Who doesn’t love free stuff?
Especially free stuff that can help you expand and monetize your business!
There are LOTs of tools out there for people interested in marketing their website and online presence.
Many of these tools are paid, and can put a big dent in your meager marketing budget — which is why we decided to highlight some of the top free tools we (and other marketers) use regularly.
It should go without saying that one of the all-time best free tools for search engine marketers is Google itself.
From suggested queries…
…to the “People also ask” box…
…and more, Google offers SEOs ample tools to get started and generate content for high performing marketing campaigns.
Here are 16 more free SEO tools — our “Sweet 16” if you will — that will advance your marketing goals without emptying your pocketbook.
1. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test
This testing tool is fast, informative and easy to use.
Simply enter your domain name and within seconds, it’ll tell you if your website is mobile-friendly.
Not only will it give you a preview of what your site looks on mobile, but it will also list any errors that you can fix to make the site more mobile friendly.
2. Google Analytics
The gold standard of free SEO tools.
Among the many benefits of Google Analytics is finding out how many people visit your website, how they get there, where they’re coming from, what they look at, and how long they stay.
But there’s a wealth of deeper information available beyond that.
Configure Analytics to your own unique needs by defining goals and create a marketing funnel with monetary values assigned for each step.
3. Keywords Everywhere
If you’ve been logging into Google Ads to do keyword research every time, this tool will make your life much easier.
No more awkward log-in processes or vague data ranges on search volume.
Keywords Everywhere is a free add-on extension to your browser that will automatically show search volume, cost-per-click and competition rate as soon as you type your phrase into the Google search engine.
4. BuzzSumo
You can analyze up to a year’s worth of data instantly, immediately gaining valuable insights into what content is being shared and by what social platforms.
This is a great tool for content marketers as it helps us tap into what topics are trending.
Some of the world’s biggest companies—from Yahoo to Expedia—rely on BuzzSumo.
If you pay to join BuzzSumo, you can unlock a whole bunch of amazing tools such as unlimited searches, keyword monitoring, influencer research tools, topic explorer and more.
However, BuzzSumo does offer a free limited plan that provides users access to their Most Shared, Trending, and Influencer bio search tools.
Seven day free trials are also an option.
5. Answer The Public
Need help with ideation and topic planning?
Simply type your keyword or keyphrase in the search box and fountains of content ideas will spring forth — seemingly from the brain of this annoyed hipster man.
The site even offers a free short course on how to use Answer The Public insight to really understand your customers.
6. SEMRush
An advanced free tool for SEO pros, the free version of SEMRush will give you a snapshot into what keywords you’re ranking for, how high the ranking is, backlink analysis, and a heck of a lot more.
Or it can reveal this information about your competitors.
All you have to do is register to get 10 free requests.
7. Headline Analyzer by CosSchedule
Content creators are forever trying to walk the H1 tightrope between writing something that sounds snappy for our audience, while also clearly communicating the content of the post to Google and other search engines.
Headline Analyzer, a free tool in the CoSchedule arsenal, will offer advice on your headline idea — including a detailed analysis and actionable tips on how to make your headline more attractive to readers.
And it’s all free!
8. Uber Suggest
A tool of Neil Patel’s, Uber Suggest will tell you which search queries bring people to your site, offer content recommendations, and recommend a boatload of related keywords you may want to capitalize on.
9. Keyword Tool
Winning the battle for long-tail search queries is the way to get low-hanging fruit in the SEO world.
Keyword Tool will offer you over long-tail suggestions for each keyword you enter.
While it’s free to see a list of keyword suggestions, questions and prepositions, you’ll have to pay if you want to unlock data like the search volume, trend, CPC and competition.
(Pro tip: You can use the Keywords Everywhere tool to see all of this data — minus “trend” — for free.)
10. Google Trends
Get a big or little picture of how much attention certain search queries have received over time, and compare that to other search terms.
This free tool is super helpful as you develop a long-term keyword strategy.
You can customize the search parameters by selecting the search location, time period, industries and more.
11. Spyfu
Ever wondered how your competitors are performing compared to you?
Spyfu allows you to get a sneak peak into what your competitors are doing such as what keywords they’re using to get people to their sites and what type of paid search campaign (if any) they’re using.
Simply sign up for a free account and start snooping.
Spyfu even allows you to export a PDF so that you can easily send your findings to coworkers.
12. Detailed
Keep yourself sharp on algorithm updates and other trends in SEO when you get the free newsletter from Detailed.
While it’s not technically a “tool” per se, this newsletter is chock full of little tidbits on what’s working (and what’s not) to drive search traffic.
13. Can I Rank?
CanIRank is as close as you’ll get to free consulting services.
Notably, it’s the first SEO software using AI that gives you specific DIY action (not just data) and offers courses on how to use the information provided to boost your Google rankings.
There are paid options available, but the free version comes jam packed with plenty of features to get you started.
14. Seed Keywords
Instead of typing in the keyword and getting suggestions back, Seed Keywords uses a different starting point.
You’re invited to think of the most common scenario your potential prospect is in when they’re looking at your services.
From that scenario, keyword suggestions are made.
15. Browseo
Wouldn’t it be so much easier to make your website SEO-friendly if you could know for sure how Google saw your site?
With the tech giant always looking to keep its methods secret, Browseo will reveal exactly how a spider is going to perceive your site.
As the site advertises, there’s nothing to download and nothing to install.
Simply enter your URL in the search box.
(Note: Depending on the security features enabled on your site and/or server, the Browseo tool may be blocked from accessing your website.)
16. SEObility
Worried about content duplication?
Get all your website’s pages crawled and double-checked for duplicate content.
The on-page optimization audit (along with daily keyword rankings) make this a good, comprehensive tool.
Signup for the Basic (free) plan to try it out.
We hope you get tons of value out of these 16 free tools!
Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of free or low-cost SEO tools out there — some garbage, but some incredibly helpful.
So now, we want to hear from you:
Did we miss any game-changing free SEO tools that you use?
Leave a comment below to recommend your favorites. Thanks for reading!