Domain Analyzer

What is a domain analyzer?

A domain analyzer is a tool that examines a website’s technical setup and provides a detailed report. You can use it to find out who owns a site, where it is hosted, and what security measures it uses. This can help you understand the credibility and safety of a website you have been sent.

How does the domain analyzer work?

When you enter a domain name, the tool contacts the website’s server and gathers information. It checks the HTTP status, response time, and TLS certificate details. It also looks at DNS records, DMARC, CAA, and DNSSEC settings. The analyzer gathers data from the domain registry and uses IP geolocation to determine the server’s location and hosting provider.

What information does the domain analyzer provide?

• Security: Checks for security headers like HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options.
• Certificates: Details about the TLS certificate, including issuer and expiry date.
• DNS Records: Information about DNS, DMARC, CAA, and DNSSEC.
• Ownership: Registration details from RDAP, including registrar and expiry date.
• Server Details: Server location, hosting provider, and network (ASN).
• Website Structure: Homepage title, description, word count, and headings.
• Platforms: Detected platform fingerprints such as WordPress or Angular.
• Schema.org Types: Published schema types used on the site.
• Robots.txt: Rules and whether AI crawlers like GPTBot are blocked.
• Sitemap: Sitemap size and redirect and canonicalization behavior.
• Error Handling: What the domain returns for a URL that does not exist.
• Third-Party Resources: Third-party hosts, cookies, and trackers.
• Common Pages: Existence of about, contact, privacy, and terms pages.

What will the domain analyzer not tell me?

The domain analyzer does not provide traffic estimates, domain authority scores, or keyword rankings. These metrics cannot be determined by inspecting a domain directly. The tool also does not guarantee compliance with any laws or regulations. It is important to understand that the analyzer provides factual data but does not make judgments about the quality or trustworthiness of a website.

What if a site blocks the domain analyzer check?

If a website blocks automated requests, such as through a Cloudflare interstitial or by returning a 403 error to bots, the domain analyzer will still produce a report. This report will be labeled as blocked and will not include any content-derived information. However, it will still show certificate, DNS, registration, and robots.txt details because these are served to everyone.

Is the domain analyzer privacy-friendly?

Yes, the domain analyzer is designed with privacy in mind. When you build a report, the tool queries the domain registry over RDAP and uses an IP geolocation service to determine the server’s location. This process does not involve collecting personal data or tracking user behavior. The reports are public and cached for 14 days, but no user-specific information is stored or shared.

How can I use the domain analyzer to check a website’s credibility?

By examining the information provided, such as the domain’s registration details, security features, and hosting location, you can gain insights into the website’s credibility. For example, a site with a valid TLS certificate, up-to-date DNS records, and clear contact information is likely more trustworthy than one lacking these features.

What are the limitations of the domain analyzer?

While the domain analyzer provides valuable technical information, it cannot determine the actual content quality or user experience of a website. It also does not offer insights into the website’s popularity or search engine ranking. For a complete evaluation, consider combining the analyzer’s data with other research methods.

Table: What is Measured vs. What is Not Provided

How Often is the Domain Analyzer Report Refreshed?

The domain analyzer tool provides a snapshot of the information available at the time of the query. However, it is important to understand that this report is not generated in real-time. Instead, the tool relies on a cached database that is updated at regular intervals. Typically, the database refreshes every few days to ensure that the information remains relatively current. This approach balances the need for timely data with the resource constraints of providing a free service.

The cached nature of the reports means that there might be a slight delay in reflecting the most recent changes to a domain’s information. For instance, if a website recently changed its registration details or updated its security measures, these changes might not be immediately visible in the report. Users should keep this in mind when using the tool for critical decisions, such as assessing the credibility of a website.

What Does the Domain Registration Date Tell Me?

The registration date of a domain can provide some insights into the website’s history and credibility. Generally, an older registration date might indicate that the website has been around for a while, which could suggest a certain level of stability and trustworthiness. However, this is not a foolproof indicator, as scammers can also register domains well in advance or hijack older domains.

On the other hand, a very recent registration date might raise some red flags, especially if the website claims to have a long history or offers services that typically require a longer track record. However, it is important to consider other factors as well, such as the website’s content, design, and the information provided by the domain analyzer. The registration date should be one of several pieces of information used to evaluate a website.

What Does the Security Header Count Mean?

The security header count is a metric that indicates the number of security measures a website has implemented to protect its users. These headers are part of the HTTP response from the server and can include measures such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Content-Type-Options, among others. A higher number of security headers generally suggests that the website is taking steps to protect against common web vulnerabilities.

However, the presence of security headers does not guarantee complete security. It is possible for a website to have a high number of security headers but still have other vulnerabilities. Conversely, a website with fewer security headers is not necessarily insecure, but it might be more susceptible to certain types of attacks. Users should interpret the security header count as one of several indicators of a website’s security posture.

What Does It Mean When a Domain Blocks AI Crawlers?

When a domain blocks AI crawlers, it means that the website has implemented measures to prevent automated bots, including those used by AI-driven tools, from accessing its content. This is often done to protect the website’s data, prevent scraping, or comply with privacy regulations. For users of the domain analyzer tool, this can present a challenge, as the tool relies on crawling to gather information.

If a domain blocks AI crawlers, the domain analyzer might not be able to provide a complete report on that website. This could result in missing or incomplete information, which users should be aware of when interpreting the results. It is also worth noting that some websites might block crawlers for legitimate reasons, such as protecting user data, while others might do so to hide malicious activities.

How to Interpret Hosting Location When a CDN is in Front?

The hosting location provided by the domain analyzer refers to the physical location of the server where the website’s content is stored. However, many websites use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to improve performance and reliability. A CDN is a network of servers distributed across various locations, which can make it difficult to determine the actual hosting location.

In such cases, the hosting location reported by the domain analyzer might reflect the location of the CDN server rather than the origin server. This can be misleading, as the website’s content might be hosted in a completely different region. Users should be cautious when interpreting the hosting location and consider it as one of several factors in their analysis. The presence of a CDN can enhance a website’s performance and security, but it can also complicate the process of identifying the true hosting location.

Frequently asked questions

13 domains analysed on this site.