Getting Started with Screaming Frog
Whether youre a seasoned SEO pro or just starting out, Screaming Frog SEO Spider is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your digital marketing toolbox. In this section, well walk through everything you need to know to get up and running—from installation to basic setup—so you can start auditing websites like a pro.
What is Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop-based website crawler that helps you identify technical SEO issues, analyze on-page elements, and gather key data for optimization. It’s especially popular among U.S.-based SEO professionals for its speed, accuracy, and flexibility.
How to Install Screaming Frog
Before anything else, youll need to install the software on your computer. Screaming Frog works on Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu.
Installation Steps:
| Operating System | Installation Process |
|---|---|
| Windows | Download the .exe file from the official Screaming Frog website and run the installer. |
| macOS | Download the .dmg file and drag the app into your Applications folder. |
| Ubuntu/Linux | Use the terminal command provided on their site or install via package manager. |
Understanding the Interface
The user interface might look a little overwhelming at first, but it’s actually pretty intuitive once you know where everything is. Here are the main areas youll be using:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Navigation Bar | This is where you start new crawls, open saved projects, and access configuration settings. |
| Crawl Window | The main area where URLs and data appear as they’re being crawled. |
| Tabs (Overview) | You’ll find tabs like Internal, External, Images, Directives, etc., that categorize crawl data. |
| Bottom Panel | This shows detailed information about a selected URL, including meta data and headers. |
Basic Setup for U.S.-Based SEO Professionals
If youre targeting clients or markets in the United States, there are a few things you might want to configure right away to get more relevant results:
Set Crawl Limits
If youre auditing large U.S.-based sites like e-commerce stores or media outlets, consider adjusting crawl limits under Configuration > Spider > Limits to save time and resources.
User-Agent Settings
You can mimic Googlebot (U.S. version) by changing the user-agent string under Configuration > User-Agent. This gives you a closer view of how Google sees your site.
Select Language Preferences
If your audience is primarily English-speaking Americans, make sure your content and hreflang tags reflect “en-us” language codes. You can check this under the Directives tab during a crawl.
Crawl Your First Website
Once everything is set up, simply enter a URL into the search bar at the top and hit “Start.” Screaming Frog will begin crawling all accessible pages of that domain. Within minutes, you’ll start seeing valuable data populate in real-time.
Pro Tip:
If youre using the free version of Screaming Frog, keep in mind it has a crawl limit of 500 URLs per site. For full access—including advanced features like custom extraction and integration with Google Analytics—you’ll need to purchase a license.
This initial setup lays the groundwork for more advanced audits later on. With these basics out of the way, youre ready to dig deeper into what makes Screaming Frog an essential tool for U.S.-based SEO success.
2. Crawling Your Website Like a Pro
Before diving into detailed SEO analysis, it’s crucial to understand how to properly crawl your website using Screaming Frog. This section walks you through how to set up effective crawls, filter key SEO elements, and tailor settings to match typical U.S.-based website structures and business goals.
Configuring Your Crawl Settings
Screaming Frog offers a wide range of crawl configuration options that let you customize how your site is scanned. To get started like a pro:
- Set User-Agent: Choose the appropriate user-agent (e.g., Googlebot) to mimic how search engines crawl your site.
- Adjust Crawl Depth: Limit crawl depth if youre working with large sites or want to focus on specific sections first.
- Enable JavaScript Rendering: Useful for dynamic content-heavy sites built with React, Angular, or Vue.js—common frameworks in U.S.-based websites.
