Domain Health Check: What It Is and How to Run One
A domain health check audits six dimensions — SSL, WHOIS expiry, DNS, blacklist status, security headers, and uptime — and combines them into a health score. Here is what it covers.
Domain Health Check: What It Is and How to Run One
A domain health check is a comprehensive audit of a domain's operational status across multiple dimensions. Instead of checking SSL, DNS, and WHOIS separately in different tools, a health check combines all signals into a single assessment.
What a Domain Health Check Covers
SSL Certificate Health
- Is the certificate valid?
- How many days until expiry?
- Is the certificate chain complete?
- Is HTTPS enforced (HTTP redirects to HTTPS)?
- Is HSTS present?
WHOIS / Domain Expiry Health
- How many days until domain registration expires?
- Is the registrar correct?
- Have nameservers changed unexpectedly?
Blacklist Status
- Is the domain or its IP listed on any DNSBL (DNS blacklist)?
- Checked against 100+ databases including Spamhaus ZEN, Spamhaus DBL, SURBL, URIBL, Barracuda, SpamCop, and SORBS.
DNS Record Health
- Are expected records (A, MX, TXT) present?
- Have records changed since last check?
- Is DNSSEC configured?
Security Headers
- HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security)
- Content-Security-Policy
- X-Frame-Options
- X-Content-Type-Options
- Referrer-Policy
Uptime
- Is the domain responding to HTTP requests?
- What is the response time?
- What HTTP status code is returned?
How to Run a Domain Health Check
- Add the domain to ElasticDomain (any domain — you do not need to own it).
- Click Scan → Full Scan (250 credits).
- Wait 30-90 seconds for the scan to complete.
- Review the Overview tab for the health score and breakdown.
For regular health monitoring, set the domain to scan daily or every 6 hours. ElasticDomain will alert you immediately when any dimension degrades.
Understanding the Health Score
The health score is a number from 0 to 100:
| Score | Status |
|---|---|
| 90-100 | Excellent — no significant issues |
| 70-89 | Good — minor issues |
| 50-69 | Fair — multiple issues needing attention |
| Below 50 | Poor — critical problems |
Each dimension contributes a weighted sub-score. SSL and WHOIS expiry carry the most weight because their failures cause the most visible user impact.
How Often Should You Run a Health Check?
- Production domains (websites, email-sending domains): Daily or every 6 hours
- Client domains (for agencies): Daily, with weekly PDF reports for clients
- Competitor or watchlist domains: Weekly
- Low-priority domains: Weekly or manual-only
What a "Perfect" Domain Health Looks Like
- SSL valid, expiry > 60 days, chain complete, HTTPS enforced, HSTS present
- Domain expiry > 90 days
- Not listed on any blacklist
- No unexpected DNS changes
- Security headers present (at minimum HSTS)
- Domain responding with HTTP 200 under 1 second
A domain meeting all these criteria will score 90+.
Free vs Paid Health Checks
ElasticDomain gives you 3,200 free credits every day — enough for 12 full domain health checks per day at 250 credits each. For most individuals and small agencies, the daily free credits cover all monitoring needs without ever purchasing a credit pack.