A SaaS crawler that continuously scans a domain, builds a full URL graph, and flags problems such as broken links, duplicate content, and crawl budget waste.
Web developers or SEO professionals reading about site auditing and technical SEO best practices.
01What it is and how it works
DeepCrawl launches a fleet of headless browsers that request each URL discovered through sitemaps, internal links, and external backlinks. The crawler follows redirects, respects robots.txt, and renders JavaScript to capture the final DOM. Every response is stored in a searchable index that includes status codes, canonical tags, hreflang, structured data, and page‑level metrics such as load time and word count. The platform then runs a rule engine that compares each page against a library of SEO best practices and surfaces violations in a dashboard.
DeepCrawl is an online tool that automatically visits every page of a website, records what it finds, and tells you what needs fixing for search engines.
02What to do about it
Start a new project and connect the domain via DNS verification or a meta tag. Schedule a full crawl for the next off‑peak window, then enable incremental crawls to catch changes daily. Review the Issues tab first: prioritize critical errors (5xx, 404 on high‑traffic URLs) and high‑impact warnings (missing canonical, duplicate titles). Export the URL list to CSV and feed it into a ticketing system so developers can fix each item. Finally, set up alert rules so the team receives an email when a new critical issue appears.
03How it is measured or noticed
The primary signals are the Issue Count trend line, the Crawl Coverage percentage (indexed URLs ÷ known URLs), and the Health Score that aggregates severity‑weighted issues. A sudden drop in coverage often means a new block in robots.txt or a server‑side firewall rule. The Page Speed distribution chart highlights regressions after a deployment. Teams also watch the Orphan Pages metric to ensure important content remains reachable.
04Common mistakes
- Running a full crawl on a live production site during peak traffic, which can degrade user experience.
- Ignoring the JavaScript rendering toggle for modern SPAs, causing the crawler to miss client‑side content.
- Leaving the default crawl depth unlimited on massive sites, leading to runaway costs and incomplete reports.
- Failing to whitelist DeepCrawl IPs in a WAF, resulting in 403 responses that look like site errors.
- Treating every warning as a blocker; many are informational and can be deprioritized.
05Limits
DeepCrawl cannot bypass authentication walls, so private areas behind login remain invisible unless you supply credentials via the Authentication settings. It also does not execute third‑party scripts blocked by CSP, which may hide tracking pixels or chat widgets. The tool is not a substitute for a manual content audit; it flags technical patterns but cannot judge editorial quality or brand tone. Finally, the free tier caps crawls at 10,000 URLs, so enterprise sites need a paid plan.
06Worked example
"After the March release we saw a 12 % drop in Health Score. The Issues view showed 3,400 new 404s on product‑variant pages caused by a missing trailing slash in the new URL rewrite rule. Fixing the rewrite and re‑crawling restored the score within 24 hours."
Frequently asked questions
How does DeepCrawl differ from other SEO crawlers like Screaming Frog?
DeepCrawl is a cloud-based SaaS tool that runs continuously, unlike desktop software like Screaming Frog. It leverages distributed infrastructure to handle large sites without installation, and it provides real-time monitoring rather than one-off scans.
What type of websites benefit most from using DeepCrawl?
Large e-commerce or enterprise sites with thousands of URLs benefit most, as DeepCrawl can scale without local resource limits. It's also ideal for teams needing continuous audits to maintain SEO health.
Do I need technical expertise to set up DeepCrawl?
Basic setup requires DNS verification or meta tag placement, which is straightforward for most users. However, advanced features like authentication settings may need some technical knowledge.
Can DeepCrawl accurately crawl JavaScript-heavy websites?
Yes, it uses headless browsers to render JavaScript, ensuring comprehensive crawling of dynamic content. This makes it reliable for modern websites that rely on client-side rendering.
What SEO issues might arise if I ignore DeepCrawl's alerts?
Ignoring alerts can lead to poor crawl budget allocation, duplicate content penalties, and broken links harming user experience. Over time, this may result in lower search rankings and lost traffic.
How frequently should I run DeepCrawl scans for optimal results?
For dynamic sites, weekly scans are recommended to catch changes quickly; for stable sites, monthly may suffice. Continuous monitoring is key to tracking trends in issue count and crawl coverage.
Asked out loud
spoken, not typedThe same term in the words somebody uses speaking to an assistant rather than typing into a box — written from the situation, which is why each one carries the situation it came from.
You can use DeepCrawl to run a quick scan and check for issues like broken links or crawl errors. It'll give you a health score to prioritize fixes.
You can access DeepCrawl from your phone via the web interface. It's cloud-based, so you can review crawl reports on the go without installing anything.
DeepCrawl can help prioritize which links to fix first based on severity. It aggregates issues into a health score so you know what to tackle immediately.