SEO Checker: How to Test Your Website’s SEO for Free

An SEO checker is a tool that scans your website and flags problems that can hold back your Google visibility: broken links, missing titles, slow pages, thin content and more. Most are free to try. You paste a URL, wait a few seconds, and get a score and a list of issues.

The catch: a checker tells you what looks wrong, not what to do next. This guide covers what checkers measure, which free ones are worth using, how to run a check step by step, what to fix first, and why a list of errors is not the same as a plan. Dex, the AI SEO agent, builds that plan from your URL for free.

What does an SEO checker actually check?

Most SEO checkers look at three layers of your site. Knowing them helps you read any report without panic, because every flag in a report belongs to one of these layers.

Technical SEO

This is whether search engines can reach, read and index your pages. If a page cannot be crawled or indexed, it cannot show up in results, however good it is. Typical checks include:

• Whether the page loads over HTTPS
• Broken links and redirect chains
• Whether a robots.txt file or noindex tag blocks pages by accident
• XML sitemap presence
• Mobile friendliness
• Page speed and Core Web Vitals
• Canonical tags and duplicate URLs

On-page SEO

This covers what is written on each page and how it is marked up. These are the elements Google and visitors see first:

• Title tag: present, unique, a sensible length
• Meta description: present and not duplicated
• One clear H1 and a logical heading structure
• Image alt text
• Internal links between related pages
• URL structure that is short and readable

Content signals

Better checkers also look at word count, keyword usage and whether a page is thin. A page with a hundred words on a topic that competitors cover in depth will usually be flagged. Few tools can judge whether your content matches what buyers actually search. That gap matters. Dex has answers, further down.

What a checker usually does not check

Be realistic about the limits. A free checker generally cannot tell you:

• Which keywords your customers search that you could realistically win
• Whether your content is better than the pages ranking above you
• How much traffic a fix will bring
• What to write next month
• Whether your pages are likely to be used in AI answers

It is a health check, like a thermometer. Useful, but it does not prescribe treatment. A thermometer can tell you that you have a fever. It cannot tell you why, or what to do on Tuesday.

Which free SEO checker should you use?

There is no single best tool. Pick based on what you want to learn. Here is a plain comparison of the common types.

A sensible combination

Dex’s take: you do not need ten tools. Running many checkers mostly gives you many overlapping lists, and the overlap creates false urgency. For most small sites, this set covers the ground:

1. Google Search Console for the truth about how Google sees you.
2. One all-in-one checker for a quick issue list.
3. PageSpeed Insights for your most important pages.
4. A plan that tells you what to publish, which is where Dex comes in.

How to judge any free checker

• Does it explain each issue? A red flag with no reason is noise.
• Does it rank issues by importance? Fifty equal warnings help nobody.
• Is the score explained? A number out of 100 means little if the method is hidden.
• What is the catch? Many free tools ask for an email or a card, or hide half the results behind a paywall.
• Does it show real data? Tools that only guess from the outside are less reliable than Search Console, which reports what Google recorded.

Treat any score as a rough indicator, including the SEO rating in a free plan. A site can score 95 and still get no traffic because it targets no searches anyone makes, and a site can score 70 and bring in plenty of customers.

Which one if you only have ten minutes?

Start with Search Console if you already have it set up, because it shows real clicks and indexing problems. If you do not, run one all-in-one checker on your homepage and read only the critical items. Then get a plan. Ten minutes spent on a clear next step beats an hour spent scrolling a long report.

How do you check the SEO of your website step by step?

Here is a simple routine many small sites can get through in an hour or so. Keep a notes file open and write down only what matters.

Step 1: Confirm Google can find and index you

Search Google for site:yourdomain.com. If nothing appears, you have an indexing problem before anything else. Then set up Google Search Console and look at the indexing report for pages that are excluded or blocked. Note the reason Google gives for each group, since it points straight at the fix.

Step 2: Run an all-in-one checker on your homepage

Paste your URL into a checker and save the results. Do not try to fix everything. Note the issues flagged as critical: missing titles, noindex tags, broken pages, no HTTPS. Ignore the rest for now.

