Infrastructure
· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.DCrawlabilityActionrobots.txt present, no sitemapFIX
Disallow: / for all user-agents prevents search engines from indexing any page. This will remove the site from search results.
Disallow: / in robots.txt blocks every search crawler — the site becomes invisible in organic search.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Common deployment mistake: a staging robots.txt with `User-agent: * / Disallow: /` ships to prod. The site falls out of search results within days. Verify your robots.txt is the production-intended version. If this is intentional (private site), no action needed.
Source: Google Search Central
A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.
No sitemap.xml — Google relies on crawl-graph discovery alone, slowing indexing of deep or fresh URLs.
Learn more ▾ ▴
A sitemap accelerates Google's discovery of new and updated content. Most CMSes auto-generate one; static-site frameworks need a build-step plugin. Reference it from robots.txt and submit in Search Console to confirm Google can fetch it.
Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central
Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.
robots.txt omits Sitemap: directive — crawlers must fetch /sitemap.xml by convention; reliable but missing the explicit hint.
Source: sitemaps.org
# This is the robots.txt file for thetimes.co.uk
# The Times does not permit the unlicensed use of our content for large language models. Contact enquiries@newslicensing.co.uk for assistance.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
User-agent: Googlebot
User-agent: Googlebot-Image
User-agent: Googlebot-Video
User-agent: Googlebot-News
User-agent: Google-InspectionTool
User-agent: GoogleOther
User-agent: APIs-Google
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
User-agent: Slurp
User-agent: Twitterbot
User-agent: Bingbot
User-agent: adidxbot
User-agent: MicrosoftPreview
User-agent: Applebot
User-agent: AdsBot-Google
User-agent: AmazonAdBot
User-agent: facebookexternalhit
User-agent: Yahoo Ad Monitoring
User-agent: parse.ly scraper
User-agent: Screaming Frog SEO Spider
User-agent: SemrushBot
User-agent: Botify
User-agent: OnCrawl
User-agent: Chrome-Lighthouse
User-agent: Slackbot-LinkExpanding
User-agent: Slack-ImgProxy
User-agent: Slackbot
User-agent: Snap URL Preview Service
User-agent: proximic
User-agent: GumGum-Bot
User-agent: TTD-Content
User-agent: Pubmatic
User-agent: ias_crawler
User-agent: outbrain
User-agent: Leikibot
User-agent: weborama-fetcher
User-agent: AHC/2.1
User-agent: SirdataBot
User-agent: peer39_crawler/1.0
User-agent: EchoboxBot/1.0
User-agent: CriteoBot/0.1
User-agent: AdDefend Site Context Crawler/1.0
User-agent: SmartologyBot
User-agent: Dianomi
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /archive/page/
Disallow: /archive/article/
Disallow: /archive/find/
Disallow: /tto/archive/article/
Disallow: /tto/archive/find/
Disallow: /tto/archive/frame/article/
Disallow: /tto/archive/page/
No sitemap found
Adding a sitemap helps search engines discover your pages.
DCDN & DeliveryActionNo CDN detectedFIX
Consider using a CDN to improve global delivery speed and reduce origin load.
CIPv6 ReadinessActionNo IPv6 supportREVIEW
IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.
No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.
Source: Google IPv6 stats
BTLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations64 days until leaf cert expires — 4 issues to addressREVIEW
Certificate validity
Recommended actions
- Prefer TLS 1.3 — TLS 1.2 is acceptable but TLS 1.3 removes RSA key exchange and improves latency
- Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
- Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
- Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
A+DNS Records3 A records, 48 ms lookupPASS
| A | 52.208.17.106, 54.76.240.177, 34.240.28.43 |
| AAAA | — |
| CNAME | — |
| NS | ns-1278.awsdns-31.org, ns-140.awsdns-17.com, ns-1973.awsdns-54.co.uk, ns-600.awsdns-11.net |
| MX | 1 mxa-00596a01.gslb.pphosted.com 10 mxb-00596a01.gslb.pphosted.com |
| TXT | 00d20000000cog5eao MS=ms34341580 MS=ms71101065 ValidationTokenValue=0861fa9f-c559-4391-8196-436ad1e04a8d ZOOM_verify_fKuIRhNpRRaRWHIJ91jc_w _globalsign-domain-verification=iGHmwRjA4lmTuOQZ_o-Tyr1LQKSuJyqRCkU2l1Rh9y adobe-idp-site-verification=5fbdfbcf-5183-451e-af57-324fb213096c atlassian-domain-verification=uNoIhBXurxzVlQa0FvK2t9Yld5byfvXbFRQaMToGvrieKjBdyl... facebook-domain-verification=2662uj3np5hbcy6xs3y5rkh81a8f40 figma-domain-verification=d6aaa81498664f08dba16d96b23f861729ba4f7f36f23cfcf38d99... google-site-verification=4n-5GNKlEDazywbCFZGa-NF3ZETD4zGcUJ3cqfu63lY google-site-verification=Bf_yXfjII12kuGXxY5clhGM2VQrxvtxJFEeZ_UXQ70Y google-site-verification=DQwrCkpHoscbutirIzPwVa_duy4ZcANLPieJ1n9YQ1o google-site-verification=I_DDiAfbcgQ8RwhaHKDuUkOiHd1Kw3OrVvH4urtPSCM google-site-verification=NaY5xMHfwH8UaXjQqgos9SlprQPjEWs41SQz7bjPWjQ google-site-verification=Q-5-a4UnUF8WTHucVBL5GPfRXjuHnF2KvUa9613357U google-site-verification=WrytwjPxxK5yP3Q8tTRpIt8u08eluxkC1OqsyXyiNnM google-site-verification=sPaVkZvIOoTy4ne6WJ7h00oyyWLDEg8fW-hp_t5iASo google-site-verification=sdQNymZQdiG79ygBwzqOcSz6VrHO1DUOKkqXb1_MEt4 miro-verification=876fd2e87e812aadd96eca532bf071be63109b0e openai-domain-verification=dv-vEfhmX2bv2Im97G6Mn7B8LNS SPF v=spf1 include:%{ir}.%{v}.%{d}.spf.has.pphosted.com ~all |
| CAA | Lookup not available with standard resolver |
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.
ARedirect Chain1 redirect(s), 525 ms totalPASS
https://thetimes.co.uk
119 ms · HTTP/1.1
https://www.thetimes.com
406 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL
| # | URL | Status | Time | Protocol | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | https://thetimes.co.uk | 301 | 119 ms | HTTP/1.1 | openresty/1.11.2.3 |
| 2 | https://www.thetimes.com | 200 | 406 ms | HTTP/1.1 | CloudFront |
See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →
AURL Variantswww/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPSPASS
www / non-www
Preferred variant: non-www
HTTP → HTTPS
Use 301 (permanent) instead of 302 (temporary)
A+Domain Intelligencethetimes.co.uk — via Markmonitor Inc., 30 years old, hosted on AWSPASS
42 days
August 23, 2026
64 days
Issued by Let's Encrypt
30 years
Registered August 23, 1996
Not enabled
Protects against DNS spoofing
AWS
ASN AS16509
34.240.28.43
Markmonitor Inc.
Expiry timeline
Recommended actions
- Renew the domain or enable auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiry
- Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
- Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.
Learn more ▾ ▴
DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.
Source: ICANN / RFC 4033
The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.
Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice