How to Use the Website Health Check
The Simple Answer
The Website Health Check looks at one public web page and tells you what is working, what needs attention first, why it matters and what to do about it. It covers search basics, mobile, security basics, accessibility signals and social sharing.
What the tool does
Our server fetches the page you named, plus its robots.txt, one sitemap, a favicon request and the plain, non-secure HTTP version of the address, then reads what came back. Each finding goes into one of five groups: Fix first, Important, Worth considering, Passed and Could not check. There is deliberately no overall score, because a single number would hide what matters.
How to use it
- Type the address of a page, such as example.com, and press Check my website.
- Read Fix these first from the top. Each item says what we found, why it matters and what to do.
- After you make a change, press Recheck website. You can check another address any time.
A worked example
Each item in the list follows the same pattern: what was found, why it matters and what to do about it. Items that depend on your goals, such as optional extras, are grouped as Worth considering instead of Fix first.
Things to know
- The check reads the page as our server receives it. Content that a page builds with JavaScript after it loads is not seen, and the tool says could not check instead of missing when it suspects that.
- It looks at one page plus a few files. It does not crawl your site or log in.
- Some sites block automated requests. If yours does, the result may show an error a real visitor would not see.
- A passed check means the thing was present. It does not mean it is well done.
Common questions
Why is there no score? A single number cannot be explained honestly and would hide what matters. You see counts and reasons instead.
Can it check a local site? No. Only public websites. Local and private addresses are refused.
Website Health Check: Open the Website Health Check and try your own numbers.