Free vs Paid SEO Tools: What Small Websites Actually Need
Which SEO jobs free tools handle well, where paid tools earn their cost, the hidden costs of heavy…
In this guide
- What the LiteScroll SEO Crawler checks
- Step 1: Prepare your site before the scan
- Step 2: Run your first crawl
- Step 3: Read the results, check by check
- Step 4: Export the report as PDF or CSV
- Step 5: Prioritise and fix what the LiteScroll SEO Crawler finds
- When to re-crawl and when to go further
- Key takeaways
The LiteScroll SEO Crawler is a browser-based tool that scans up to 25 pages of any website for free and flags the on-page and technical issues that most often hold small sites back. This walkthrough covers every step: preparing your site, running the scan, reading each check, exporting the report and turning the findings into a short, realistic fix list.
This guide is part of our complete website SEO audit guide, which walks through every step of auditing a small site.
What the LiteScroll SEO Crawler checks
Before you run anything, it helps to know exactly what the crawler looks at, so you can read the results with the right expectations. The crawler focuses on six signals that every indexable page should get right:
| Check | What it looks at | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Page titles | Missing, duplicate, overly long or short <title> tags | The title is the main clickable line in search results and a strong relevance hint. |
| Meta descriptions | Missing, duplicate or poorly sized descriptions | Often used as the snippet under your title, so it shapes click-through. |
| H1 headings | Missing H1s, multiple H1s, empty headings | Tells readers and search engines what the page is about at a glance. |
| Image alt tags | Images without alt attributes | Accessibility for screen readers and context for image search. |
| Canonical configuration | Missing, conflicting or off-site canonical tags | Controls which URL is treated as the main version of a page. |
| Indexability | Noindex directives and other signals that block indexing | A page that cannot be indexed cannot rank, however good it is. |
The LiteScroll SEO Crawler deliberately does not try to be everything. It is not a backlink checker, a rank tracker or a keyword research tool. That narrow focus is what makes it quick to run and easy to act on, especially if you manage a small site on your own.
Step 1: Prepare your site before the scan
A crawl is only as useful as the pages it reaches. Spend two minutes on preparation and the results will be far more representative of what search engines actually see.
- Decide which version of your domain is the real one. Check whether your site resolves at
https://with or withoutwww. Start the crawl from the version you actually want indexed, otherwise every page may look like it redirects. - Make sure key pages are linked. A crawler follows links. If an important page is only reachable through a search box or a form, it may never be found. Your homepage, main service pages and best posts should be reachable from the navigation or from internal links in your content.
- Turn off maintenance or coming-soon modes. These often serve a placeholder to anyone who is not a logged-in admin, which means the crawler sees the placeholder rather than your pages.
- Note recent changes. If you have just changed themes, plugins or URL structures, write it down. It will help you explain anything unusual in the report.
Step 2: Run your first crawl
Open the LiteScroll SEO Crawler in your browser. There is nothing to install and no software to configure. Enter the starting URL, usually your homepage, and start the scan. The crawler follows internal links from that page and collects data for up to 25 pages.
Because the free scan covers 25 pages, the starting point matters. Some practical options:
- Homepage: best for a general health check, because it usually links to your most important sections.
- A category or blog index: useful when you want to audit a batch of posts rather than the whole site.
- A key service or product page: good for checking a commercial section that links to related sub-pages.
For a small business site with fewer than 25 pages, a single crawl from the homepage may cover nearly everything. For larger sites, run separate crawls from different sections over time and keep each report, so you slowly build a picture of the whole site.
Quick tip: Run the first crawl from your homepage and save the report as a baseline. After you fix issues, crawl again from the same URL so you are comparing like with like.
Step 3: Read the results, check by check
When the LiteScroll SEO Crawler finishes, you get a page-by-page view of what the crawler found. Work through it in the order below, because it moves from “can this page be found and indexed at all” to “how well is it presented in search results”.
