Advanced SEO guide & live analyzer

Learn how to help others improve their site, fix metadata the right way, and score any public URL with a real weighted audit.

Live SEO analyzer

Enter a public URL or paste HTML source. The analyzer checks static HTML metadata (title, description, Open Graph, headings, etc.) and returns a 0–100 checklist score. It works best on blogs, business sites, and landing pages — not JavaScript apps like Facebook or Instagram, which hide SEO tags until the page runs in a browser.

Accuracy disclaimer
  • Blogs, shops, landing pages: checklist score is about 88–92% accurate for title, description, and social tags in static HTML.
  • JavaScript apps: static score is only ~35–45% meaningful — many tags load after the page runs.
  • Facebook, Google, YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, TikTok, X: do not analyze these — accuracy drops to ~20–30%. Use this on your own site instead.
  • Enhanced preview (below results when available) uses the free Microlink.io API for share metadata (~70% accurate for link previews, not Google rankings).

This tool does not measure page speed, backlinks, or actual Google position. For that, use Google Search Console (free).

What is SEO, and why does metadata matter?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of making your pages easy for Google, Bing, and other crawlers to understand and recommend. You do not control the ranking algorithm directly — but you do control the signals you send: title tags, descriptions, headings, structured data, and whether the page looks trustworthy when shared on social media.

Metadata is the hidden (and visible) labeling on every page. When it is missing, duplicated, or filled with placeholders, crawlers guess — and social previews look broken. Fixing metadata is often the fastest win when helping a client or friend with their website.

What to fix on every page

Title tag

The blue link in search results. One per page, 30–60 characters, primary keyword near the front, brand at the end.

Meta description

Not a ranking factor by itself, but drives clicks. 120–160 characters, unique per page, written for humans.

Meta keywords

Most engines ignore this today. Focus effort on title, description, and content instead.

Canonical URL

Tells search engines which URL is the “main” version when duplicates exist (www vs non-www, query strings).

Open Graph (OG)

Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack previews: og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url.

Twitter / X cards

twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image for rich link cards.

JSON-LD structured data

Machine-readable facts (WebSite, Product, FAQPage, Article). Enables rich results when eligible.

robots.txt & robots meta

robots.txt guides crawlers site-wide; meta name="robots" controls indexing per page. Avoid accidental noindex.

Sitemap

/sitemap.xml lists important URLs. Submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

H1 heading

Exactly one H1 that matches the page topic. Supporting sections use H2, H3 in order — not skipped levels.

Image alt text

Describe meaningful images for screen readers and image search. Decorative images can use alt="".

Mobile viewport

meta viewport is required for mobile-friendly ranking. Without it, pages zoom awkwardly on phones.

Page speed hints

Compress images, defer non-critical JS, use CDN caching, minimize render-blocking CSS. Core Web Vitals matter for UX and SEO.

HTML lang

<html lang="en"> declares language for accessibility and regional search relevance.

Real examples: bad vs good metadata

These are concrete patterns we see on live sites. Compare the snippets, then run the analyzer above on your URL.

❌ Before — placeholder homepage

<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta name="description" content="">
<meta name="viewport" content="">
<!-- no canonical, no OG, no JSON-LD -->
<h1>Welcome</h1>
<h1>Home</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet…</p>
<img src="hero.jpg">

Typical score: 15–35 / 100 — missing description, double H1, no social tags, no alt text.

✓ After — optimized landing page

<title>Free Word Counter Online — Count Words & Characters | Rockstick</title>
<meta name="description" content="Count words, letters, and characters instantly. Free, private, runs in your browser — no signup.">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://rockstick.xyz/">
<meta property="og:title" content="Free Word Counter Online | Rockstick">
<meta property="og:description" content="Count words and characters instantly.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://rockstick.xyz/og-image.png">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<h1>Free online word counter</h1>
<img src="logo-mark.svg" alt="Rockstick logo" width="56" height="50">

Typical score: 85–95 / 100 on this checklist (speed and backlinks are separate).

⚠ Not a fair test — Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, etc.

Large app-style sites serve a minimal HTML shell to fetchers. Title may be just “Facebook”, with no meta description or Open Graph in the raw HTML — content loads via JavaScript. Our analyzer will show a low checklist score and a warning banner. That does not mean their real-world SEO is bad; Google and social crawlers use specialized bots that may see different output.

❌ Before — blog post with TODO meta

<title>Blog</title>
<meta name="description" content="TODO: write description">
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">
<html> <!-- missing lang -->

✓ After — indexable article

<html lang="en">
<title>How to Fix Meta Descriptions in 10 Minutes — Rockstick SEO Guide</title>
<meta name="description" content="Step-by-step guide to writing meta descriptions that earn clicks. Includes length rules, examples, and a free analyzer.">
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<script type="application/ld+json">
{"@type":"Article","headline":"How to Fix Meta Descriptions"}
</script>

What search engines and tools actually rate

Use this checklist when auditing your own site or helping someone else. Our analyzer automates most of these checks.

How to help others with SEO on their website

  1. Run the analyzer on their homepage and top 3 landing pages. Export the fix list.
  2. Fix metadata first — title, description, canonical, OG image. These are quick and visible in Search Console.
  3. One H1 per page — align it with the title tag but do not copy verbatim.
  4. Add JSON-LD for their business type (LocalBusiness, SoftwareApplication, FAQPage).
  5. Submit sitemap in Google Search Console after deploying changes.
  6. Re-test in 2–4 weeks — indexing takes time; track impressions and average position.

Ideas to grow visitors (Rockstick & your own site)