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Security report for searchenginejournal.com

Search Engine Journal · Media · N/a

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

87/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Search Engine Journal is a leading online media publication specializing in SEO, search marketing news, and tutorials. It serves a professional audience of SEO specialists, digital marketers, and content creators by providing up-to-date industry news, comprehensive guides, webinars, and podcasts. The website maintains a strong market position as a trusted resource in the digital marketing space, supported by a professional design and consistent branding. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with a modern tech stack including Google Tag Manager, HubSpot forms, and Amazon Ads, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, consent management for GDPR compliance, and no detected vulnerabilities, although explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are absent. Overall, the site demonstrates high professionalism, extensive analytics usage, and good advertising transparency, making it a credible and trustworthy platform in its industry.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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Keep watching searchenginejournal.com

This scan found 13 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
62
Security headers
85
Email security
87
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
87

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention searchenginejournal.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
241
Employees
0
Customers
189
Third parties
52
Weak passwords
24%

6 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for searchenginejournal.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The website operates as a media and publishing business focused on SEO and digital marketing content. Its business model includes content monetization through advertising and sponsored content, targeting a large audience of marketing professionals. The site leverages partnerships with major ad networks and marketing tools to maximize reach and engagement. While WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection, the website's maturity and content quality indicate a well-established operation. The company maintains active social media channels and offers various resources such as ebooks, webinars, and podcasts, enhancing its ecosystem and market presence. Growth indicators include frequent content updates and promotional campaigns. Strategic observations suggest opportunities to enhance security transparency and incident response readiness.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and multiple security headers likely in place. It uses a consent management platform to comply with GDPR and cookie regulations, demonstrating privacy awareness. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response plan, and vulnerability disclosure program represents gaps in security governance. The site would benefit from publishing these documents and providing clear contact channels for security incidents. Regular audits of third-party scripts and enhanced Content Security Policy implementation are recommended to mitigate risks from external dependencies. Overall, the security posture is good but can be improved with formalized policies and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file.
  3. Provide contact information for a Data Protection Officer or security team.
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts to avoid vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance Content Security Policy headers to explicitly restrict resource loading.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Search Engine Journal
Description
Search Engine Journal is dedicated to producing the latest search news, the best guides and how-tos for the SEO and marketer community.
Key services
SEO news and updates, Search marketing tutorials and guides, Webinars and podcasts, Advertising and sponsored content opportunities
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, HubSpot Forms, Amazon Ads, Prebid.js, jQuery 3.6.1
Frameworks
Yoast SEO Premium
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of consent management platform (CMP)
  • Cookie consent and GDPR compliance
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, HubSpot Analytics
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Amazon Ads, Google DoubleClick, Prebid.js
Tracking pixels
HubSpot Analytics, DebugBear
Marketing tools
HubSpot Forms, Consent Management Platform (Uniconsent CMP)
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge
  2. Professional SEO and digital marketing content with frequent updates
  3. Strong social media presence across multiple platforms
  4. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent management
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  6. No exposed sensitive data or obvious security vulnerabilities
  7. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or query limitations
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with a modern and robust technology stack including JavaScript libraries (jQuery 3.6.1), Google Tag Manager, HubSpot forms, and Amazon Ads integration. It uses Yoast SEO Premium for search engine optimization and a consent management platform for privacy compliance. The site demonstrates fast loading times and excellent mobile responsiveness. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. The technical infrastructure supports extensive analytics and advertising capabilities, enabling effective user tracking and monetization. No significant technical debt or outdated technologies were detected, indicating good maintenance and modernization practices.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 83/100Low21 findingsView report
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