Recommended Basic Crawl Settings
| Setting | Recommended Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| User-Agent | Googlebot | Mimics Googles crawler for accurate results |
| Crawl Depth | Unlimited or 5 Levels | Based on site size; limit for targeted audits |
| JavaScript Rendering | Enabled (if needed) | Ensures full content is crawled for JS-heavy sites |
| Crawl External Links | Disabled | Keeps focus on internal structure and performance |
| Follow Redirects | Enabled | Catches redirect chains or loops commonly missed manually |
Filtering Important SEO Elements
Once the crawl starts, Screaming Frog collects hundreds of data points. Knowing what to focus on helps you stay efficient. Here are key filters you should use during analysis:
Essential Filters to Use During an SEO Audit
- Status Codes: Identify broken pages (404), redirects (301/302), and server errors (5xx).
- Page Titles & Meta Descriptions: Check for missing, duplicate, or over-optimized tags.
- H1 Tags: Ensure each page has one unique H1 tag relevant to its topic.
- Canonical Tags: Confirm proper implementation to avoid duplicate content issues.
- Noindex/NoFollow Flags: Spot unintentional blocking of key pages from indexing or crawling.
Crawling for U.S.-Based Site Objectives
If youre working with American businesses or targeting U.S. users, its important to align your crawl strategy accordingly. Most U.S.-based websites have clear navigation structures, structured data, mobile responsiveness, and location-specific landing pages. When setting up your crawl:
- Crawl Mobile Version First: Google uses mobile-first indexing—prioritize crawling the mobile version of the site.
- Check Structured Data: Many U.S. businesses use schema.org markup for reviews, local business info, and FAQs—ensure these are correctly implemented.
- Crawl Location Pages: For national brands with local branches (e.g., dentists, gyms), make sure city-level pages are indexed and optimized.
- Avoid Crawling Staging Sites: Exclude dev or staging environments that may be publicly accessible but shouldn’t be indexed by search engines.
Crawl Tips Tailored to Common U.S. Website Structures
| Website Type | Crawl Focus Areas |
|---|---|
| E-commerce Stores (Shopify/WooCommerce) | Crawl product pages, category filters, pagination handling, faceted navigation issues. |
| B2B Service Sites (WordPress) | Crawl blog content, service landing pages, contact forms with proper tracking scripts. |
| SaaS Websites (Custom Platforms) | Crawl feature pages, pricing tables, login-gated content visibility checks. |
| Local Business Sites (Multi-location) | Crawl location-specific pages with NAP consistency and local schema tags. |
A well-configured crawl is the foundation of any successful SEO audit. By customizing Screaming Frog settings based on your website’s structure and regional audience expectations—especially those in the U.S.—you can surface insights that truly move the needle for rankings and traffic.
3. Analyzing Technical SEO Issues
One of the biggest strengths of Screaming Frog is its ability to uncover technical SEO issues that may be holding your website back in search rankings. For American businesses, identifying and addressing these problems can make a real difference in online visibility and user experience. Let’s walk through how to spot and prioritize key technical SEO issues using Screaming Frog.
Identifying Broken Links
Broken links (also known as 404 errors) can harm both user experience and SEO performance. Screaming Frog makes it easy to find them:
- Go to the “Response Codes” tab.
- Filter by “Client Error (4xx)” to see all broken internal and external links.
Once youve identified them, prioritize fixing broken internal links first, as they directly impact your sites crawlability and usability.
Managing Redirect Chains
Redirect chains occur when one URL redirects to another, which then redirects again—causing unnecessary load time and crawl inefficiency. Heres how to locate them:
- Select the “Reports” menu in Screaming Frog.
- Click on “Redirect Chains” to download a report showing all URLs involved in multi-step redirects.
Avoid having more than one redirect in a sequence. If possible, update internal links to point directly to the final destination URL.
Tackling Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can confuse search engines about which page to rank, potentially diluting your SEO value. Screaming Frog helps you detect this by analyzing meta data and content similarity:
- Check the “Duplicate” filter under the “Meta Titles,” “Meta Descriptions,” and “H1” tabs.
- You can also use the “Content” tab with a word count filter to spot pages with similar or identical copy.
