasons on pages you actually want in Google. Google says many 'not indexed' reasons are normal.

2. Bing Webmaster ToolsFree · import your site from Search Console

   Bing's version of Search Console, with a Site Scan that crawls your site and lists SEO issues.

   Best for: A second crawler's view of your site, and Bing/Copilot data.

   Ritik's note: Run Site Scan once a month. Bing doesn't publish the current page cap in public docs, so check it inside the tool.

2. Crawl the site like a search engine

1. Screaming Frog SEO SpiderFree · up to 500 URLs per crawl · can't save crawls or use JavaScript rendering (paid licence £199/year)

   Desktop crawler that finds broken links, redirects, missing or duplicate titles, descriptions and H1s, and noindex tags.

   Best for: Small sites. 500 URLs covers most local business and early SaaS sites.

   Ritik's note: Sort Response Codes by Client Error (4xx) first. Every broken internal link is a dead hallway.

2. Ahrefs Webmaster ToolsFree for verified sites · 5,000 crawl credits per project per month · 1,000 backlinks/keywords shown

   Free cloud Site Audit plus Site Explorer for your own backlinks and keywords.

   Best for: A monthly health score that runs without your laptop.

   Ritik's note: Verify through Search Console in a couple of clicks.

3. httpstatus.ioFree web checker · up to 100 URLs at once

   Bulk checker for status codes and redirect chains.

   Best for: Checking that http, www and old URLs all redirect in one hop to the right page.

   Ritik's note: Paste your four homepage versions (http/https, www/non-www). All should 301 to one URL.

3. Speed and Core Web Vitals

1. PageSpeed InsightsFree · no account

   Real-user Core Web Vitals (when Google has enough data) plus a Lighthouse lab test with fixes.

   Best for: Checking LCP (2.5 s or less), INP (200 ms or less) and CLS (0.1 or less) on key pages.

   Ritik's note: Mobile tab first. Test your homepage and your main money page.

2. Lighthouse (Chrome DevTools)Free · built into desktop Chrome

   Built into Chrome. Audits performance, accessibility, best practices and SEO for any page you open, including staging sites.

   Best for: Testing pages before they go live.

   Ritik's note: Lab tests can't measure INP; Lighthouse uses Total Blocking Time as a stand-in.

4. Schema and rich results

1. Rich Results TestFree · live URL or pasted code

   Google's test for which rich results your structured data can earn, and errors that block them.

   Best for: Checking Product, LocalBusiness, Breadcrumb, Article and other Google-supported types.

   Ritik's note: FAQ rich results were retired in 2026, so don't expect FAQ stars here.

2. Schema Markup ValidatorFree · no account

   Schema.org's validator for every schema type, not only Google's rich result types.

   Best for: Catching errors in Organization or LocalBusiness markup the Rich Results Test ignores.

   Ritik's note: Use both tools. They answer different questions.

5. Can AI assistants read your site?

1. theStacc AI Visibility CheckerFree · no signup · a limited number of checks per visitor in a short period

   Requests a page as seven AI crawlers (including GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot) and a normal browser, reads your robots.txt rules for each, and checks text before JavaScript, noai/nosnippet, llms.txt and structured data.

   Best for: Spotting a robots.txt rule or firewall that blocks AI crawlers by accident.

   Ritik's note: Run it on your homepage and one service page. It only checks access and readability, not rankings.

Business info consistency (manual check, no tool needed)

• Business name, address and phone are identical on your site footer, contact page and Google Business Profile.

  Google advises keeping Business Profile information accurate and current; mismatches confuse customers. (Practical advice on exact matching.)

• Opening hours on your site match your Google Business Profile, including holiday hours.

  Wrong hours lose walk-ins and calls.

• Any LocalBusiness or Organization schema uses the same details as the visible page.

  Google's structured data guidelines require markup to match visible content.

The 40-point audit checklist

Tick each box. Anything unticked goes on the fix list with the tool that found it.

• Search Console is verified as a Domain property.

  Covers http, https, www and subdomains together.

• An XML sitemap is submitted and shows "Success".

  Helps Google find your pages. Sitemaps report in Search Console.

• Every money page shows "URL is on Google" in URL Inspection.

  If it's not indexed, it can't rank.

• No important page has a noindex tag.

  A leftover noindex from a redesign is a common cause of lost traffic.

• robots.txt doesn't block important pages, CSS or JS.

  Google needs those files to render the page.

• All four homepage versions 301 to one URL in one hop.

  Splits and chains waste crawling and confuse links.

