Usually, when I find an article or guide about website checker tools…
…it goes on to list 100’s of search analysis tools. And whilst these are incredibly useful (especially for keyword analysis), I’m sick of seeing the same old thing.
You should perform regular audits on your own website and keep a close eye on competitors using digital analysis, research and checker tools. Click To TweetSo, before we get into all the amazing free website checker tools (that I use every day), I need to make a quick disclaimer:
Anybody who has visited this page hoping to discover another list of search analysis tools should check out 20 SEO Tools Every Marketer Should Try.
If you’re still here, it’s (hopefully) because you want to learn how to run quick (and easy) checks and analyses on competitors, prospective clients, collaborators and contributors.
Why These Website Checker Tools?
We’re an agency that has a host of clients, receive lots of enquiries from prospective clients every day, have tons of collaboration pitches (mainly from SAAS companies) and also run a blog that generates loads of contributor pitches…
…making website checks and analysis a fundamental step in a lot of our processes.
And because researching websites is 100% necessary and we have to perform so many, it’s important (to us) that we can run quick and accurate checks using tools that we trust.
In addition to the search analysis tools (that we’ve all seen in a thousand articles), it’s important for us to understand more about a website’s traffic number (and the key sources of that traffic), the history of the website, what tools are being used to build it, the popularity of content (where relevant) and a ton of other things that I’m going to highlight very soon.
Is everybody ready for a list of FREE website checker tools that will help you separate the real deals from the pretenders?
Let’s dive into this thing…
BTW: All these FREE tools are the perfect place to start. When you need more data or you’re ready to level up, check out the premium versions or their paid alternatives!
Alexa
I’m going to kick these website checker tools off with something I use for absolutely every website owner who contacts us, Alexa.
This tool performs one very simple and yet, incredibly valuable check, the global traffic rank of every website.
This data allows us to see how a website ranks for traffic in comparison to competitors, as well as showing the size, effectiveness of traffic driving strategies and overall value of a website.
The lower the Alexa rank, the more traffic a website receives.
BTW: Google is the most visited website in the world and therefore is in position 1 on Alexa’s ranking system.
There are two ways to use this tool, either visit their website or (do what I do) install the Google Chrome Extension and run the check on any website in the click of a button.
An Alexa check is a great way to judge the value of collaboration, measure traffic against competitors, discover the historical traffic score of a website and separate the talkers from the walkers.
I’d advise you to install the Alexa Chrome plugin to run split-second traffic checks on EVERYONE.
BuiltWith
Next up, I’ve got the ultimate website-build checker tool. BuiltWith is a FREEMIUM tool that allows users a limited number of searches a day for FREE.
This tool is amazing for anybody looking to copy a widget, discover the back-end processes of a competitor, find effective plugins, research winning formulas…in fact, I’d go as far as saying that the applications of this tool are almost limitless, especially when it’s in the right hands.
BuiltWith runs a check on your chosen website to discover absolutely every piece of software that has been used in its creation. From Analytics and Tracking tools to eCommerce software, BuiltWith covers all the bases…
…and is an amazing way to spy and replicate the success of your industry’s leaders.
If there’s somebody in your sector who’s killing it, check out the frontend of their website and analyse its most effective features, follow this with a BuiltWith check to find out how they’ve implemented it!
You can then find and install the exact same tools and features as them!
BuzzSumo
Many of you will have already heard of BuzzSumo, but had you ever considered using it as a website checker and research tool?
BuzzSumo is a FREEMIUM tool (allowing limited searches per day) that reveals the most shared content around a chosen keyword. Their ‘Content Analyzer’ allows you to discover tons of valuable things about your audience’s preferences…
…but it also allows you to research a website’s most shared content.
Using this information, you can run checks on a competitor’s content marketing strategy and its success, discover the platforms that potential collaborators are strongest and analyse the engagement levels of their audience (and following).
BuzzSumo is an amazing tool in its own right, but when you use it to search for a specific website/brand, you can discover loads more about their content success.
If you’re running a content marketing strategy, analyse your own brand on BuzzSumo and then measure this against your closest competitors.
Analyse the areas that they’re outperforming you and use their winning content tactics to hijack their audience!
