# Website Health Audit: Broken Links & SEO Checker (`helveticlabs/website-health-audit`) Actor

Crawl a website and find broken links, redirect chains, missing or duplicate titles and meta descriptions, missing H1, slow pages and sitemap gaps. A 0-100 score and a fix for every issue. $5 per 1,000 pages.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/helveticlabs/website-health-audit.md
- **Developed by:** [Helvetic Labs](https://apify.com/helveticlabs) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 page auditeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Website Health Audit: Broken Links & SEO Checker

Crawl a website and find out what is wrong with each page: broken links, redirect chains,
error pages, missing or duplicate titles and meta descriptions, missing headings, slow
answers and pages missing from the sitemap. Every page gets a score from 0 to 100 and a
list of issues, each with a short fix.

### What you get

**Per page:**

- Status code, the redirect chain, final URL and response time
- **Broken links** on the page: internal and external, with the status or error
- **Title and meta description:** present, length, duplicate of another page
- **Headings:** number of `<h1>`
- **Indexing:** canonical URL (and whether it points to the page itself), `noindex` and `nofollow` from the robots meta tag and the `X-Robots-Tag` header
- **Mobile and accessibility basics:** viewport meta tag, `<html lang>`, images without `alt`
- **Sitemap:** whether the page is listed in the site's sitemaps
- **Score** (0 to 100) and the issues found, each with severity (`error`, `warning`, `notice`) and a fix

**Per site** (key-value store record `SUMMARY`, free):

- Pages audited, pages by status class, average score and response time
- Unique broken internal and external links
- Issue counts across the site
- Sitemap coverage: URLs in the sitemaps, crawled pages missing from them, and sitemap URLs no page links to

### Issues checked

| Issue | Severity |
| --- | --- |
| Page answers 4xx or 5xx, or does not answer | error |
| Broken links on the page | error |
| Missing title | error |
| Redirect chain (more than one hop), slow answer (over 2 s), no HTTPS | warning |
| Title too long (over 60 characters), duplicate title | warning |
| Missing meta description, missing `<h1>`, no viewport | warning |
| Short title, short or long description, duplicate description | notice |
| Several `<h1>`, missing `lang`, missing canonical, images without `alt` | notice |
| Indexable page missing from the sitemap, `noindex`, HTML over 2 MB | notice |

Typical uses: link checks before and after a relaunch or migration, regular SEO health
checks for your own sites or your clients', and finding pages search engines may never see.

### How it works

The audit starts at the URL you give and follows links on the same host, breadth first,
up to your page limit. Linked files (PDFs, images, downloads) and external links are
checked once each with a HEAD request. It respects `robots.txt` for every request and a
page's `nofollow`, identifies itself, and keeps a polite pace per host.

It reads each page's HTML only to find links and measure the tags above. It never stores
or returns page text: titles and descriptions are measured and compared, not copied.

**Limits:** the audit reads the HTML the server sends, without running JavaScript, like a
search engine's first pass. On a single-page app that builds its links in the browser it
sees only what the server renders. Links that need a login or a form are not followed.

### Input

```json
{
  "startUrls": ["https://www.example.com/"],
  "maxPagesPerSite": 100,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "maxExternalLinksPerSite": 300,
  "compareWithSitemap": true,
  "timeoutSecs": 20
}
```

### Output

One item per page (shortened):

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.example.com/pricing",
  "status": 200,
  "redirects": 0,
  "response_ms": 184,
  "title_length": 72,
  "description_length": null,
  "duplicate_title": false,
  "h1_count": 1,
  "canonical_is_self": true,
  "noindex": false,
  "internal_links": 41,
  "external_links": 6,
  "broken_link_count": 1,
  "broken_links": [{"url": "https://www.example.com/old-page", "status": 404, "error": "", "internal": true}],
  "in_sitemap": true,
  "issues": [
    {"code": "broken_links", "severity": "error", "fix": "Links on this page lead to missing pages or dead hosts: fix or remove them."},
    {"code": "title_too_long", "severity": "warning", "fix": "Shorten the title to at most 60 characters; search engines cut it."},
    {"code": "missing_description", "severity": "warning", "fix": "Add a meta description (50 to 160 characters)."}
  ],
  "score": 77
}
```

### Pricing

You pay per page audited, including pages that answer with an error. External link and
file checks are included. Pages `robots.txt` forbids, and inputs that are not a public
site, are free. Set a maximum cost for the run, and the audit stops at your limit.

### More checks from HelveticLabs

- [URL Status & Redirect Checker](https://apify.com/HelveticLabs/url-status-checker) for a list of URLs
- [Website Security Headers & TLS Audit](https://apify.com/HelveticLabs/security-audit) for an A+ to F security grade
- [Sitemap URL Extractor & Validator](https://apify.com/HelveticLabs/sitemap-extractor) for every URL in the sitemaps
- [AI Crawler Access Checker](https://apify.com/HelveticLabs/ai-crawler-checker) for GPTBot, ClaudeBot and other AI bots

### Use it from code or AI agents

Run it through the Apify API, schedule it (for example weekly), connect it to Make, Zapier
or n8n, or call it from AI agents through Apify's MCP server.

### Provider, privacy and fair use

**Provider:** HelveticLabs, sole proprietorship of Marvin Krieg, c/o SwissMailBox 170,
12 Rue Le Corbusier, 1208 Genève, Switzerland. E-mail: contact@helveticlabs.org.
Imprint: https://www.helveticlabs.org/imprint

**Privacy:** This Actor runs on the Apify platform, in your Apify account. It processes only
the URLs or domains you enter and the public technical data the checked servers return
(status codes, headers, certificates, DNS records, sitemap URLs, links). It does not collect
personal data: it never stores or returns page text (where a page's HTML is read, it is read
in memory only, to find links and measure tags), and it leaves out e-mail addresses, cookie
names and values and similar values. Your input and results stay in your Apify account and are
stored by Apify under its own terms (https://apify.com/privacy-policy). The provider sees
only the usage statistics Apify shows to Actor authors (such as the number of users and
runs), not your input or results, unless you share a run for support. Questions about
privacy: contact@helveticlabs.org.

**Fair use:** Check only sites you own or may check. Do not use the results to attack
systems or people. The Actor respects robots.txt, identifies itself, and keeps a polite
pace per site.

**No warranty:** The results are automated checks and can be incomplete. They are not a
penetration test, legal advice or a compliance certificate.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Where the crawl starts (https://www.example.com/). It follows links on the same host.

## `maxPagesPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many pages for one site. You pay per page audited.

## `checkExternalLinks` (type: `boolean`):

Also check links to other sites (once each, HEAD first). Included in the page price.

## `maxExternalLinksPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Check at most this many different external links per site.

## `compareWithSitemap` (type: `boolean`):

Read the site's sitemaps and flag pages that are missing from them.

## `timeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

How long to wait for each response.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.sitemaps.org/"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSite": 100,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "maxExternalLinksPerSite": 300,
  "compareWithSitemap": true,
  "timeoutSecs": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.sitemaps.org/"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("helveticlabs/website-health-audit").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "startUrls": ["https://www.sitemaps.org/"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("helveticlabs/website-health-audit").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.sitemaps.org/"
  ]
}' |
apify call helveticlabs/website-health-audit --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,helveticlabs/website-health-audit"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/DWQKsSbijphgTpLl5/builds/LnKWRcRn1CWuoUJcI/openapi.json