How to Use Screaming Frog for Site Audits

Introduction

When people ask how to use Screaming Frog for site audits, the real answer is that it works best when you treat it like a flashlight for everything hiding in a website’s corners. Start a crawl, let it sweep through the pages, and pretty quickly patterns start showing up: odd redirects, pages buried too deep, titles that don’t match the content, that sort of thing.

The tool isn’t fancy for the sake of it; it just surfaces the problems you’d otherwise miss. This guide walks through that whole process step by step, so the audit doesn’t feel abstract. Just a clear path: run the crawl, read what it’s telling you, and turn the findings into fixes that actually move the site forward.

Why Screaming Frog is Essential for Modern Site Audits

Anyone who has worked on websites long enough knows this: issues hide in places you don’t expect. A page looks fine on the surface, then you run a crawl and suddenly there’s a chain of redirects, missing tags, slow-loading images, and a handful of pages no one remembered existed. That’s the reality of maintaining a site today.

Screaming Frog helps cut through that mess. It gives a clear view of how a website is actually built; not how it’s supposed to work, but how it behaves in the wild. That’s why so many teams rely on it for audits. It picks up the patterns you miss when you’re clicking through things manually.

This guide walks through the parts of Screaming Frog that matter most during an audit. Nothing fancy or theoretical; just the pieces that consistently reveal the issues holding a site back: crawl setup, on-page checks, deeper technical problems, and the areas most teams overlook because they’re buried behind a few tabs.

What is Screaming Frog? (SEO Crawler + Site Audit Tool Overview)

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is basically a crawler that maps out a website link by link. Instead of browsing through a site page by page, the tool goes through everything at once and pulls all the data into one place. Titles, headings, redirects, canonicals, blocked pages, images, scripts; it gathers the lot.

A few things set it apart from cloud tools:

• It runs on your desktop, which means you have tighter control over how the crawl behaves.
• It’s quick; almost uncomfortably quick; especially on medium-sized sites.
• You can dig into details that automated cloud audits usually gloss over.
  

Cloud-based platforms are great for ongoing monitoring, but when a deeper look is needed, especially for sites with odd structures, outdated plugins, or custom-built parts, Screaming Frog tends to reveal the truth more reliably. It’s the tool teams’ turn to when they want a “show me everything” snapshot rather than a high-level overview.

Prerequisites Before Running a Screaming Frog Site Audit

A crawl works best when the setup is handled properly. Skipping the prep usually leads to messy data or half-finished audits. A few things are worth checking before hitting “Start.”

1. Free vs Paid Version

The free version is fine for small sites

The paid license is what most teams use, mainly because it unlocks all the features that make a real audit possible: integrations, JavaScript rendering, unlimited URLs, and custom extraction.

For anything beyond a small portfolio site, the paid version avoids unnecessary limitations.

2. Key Settings to Adjust Before Crawling

A handful of settings make a huge difference in crawl quality:

• User agent; switching it helps test how different crawlers see your pages.
  
• Crawl limits; helpful if the site has infinite scrolls, filters, or pages that multiply when parameters are added.
  
• JavaScript rendering; important for sites where menus, links, or content blocks load only after scripts run.
  
• Exclusions: filters, tags, sorting URLs, and session parameters often clutter a crawl unless they’re intentionally excluded.

Small tweaks here save hours of cleanup later.

3. Define the Audit Goals First

It’s easy to get buried under the data Screaming Frog produces, so it helps to set a direction beforehand. Most teams focus on a few core areas:

• Indexation: which pages should be visible and which shouldn’t.
  
• Redirects: outdated links, loops, chains, and inconsistent routing.
  
• Content: thin pages, duplicates, missing elements, or outdated sections.
  
• Internal links: how well important pages are supported and how deep the site structure goes.

Once these pieces are in place, the actual crawl becomes far more meaningful. The tool will surface the right problems, and the audit becomes a lot easier to navigate.

How to Use Screaming Frog for Site Audits: Step-by-Step

This is the part most teams rush into, but slowing down here pays off. A well-run crawl can uncover issues that might otherwise stay buried for months. The key is knowing what to look at and in what order, because Screaming Frog throws a lot of information at you. The workflow below keeps everything manageable and focused.

1. How to Set Up a Crawl in Screaming Frog (Crawl Configuration + Best Settings)

A good crawl starts with a clean setup. Even small changes in configuration can completely alter the results, so it’s worth spending a couple of minutes here.

Start with Spider Mode

This is the standard crawling mode. Just drop in the URL, and you’re set. Most audits should begin here unless you’re intentionally analyzing a sitemap or a list of URLs.