Common Technical SEO Issues & How to Prioritize Them
| Issue | Description | Priority Level | Screaming Frog Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Internal Links | Links leading to non-existent pages within your domain | High | “Response Codes” > Filter by 4xx |
| Redirect Chains | Multiple redirects between pages causing slow loading & crawl issues | High | “Reports” > Redirect Chains Report |
| Duplicate Meta Titles/Descriptions | The same titles or descriptions used across multiple pages | Medium | “Page Titles” / “Meta Description” > Filter by Duplicate |
| Missing Alt Text on Images | Lack of descriptive text for images affects accessibility & image SEO | Medium | “Images” > Filter by Missing Alt Text |
| Noindex Pages Linked Internally | Noindexed pages being linked throughout your site can waste crawl budget | Low-Medium | “Directives” Tab > Filter by Noindex URLs with Inlinks Count |
A Pro Tip for American Businesses: Customize Your Crawl Settings
If your business has specific goals—like auditing only your blog section or checking staging environments—use Screaming Frog’s custom filters and include/exclude settings. This helps you stay focused on what matters most for your target market in the U.S., whether its local landing pages or ecommerce product categories.
Your Next Steps with Technical SEO Auditing
Screaming Frog isn’t just a crawler—it’s your diagnostic tool for better performance online. By routinely scanning your site for issues like broken links, redirect chains, and duplicate content, you’re not only improving your rankings but also creating a smoother experience for your visitors—and that’s something Google loves too.
4. Optimizing On-Page SEO with Screaming Frog
When it comes to getting your website to rank well in the U.S. market, on-page SEO is a major factor. Screaming Frog makes it easy to audit and improve key elements like meta titles, descriptions, headers, and images—all of which impact how users and search engines experience your site. Let’s break down how to use Screaming Frog to optimize these critical areas according to U.S. SEO best practices.
Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions are often the first thing a user sees in Google search results. They should be clear, concise, and relevant to what your page is about. Here’s how you can check them using Screaming Frog:
- Open Screaming Frog and crawl your website.
- Click on the “Page Titles” tab for title tags, or “Meta Description” for descriptions.
- Use filters like “Missing,” “Duplicate,” or “Over 60 Characters” to identify issues.
Recommended Meta Title & Description Lengths
| Element | Recommended Length (Characters) | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Title | 50–60 | Avoids truncation in search results and improves click-through rates |
| Meta Description | 150–160 | Provides enough context for users without being cut off in SERPs |
Header Tags (H1, H2, H3…)
Headers help organize content for both users and search engines. In U.S.-focused websites, clear structure and keyword placement are important for accessibility and relevance. Heres how you can evaluate header usage:
- Select the “H1” or “H2” tabs in Screaming Frog after crawling your site.
- Look for pages with missing or multiple H1 tags, which can confuse crawlers.
- Ensure headers are descriptive and include primary or secondary keywords naturally.
Common Header Issues to Watch For:
- No H1 tag: Reduces clarity on page topic for search engines.
- Multiple H1 tags: Can dilute focus; stick to one H1 per page.
- Mismatched hierarchy: Use H2s for subtopics under H1s, followed by H3s if needed.
Image Optimization
Screaming Frog also helps ensure your images aren’t hurting your SEO. Images with large file sizes or missing alt text can slow down load time or reduce accessibility—two big factors in U.S. SEO rankings today.
- Go to the “Images” tab after crawling your website.
- Filter by “Over 100KB” to find large image files that may slow down your site.
- Select “Missing Alt Text” to find images that need descriptive alternative text.
Best Practices for Image Optimization
| Optimization Area | Best Practice | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| File Size | <100KB when possible | Keeps page load speed fast for better UX and rankings |
| Alt Text | Description includes target keywords where appropriate | Improves accessibility and helps Google understand image context |
| File Name | Descriptive and keyword-relevant (e.g., blue-running-shoes.jpg) | Adds additional keyword relevance and improves image search visibility |
Tying It All Together with Filters and Exporting Data
Screaming Frog’s filters let you quickly locate problem areas across hundreds or thousands of pages. Once you’ve identified issues with titles, descriptions, headers, or images, export the data into Excel or Google Sheets so your team can prioritize fixes based on impact. This step helps make the auditing process more actionable—especially important when managing SEO at scale for American businesses or clients targeting U.S. audiences.