• Zero internal links to 404 pages.

  Screaming Frog > Response Codes > Client Error.

• No redirect chains longer than one hop on internal links.

  Update the link to point straight to the final URL.

• No 5xx server errors in the crawl.

  Repeated server errors can make Google crawl less.

• Every key page has a unique title under about 60 characters.

  Long titles get cut. Duplicates make pages compete.

• Every key page has one clear H1.

  Tells readers (and crawlers) what the page is about.

• Meta descriptions exist on money pages.

  Not a ranking factor, but Google may use them as the snippet.

• Canonical tags point to the page itself or the right original.

  Wrong canonicals can drop pages from the index.

• No thin duplicate pages (city pages with only the name swapped).

  Google's spam policies call this doorway abuse.

• Images have alt text that describes them.

  Helps image search and screen readers.

• Homepage LCP is 2.5 s or less on mobile.

  Google's "good" threshold.

• INP is 200 ms or less on key pages (field data).

  Measures how fast the page reacts to taps.

• CLS is 0.1 or less.

  Stops buttons jumping as the page loads.

• The largest image on each key page is compressed.

  Oversized images are the most common LCP problem.

• The site uses HTTPS everywhere.

  Mixed content warnings scare visitors.

• Pages work and read well on a phone.

  Google crawls with a smartphone crawler by default.

• Phone number and main button are visible without scrolling on mobile.

  Practical advice: buyers on phones don't hunt for contact info.

• Schema has no errors in the Rich Results Test.

  Errors can block rich results.

• Organization or LocalBusiness schema matches the visible page.

  Google requires markup to match visible content.

• Breadcrumb schema on pages below the homepage.

  Google shows breadcrumbs in results when it can.

• Product pages have price and availability in schema (stores).

  Needed for price info in results.

• No AI crawler you want is blocked in robots.txt or the firewall.

  If GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot or ClaudeBot can't fetch you, those assistants can't read you.

• Main content is in the HTML, not only loaded by JavaScript.

  Many AI crawlers don't run JavaScript.

• Name, address and phone match on site footer, contact page and Google Business Profile.

  Google advises keeping profile info accurate. Mismatches confuse customers.

• Opening hours match everywhere, including holidays.

  Wrong hours lose calls.

• Google Business Profile category is the most specific one.

  Practical advice: category helps decide which searches you show for.

• Bing Webmaster Tools is set up (import from Search Console).

  Two minutes, and it adds Bing and Copilot data.

• Bing Site Scan shows no high-severity issues.

  A second crawler's opinion.

• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools Site Audit has run at least once.

  Gives a monthly baseline.

• The 404 page links back to your main pages.

  Keeps lost visitors on the site.

• No orphan pages (money pages with zero internal links).

  Pages with no links in are hard to find for people and crawlers.

• Each money page links to at least one related page.

  Internal links share context and keep readers moving.

• Contact form sends to the right inbox (send a test).

  Practical advice: broken forms are invisible in SEO tools but lose leads.

• Analytics is recording visits (check real-time while you browse).

  An audit with no data after it can't show if fixes worked.

• You saved today's numbers (indexed pages, CWV, errors) as a baseline.

  Re-run in 30 days and compare.

Worked example: quick audit of a small site (illustrative)

Made-up findings to show how results become the fix list.

Turn findings into a fix list

PRIORITY 1 — CAN'T BE FOUND (fix this week)
[ ] Important pages with noindex or blocked by robots.txt
[ ] Important pages returning 404 or 5xx
[ ] Site versions not redirecting to one URL

PRIORITY 2 — CAN'T BE READ
[ ] Broken internal links
[ ] Missing or duplicate titles on key pages
[ ] Key content missing on mobile
[ ] Schema errors on key pages

PRIORITY 3 — SLOW
[ ] Pages failing LCP / INP / CLS on mobile

PRIORITY 4 — EVERYTHING ELSE
[ ] Missing meta descriptions, alt text, warnings

For each item: URL | problem | tool that found it | who fixes | date fixed

Common audit mistakes

• Trying to fix every warning.

  Fix what blocks money pages first. Many warnings never matter.

• Panicking over "Crawled - currently not indexed".

  Google says not every page gets indexed. Check only pages you need.

• Judging speed on Lighthouse alone.

  Lab tests can't measure INP. Use PageSpeed Insights field data when it exists.

• Auditing and never re-checking.

  Re-run the same tool after each fix. A fix you didn't check isn't done.

• Paying for an audit before running these.

  If you hire someone, you'll now know what to ask them to fix.