Every SEO Check,
Fully Explained
InstaRank SEO runs 19 in-depth checks across Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, Off-Page signals, and AI optimisation. Here's exactly what each one does and why it matters.
Technical SEO Checks
The foundation of every high-ranking website. Technical SEO ensures search engines can crawl, index, and understand your site without friction.
Robots.txt Analysis
Crawl directives & access rules
Validates your robots.txt file for syntax errors, conflicting rules, missing sitemaps, and blocked resources. Checks if important pages are accidentally disallowed from Googlebot.
- Syntax validation
- Googlebot access rules
- Sitemap declaration
- Blocked resources detection
XML Sitemap Checker
Sitemap presence, structure & validity
Checks for sitemap existence, valid XML structure, correct URL formatting, lastmod accuracy, and submission status. Flags pages missing from sitemap or URLs returning errors.
- Sitemap existence
- XML structure validation
- URL count & errors
- lastmod accuracy
Canonical URL Checker
Duplicate content signals
Detects missing, self-referencing, and cross-domain canonical tags. Identifies canonical chains and conflicts that split PageRank across duplicate pages.
- Missing canonicals
- Canonical chains
- Cross-domain canonicals
- Self-referential tags
HTTP Status Checker
4xx/5xx errors & redirect chains
Crawls your site to detect 404 errors, server errors (5xx), redirect chains, redirect loops, and slow-loading pages. Prioritises issues by their SEO impact.
- 404 detection
- Server errors (5xx)
- Redirect chains
- Redirect loops
URL Structure
Clean, SEO-friendly URL patterns
Analyses URL length, special characters, dynamic parameters, keyword presence, and directory depth. Flags URLs that violate Google's URL best practices.
- URL length checks
- Special character detection
- Parameter analysis
- Keyword in URL
Mixed Content Detector
HTTP resources on HTTPS pages
Scans for HTTP images, scripts, stylesheets, and iframes loaded on HTTPS pages — a security and ranking issue that triggers browser warnings and degrades trust.
- HTTP images on HTTPS
- Insecure scripts
- Mixed iframes
- Browser warning triggers
X-Robots-Tag Checker
Server-level crawl control headers
Checks HTTP response headers for X-Robots-Tag directives. Detects pages unintentionally blocked with noindex, nofollow, or noarchive at the server level.
- noindex via HTTP header
- nofollow detection
- noarchive flags
- Googlebot-specific rules
Internal Links Analysis
Site structure & link equity flow
Maps your internal link graph to identify orphan pages, link equity leaks, over-linked pages, and broken internal links that hurt crawlability and PageRank distribution.
- Orphan pages
- Link equity distribution
- Broken internal links
- Anchor text diversity
Page Speed Checker
Core Web Vitals & performance scores
Uses Google PageSpeed Insights API to measure LCP, CLS, FID/INP, TTFB, and overall performance scores. Provides specific fix recommendations for each failing metric.
- Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP)
- Mobile & desktop scores
- Performance bottlenecks
- Fix recommendations
On-Page SEO Checks
On-page factors tell Google what your content is about. These checks ensure your content, metadata, and signals are fully optimised for your target audience.
Meta Tags Analysis
Titles, descriptions, OG & Twitter tags
Audits title tags (length, keyword presence, uniqueness), meta descriptions (length, CTR optimisation), Open Graph tags, Twitter card tags, and robots meta directives across all pages.
- Title tag length & uniqueness
- Meta description optimisation
- Open Graph completeness
- Twitter card tags
Content Quality Scorer
Readability, depth & uniqueness scores
Evaluates content length, readability (Flesch-Kincaid), heading structure (H1-H6 hierarchy), keyword coverage, duplicate content, thin content, and content freshness signals.
- Word count & depth
- Readability scoring
- Heading structure (H1-H6)
- Thin & duplicate content
Keyword Research & Analysis
Keyword density, targeting & opportunities
Identifies primary and secondary keywords, analyses keyword density, flags over-optimisation (keyword stuffing), and surfaces missing keyword opportunities for your content.
- Primary keyword detection
- Keyword density analysis
- Stuffing detection
- LSI keyword opportunities
E-E-A-T Evaluation
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
Scores your site's E-E-A-T signals: author bio presence, credentials, About page quality, contact information, privacy policy, SSL, editorial standards, and external mentions.
- Author credentials
- About & contact pages
- Trust signals (SSL, policies)
- Editorial standards
External Links Checker
Inbound link analysis & quality
Analyses all external links pointing into your pages, checking for broken links, redirect chains, nofollow attribution, anchor text distribution, and linking domain authority.
- Broken external links
- Redirect chains
- Nofollow attribution
- Anchor text distribution
Off-Page SEO Checks
Off-page signals build authority and trust. These checks reveal how your site is referenced, linked to, and mentioned across the web.
Outbound Links Checker
Link quality, relevance & risk
Analyses all outbound links for broken destinations, spammy targets, missing nofollow on paid/affiliate links, redirect chains, and topical relevance to your content.
- Broken outbound links
- Spammy link detection
- Nofollow compliance
- Topical relevance
Backlinks Quality Analysis
Referring domains, authority & toxicity
Pulls your backlink profile and scores it by referring domain authority, anchor text distribution, toxic link detection, link velocity trends, and industry relevance.
- Referring domain authority
- Toxic backlink detection
- Anchor text analysis
- Link velocity trends
Social Media Signals
Social presence & engagement signals
Checks your social media presence across major platforms, validates Open Graph and Twitter card tags, detects social sharing signals, and analyses brand consistency.
- Platform presence check
- OG & Twitter card tags
- Social sharing signals
- Brand consistency
AI & Trust Checks
The new frontier of SEO. AI search engines and spam filters evaluate your site differently — these checks keep you ahead of both.
LLM Optimization Checker
AI & ChatGPT visibility scoring
Evaluates how well your content is optimised for AI-generated answers in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. Checks answer-readiness, FAQ markup, structured data, and E-E-A-T for AI.
- AI answer-readiness
- FAQ & structured data
- GEO optimisation score
- AI overview compatibility
Spam Score Checker
Spam risk detection & trust signals
Analyses 30+ spam signals including link profile quality, content duplication, keyword stuffing, thin content patterns, domain age, and suspicious anchor text ratios.
- 30+ spam signals
- Link profile quality
- Thin & duplicate content
- Domain trust factors
Research & Tracking Tools
Go deeper than a one-time audit. Research keywords, analyse competitors, and track your rankings over time.
Keyword Research
Discover high-value keyword opportunities with search volume, competition data, and SERP analysis. Find content gaps, compare against competitors, and build data-driven content strategies.
- Search volume & competition
- SERP analysis
- Content gap discovery
- Google Ads keyword data
Competitor Analysis
Compare your SEO performance head-to-head with competitors. Analyse their keyword rankings, backlink profiles, content strategies, and technical health to find your competitive advantage.
- Head-to-head comparison
- Keyword overlap analysis
- Backlink gap detection
- Content strategy insights
Ranking Tracker
Track your keyword rankings over time. Monitor position changes, spot ranking drops before they become problems, and measure the impact of your SEO improvements.
- Daily position tracking
- Ranking change alerts
- Historical trend charts
- Competitor rank comparison
Ready to run all 19 checks?
The full Website Audit runs every check simultaneously in under 30 seconds. Free — no account needed.