Step 3: Check your key pages, not just the homepage

Most customers land on service, product or blog pages. Test your top five pages: the ones that make money or should. A dentist might test the homepage, the implants page, the emergency appointments page, the pricing page and the contact page. A photographer might test the wedding, portrait and pricing pages.

Step 4: Test speed and mobile

Open PageSpeed Insights and run your main pages. Many searches happen on phones, so read the mobile result first. Big uncompressed images are a common easy win. Also tap through the page yourself on a real phone. Tiny buttons and text that needs zooming will not always show up in a score.

Step 5: Look at what you already rank for

In Search Console, open the Performance report and see which queries show impressions. Queries where you appear at positions 8 to 20 are often the closest to a real ranking. This tells you what a checker cannot: how near you already are. Dex weighs the same idea when it scores keywords. Sort by impressions and look for searches that match what you sell.

Step 6: Review your content against buyer searches

Ask the blunt question Dex asks first: for each thing you sell, is there a page that matches how a buyer would phrase the search? If a bakery sells wedding cakes but has no page about wedding cakes, no technical fix will help. List every product or service, then mark which ones have a dedicated page.

Step 7: Write down a short list

Finish with a list of no more than ten items, ordered by impact. That list is your starting point, and the next section shows how to order it.

Step 8: Repeat on a schedule

SEO is not a one-off test. Pages change, plugins update and links break. Put a reminder in your calendar to recheck Search Console monthly and run a full check every few months.

What should you fix first after an SEO check?

Reports often show dozens of issues. Fix them in this order, from most severe to least.

1. Anything that blocks indexing

A stray noindex tag, a robots.txt that blocks the whole site, or a broken sitemap can keep pages out of Google. Nothing else matters if pages are not indexed. This is rare but severe, and it often happens after a redesign when a staging setting is carried over to the live site. Check it first.

2. Broken pages and bad redirects

Fix 404 errors on pages that used to matter, especially ones with links pointing to them. Redirect them to the closest relevant page, not blindly to the homepage. Long chains of redirects waste crawl effort and slow visitors down.

3. Titles and headings on your money pages

Each key page needs a unique title that says what the page is about in words a buyer uses, and one clear H1. A title like "Home" wastes your best signal. "Emergency dentist in Leeds" says something. This is cheap, fast and often overlooked.

4. Mobile usability and speed on key pages

Compress images, remove unused plugins and make sure buttons and text work on a phone. You do not need a perfect score. You need pages that load without frustration.

5. Thin or missing content

If a page that should rank has a hundred words and a stock photo, it needs real content. If a topic buyers search has no page, it needs one. This is usually where the biggest long-term gains sit, and also where most owners stall, because writing takes time.

6. Internal links

Link related pages to each other with descriptive anchor text. It helps visitors and helps search engines understand your site structure. A blog post about wedding cake flavors should point to your wedding cake page.

What can wait

• Minor warnings such as a meta description a few characters too long
• Perfect scores on speed tools
• Alt text on decorative images
• Obsessing over a single overall score

Also think about AI search

People now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Bing questions that used to go to Google. Clear, well-structured, factual pages are easier for those systems to use, which is why Dex writes with AI search in mind as well as Google. No one can guarantee a citation, but content that answers questions plainly gives you a fair shot.

Why is a list of errors not the same as an SEO plan?

An SEO checker answers the question: what is wrong with my site? A plan answers a different one: what should I do this week to get more of the right visitors?

Errors describe the past; a plan describes the next step

Fixing a missing alt text does not bring a single new customer by itself. Growth in organic search mostly comes from pages that match searches buyers make. A report full of green ticks says nothing about which searches those are. You can clear every warning and still have a site that nobody searches for.