Dial in your crawl settings

• Crawl limits: helpful when you’re trying to avoid infinite loops (common with filters or parameters).
  
• Exclusions: always consider excluding search URLs, tracking parameters, and anything that balloons the crawl without adding value.
  
• JavaScript rendering; turn it on if menus, product grids, or important content load only after scripts run.
  
• Robots.txt handling: depending on the audit, you may want to ignore robots.txt to inspect blocked pages.
  
• Crawl speed: increase or decrease based on server stability; older or cheaper hosting can choke on aggressive crawls.
  
• User agents; switching to a different crawler view often reveals mismatches in how the site responds.

And one more thing: know when to run full vs partial crawls.
Full crawls are useful for big-picture audits. Partial crawls make sense when you’re diagnosing specific sections, migrations, or problem areas.

2. On-Page SEO Analysis with Screaming Frog

Once the crawl finishes, the on-page section is usually where the first batch of quick wins appears. Screaming Frog makes these painfully obvious.

Here’s what to check:

Title tag audit

• Missing titles
  
• Duplicates (common on large CMS setups)
  
• Titles cut off because they’re too long
  These small fixes often improve clarity across the site.

Meta descriptions

They’re not always a “must fix,” but missing or duplicated descriptions can signal neglected pages or template issues.

H1 and H2 tags

• Multiple H1s
  
• Missing H1s
  
• Headings that don’t align with the page’s theme
  A mismatched heading hierarchy usually points to content clutter or template inconsistencies.
  

URL structure problems

Look for long URLs, odd characters, or deep folders. These tend to show up on category pages or older sections of the site.

Using Page Titles / H1 tabs

These tabs are handy when spotting patterns across hundreds of URLs.

Fixing keyword cannibalization patterns

If multiple pages target the same topic unintentionally, Screaming Frog will surface those clusters. Cleaning them up often makes the site easier to navigate for both users and crawlers.

3. Technical SEO Checks with Screaming Frog

This is where Screaming Frog earns its keep. Technical issues pile up quietly, and most of them sit deep enough that nobody notices until performance stalls.

The key items to review:

Broken links (404s and 500s)

Even a few broken links can break user flow or slow down indexing. Screaming Frog spots every instance instantly.

Redirect chains and loops

Chains waste crawl time, and loops break navigation entirely. They’re common after redesigns, migrations, or URL cleanups.

Canonical tag conflicts

Incorrect canonicals can cause good pages to be ignored or duplicated unintentionally. Screaming Frog flags mismatches and missing tags.

Noindex / nofollow problems

You’d be surprised how often important pages get hidden accidentally. And the opposite happens too; pages meant to stay private end up exposed.

Crawl depth issues

If a page sits five or six clicks deep, it’s probably underperforming. Essential pages shouldn’t be buried.

Prioritizing what matters

Not every technical issue demands immediate action. Fix the ones that affect visibility and user flow first.

Enroll Now: Advanced Digital Marketing Course

4. Content Audit Using Screaming Frog

A content audit isn’t just looking at word counts. Screaming Frog helps map content quality at scale, showing which pages carry weight and which aren’t pulling their load.

Thin content

Short pages sometimes work fine, but when they’re unintentional or low-value, they dilute the strength of the site.

Duplicate content

Templates, pagination, tags, and parameters often generate duplicate pages. The tool surfaces these clusters quickly.

Outdated or low-performing pages

If content hasn’t been touched in years or isn’t receiving engagement, flag it for review. Some pages just need pruning or consolidation.

Near Duplicates & Content reports

These highlight pages that look different at a glance but share too much similarity in structure or text.

Orphan pages via GA/GSC integrations

If a page receives traffic but doesn’t link to anything, or doesn’t receive internal links itself, it’s isolated. Isolated pages rarely perform well.

Prioritizing content for modern search visibility

A strong content structure improves how well your site surfaces in newer search formats. The goal is to make sure your best pages are supported and not competing with each other.

5. Site Architecture & Internal Linking Audit

A website’s structure has more impact than most people realize. Screaming Frog helps reveal how easy (or hard) it is to move through the site.

Crawl visualization graphs

These visual maps show whether your structure is tight and logical or sprawling and chaotic.

Deep pages

Anything buried too far down usually needs either stronger internal links or a placement update.

Internal linking gaps

Look for:

• Important pages with very few inbound links
  
• Pages linking out but receiving nothing in return
  
• Loops where sections isolate themselves
  

Anchor text issues

Anchor text should guide users, not confuse them. Generic anchors make navigation weaker.

Boosting link flow to high-intent pages

Make sure products, services, or key informational pages get enough internal support.

Supporting topic clusters

Well-organized clusters help the entire site feel more coherent. Screaming Frog makes it easier to tighten these groups.

6. Image SEO Audit With Screaming Frog

Images are usually responsible for a big chunk of page weight, and Screaming Frog highlights every file that slows load times.

Review the following:

• Missing alt text
  
• Oversized or heavy images
  
• Old formats (especially non-compressed versions)
  
• Dimension mismatches
  
• Lazy-loading inconsistencies

The Images tab collects everything into one clean list, which makes optimizations straightforward.

7. Core Web Vitals & Page Speed Using Integrations

Screaming Frog itself doesn’t test performance, but when paired with PageSpeed API data, the picture becomes much clearer.

Key things to look at:

• LCP issues are often tied to large images or slow templates
  
• CLS problems; layout shifts caused by ads, sliders, or unstyled content
  
• INP delays; interactive elements reacting slowly to user input
  

The goal isn’t perfection; just consistent improvements that make the site feel smoother and easier to browse.

Also read: How to do an SEO Audit – Comprehensive Guide to Boosting Your Website’s Performance

Advanced Screaming Frog Techniques for Deep Site Audits

Once the basics are out of the way, the real breakthroughs usually come from the advanced features. These are the things that help uncover issues hiding in plain sight;stuff that doesn’t show up until you intentionally go digging for it.

1. Custom Extraction for SEO

Custom Extraction is one of those features that feels small at first, then quietly becomes indispensable.
It lets you pull specific elements from pages using CSS paths, XPath, or regex. That means you can audit things most tools would never surface in a regular crawl.

Common use cases include:

• Checking schema markup (FAQ, How-To, Product, Article, whatever your site uses)
  
• Pulling OG tags to see if social sharing data is clean and consistent
  
• Extracting structured data elements to verify they’re implemented the same way site-wide
  
• Picking up scattered things like price fields, product IDs, old tracking snippets, or inline metadata

It’s especially useful when large sites don’t follow their own conventions. Custom Extraction gives you a quick way to understand where things drifted.

2. Custom Search for Hidden Issues

Custom Search works like a quick “find this across the whole site” filter. It’s simple but surprisingly powerful.

It helps catch issues such as:

• Missing tracking or measurement scripts
  
• Outdated CMS plugin signatures
  
• Old inline styles
  
• Deprecated elements
  
• Stray affiliate parameters
  
• Hard-coded redirects or outdated URLs embedded in templates

It’s also great for validating cleanup tasks. When a dev team says something has been “completely removed,” this is the fastest way to confirm that, yes, it’s really gone everywhere.

3. Integrating Screaming Frog with GA4 & GSC

Bringing analytics data into the crawl exposes what truly matters, not just what’s broken.

Key insights you get:

• URLs with impressions but very few clicks (needs stronger intent matching or better presentation)
  
• Pages with traffic but heavy technical issues
  
• Pages with no internal links but still gathering visibility
  
• Underperforming sections that look fine technically but don’t align with user behavior

This combined view helps you decide which fixes will actually move the needle.
It also highlights pages that deserve more prominence, especially the ones that already attract attention but aren’t supported properly.

4. Scheduling Audits & Crawl Comparison

A one-time audit is nice, but recurring audits show you what changed, sometimes unintentionally.

Use regular scheduled crawls to:

• Catch sudden drops due to template changes
  
• Spot new broken links or redirect chains created after a release
  
• Identify content that silently disappeared from navigation
  
• Monitor canonical shifts or unexpected indexation changes

Crawl comparison reports are incredibly useful for teams working in sprints. They make it easier to see what improved, what regressed, and what still needs urgent attention.

5. Exporting Screaming Frog Reports

One of the strengths of the tool is how easily you can export data in whatever format works best for your workflow. A clean export also helps keep conversations with developers much smoother, since nobody wants to dig through raw tab views.

Exports you’ll use most often:

• CSV or Excel sheets for systematic review
  
• Bulk Export to pull everything from response codes to canonicals to missing elements
  
• Filtered reports for high-priority issues like 404s, loops, or blocked pages
  

When sending reports to another team, it helps to group issues by urgency. Developers generally prefer:

• Clear problem
  
• Exact URL
  
• Expected fix
  
• Why it matters (short explanation, not a lecture)
  

Turning raw crawl data into simple task lists is a skill in itself. It reduces friction and speeds up the whole cleanup process.

