To Start with, How do you get found on Search Engine?
There are two ways to go about getting found on search engine – paid and organic. Organic ranking basically revolves around Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It involves a lot of work and tactics to help you beat competitors and rank higher when your keywords are searched for.
The paid approach is known as search engine marketing. It involves running ads on Google Ads, for instance, to rank higher whenever keywords related to your industry are searched for.
Why Use Free SEO Tools?
SEO is broadly divided into two parts – on page and off page SEO. We discussed that exhaustively here.
SEO is a lot of work and usually takes time. So it makes sense to have tools that get the job done. Let me rephrase that – tools that help you get the job done. That sounds better.
Some of these tools are free and several others are paid.
Paying for an SEO tool is where I have a little problem. I mean, you are doing SEO because you want to avoid paying for ads. So, paying for an SEO tool kind of defeats that purpose, don’t you think?
Having said that, it’s important to note that SEM should not take the place of SEO. While SEM helps fast track the process, SEO helps you rank higher when competitors are also running ads at the time. There are a lot of other factors/algorithms involved though. I guess that’s a topic for another day.
So let’s get to it – free SEO tools. All of these tools are free (though some of them have paid versions), no hidden charges. Also, most of the tools are Google products and that makes sense, doesn’t it?
Free SEO Tools for Checking Plagiarism
Google frowns at plagiarism and constantly come up with algorithms that favour originality. This makes it crucial to have tools that help you confirm the orginality of your content.
Let’s face it, most contents online are not 100% original. Every content is either a combination of several other previously published contents or expansion on some aspects of such contents.
So after getting information for your article from multiple platforms, these free tools will help you check how well you have been able to make the content yours.
Simply copy and paste your content on the available text fields on any of these websites. Your content would be scanned through and scored over 100%.
While 80% score is okay, aim for 100%.
Most of these tools go as far as telling you parts of your contents that look plagiarised so you can rephrase.
Free SEO Tools for Analytics
Data is everything in this age. So it makes sense to have tools that constantly supplies you with your website performance data.
The two main SEO tools that would help you with all the information you need about your website performance are Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
This is a fundamental analytic tool for any serious website as it’s practically impossible to monitor the results of your SEO efforts without it.
Google Analytics gives you such key information as:
- Page rate
- Organic visitors
- Time on site
- Bounce rate
Any list of SEO free tools without Google Search Console is a total waste of time. This tool can be used in combination with Google Analytics to understand the keywords that users find you with and better understand your click-through rate.
You can use Google Search Console to improve the general functionality of your website on Google Search.
Also, it has tools you can use to examine how features on your site are working. You know, sometimes we add amazing features on our sites to help improve users’ experience on the site. But guess what? Some of these features have unintended effects on how the sites rank on Google search.
With GSC, you can monitor your site traffic and get recommendations on how to make your website stand out among competitors on Search Engine Result Page (SERP).
Free SEO Tools for Keyword Research
At the end of the day, the whole essence of SEO is to rank high on SERP for keywords related to your niche/industry. This explains why keyword research is key (pun intended).
With these free SEO tools, you would be able to find the right keywords or key phrases that users in your niche search for. You would also see how popular the keywords are.
Answer The Public
This tool gets data on questions people are asking on the internet from public forums, social media and blog posts. It then turns the queries to keywords you can incorporate into your website content.
As the name implies, this free SEO tool helps with recommendations. It gives you just the right keywords which will help you reach your audience on search engine.
Google Keyword Planner goes as far as showing you the most relevant keywords for your business, and lets you see in which they are searched.
Free SEO Tools for Local Search Engine
Some businesses are basically for the local market so it makes sense to have tools to help you optimize for local searches.
These free SEO Tools will help you optimize your website for Google Maps and rank high for local searches.
If you want to rank for local searches, then one tool you definitely need is Google My Business. This free SEO tool helps you record your business locally and build a profile similar to what you have on social media.
You may also see Google My Business like a local business directory. Having your business/website on Google My Business helps you get found when your business keywords are searched for by people close to you.
With this SEO tool, you can check how often information about your business is mentioned across different search engines. You can also see how your website displays across the internet and where you rank in the various search results.
Basically, this free SEO tool shows you the weaknesses and strengths of your site on local search.
Free SEO Tools for Mobile SEO
Majority of users access the internet on their mobile their devices. So, Google has a way of favouring websites that are optimized for mobile. Hence, it’s crucial to ensure your website is mobile friendly.
These tools will help to ensure your site is optimized for Google’s mobile-first demand.
Mobile-First Index Checker
Actually, there are a number of websites that lets you check whether or not your website is mobile friendly. However, this tool by Zeo is clearly the most complete of them all.
This Google tool lets you test how well your site meets their mobile requirement.
All you have to do is visit the website, enter your website URL and run the test. Your site would be rated and if there are any issues affecting the mobile-friendliness of your site, it would be suggested to you.
Free SEO Tool for Backlinks
Backlinks are a major part of Google algorithm for ranking on Search Engine Result Page (SERP). These tools help you to manage that aspect of your SEO.
You’ve never heard of this tool, have you? Well, you are not alone. Most people don’t know about it and that’s deliberate from Google.
Google intentionally don’t give this tool that much publicity because they hope SEO specialists don’t use it. However it is a very crucial tool for you if you suspect you have backlinks which are ruining your ranking.
With Disavow tool, you can highlight low ranking and spammy links and ask Google to discount when indexing your site.
Free SEO Tools for Site Speed
Nobody wants a site that takes forever to load – we don’t have that patience. Search Engines recognize this too so it ranks sites with slow load speed low on SERP.
These free search engine optimization tools will help you test your website load speed.
This is arguably the most up-to-date free seo tool that gives information about your website pages’ functioning.
This is a Google free seo tool that works with Lighthouse. However, instead of just analyzing your website, it gives you live/real-time data about actual users on your site.
Free SEO Tool for Crawling and Indexing
With these tools, you can access the first stage of search engine ranking which is crawling and indexing.
With this tool, you can fix technical or advanced seo problems your site may be encountering.
You know Google spiders crawl sites? That’s exactly what this tool will replicate on your site, pointing out all the technical SEO problems such as crawl mistakes, HTTP header mistakes among others.
Perhaps you unknowingly have duplicate contents on your site, this tool will highlight it for you.
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