What Our Free Website Health Check Measures (and How to Fix Each Issue)

Our free website health check runs more than 20 checks on a website in about ten seconds and scores it out of 100 across four areas: speed, security, SEO, and mobile. This guide explains what each check looks at, why it matters, and how to fix it.

Security

HTTPS. Is the site served over a secure, encrypted connection? Without it, browsers show "Not secure" and many visitors leave. Fix: install an SSL certificate (often free) and serve every page over HTTPS.

HTTP to HTTPS redirect. If someone types your address without "https", do they land on the secure version? Fix: a server-level redirect.

SSL certificate expiry. We show how many days your certificate has left. If it's close to expiring, check that auto-renewal is actually working.

Security headers. We look for five protective headers: HSTS, Content Security Policy, clickjacking protection, MIME-sniffing protection, and a referrer policy. They tell browsers to block whole categories of attacks. Fix: usually a few lines of server configuration.

Exposed software versions. If your site advertises the exact version of its server software or content management system, attackers can match it against known vulnerabilities. Fix: hide version numbers and keep the software updated.

Speed

Server response time. How long your server takes to start answering. Under 600 milliseconds is good. Slow responses usually point to underpowered hosting or missing caching.

Redirect chains. One redirect is normal. Several in a row waste time before the page even starts loading.

Compression. Gzip or Brotli compression shrinks pages before they're sent, often dramatically. Fix: a single server setting.

Page weight. A very heavy homepage HTML file usually means page-builder bloat or embedded data.

Render-blocking scripts. Scripts loaded at the top of the page without "async" or "defer" force the browser to wait before showing anything.

Lazy-loaded images. Images below the fold should load as visitors scroll, not all up front.

SEO

Page title. The blue link people click in Google. Aim for 30 to 60 characters that say what you do and where.

Meta description. The summary under that link. Aim for 120 to 160 characters. Think of it as your pitch in the search results.

Main heading (H1). One clear heading per page that says what the page is about.

Social sharing previews. Open Graph tags control the title, image, and description shown when someone shares your link on Facebook, LinkedIn, or in a text.

Structured data. Schema markup helps Google understand your business details, such as your hours, location, and services.

Image alt text. Descriptions of images for screen readers and image search. It also matters for accessibility compliance.

robots.txt and sitemap. We check that search engines aren't blocked and that a sitemap lists your pages.

Noindex. We flag pages telling Google to stay away. This is often left switched on from development and quietly keeps a site out of search results.

Mobile

Viewport. Without it, phones show a tiny zoomed-out desktop page.

Pinch-to-zoom. Disabling zoom makes text unreadable for many visitors and is an accessibility problem.

Icons. A favicon for browser tabs and a home-screen icon for phones.

Page language. Helps screen readers and translation tools.

Tap-to-call. A clickable phone number. For local businesses, this is one of the simplest ways to turn mobile visitors into calls.

What your score means

• 90 and up: in great shape. The fundamentals are in place.
• 75 to 89: solid, with room to improve.
• 55 to 74: needs some attention.
• Below 55: needs help soon.

Most issues the health check finds are quick to fix. Many come down to a few server settings or a missing tag.

Next steps

Run the health check on your site, then use the "Get my free audit" button to send us your results. We'll go deeper than the quick scan and walk you through what matters most. If you'd like to see how you rank on search, Google Maps, and AI answers, the growth scan is the next step up.