Dawn, Lee and I recently listened to a Webinar about free online SEO tools. We already use many of the tools discussed, and have a few that we would add to the list. For some fundamental SEO knowledge, check out our latest Simons Scoop, and read on for our favorite free SEO tools.
This is the general go-to, free keyword tool – it’s easy to use and good for basic keyword research. Simply type in a keyword you are considering using in your Web copy and Google will return hundreds of related keyword options, along with the search volume and advertiser competition. The ideal keyword will have a high search volume, and a relatively low number of results or advertiser competition.
This tool is on the same page as the Google Keyword Tool. On the left side of the page under “How would you like to generate keyword ideas?” click “Website content.” This will allow you to analyze the keywords used (and those recognized by Google) on the Web site you identify. You can check your own site to decide if the keywords Google recognizes are on point with your goals and analyze competitors’ sites for keyword ideas.
Google Analytics is an excellent free tool for analyzing your Web site traffic. In terms of SEO, it can tell you the keywords that are leading people to your site through Google – information that can help you fine-tune your SEO efforts.
This is a pretty standard tool you use to help Google find, index and rank your site. Once your site is verified, you can view information about your Web site that may be helpful for SEO, such as keyword searches and inbound links that lead to your site.
This shows you what a search engine spider sees when it crawls your site. With SEO knowledge, you can use this information to make improvements to your site.
This is another keyword research tool that allows you to “spy” on competitor’s keyword/SEO activity.
This site gives information on competitors’ sites in real time. The information takes a while to load, but it can give you good background on competitors’ keyword usage and the success of their SEO efforts.
This tool is a downloadable program that runs through Firefox and allows you to check the Google and Yahoo! rank of your site and competitors’ sites.
This tool helps you create sitemaps for your Web site. Submitting these to Google can help Google index and rank your site.
This easy-to-use tool generates keyword ideas based on your current site’s copy.
Use this site to analyze the density of certain keywords on your site and competitors’ sites.
This link also provides some good keyword research applications (thanks Chris!).
Tags: SEO
You might also want to check out the First Link Checker tool http://www.firstlinkchecker.com/