Response time measures how long the server takes to respond to a request, usually in milliseconds. It is a useful operational check because sudden changes can reveal hosting, application, database, or caching issues before they become more obvious elsewhere. This is not usually a direct SEO switch in the way that a noindex tag or […]
Response content type
The response content type is the value returned in the HTTP Content-Type header. It tells browsers and search engines what kind of resource the URL is serving, such as an HTML page, a PDF, JSON, or an image. This is a useful check because a page can still return a normal status code while serving […]
Canonical host/protocol variant
Introduction The canonical host/protocol variant is the normalised version of a page’s host and protocol, such as https://www.example.com or https://example.com. It is a useful way to track whether a page is resolving on the expected combination of protocol and hostname. This matters because even when the path stays the same, a shift between HTTP and […]
Hreflang return-tag valid
Introduction The hreflang return-tag valid check shows whether the alternate page linked through hreflang also links back correctly to the current page. This reciprocal relationship is a core part of hreflang implementation and one of the most important checks in international SEO. That is why this is critical for hreflang quality assurance. A page can […]
Hreflang set
Introduction The hreflang set is the full map of language and regional alternates declared for a page. It shows which versions of the content are intended for different audiences, such as en-us for United States English or en-gb for British English. This is a high-value signal for international SEO because hreflang only works well when […]
Rendered main content text hash
The rendered main content text hash is a fingerprint of the page’s primary rendered text content. It is one of the most useful content monitoring checks because it gives you a reliable way to detect major changes to what the page actually says, not just what exists in the raw HTML. This is often the […]
Canonical via HTTP header
A canonical via HTTP header is a canonical URL declared in the response headers rather than in the page HTML. It is usually sent through an HTTP Link header and can tell search engines which URL should be treated as the preferred version of the resource. This is an important check because canonical signals do […]
Canonical target status code
The canonical target status code shows the HTTP response returned by the URL named in a page’s canonical tag. This is an important check because a canonical only works well when it points to a URL that is accessible and valid. If the canonical target stops returning 200, search engines may receive a mixed or […]
Self-canonical
A self-canonical check shows whether a page’s canonical tag points to that page’s own final resolved URL. In other words, it checks whether the page is declaring itself as the preferred version. This is a strong health check because self-canonicalisation is often the expected setup for indexable pages that do not need to consolidate signals […]
Canonical present
The canonical present check shows whether a page includes a rel=”canonical” tag at all. This may seem like a simple yes-or-no signal, but it can still be important, especially on sites where duplicate or near-duplicate URLs are common. A missing canonical is not always a problem. Many pages can function perfectly well without one. But […]