The key takeaway: Use Screaming Frog as your on-page SEO microscope. By systematically auditing these core elements, youre setting your website up to meet both search engine guidelines and user expectations in the competitive U.S. digital landscape.
5. Integrations, Custom Exports, and Advanced Features
Screaming Frog is more than just a crawler — it’s a powerful SEO tool that can be integrated with other platforms to give you deeper insights and help streamline your workflow. In this section, we’ll explore how to unlock its full potential using integrations like Google Analytics and Search Console, set up custom exports, and tap into advanced features tailored for U.S.-based SEO strategies.
Integrating Google Analytics & Google Search Console
By connecting Screaming Frog with Google Analytics (GA) and Google Search Console (GSC), you can layer valuable user behavior data on top of your crawl. This allows you to prioritize pages based on traffic, bounce rate, or conversion goals — metrics that matter most for American businesses focused on ROI-driven SEO.
How to Set Up the Integration:
- Go to Configuration > API Access
- Select Google Analytics or Google Search Console
- Authenticate your account and choose the correct property and view
- Select the metrics or dimensions you want to pull in (e.g., Sessions, Bounce Rate)
Benefits of Integration:
| Integration | Main Benefit | SEO Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Adds behavioral metrics to crawled URLs | Identify high-traffic pages with technical issues |
| Google Search Console | Pulls in impression and click data by URL | Spot underperforming pages in SERPs despite good content/structure |
Creating Custom Exports for Deeper Insights
Screaming Frog lets you export highly customized reports based on filters, segments, or specific SEO issues. This is incredibly helpful when reporting to clients or internal teams who need actionable data relevant to their U.S. market strategy.
Popular Custom Export Examples:
- Crawl Errors Report: Export all 404 pages with referring URLs to fix broken internal links quickly.
- Meta Data Length Audit: Filter title tags or meta descriptions that are too long/short for optimal display in U.S. search results.
- Mobile Page Speed Issues: Combine crawl data with Lighthouse API integration for mobile performance optimization.
Advanced Features for Power Users
#1: Custom Extraction Using XPath/CSS Path/Regex
This feature is perfect for extracting structured data such as schema markup, product prices, or Open Graph tags. It’s especially useful for e-commerce sites targeting U.S. shoppers or local service websites using rich snippets.
Example Use Case:
If youre auditing a real estate site in California and want to extract property prices from listing pages, use custom extraction to pull this info at scale.
#2: Scheduling Crawls and Automating Reports
You can automate Screaming Frog tasks using its scheduling feature combined with command-line interface (CLI) options. This is ideal for agencies managing multiple U.S.-based websites who want regular updates without manual effort.
Automation Example:
- Weekly Crawl: Set Screaming Frog to crawl every Monday at 7 AM and email an HTML crawl summary report automatically.
- Error Monitoring: Create a script that notifies your team via Slack if new 500 errors are detected.
Tapping Into the Log File Analyzer (Bonus Tool)
Screaming Frog also offers a Log File Analyzer that helps identify which pages are actually being crawled by Googlebot. For American brands trying to boost crawl efficiency on large sites, this tool is gold.
Main Use Cases:
- Compare log file hits vs. XML sitemap coverage for indexation issues
- ID wasted crawl budget on non-valuable pages like internal search results or faceted navigation URLs
The ability to combine integrations, custom exports, and automation gives SEO professionals working in the U.S. market a serious edge. Whether youre managing a local business website or a national e-commerce platform, these advanced Screaming Frog features can help turn raw crawl data into actionable SEO wins.
