Before we jump to SEO tools, let us begin with a caution. Search Engine Optimization is ever-changing and it will always be. What was relevant and worked two years ago may not work today. So it is crucial for an SEO practitioner to adapt to what’s thrown at them. Good tool choice is also one such factor that creates miracles in SEO.

Whether it’s identifying the crawling issues without manually checking every single URL or tracking your users and their behavior or else fetching all the Meta tags within minutes, tools have consistently been the aider for savvy marketers. So freelancers or SEO agencies like ours are always on the hunt for the best SEO tools.

Following is the list of top free SEO tools we use every day here at Evolving SEO. We use and rely on them, or else I wouldn’t be recommending them to you.

Ready? Let’s dive into the list…

Starting with what I believe is the most basic SEO tool of all…

1) Google Analytics

  In this Google dominated era, this tool needs no introduction.

Google Analytics is the obvious choice for almost everyone to track and draw SEO reports. It provides tons of handy reports such as site users, traffic sources, session time, demographics and even user interests. It also allows you to measure the performance of websites in real-time, compare the data to previous periods, and so much more.

 Here are some more reasons as to why you use Google Analytics –

• It’s free
• Can create customization reports
• Easy integration
• Track User behavior
• Check bounce rate
• To understand which social platforms to target
• Finally to set goals and check if you are achieving or not

If you’re not already convinced, let us give an outline to this.  Google Analytics is one such tool that provides all stats including user experience, which decides what is working well, and more importantly, what isn’t. Unless you identify the issue, you cannot create a solution. So this tool determines if you are on the right track or not.

2) Google Search Console

Google provides another free tool named Search console. All our favorites!

This tool is entirely search-engine focused and acts as a medium between your website and search engine. You can actually speak (intimate) to Google about any changes in your website through this tool. Search Console (Webmasters) completely holds the technical structure of your site and makes sure that Google has access to it.

What All Can Be Tracked With Google Search Console?

• Search Analytics (Clicks, Impressions, CTR, Etc.)
• Links to your site
• Internal Links
• Mobile Usability
• Top Queries/Keywords you are ranking for
• Helps in finding the index errors

This tool is entirely free and, as you can see, thoroughly packed with useful information for any kind of business. If you care about how you show up in the search engines, this is your best resource for digging into the data available and strategize your move.

We use this tool all the time to find new search queries, diagnose problems and even scout new opportunities.

3) Google Keyword Planner

Yes, Google’s keyword planner is a free tool, but you NEED to have a Google Ads account to use it. If you don’t have one, you can sign up in a few minutes.

Step 1: Go to ads.google.com

Step 2: Follow the prompts, enter the required information, and you’re in.

Step 3: Next, log in to your account, click on the wrench icon in the toolbar and choose “Keyword Planner”

There are two main keyword tools designed in a planner, keeping PPC advertisers and SEO in mind. Now let’s discuss only in SEO point of view.

In the keyword planner, you can see the “Discover New Keywords” tool, as the name suggests, this tool is ideal for finding new keywords. Enter products, services or basic keywords closely related to your business, and search. You will see a keywords results page comprising of suggested keywords along with search volume and competition. Now filter the list of keywords down to a smaller list of terms that are best for you.

This is tricky.

Why? There are LOTS of factors that go into choosing a keyword for your business.

Think, analyse and decide which keywords you want to prioritize.

 4) Ahrefs:                   

Ahrefs is one of the most powerful SEO suite that contains tools for link building, keyword research, competitor analysis, site audit and much more. It is used widely for SEO analysis. Apart from the SEO backlink analysis, for which it is well-known in the digital marketing services, it is also useful for competitor analysis and keywords analysis.

AHREFS offer Freemium Version (both free and paid versions), features like Backlink Checker, Links Spam Check, Do-Follow & No Follow Check are free, and the rest are part of paid versions.

So what makes AHREFS a cut above the rest of the other tools?

• Extensive Backlink Analysis Report
• Keyword Research Tool provides Competitor Keyword Analysis
• Content Explorer
• URL Rating
• Backlink Data Analysis
• Link Intersect
• Find Broken Links
• Can Find Spam Links
• Complete Competitor Analysis
• Site Audit
• SERP Ranking History

There’s no doubt about it:

AHREFS fairs better compared to other tools, for complete website improvement in both On-Page and Off-Page analysis.

So our recommendation is to take advantage of their 7 day trial for $7, try all the features and see how it works for you. If you like it, you can upgrade the plan.

5) Woorank:

This tool helps you track everything that influences the SEO performance of your website and find all the issues that you have not noticed before.

Go to Woorank tool, just type in the URL of a website and it presents you with a detailed SEO audit for all the important ranking factors in a few seconds. SEO audit represents your website’s health. With this report, you can identify and fix any bugs or mistakes that may harm your rankings.

Features that Woorank offer:

• Score and Marketing Checklist
• Meta Tags Performance
• Mobile Compatibility
• Usability
• Backlink Score
• Social Media Performance
• Site Crawl (On-Page Issues)

Upon giving this a solid read, I’m sure you will be enough confident to acquire and face SEO challenges and this will be a savior for many business lives.

Do you have any other cool tools that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to add those to the list over time!