No two social media and SEO (search engine optimization) strategies are alike. However, the use of viable free SEO tools, can have a significant impact on your organic search ranking as a business owner. If you’re starting a blog, adding new product descriptions to your site, or otherwise modifying your SEO tactics, the use of free tools can help. Consider a few of these great options when you don’t want to overspend on your marketing strategy.
Get the best resources and guides you need to grow your business - right into your inbox, twice a week.
1. Bing Webmaster Tools
Yes, everyone turns to Google as the leader in search engine searches. However, millions of searchers are also on other platforms, primarily Bing and Yahoo. Bing Webmaster tools offers a full suite of search analytics tools you can use, to see how well your site’s doing, for specific keywords. Keyword reports, crawling data, and keyword research, are three of the primary, 100% free, tools you can use.
2. Google Analytics
No list is complete without at least one Google tool, right? It’s the most widely used search and analytic tool by any business owner online. It helps with several Google products including:
- Optimizing your site
- Data studio
- Search console
- Google optimize, to name a few
Although some people are concerned with Google security and privacy, if you want to rank on Google, you have to play by their rules. This will help you do just that.
3. Keyword Hero
How many keywords can you come up with for lawyer, plumber, or any other niche industry you’re in? Your searchers are creative online, and if you want to rank, for the most keywords possible within your niche, you’re going to have to use keyword tools. This is one of the free SEO tools you can utilize to help you come up with industry-specific keywords. If you’re struggling for matches, and other on-site metrics, this is a good starting point (even though it doesn’t have the most in-depth analytics or insight… but hey, it’s free).
4. MozCast
Like Google, Moz has become one of the most well known names in SEO and analytics tools. And yes, the platform does have paid for options, but they also offer a few free SEO tools you can use for your site. This is one of those tools. Whenever there’s a big algorithm update, this is the go-to tracker you’re going to want to visit, to see if your site’s keeping up with that algorithm update. Knowledge panels and SERP tracking, are a couple of the cool features it provides insight into.
5. Link Redirect Trace
It’s a Google Chrome extension, and it’s one of the most highly recommended free SEO tools and extensions available today. It’s an all-in-one, redirect path analyzer. So, whenever Yelp or other sites redirect visitors to your site, this free tool will analyze how it redirected to your site, and what searchers might see. Information about HTTP, robots.txt, screenshots, and HTTP headers, are all provided, for no charge to users.
6. SEOlyzer
SEO is in the name, so it has to be pretty good, right? The answer is yes, and it is one of the many free SEO tools you should be utilizing, if you don’t have much to spend on analytic tools. This is a log analysis tool, which includes real-time analysis, as well as page categorization, in the free version. Like the other tools on this list, there is a paid for version which offers more features. However, you can do real-time tracking, without having to pay for it with this tool.
7. Keyword Planner
Another tool to help you figure out the right keywords for your site; this one, however, also helps you plan the use of keywords. For blogs, product descriptions, and other third-party posts you write online, this tool is excellent at helping you choose which keywords, and long-tail keywords, to use, and when to use them. It has functions like country filing, and local search filtering, which is specifically important for service businesses, who are competing in a very specific niche and market. It’s also great if you use Google ads for your SEO, as it helps with proper keyword placement to ensure higher ranks, for more terms, on Google’s platform searches.
8. Google My Business
If your business isn’t listed locally, you’re missing out on reaching a huge potential pool of niche customers. You can list your business for free, as a local business, on Google my Business. This is one of the most important free SEO tools you have to be using today as a business owner. It’s the #1 must-have tool for local SEO. You can claim your business, manage it, respond to negative reviews, and maintain the accuracy of your business information online. It allows you to dispel incorrect information on Google, and know your information is always correct online.
9. SEO Minion
This is another Chrome extension to add to your arsenal of free SEO tools. Check broken links, analyze on-page SEO, use the SERP preview tools, and other features, without having to pay for it. It also perform Hrefleng checks on your site and has a Google search simulator, so you can mimic what searchers will see, for specific content you post.
10. Cloudflare
Another tool to consider is Cloudflare. It’s great for DNS management, and can help increase the load speeds of your site immensely when utilized properly. It also features DDoS protection, and DNS management is pretty easy for you to complete. Of the free SEO tools on this list, it’s the one that will help spot issues with slow load speeds on desktop and mobile website pages, but apart from this, won’t offer much more in terms of keyword or actual site analytics for you to make use of as a business owner.
11. Open Link Profiler
Open Link Profile is a free way to check backlinks of your website and the websites of your competitors. This tool offers a bunch of useful SEO features but what I’ve found most useful is checking backlinks as well as a health check of the backlinks pointing to a website. Getting a backlink profile of a competitor website is a good way to find low-hanging fruit for your website to get backlinks from.
12. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a new tool from Neil Patel that offers some pretty amazing features for a free SEO tool. It’s comparable to some of the more popular but expensive tools such as Ahrefs and SEMRush. Ubersuggest offers free keyword volume data, keyword ideas, and content ideas. This is perfect for those who run a blog or website and need a tool that can help them create a content calendar and content strategy, without shelling out hundreds of dollars a month for an SEO tool.
13. Answer The Public
Answer The Public is a unique tool that will take keywords and topics that you’re trying to build a content strategy around and produce nearly countless keyword and content ideas. Enter a keyword and this free SEO tool will generate a bunch of questions that you can answer. Most of the time, there’s search volume around the keyword, making it an ideal candidate for a content piece to try to rank for and get search traffic.
14. Keyword Sh*tter
Don’t let the name fool you, this is one of the most underrated and underappreciated free SEO tools available. This tool allows you to enter a keyword or topic and it will generate hundreds (and potentially even thousands if you let it go on long enough) long tail keywords. If you need keyword ideas aren’t a topic or cluster of topics, this is an amazing tool.
You turn
Regardless of how much you have to spend when it comes to SEO, there are numerous free SEO tools out there. These are a few of the many you can make use of, when trying to increase online SEO rank, for specific keywords, within your niche industry. And, if you really love any of these free SEO tools, you can always upgrade to paid-for versions to help further enhance your SEO strategies online.