SimilarWeb
This is one of my favourite website checker tools…
…SimilarWeb is comparable to Alexa (mentioned earlier) in that it also ranks websites by their traffic scores, but what separates SimilarWeb from Alexa, is its detailed traffic analysis scores.
This tool reveals the traffic scores of a website, as well as a breakdown of sources by percentage and the key contributors to each traffic source.
That might sound a little complicated, so let me explain with an example:
SimilarWeb breaks down its analysis into Direct, Referrals, Search, Social, Mail and Display traffic. You can use this to discover what the website’s key traffic source is and the ‘top’ contributors to this source.
For example, if I analysed a competitor who had high traffic from Search, I could then look at their Top 5 Organic keywords and Top 5 Paid keywords, and target these in my content strategy…
…and the same can be performed for every single traffic source!
This is an awesome way to discover where a competitor is getting most of their traffic (and hijack it), judging the value of a digital collaboration or new client (if you’re an agency) and the strengths (and weaknesses) of any website!
SimilarWeb is also a FREEMIUM tool, however, it doesn’t limit free users by searches, instead, it limits every source to the top 5 results (which is more than enough for the majority of users, including us).
And if that wasn’t enough, they also have a Google Chrome Extension that works in the click of a button.
BTW: I’ve written an entire post about how to best use SimilarWeb, check it out here.
Checkbot
Our next tool is a quick and efficient way of analysing a website for its SEO, Speed and Security readiness.
Checkbot gives users the power to run checks on 3 crucial components of any website and understand where they are performing well and where they aren’t.
The tool works by clicking on the Chrome Extension button, this opens a new tab where CheckBot runs its analysis and reveals the results.
The scores are ranked in percentage, with a green tick marking 100% completeness. Each of the 3 components are broken into further sections, revealing a detailed audit.
This is particularly helpful for understanding how a website is optimising for speed and harnessing their on-page SEO tactics.
If your website is slow, use Checkbot and compare it to others in your industry.
Domain Authority
I know I promised that I wouldn’t mention any SEO tools in this article, but this one just had to slip through the cracks…
…but before I reveal its uses, I want you all to know that it has no relation to keyword analysis.
The Domain Authority of a website reveals its weight and power in terms of search traffic. The higher the Domain Authority of a website, the more likely it is to rank well on a search engine.
This is particularly useful to marketing a website, as a backlink from a high Domain Authority website will massively help boost your own DA and your chance of ranking (in future).
BTW: Domain Authority is closely linked to a number of factors out of your control (including website age), if you’d like to learn more about improving your DA check out our guide!
I always use the free and accurate Domain Authority checker on SEO Review Tools.
Analysing the DA of a website is important to anybody looking to build links (with content), collaborate or measure their performance against competitors.
VidIQ
This tool might not be relevant to all our readers, but at some stage in your marketing (or digital entrepreneur) career, it should be.
Video is absolutely massive and continues to grow year on year.Click To TweetThe world’s biggest video platform is YouTube…
…and nothing contributes more to video views than their search engine.
BTW: YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world (following Google) and it’s never been more important for your videos to rank on YouTube.
Ranking in the top position on YouTube can mean MILLIONS of views, giving your business the opportunity to build awareness, grow your following, generate leads and even make sales.
VidIQ reveals how well every video is optimised for the YouTube search engine, including the video’s tags, average daily views, an optimisation checklist and much more.
This is another Google Chrome Extension that you simply must have plugged in, especially if you host your videos natively on YouTube (and then share the link on other platforms like your website).
Use this tool to analyse the top ranking videos in your industry and copy (and optimise) their tactics for search.
Remember, people tend to use all search engines similarly, so the tags that are used for high-ranking videos on YouTube will probably help your website rank on Google!
Conclusion
The website checker tools highlighted in this article are all quick, simple and free to use, and more importantly, we trust them!
If you’re in the digital marketing space, website analysis should be a fundamental part of your process and each of these recommendations covers a different base.
Don’t jump straight into paid website checker tools before you’ve tested out these free ones. When you’re ready and you need more data, take the step up to the premium versions…
…and in the meantime, why not start by analysing the Einstein Marketer website against your own!
Want more marketing strategies, advice and tactics? Check out one of our most popular ever guides:
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