No, Screaming Frog is not a dish. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop website crawler — a tool that works similarly to how Google Search crawls, analyses, and indexes every page across your website.
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider was developed by Screaming Frog, a UK-based search-marketing agency recognised globally for its technical-SEO innovation and data-driven approach.
According to the company’s description,
“The SEO Spider is a desktop website crawler and auditor for PC, Mac, or Linux which spiders websites’ links, images, CSS, scripts, and apps like a search engine to evaluate onsite SEO.”
This means Screaming Frog can show you what search engines see — every redirect, image, tag, heading, and missing piece of metadata that could influence how your site ranks. For digital marketers and developers, it’s one of the few free tools that offers true depth of analysis.
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider includes a range of powerful features. Below are some of the most valuable for maintaining a healthy, search-friendly website.
Finds broken links, errors, and redirects
The SEO Spider crawls an entire site quickly and flags broken links (404s), server errors, and redirect loops that can interrupt both user experience and crawl flow. These reports can be exported and shared directly with your web developer or SEO team for repair.
Fixing broken links helps ensure users don’t encounter error pages and allows Googlebot to crawl your site more efficiently. Google Search Central notes that clean internal linking remains one of the foundations of technical SEO and accessibility.
Analyses page titles and metadata
The crawler gathers every page title and meta description on your site, analysing which ones are too long, too short, duplicated, or missing entirely.
These findings can reveal where your site’s on-page optimisation may be underperforming. Updating titles and descriptions can improve relevance and click-through rates on search results.
HubSpot’s research on website audits found that well-written metadata can increase CTR by up to 15%. Screaming Frog lets you export all your data into Excel or Google Sheets for easy bulk editing and optimisation.
Reviews meta robots and directives
The SEO Spider examines URLs restricted by robots.txt or meta-robots tags such as “noindex” and “nofollow.” It also reviews X-Robots-Tag directives and canonical tags to help you identify whether pages are being indexed correctly.
This data is invaluable during website redesigns or migrations. By seeing exactly which pages are blocked, you can prevent accidental deindexing of important content — a common issue for site owners managing large sites.
Discovers duplicate pages and content
Duplicate titles, meta descriptions, and page content can dilute your ranking potential and create confusion for search engines. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider detects duplicate elements across your site and visualises them through exportable charts and graphs.
Using this information, you can consolidate similar content, merge low-value pages, or apply canonical tags where needed.
For example, e-commerce websites often use Screaming Frog to identify duplicate product pages caused by dynamic URLs or filter parameters.9
Generates XML sitemaps
Screaming Frog can generate both XML and image XML sitemaps with advanced options for last-modified dates, URL priority, and change frequency.
Submitting a precise sitemap to Google Search Console ensures that all important pages are crawled and indexed efficiently, especially when launching a new site or adding fresh content.
Many agencies use this feature in combination with tools like Google Analytics to measure the performance of newly indexed URLs and track visibility improvements over time.
Finds missing H1, H2, and alt text
Heading hierarchy (H1 and H2 tags) and image alt text are essential for both SEO and accessibility. Screaming Frog lists every page missing these elements, helping you maintain a well-structured and inclusive website.
Including descriptive alt text also aligns with the W3C Accessibility Guidelines, ensuring users with assistive technology can understand your content.
Additionally, properly structured H1 and H2 tags allow search engines to interpret the page’s topic hierarchy, improving contextual relevance for target keywords.
Screaming Frog Free vs Paid Version
| Feature | Free Version | Paid Version |
|---|---|---|
| Crawl limit | 500 URLs | Unlimited |
| Google Analytics & Search Console integration | No | Yes |
| Custom data extraction | No | Yes |
| Scheduling & automation | No | Yes |
| JavaScript rendering | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | Free | £199 per year |
The free version is ideal for small businesses and blogs. However, for large or multi-domain websites, the paid version offers automation, integrations, and scheduling that can save hours each month.
Many professional agencies, including Websults, integrate both Screaming Frog and enterprise tools such as Google Data Studio for advanced reporting.
How businesses use Screaming Frog
Global brands like Apple, Disney, and Amazon use Screaming Frog for ongoing site maintenance and technical audits.
At Websults, our digital-marketing team incorporates Screaming Frog into every SEO service and digital-marketing campaign we manage.
It helps us:
- Detect crawl errors before Google does
- Validate redirects during site redesigns
- Audit migrations to prevent ranking loss
- Identify duplicate content and missing meta data
- Integrate crawl data with analytics for deeper insights
For small and mid-sized businesses, Screaming Frog provides the data needed to strengthen technical foundations and improve long-term visibility.
Why technical SEO tools matter
Even the most visually appealing website can underperform if search engines can’t access it correctly. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider makes hidden problems visible — broken links, slow-loading resources, and missing elements that silently harm rankings.
When combined with professional web design and ongoing optimisation, businesses can maintain both a seamless user experience and strong organic growth.
For example, pairing a Screaming Frog crawl with a Free SEO Report Card can help prioritise fixes that have the biggest ranking impact.
Final thoughts
There’s a reason industry leaders and agencies rely on Screaming Frog SEO Spider — it’s powerful, versatile, and accessible to both beginners and professionals. Whether you’re managing a small business site or an enterprise-level platform, it remains one of the best free SEO tools available today.
At Websults, we specialise in technical SEO, web design, and digital marketing that drive measurable results.
If you want to uncover technical issues and improve your website’s performance, contact our team or request a Free SEO Report Card to see how your site performs.
