How to Run a Screaming Frog Crawl to Check Your Site | Module 5.4
Running a Screaming Frog crawl is the easiest way to spot broken links, missing titles, and crawl blocks before Google does. This guide shows you step by step how to run a crawl, review results, and fix issues fast.
If you want to find broken links, blocked pages, or crawl issues before Google does, Screaming Frog SEO Spider is the tool to use. It’s free for up to 500 URLs, which is more than enough for most small business sites.
Why It Matters
Crawl errors stop search engines from indexing your site properly. Even one broken link can hurt user experience and send mixed signals to Google. Running a crawl shows you exactly what bots see, so you can fix issues fast.
- Broken links or dead ends.
- Orphaned pages (no links pointing to them).
- Site structure depth — how many clicks from the homepage.
Google relies on links to crawl your site. If Screaming Frog finds problems, Google will too.
Steps to Run a Crawl
Screaming Frog SEO Spider- Open the above Screaming Frog SEO link (free up to 500 URLs).
- Install and open the tool.
- Enter your website URL in the search bar.
- Click Start.
- When the crawl finishes, review:
- Response Codes tab → 404s or redirects.
- Page Titles tab → missing or duplicate titles.
- Meta Description tab → empty or too long.
- Images tab → oversized files or missing alt text.
What You’ll See
- A list of every page Screaming Frog found.
- Warnings for broken links and blocked URLs.
- Exportable reports to fix issues.
How to Check It Worked
After fixing issues, re-run the crawl. You should see fewer errors, faster load times, and cleaner metadata.
