A couple of years ago, just after we developed Redirect Path, we created an extension that found and prioritised key on-page SEO and dev issues by level of severity, codenamed "Alert Suite". Recently our Head of Development, Dan Smith, has been busy making a series of refinements and tweaks under the hood - more on-page checks, the ability to copy all issues to clipboard, a much better looking UI to name but a few. And of course, a brand new name - Ayima Page Insights.
Page Insights provides a great view of your site's top-line issues. Here's how it works - the extension analyses 24 (and counting) common on-page issues for the URL in your browser's active tab, comparing them against a defined set of rules and parameters. You’ll then get a top-line report on all of the issues found, sorted into 4 priority levels:
Error – Important issues that could directly impact your site. e.g. your page returns a 503 status code.
Warnings – Issues that could directly impact your site, but require validation. e.g. the canonical tag points to a different URL to the active URL. This could be legitimate, but could equally be accidental if your canonical points to an incorrect URL.
Notices – Issues that are less important. but still require validation. e.g. your images are missing the alt attribute.
Page Info – Extracts page information, such as meta tags, HTTP Request headers, Open Graph tags etc.
Let’s use the HSBC homepage as a quick real world example - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/:
I have Redirect Path installed, so it has picked up a 301 redirect to http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/ straight away. HSBC’s homepage links are spread across 5 different URL formats and pass through redirects, so the bank's SEO and Web Dev team should probably investigate fixing the CMS's use of /1/2/ on URLs. As for Page Insights, it has picked up 2 Warnings, 3 Notices and 2 Page Info notifications. Let’s look at the first warning, relating to the canonical pointing to a different URL:
We can see the canonical points to the HTTP version of the site, rather than HTTPS. Accessing the HTTP site resolves as well as the HTTPS, so two versions of the same site exist. Not great for duplication and link equity reasons.
Connect to Search Console
Another new feature in Page Insights, is the ability to connect the extension to your Google Search Console account. This will allow you to view Clicks, Impressions, CTR and Avg. Position data for your owned verified websites. Provided you’re logged into Chrome with the same Google Account as your Search Console, this is a really straightforward process – simply click on the “….connect with Google Search Console” banner at the top and grant permissions between the extension and GSC, and away you go!
Just like Redirect Path, Page Insights doesn't "phone home" any data to Ayima or any 3rd parties. We cannot and will not collect your GSC or browsing data.
We'd love to hear what features/flags you'd like to see in the next version of Page Insights, especially related to GSC data. Please do tweet your feedback to @Ayima and follow us to receive more Chrome extension, digital marketing and Ayima news.
To download Page Insights, head over to the Chrome Store and click “Add to Chrome”. Enjoy!
