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The Website UtilityIntroduction
Based on the web crawling technology used in the Index Server Companion, The Website Utility navigates a website and creates reports based on what it finds. The reports contain a number of features that can be used to help optimize a website for search engines and check the website for errors. A free trial version is available.
Because The Website Utility uses web crawling technology, it views websites in much the same way as human users and search engine robots view websites. Search Engine Optimization FeaturesWeb Robot View of WebsiteThe Website Utility creates a simulated web robot (crawler) view of a website. As such it shows what a page will look without images, JavaScript or interactive forms. This can prove very helpful in ensuring that each page in the website contains enough search engine indexable text - something that is not always easy to check when viewing the actual website in a web browser. Missing Page TitlesThe Website Utility can identify pages with missing page titles. Since many search engines place significant weighting on a page's title, it is essential to ensure all pages have a title. Duplicated Page TitlesThe Website Utility identifies pages with duplicate page titles. The report will show each duplicated title and which pages share the specific title. A surprising number of websites use the same page title for each page in the site, which is in most instances an obvious waste of potential site optimisation for search engines. Creation of Table of Contents/Site MapsA table of contents page (often referred to as a Site Map) contains a list of links to all of the other pages in a website. There are several good reasons for adding a site map to a website:
The Website Utility creates a very basic table of contents, sorted alphabetically by page title. Missing/Blank Description and Keywords Meta TagsAlthough most search engines now give much less weighting to the content of meta tags than they once did, it is still a good idea to include them. In particular, the description meta tag is often used as a page's summary in search engine results pages. Extraction of Description and Keyword Meta TagsThe Website Utility is able to extract the content from Description and Keyword meta tags in all of the pages in a website. This saves substantial time compared to having to extract the information manually.
Don't forget that The Website Utility can be used to crawl your competitors' websites to determine what keywords they are using! Page Size ReportThe Website Utility shows the site's pages ordered by page size. Search engines normally prefer pages to be of a certain size, so The Website Utility makes it straightforward to identify pages that may be too small or too large for efficient search engine indexing and placement. Needless to say, The Website Utility will also identify pages that may be too large for human visitors as well! Consider splitting up large pages - increasing the number of pages in your website will help with search engine placement as well. Usage of Meta-Refresh TagsThe Website Utility identifies pages that use Meta Refresh Tags with a short refresh interval. Pages that make use of these may be indicative of websites designed to confuse and mislead human or web robot visitors, so their usage should be avoided where possible. Furthermore, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser allows the user to disable the action of this tag in its security settings. Handy tip: The refresh tag can be replaced with the Response.Write() statement in websites that use Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. PHP has the "location:" statement equivalent. Splash Screen DetectionThe Website Utility can detect the use of splash screens on a website. Typically these are home pages that display the organisation's logo for a few seconds before redirecting to the main content page, or they contain a Macromedia Flash animation and a click to continue link below. Whilst splash screens look attractive (and keep web designers in business!) they result in human website visitors being an extra click away from the content they may be looking for. Splash screens can also adversely affect a site's search engines rankings as they mean the first (and most important) page in the website has very little indexable content on it. Error Checking FeaturesBroken HyperlinksThe Website Utility has the option of checking hyperlinks found in a website to ensure they are still accessible on the Internet. Both internal (i.e links to other pages within the website being checked) and external 3rd party websites can be checked. The Site Errors Report will list problem hyperlinks by the page they are found in. Moved HyperlinksAs well as finding broken hyperlinks, The Website Utility will also identify links to pages that have moved. Identification of these can allow you to update the links, which may prevent them becoming broken in future. Spaces in Page TitlesWebsites frequently contain URLs with spaces in them. These are not supported by older web browsers (e.g. Netscape 4). They are also confusing for people to write down or remember, so the URLs should be renamed where possible. Identification of file:// Prefixed LinksThe Website Utility can identify links prefixed with file://. These links can often be accidentally inserted into HTML when using a HTML Editor such as Microsoft's FrontPage. Furthermore, these links will usually work when the website is viewed on the same machine where the HTML pages were created, so it can be a difficult error to spot and to resolve. In the worst case scenario, it is an error that will be spotted by the website's customers, or even the client who commissioned it. Creation of JavaScript Search FacilitiesThe Website Utility is able to create a client-side JavaScript search facility for a website it crawls using the internal web robot. Adding a search facility to a website brings major benefits to a website, making it easier to find information as well as adding an additional method of navigating a website. Search facilities are generally well used, and will frequently appear within the top ten most requested pages on a website. Although there are a number of server-side search solutions available such as Index Server or ht://Dig, they can be complicated to install and configure. To create a search page with these solutions, programming knowledge of server-side scripting languages such as Active Server Pages (ASP) or PHP is also usually required, or you will need to pay somebody to create the code for you. You can also link to search results for your website from Google or other major search engines, but it can be difficult to integrate these with the design of your website. They also carry the obvious risk of a website visitor leaving your website and not returning! The JavaScript search facility created by The Website Utility is straightforward for anyone with a basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript to add to their website. The search box can be added to any page on the website (so you could, for example, have a search facility in the corner of all pages - like this website!). The search results page can be easily integrated within the look and feel of an existing website.
Creation of ASP Search FacilitiesFor websites using Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) server-side scripting technology, The Website Utility also creates an ASP search facility. This search facility is similar to the JavaScript search facility, but the search files are retained on the server, meaning there is less content for the client's web browser to download. The ASP version of the search engine also allows page descriptions (from page Description meta tags) to be displayed in the search results. Download the Evaluation VersionThe evaluation version is fully function except for the following limitations:
Purchase The Website Utility
Useful Development Tools
Author detailsBrett Burridge has worked as a web developer since 1997 and has developed web applications for a range of corporations, start up busiensses and educational establishments. Brett is presently employed as an Internet developer and technical writer through his own company, Winnersh Triangle Web Solutions Limited. The company produces a number of innovative products, including a range of software documentation tools, which include the ASP Documentation Tool™, the .NET Documentation Tool for VB.NET and C#, and the SQL Server Documentation Tool. Other products include The Website Utility, which functions as a website error checker, search engine optimizer and ASP/ASP.NET search engine builder application. As well as the ASPAlliance, Brett has written articles for Ariadne.ac.uk, ASPToday, the software documentation portal www.softwaredocumentation.info, and has contributed recipes to the ASP.NET Developer's Cookbook. links Outside web development, Brett is interested in travelling (here are my travel logs from New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo), digital photography (here's my photo gallery), tropical fishkeeping and collecting contemporary works of art by artists such as Doug Hyde. Contact Brett by emailing
Article history"The Website Utility" published on ASPAlliance.com on 10 July 2004. ASP Kitchen: Classic ASP Articles: The Website Utility |
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