Discover how to leverage this browser tool for SEO tasks such as link analysis, code troubleshooting, schema validation, and more.

The “Inspect” feature in Google Chrome, also known as the “inspect element,” allows you to examine a webpage’s inner workings. This tool is invaluable for diagnosing website issues, testing site changes, and analyzing competitors’ setups.

To access it, right-click on any webpage and then select “Inspect.” This opens a pane that displays the site’s code structure. The central part of the screen shows the webpage, while the right side contains various tabs that reveal the underlying code. You can expand or collapse elements to explore the code’s details.

In the “Elements” tab, you can experiment with editing, removing, or adding HTML elements to see how it affects the webpage’s appearance. This can also provide insights into a site’s setup and design. The “Console,” “Sources,” and “Network” tabs offer deeper technical insights for more advanced troubleshooting.

While some familiarity with HTML and CSS is helpful, you can answer many common questions by examining the “Elements” tab to identify relevant code snippets.

1. How to Identify a Color on a Webpage

Use the Inspect tool to find the unique hex code for any color on a webpage. Here’s how:

• Right-click on the element whose color you want to identify.
• In the Inspect panel, scroll down to locate the color swatch and hex code.
• Click the swatch to experiment with different colors. Each color has a hex code, a 6-digit alphanumeric representation of the color. For example, pure white is #FFFFFF, black is #000000, and mint green is #98FF98.

If you don’t see the specific color you want, check the parent elements to see if their styles override child elements.

This tool helps answer questions like:

• What colors are most effective for users?
• What colors are competitors using for their call-to-action buttons?
• Does my website’s color scheme adhere to brand guidelines?
• Are the colors compliant with usability standards?

2. How to Find a Font on a Website

Serif fonts are gaining popularity, and the Inspect tool helps you determine which fonts a website uses. Here’s what to do:

• Right-click on the text whose font you want to find.
• Find the CSS tag for the text element in the Styles tab at the bottom.
• Scroll down to locate the font-family property.

This method lets you explore and discover new fonts on any website.

3. Previewing Content Changes

The Inspect tool is a useful way to see how changes to content would look before applying them live. This is especially useful for taking screenshots for approval or checking how changes look on different devices.

• Right-click on the content you want to edit.
• Double-click to make changes to the text.
• Click outside the element to see the effect.
• Adjust as needed.

This feature is helpful for testing layout changes and content updates.

4. Analyzing an Image

To find details about an image on a webpage, like its link, size, and alt text, use Inspect:

• Right-click on the image and select Inspect.
• In the Elements tab, examine the image tag for its source, size, and alt text.

This allows you to answer questions like:

• Is the alt text descriptive enough?
• Is the image size too large, potentially affecting page load time?
• Where is the image hosted?
• Is there any duplicate image content?

5. Investigating Links

The Inspect tool can be used to check the setup of links without clicking them. This is useful for verifying whether links are nofollow or follow, whether they open in the same or a new tab, and finding redirect chains.

• Right-click on a link and select Inspect.
• Find the <a href> tag to check the linked URL.
• Look for attributes like rel=”nofollow” and target=”_blank.”

This technique helps ensure your links are set up correctly and identifies any issues with link structure.

6. Troubleshooting Code Issues

Use Inspect to find which piece of code is causing issues on your website. This is especially useful for working with developers to pinpoint problems.

• Right-click on the problematic element and select Inspect.
• Hover over the HTML structure to find the source of the issue.
• Expand sections to dig deeper into the code.

This makes highlighting specific code elements for debugging and fixing errors easier.

7. Understanding Website Schema

Schema validation is essential for SEO. Even if the Schema Validator doesn’t work directly with a URL, you can still check the schema by inspecting the page’s source code.

• Right-click on webpage and then select View Page Source.
• Select all the code and copy it.
• Go to validator.schema.org.
• Click on the “Code Snippet” option, paste the copied code, and run the test.

This process will display all the detected schema elements on the page, helping you analyze and understand the schema structure of your or a competitor’s website.

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