HTTP header checker for technical SEO
HTTP headers control how browsers and search engines interact with your web pages. Our tool helps you check and optimize these headers for better SEO performance and faster page loads.
Why HTTP headers matter for SEO
Search engines use HTTP headers to understand how to crawl and index your content. Poor header configuration can lead to slower crawling, incorrect indexing, and security warnings that hurt your rankings.
The right headers help you:
- Speed up page load times with proper compression
- Control how search engines cache your content
- Prevent duplicate content issues
- Improve security signals for rankings
- Enable faster HTTP/2 connections
Understanding response headers
Each HTTP response contains headers that tell browsers and search engines important details about your page:
- Content-Type shows what kind of content you're serving
- Content-Encoding reveals compression methods used
- Cache-Control determines how content gets stored
- Server identifies your web server software
- Status codes indicate if the request succeeded
Features and options
Our header checker provides several ways to test your pages:
- Brotli compression detection
- Gzip compression support
- Detailed timing breakdown
- Full response downloading
- Custom referrer testing
- HTTP/2 protocol detection
Common header issues
Missing or incorrect headers often cause SEO problems:
Server-side compression helps pages load faster, but many sites don't enable it properly. Our tool checks if your pages use Brotli or Gzip compression correctly.
Cache headers affect how search engines and browsers store your content. Wrong settings can waste crawl budget or serve outdated content to users.
Security headers like HSTS and CSP boost trust signals for search engines. Missing these can lead to lower rankings, especially for sites handling sensitive data.
Using the header checker
- Enter the URL you want to check
- Choose which compression types to detect
- Enable timing details if needed
- Add custom headers for testing
- Click check to analyze the response
The tool shows complete header information including status codes, response times, and all header values sent by your server.
Performance analysis
When you enable timing details, you'll see a breakdown of the connection:
- DNS lookup speed
- Connection time
- SSL negotiation
- Time to first byte
- Total response time
These metrics help identify bottlenecks in your server response chain. Slow SSL or DNS times often point to configuration issues you can fix for better performance.
Frequently asked questions
What's a good server response time?
Keep time to first byte under 200ms for best SEO results. Total response times should stay under 600ms to avoid ranking penalties.
Should I use Brotli or Gzip?
Use both. Send Brotli to modern browsers that support it, and Gzip as a fallback for older clients. Our tool helps verify your compression setup.
What status codes are good for SEO?
200 codes show healthy pages. 301 redirects pass ranking signals. Avoid 302 redirects for permanent moves, and fix 404 errors that waste crawl budget.
How do I fix slow SSL times?
Long SSL times usually mean you need to:
- Update SSL configuration
- Enable session resumption
- Use HTTP/2
- Configure proper cipher suites
Do HTTP/2 sites rank better?
While not a direct ranking factor, HTTP/2's faster load times improve user experience signals that do affect rankings.
What about HTTP/3?
HTTP/3 offers even better performance but isn't yet widely supported. Focus on HTTP/2 optimization first, then plan for HTTP/3 adoption.
Should I show all headers to search engines?
Some headers like X-Powered-By can reveal security details. Consider removing headers that don't help with SEO or user experience.
Keep your site running at peak performance by regularly checking headers and fixing configuration issues. Use this tool to catch problems before they impact your search rankings.