What a real plan contains

• Keywords your buyers search, not generic terms. Dex starts every plan here.
• A way to pick winnable ones. A keyword with high volume and very high difficulty is a poor bet for a small site. A modest one you are already close to ranking for is often better.
• A content calendar so you publish steadily instead of in bursts
• Measurement so you see which pages earn clicks

This is exactly how Dex thinks about keywords. Here is an illustrative example. Suppose a local café could target a broad term with high volume and a very high difficulty score, or a niche term like a specific brunch search in its city with lower volume and low difficulty. The first sounds exciting but is dominated by big publishers. The second is one the café can actually win. A checker will never tell you that. A plan should.

Why checkers and plans fail in different ways

A checker can leave you with too much information and no priority. A generic plan can leave you with too little information about your own site. The useful combination is a plan built from your actual pages, so it knows what you already cover and what is missing.

The time problem

Even with a good plan, someone has to do keyword research, write 1,000 to 3,000 word articles, fact-check them, publish them and read the reports. For a café owner, a dentist or a photographer, that is a second job. That is the gap between knowing and doing, and it is where most SEO efforts quietly die.

How does Dex turn your URL into a free SEO plan in 60 seconds?

Dex is an AI SEO agent that handles keyword research, writing, publishing and reporting as one agent. Your whole SEO team, one robot. Before you pay anything, you can see what it would do for your site.

What you do

1. Enter your website URL.
2. Wait about 60 seconds.
3. Read your free SEO plan.

No card is required. The plan is free, and it comes with an SEO rating for your site. That is the whole process.

What Dex does with your URL

Dex reads your pages and learns what you sell, who you sell to and how you talk. That means the plan is built around your actual business, not a template, and later articles can match your brand’s tone of voice in any of 7 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Dutch.

How keywords are chosen

Dex scores every keyword by volume, difficulty and how close your site already is to ranking. The goal is to focus on searches you can actually win, rather than chasing the biggest numbers. Any figures you see in examples are illustrative; results depend on competition and your site’s history, and no ranking is guaranteed.

You stay in control

Dex offers review mode or full autopilot. You approve the content plan before anything is written. If you continue, Dex writes expert articles, fact-checked and with a content score on each, and publishes daily to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Wix or Framer through a secure sign-in with no API keys. It also reports clicks straight from Google Search Console, so you see what the work produced. There are no contracts, you can cancel anytime, and published articles stay on your site.

Who it suits

• Small and local businesses that want to rank on Google
• Businesses paying for Google Ads that want organic traffic too
• Ecommerce and website owners on the platforms above
• Growing brands and agencies managing up to 3 sites

Think of it this way: a checker is the thermometer, and Dex is the robot that writes the prescription and then does the work, if you want it to.

FAQ

Is there a truly free SEO checker?

Yes. Google Search Console and PageSpeed Insights are free, and many online checkers give a basic report without payment. Some limit results or push upgrades. Dex’s free SEO plan needs no card; you just enter your URL.

How often should you run an SEO check?

Run a full check every few months and after big changes such as a redesign, a migration or a platform switch. Check Search Console more often, monthly is a good habit, to spot indexing drops early.

What is a good SEO score?

It depends on the tool, because each one calculates scores differently. A high score means fewer detected issues, not more traffic. Use it as a rough signal, and judge success by clicks and rankings for searches that matter to your business.

Will fixing every issue boost my rankings?

Not necessarily. Fixing real problems like indexing errors can help a lot. Fixing minor warnings usually changes little. Rankings depend mostly on competition, content quality and your site’s history, so no one can promise a result or a timeframe.

Can an SEO checker tell me which keywords to target?

Most cannot. They review the health of your pages. Keyword choice needs research into volume, difficulty and how close you already are to ranking. That is the kind of research Dex does, and the free plan is where it starts.

Ready to see your plan?

Stop renting traffic. Run a checker to find the problems, then get a plan for what to do about them. If you want Dex to look at your site, enter your URL and see your free SEO plan in about 60 seconds, no card needed. Your competitors won’t wait.

Dex SEO

Dex SEO is an AI SEO agent for small businesses. Every article here is planned from search data, drafted by Dex, fact-checked against the sources it cites, and reviewed by the team before it is published.

How this article was made: drafted with AI, fact-checked against the sources listed above, then edited and approved by the Dex SEO team.