13 Free SEO Tools

Part 1

Free tools are awesome. Particularly when the "free" thing is giving you more traffic and money. There are tons of SEO tools that you can use for free, but some of these tools can be a waste.

Here's a list of top-rated free SEO tools. These tools are easy to use, powerful, intuitive, effective, and they're completely free.

Note 1: The free versions of these tools do not have the same scope of functionality as paid options.

Note 2: Several of these tools require credit card information to get a free trial. This still counts as free.

1. Google Analytics

I encourage you to use Google Analytics as soon as you can. Google Analytics is the best way to glean detailed and high-quality information. This is expected as it's a tool made by Google for Google users. The majority of other data tools piggyback on Google Analytics data via the API.

Assessment

Google Analytics is a must-have. Google Analytics contains virtually all of the important and actionable data regarding site visitors, traffic, and other information.

2. Google Search Console  

Google Search Console (GSC) is the perfect accompaniment to Google Analytics.

Originally created for “webmasters”, this tool is for anyone looking to uncover the details of their online presence. 

It is a fundamental tool for SEOs, as it focuses on the information SEOs need to help their clients succeed.

GSC's most valuable insights can be gleaned by simply looking at the dashboard.

Note that the simpler option is often the correct one. While there are thousands of different SaaS tools with 100,000 different ways to slice and view data, your most reliable tool is a dashboard with 2-3 crucial metrics.

Consider everything else noise.

Google Search Console offers some of the same data that Analytics does, but it is simpler and more direct. You can make fewer adjustments to the numbers and have easier access to crucial information.

Link data is one of the most important data sets. Off-page SEO is all about keeping up with harmful backlinks and disavowing them.

Google Search Console will be a great resource if you have ever had to deal with a manual penalty or have to regularly disavow stubborn spam links.

Assessment

Google Search Console is a must-have. You need the data, the tools, and the power those insights provide. I wish more SEOs and business owners understood the power of this tool and made use of it more often.

3. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is an all-in-one SEO tool designed to help you start optimizing your SEO campaigns. Knowing what you are doing and what your competitors are doing is a big part of success in SEO.

Ubersuggest can be used to search for keywords or domains.

You can instantly access a report on your keyword or domain from the main page.

Ubersuggest's keyword search capabilities are what I will be focusing on for the purpose of this article. It is a great alternative for the Google Keyword Planner tool which has lost some of its usefulness over the years.

Here's how Ubersuggest can help you find related keywords after you have done a search for your primary keyword.

Step 1: Click "Keyword Ideas"

To access a detailed report, click on "Keyword Ideas" in the left-hand sidebar.

Step 2: Check the Results

Here's where the fun starts. A long list of keywords is provided that relate to your seed keyword.

Each keyword has four columns.

• Volume: The average number of monthly searches a keyword gets on Google.

• CPC: Average cost per click for a Google Ad for this keyword.

• PD: Estimated competition for paid search (the greater the number, the more competitive).

• SD: Estimated competition for organic search (the higher the number, the more competitive).

This data is useful, but I urge you to dig deeper. Let's continue.

Step 3: Click On a Keyword

To access the following, click on the link: Content Marketing Agency Keywords.

Using this information makes it crystal clear what you must do to get to the top of Google. This data allows you to address issues such as:

• What traffic you can reasonably expect for each position on page 1

• The number of backlinks to your page one competitors

• Each URL's social share count

This data can be used to create content 10x more valuable than your competitors.

Step 4: Filter your Search

Once you have a clear view of the keywords that are related to your company and its goals, turn on the filter function to narrow down your search. Here's an example:

Additional parameters can be set, but I prefer to start with this when searching long-tail keywords.

It is important to find keywords that have enough search volume to drive the needle. You don't want to focus on keywords with high SEO Difficulty scores.

Despite removing more than 400 keywords, it leaves you with 12 keywords that meet your criteria. "Content marketing examples" is a top keyword, despite having a low average monthly search volume of just 1,000. This keyword can drive targeted traffic to your site and has a high chance of ranking with a search difficulty of 17.

Assessment

Ubersuggest can help you do more than just keyword research, but it will definitely help in this area. This will give you the tools you need to choose keywords that will allow you to create content that is destined to rank.

To use Ubersuggest directly from the SERPs, you can also add the Chrome extension.

4. MozBar

With the MOZBar, knowledge is key. SEO is a process that involves knowing the right things. MozBar makes it easy to find the right stuff at a glance.

You will find the MozBar button right in your browser toolbar. Click on the MozBar to generate an instant report about the website you are visiting.

The MozBar can be placed at any time at the top, bottom, or side of your browser window.

The toolbar contains three major categories of data: Page Elements, Link Data, and Page Attributes.

Page Elements explains the intricacies of on-page optimization. It's easy to see a lot of information. The various tags can be seen: title, description, and H1s.

The page attributes show some of the below-the-surface optimization features such as robots and rel="canonical", as well as load time. You can also find on-page information about link data.

The Link Data tab contains ranking factors as well as more information about a site's link structure. Only a paid subscription will give you complete information.

Assessment

Subscribers have access to the full power of MozBar, which provides great value and is well worth the cost. If you're cost-conscious though, the folks at Moz are kind enough to provide this robust version of their tool at no cost.

5. SEOWorkers Analysis Tool

The Analysis tool lets you enter any URL, even if it is not yours, and create a report.

SEOWorkers doesn't stray much from the other tools here, but it can help you save time and effort in your analysis. It also provides background information about the data.

Their reporting is fast and thorough.

You might not be able to see some of the data you usually don't think about, like the HTTP Headers Test.

Other analyzed features offer helpful icons that can help you see if you're doing well or need to pay more attention to something.

SEOWorker's has a unique feature. They educate you on SEO in addition to providing you with meaningful SEO data. The report gives a detailed discussion of each category.

It provides a comprehensive keyword analysis. It shows head terms (single keywords) and keyphrases of two, three, and four words (longtail keywords).

Assessment

SEOWorkers offers a lot of information. Some of it is unique compared to other SEO and reporting tools. It can also lead to information overload.

The discussion in each section will be of little value to the more experienced SEO. But it could prove useful for those who are still learning the ropes.

6. WooRank Website Reviews

WooRank's website review may appear to be a simple freemium website analyzer. However, closer inspection reveals some useful insights.

Any website can be analyzed and a report generated in seconds.

The geodata is interesting, although it is duplicated with some of the Analytics information.

Another useful section is social shareability. There are few free tools out there that collect and aggregate this many social network signals in one location.

WooRank's most notable feature is its mobile section. This level of detail and perspective is not available in other free SEO analysis tools.

Assessment

WooRank is highly praised for its simplicity, interface, and a large amount of data. However, not all data appears to be accurate.

The mobile optimization overview is one of the most helpful tools, but it can be viewed with free Google tools so it's not quite as revolutionary anymore.