10 Free SEO Tools
Earning the best results possible from your SEO efforts is a satisfying experience. Having an added boost to your campaigns thanks to having a toolbelt ready at your disposal is even better.
But if you ask any Manchester SEO professional what their favourite tool is, they’re likely to reel off a laundry list of different software, tools and systems they believe are the roots of their success. It can get even more overwhelming once you realise the full extent of the tools available.
Narrowing them down to tools that are not just effective, but also don’t cost an arm and a leg can be quite difficult.
Of course, there is value in the premium tools that you can implement into your working schedule. Over time, however, the costs begin to add up. So to avoid breaking the bank, free SEO tools are a great way to keep costs down whilst still having access to the support and benefits a tool brings.
To give you a helping hand, our expert team at our SEO Manchester agency has helped to create an article that discusses:
- What is an SEO tool?
- Dead Link Checked
- AlsoAsked
- GTmetrix
- Schema Markup Generator
- Page Speed
- Internet Archive
- Screaming Frog
- TinyPNG
- SEMRush
- Google Suite
What is a free SEO tool?
Before you begin signing up for a bunch of free SEO tools, understanding the gaps you want to fill is the first step.
A free SEO tool is a piece of software or website that provides insight through data and alerts regarding a wide variety of things. This can cover either a website, specific trends, keywords and more, and often help to highlight any opportunities or weaknesses that need to be considered throughout your SEO campaign.
But don’t just implement any free SEO tool you can get your hands on, choose them carefully to avoid overloading yourself with information that you don’t need.
Whether you’re looking to update your free SEO tools or you’re starting from the beginning, Tecmark’s experts have done the hard work for you and compiled their favourite free SEO tools…
Dead Link Checker
Dead links can be extremely harmful to a website’s health, signalling to Google that the site may not be as high quality as it is, and not worth directing people to. Over time, this can damage a website’s reputation within the algorithm, pushing it further and further down in the rankings.
Any dead links must be highlighted and rectified as soon as possible, but they can be difficult to spot if you’re not constantly reviewing the backlink profile. Dead Link Checker will check for broken links on your website for free, and you can even sign up and schedule automatic checks to keep you up to date.
AlsoAsked: People Also Ask
Utilising AlsoAsked gives you access to information based on what people are searching online. Whether it’s directly on the site or imported data in the form of a graph, you can use the data to guide you on any future work, especially for search-focused pieces.
The free SEO tool allows you to use 10 searches a month, including filters to see where people are answering, how old they are and more.
GTmetrix | Website Performance Testing and Monitoring
Website speed is key to proving to Google that your business is worth promoting to searchers, as if it is slower, it’s off-putting to users.
GTMetrix is a free tool that you can use to test your website’s speed and performance, including the individual pages. It will give you a score and even give you a recommendation on how to improve any issues found and reinforce the positives that already exist.
Schema Markup Generator (JSON-LD) | TechnicalSEO.com
Schema markup in SEO campaigns can provide a much-needed boost to your efforts, but can also be a difficult element to implement if you’re not as technically inclined. Having a piece of software that can generate scheme markup for you makes this process much smoother so it becomes a bonus instead of an obstacle to try and overcome.
We recommend Schema Markup Generator on TechnicalSEO.com. The free SEO tools provides a structured data generator includes all the required item properties and is simple and easy to use by creating the right schema code based on the type you’ve selected. It has plenty of value too as schema markup can help Google to understand what your content is offering, and offers the chance of rich snippets and higher click-through rates.
Page Speed
A great way to do a quick audit and generate a basic task list before going into more detail is by analysing the website’s speed in detail.
Page Speed provides a technical overview of your on-page SEO as well as your content, with a breakdown that highlights any opportunities to improve it. This is also a great tool if you’re experiencing issues but you aren’t sure why helping you to rule out or narrow down any concerns.
Internet Archive
Creating interesting and original content is a key part of most SEO campaigns, but having access to information that is not only valid but genuinely useful can become difficult when you’re sourcing outside of the website’s area of expertise.
We recommend utilising the Internet Archive. It is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages.
They’re all organised and categorised too, so you can browse freely to find what you need, without becoming overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available. Using these and linking back to a credible source not only boosts your content but also gives Google a better look into what you offer.
Screaming Frog
Being able to spot broken links, identify any issues in page size or speed and see the data that makes the difference is essential in any SEO campaign. It can become difficult to monitor all of these issues across a variety of tools, but Tecmark’s team thinks Screaming Frog is a good solution.
The Screaming Frog SEO Log File Analyser allows you to upload your log files, verify search engine bots, identify crawled URLs and analyse search bot data and behaviour for invaluable SEO insight. The free SEO tool allows for up to 500 URLs per crawl, and whilst you miss out on some functions from the paid version, it’s perfect for a quick audit of a smaller site.
TinyPNG
Having large images can slow down a website as it takes longer to load larger file sizes, impacting speed and Google’s opinion on your website. If a search engine deems your website too slow to load, it is less likely to recommend it to searchers, and it can severely impact your rankings.
To avoid this, optimising your images is key. We recommend using TinyPNG to reduce file size whilst keeping the quality of the image. Dialling down the file size and reuploading the smaller version will drastically improve site speed and be another task you can tick off your list in just a few minutes.
SEMRush
Auditing a site can be tricky but is a fundamental part of any SEO campaign. If you’re struggling to save some cash in a preliminary look at an account, or you want to cut back on costs when putting together a proposal, we recommend SEMRush’s site audit.
You can audit up to 100 pages per month with a free account and the results will highlight areas that need improvement and better optimisation. It won’t break the bank either as this free SEO tool has a free account level gives that provides access to one “project” which includes basic site auditing, as well as limited keyword and domain reporting.
Google Suite
Finally, Tecmark’s expert SEO team suggests utilising the free SEO tools you have right in front of you! The Google Suite has a variety of tools that combined can make a difference in your SEO efforts.
Google Search Console will help you monitor your website traffic, optimise rankings and use site search results to make future decisions.
Google Analytics contains valuable data that your business can use to monitor a site’s SEO performance, including any keywords and more.
Google Business Profile is also important to take advantage of, as the free software allows you to appear in Maps and Local Pack Listings, boosting visibility, providing insight into useful information and allowing people to leave reviews of your business.
Get in touch with Tecmark today!
Like what we had to say and want to learn more? Our expert Manchester SEO team has plenty of digital PR tips and tricks for you to check out.
Our team also has expert insight and advice about all things SEO, from technical SEO to website migrations, we can clue you in and boost your business with our fine-tuned processes. Get in touch with us for a chat about how we can help, today!