Also Read: Difference Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO

How to Prioritize & Fix Issues Found in Screaming Frog

A crawl often produces more issues than a team can tackle immediately. Prioritization keeps everyone focused on the highest-impact fixes instead of trying to patch everything at once.

A practical way to structure priorities:

1. Critical: 

Things that break access or visibility

• Indexation blocks
• Redirect loops
• Canonical errors

Pages that dropped out of the crawl unexpectedly

2. High: 

Issues that weaken performance or clarity

• Missing titles
• Broken internal links
• Thin or duplicated pages
• Poor URL structure
  

3. Medium: 

Problems worth fixing, but not urgent

• Uncompressed images
• Minor tag inconsistencies
• Template quirks

4. Low

• Polishing tasks
• Slightly long titles
• Small spacing or naming inconsistencies
  

When working through fixes:

• Consolidate overlapping or competing pages
  
• Remove loops and unnecessary redirect chains
  
• Strengthen internal linking for important pages
  
• Make sure canonical tags reflect the real intent
  
• Refresh outdated sections instead of letting them gather dust
  

The goal isn’t just cleaning up; it’s shaping a cleaner, more coherent site that search engines can understand without effort. Once that foundation is in place, everything else tends to perform better. 

Also read: Advantages and Disadvantages of SEO

Making Your Screaming Frog Audit SGE-Friendly

A crawl is only the warm-up these days. With SGE reshuffling how pages show up, the site has to feel cleaner, clearer, and frankly… easier for search engines to understand. The tiny details; stuff most folks ignored in 2019; now end up affecting how (or whether) your page appears in those richer results.

First thing to check is whether your important pages can actually be reached. Sounds obvious, but it’s surprising how often a noindex tag sneaks in or a rogue disallow blocks a whole section. And pages buried five or six clicks deep? They almost never get the visibility people expect.

Once crawlability is solid, move toward signals that show the page belongs in those richer cards. Think about:

• Whether your author or business info is easy to spot
  
• If pages naturally link to related resources (not just a random blog post thrown in for “SEO”)
  
• Whether the content feels like it was written by someone who knows the territory
  

Screaming Frog won’t tell you if a page is good, but it will highlight things that look off: thin templates, odd metadata patterns, or sections that feel disconnected from the rest of the site.

Then there’s structured data. It’s not magic, but when your FAQ, How-To, or Article schema is consistent across templates, it saves Google a lot of guesswork. Missing schema doesn’t kill a page, but strong markup usually gives it a clearer “identity” in the SERP.

And finally, internal linking. People underestimate how much this matters for SGE. High-intent pages with weak internal links almost always underperform in those expanded result formats. Screaming Frog’s visualizations make those gaps painfully obvious, which is actually a good thing; you’d rather fix them now than six months later.

Common Mistakes People Still Make in Screaming Frog

Even teams that know their way around the tool slip on the same handful of things. They’re small, but they can throw the whole audit off track.

Leaving JavaScript rendering off

A lot of modern sites rely on JS for navigation or product grids. If rendering is disabled, the crawl looks cleaner than the real site, and that’s not the kind of “clean” you want.

Skipping analytics integrations

Without GA or GSC data plugged in, it’s hard to separate “critical” issues from stuff on pages barely anyone visits. Fixes need context.

Overlooking duplicate and near-duplicate pages

They hide in plain sight. Screaming Frog flags them neatly, but only if you check those tabs instead of rushing to the issues list.

Messy canonical tags

A single misplaced canonical can tank a page without anyone noticing. Cross-checking them takes a minute and saves a week of ranking confusion.

Crawling in the wrong environment

Happens more often than anyone admits. A stray staging URL, and suddenly you’re diagnosing problems that don’t even exist on the live site.

Avoiding these slip-ups keeps the audit grounded in reality, not in some “ideal version” of the site that only exists on paper.

Conclusion

Plenty of SEO tools look fancier on the surface, but Screaming Frog stays one of the most dependable because it shows the site as it actually is;no smoothing, no guesswork. Just raw structure, laid out plainly.

It digs up everything that tends to slip through cracks: broken links nobody noticed, redirect chains that quietly slow pages down, mismatched metadata, schema that looks fine but isn’t applied consistently, and those odd technical quirks that happen after a plugin update at 2 a.m.

Running regular crawls keeps things steady. Templates change, small edits pile up, and before you know it, a clean site turns into a patchwork. A monthly (or even bi-monthly) crawl keeps surprises small.

In short, Screaming Frog remains the tool that shows the truth. And that’s what you need to keep a site healthy, especially as expectations from SGE and richer results keep climbing.

FAQs: Screaming Frog for Site Audits