Indexability first
Look for any page flagged as non-indexable. A noindex directive on a thank-you page or a private login page is fine and often intentional. A noindex on your main services page is an emergency. Theme and plugin settings sometimes add noindex sitewide during development, and nobody remembers to remove it at launch. Google’s documentation on blocking indexing with noindex explains how the directive behaves. Our indexability checklist walks through the other common blockers.
Canonical configuration
Next, check canonicals. Each indexable page should normally point to itself, or to a clearly preferred duplicate. Watch for canonicals that point to the homepage from every page, to an http:// version, or to a staging domain. Any of those can quietly tell search engines to ignore pages you care about. A dedicated canonical URL guide covers how to fix each of these patterns.
Page titles and meta descriptions
Then look at titles and descriptions. Duplicates are the most common finding on small sites, usually because a template outputs the site name as the title, or because several pages were cloned from one original and never rewritten. Give each page a title and description that describe that specific page and the reason someone would click it.
H1 headings
Pages with no H1, or with several, are worth a look. Many page builders style text to look like a large heading without using the H1 tag, or use H1 for every section title. One clear H1 that matches the page topic is the simple target.
Image alt tags
Finally, review missing alt attributes. Purely decorative images can have empty alt text, but product photos, diagrams and screenshots should briefly describe what they show.
Step 4: Export the report as PDF or CSV
The LiteScroll SEO Crawler lets you download the report as a PDF or a CSV. Each format suits a different job:
- PDF is best for sharing. Send it to a client, a manager or a developer who needs a readable summary rather than raw data.
- CSV is best for working. Open it in a spreadsheet, sort by issue type, add an “owner” and “status” column, and you have a lightweight fix tracker without paying for project software.
A simple spreadsheet layout that works well for small teams looks like this:
| URL | Issue | Priority | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /services/ | Noindex present | High | Developer | Fixed |
| /blog/post-a/ | Duplicate title | Medium | Writer | To do |
| /about/ | Missing meta description | Low | Writer | To do |
The rows above are only an illustration; your own export will list whatever the crawl actually found on your pages.
Step 5: Prioritise and fix what the LiteScroll SEO Crawler finds
Not every flag deserves the same urgency. A practical order for small sites:
- Indexability problems on important pages. Nothing else matters if the page cannot be indexed.
- Broken or misdirected canonicals. These can hide pages just as effectively as a noindex tag.
- Missing or duplicate titles on key pages. High impact and usually quick to fix.
- Missing H1s and meta descriptions. They improve clarity for readers and the quality of your snippets.
- Missing alt text. Important for accessibility; batch these into a single session.
If you want a deeper explanation of how to weigh issues against each other, read how to read an SEO crawl report and prioritise fixes. For a timed, end-to-end process, the 25-page SEO audit in 15 minutes guide pairs well with this walkthrough.
When to re-crawl and when to go further
Re-run the crawl after every batch of fixes and after any significant site change, such as a theme switch, a plugin update that touches SEO settings, or a domain migration. Many site owners settle into a monthly crawl as a routine health check, which is enough to catch most problems before they linger.
There are also clear signs that you have outgrown the free 25-page scan:
- Your site has hundreds of pages and issues seem to repeat across templates.
- You need someone to interpret the findings and recommend priorities for your specific business.
- You are preparing for a redesign or migration and cannot afford to miss anything.
In those cases, the LiteScroll Pro SEO Audit is a manual, premium review designed for larger crawls, deeper analysis and priority recommendations. For page-by-page checks while you browse, the free SEO Inspector Chrome extension complements the crawler well.
Key takeaways
- The LiteScroll SEO Crawler scans up to 25 pages free and checks titles, meta descriptions, H1s, image alt tags, canonicals and indexability.
- Prepare first: pick the right domain version, make sure key pages are linked, and disable maintenance modes.
- Read the results in order: indexability, canonicals, titles and descriptions, H1s, then alt text.
- Export as PDF to share and as CSV to track fixes.
- Re-crawl after changes, and consider a Pro audit when the site or the stakes grow.
You can find all of our free tools and practical guides at LiteScroll.com.
