HTTP Headers Lookup
Check HTTP response headers, status codes, caching and X-Robots-Tag directives. Inspect a public URL and understand what its server is returning.
BEHIND THE PAGE
A page can look right and still send the wrong instructions.
Check the response before changing the content.
What an HTTP header check can tell you
When I investigate a page that will not index, a migration that behaves strangely or a change that visitors cannot see, I check what the server returns. The visible page is only part of the evidence. Its response can carry indexing rules, redirect destinations and caching instructions that are not obvious on screen.
Enter the exact public URL, including https:// and its path. This tool makes a GET request and displays the first response status and headers. It stops when the response body starts and does not follow redirects. Use the URL Redirect Checker when you need to follow the full journey.
Four things worth reading in the result
Status and Location
A 200 response, a 301 redirect and a 404 response tell different stories. If the response redirects, inspect its Location header. Check the destination rather than assuming every redirect reaches the page you intended.
X-Robots-Tag
This header can carry rules such as noindex, including for resources without HTML meta tags. A missing X-Robots-Tag is not an indexing fault by itself. Page-level robots tags are separate; inspect them with the Meta Tags Checker.
Cache-Control and validators
Cache instructions can help explain why an older page or asset is still served. ETag and Last-Modified can support revalidation. Cache-Control: no-cache means a stored response needs validation before reuse; it does not mean the same thing as no-store.
Content-Type and security headers
Content-Type identifies the kind of resource returned. Headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security provide additional context, but their presence alone does not prove a secure setup. A copied policy can break a working site if it does not match its requirements.
Turn a finding into a sensible next step
Keep the tested URL, the time and the observed response together. Then compare them with the intended behaviour. For a migration, test the old address and its replacement. For an indexing concern, compare the response with Search Console and the page source. For stale content, check the application, hosting and CDN cache layers.
My SEO consulting work connects those findings to priorities for your team. A header result should help identify the cause, not become another unexplained warning in an audit.
HTTP headers questions
Does this tool follow redirects?
No. It shows the first HTTP response, including Location when supplied. Use the redirect checker to inspect later hops, then check the final URL here.
Why are these headers different from my browser?
A CDN, user agent, login state, location or request configuration can change the response. This check comes from our server without your browser cookies or JavaScript execution. Compare like-for-like requests before making changes.
Does a 200 status mean Google will index the page?
No. A successful response does not settle crawl access, canonical selection, content quality or indexing eligibility. Review the page and Search Console alongside this result.
Can I check a PDF or product feed URL?
Yes, if it is publicly accessible over HTTP or HTTPS on a standard web port. This tool reads the response headers, not the contents of the document or feed.
Does a missing header need fixing?
Not necessarily. The right headers depend on the resource and its purpose. Investigate a specific requirement or problem rather than trying to add every header in a checklist.
Can this check staging sites or private networks?
Local and private-network addresses are blocked. Password-protected pages are not accessed with your credentials. Do not submit URLs containing access tokens, customer information or private query parameters.
Further reading
Read the MDN HTTP headers reference and HTTP caching guide for individual directives. For HTTPS certificate details, use the SSL Lookup.