If you’ve been reading our SEO guides, you know there are plenty of tools out there that business owners can use to refine their SEO strategy. But especially for small businesses, paid premium tools can add up pretty quickly, and budget concerns could be stopping you from improving your SEO.

Premium tools are valuable when you need specific advanced features, but the good news is that there are a variety of free SEO tools that you can start using today for the majority of your SEO work. This guide will cover free SEO tools that can help you enhance your site’s SEO.

These tools are free unless otherwise stated.

On-Page SEO Tools

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Besides having a really fun name, this Screaming Frog tool should be your go-to if you’re looking for things like broken links, duplicate content, redirects, and other on-page SEO elements. The SEO Spider also analyzes page titles and meta data to find those that are missing or not meeting requirements. The free version includes many services, and it’s possible to upgrade for additional data and resources.

Scan your site here: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

Checkbot: SEO, Web Speed & Security Tester

This is a Chrome extension that checks broken links, duplicate titles, redirects, and other important aspects of on-page SEO. In addition to scanning for the above errors, this tool runs web security tests to check for mixed content, insecure forms, and HTTPS, as well as testing page speed.

Get the extension here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/checkbot-seo-web-speed-se/dagohlmlhagincbfilmkadjgmdnkjinl

Keyword Research Tools

Keyword Explorer

This tool allows you to search Moz’s keyword database — the largest and most accurate out there — to help you discover the queries you should target on your site. You’re allotted 10 query searches a month, and you can create a keyword list, find related suggestions, and analyze the search volume, keyword difficulty, average organic click-through rate, and more. 

Try it here: https://analytics.moz.com/pro/keyword-explorer 

Answer the Public

You can get a lot of insight into search queries and intent by reading the auto-suggest results on Google and Bing. Answer the People provides a more in-depth version of that insight. Type in a keyword, and the tool will provide content ideas, related questions, words typically associated with the keyword, and more. The data is visualized in a way that is easy to digest and interesting to explore. The free version doesn’t allow you to compare the data, but it does provide plenty of ideas for long-tail keywords and content.

Try it here: https://answerthepublic.com/

Search Monitoring & Rank Tracking Tools

MozBar

The free SEO toolbar MozBar provides instant SEO metrics on any page or SERP as you browse the internet. It allows you to create custom searches, access and compare link metrics across pages in the SERP, find and highlight keywords on a page, differentiate links by type, assess ranking probability, and more. This Chrome toolbar is easy to use and understand, making it a great tool for those just getting started and SEO experts alike. The premium version has additional features, but the free version is useful and valuable.

Download it here: https://moz.com/products/pro/seo-toolbar

Free Domain Analysis

This tool gives you access to competitive SEO metrics like domain authority, top pages based on link metrics, ranking keywords, top linking domains, and more. The free version allows you to pull three reports per day. 

Learn more here: https://moz.com/domain-analysis

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a robust and easy-to-use tool that gives you data on SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing for any domain or keyword you search. You can see what your competitors are ranking for, allowing you to improve your strategy. Ubersuggest provides insight into top pages ranking for popular keywords, pages that are performing well on Facebook, keyword ideas, keyword volume and competition, content ideas based on top-performing content, and backlink data to help you determine which sites could be linking to yours. 

Check it out here: https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/

Link Building Tools

Detailed.com

Detailed.com offers a link database that is updated daily. It allows you to explore the links that are driving the most traffic and rankings in your industry, giving you insight into the type of content that could help improve your SEO. It also displays the most influential Tweets in the past 30 days per industry, giving you an idea of who the biggest influencers are in that industry and what type of content they’re Tweeting about. While they do offer a pro version with advanced features, Detailed.com makes it clear that their data is always free. 

Check it out here: https://detailed.com/links/ 

Link Explorer

Link building is an important part of SEO because it helps you create domain authority for your site. Link Explorer allows you to find valuable link prospects, create a link building strategy, and track your progress. Moz uses its vast Link Index to suggest link building opportunities for your site. Like the Keyword Explorer tool, the free Link Explorer allots you 10 searches a month.

Check it out here: https://analytics.moz.com/pro/link-explorer/home

Local SEO Tools

My Online Presence

Moz’s Online Presence tool gives you a snapshot of how your business location appears on local searches and directories. It allows you to see whether your information is accurate and up to date across the board and identify where you need to improve. See how your business appears on Google Maps, Yelp, Facebook, Bing, and more. 

Perform your free check here: https://moz.com/checkout/local/check

Local Listings Health Scanner

This tool from BrightLocal shows you the health of your business listings on platforms like Google My Business, Google Maps, and any other local listings. It shows inaccuracies between listings and missing information and offers insight on how to fix them. 

Try it out here: https://www.brightlocal.com/free-local-seo-tools/local-listings-health-scanner/

Whitespark Local Citation Finder

When it comes to local SEO, getting your business listed on local directories can have a big impact on traffic. Use the Whitespark Local Citation Finder to choose the best citation and directory opportunities for your business. You can also see what your competitors are using and track your citation growth over time. The free plan gets you three searches per day, and you can always upgrade if you really love the tool.

Start finding citations here: https://whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/

Digital Marketing Tools

Sheets for Marketers

This isn’t technically an SEO tool, but it is a helpful resource for your SEO and digital marketing efforts. Sheets for Marketers offers a wide variety of Google Sheets templates available for free. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out the best way to format a spreadsheet to organize your data, you can grab a template and customize it to fit your company’s needs, saving you time and keeping all your information tidy and easy to read. Some of the most helpful types of templates include: 

• Analytics: templates to display and organize your conversion funnel analytics, UTM tags, Google Analytics Heatmap, and more
• Link building: templates to help you streamline your link building efforts, including a backlink checker and outreach tracking template
• On-page SEO: on-page optimization templates including a metadata audit, HTML table of contents generator, and more
• Content: content planning tools such as a power words cheat sheet, editorial calendar planner, and more

Browse templates here: https://sheetsformarketers.com/google-sheets-templates/ 

As you get deeper into SEO, you might consider upgrading to some premium tools that offer all the features you need, but free tools are a great place to start when you want to understand your current traffic and rankings, discover new SEO opportunities, and explore what your competitors are doing. Start testing out these free SEO tools to discover which ones can help you improve your SEO strategy. For more on what you can do with the data you’ve gathered with these tools, check out our webinar on improving your website with SEO, or browse all of our SEO guides.