It’s important to ensure you’re visible on search sites, and understand exactly which SEO (search engine optimization) practices will help get you there. Improving your ranking doesn’t have to be a daunting task. If anything, it’s an opportunity to explore which options are available to you to get the job done much more easily.
Thankfully, there are a plethora of SEO tools constantly at your disposal. Here are some recommendations for SEO tools that will increase your exposure while being easy to use and free.
Google PageSpeed Insights
By just entering a URL on Google PageSpeed Insights, you can access a page’s loading time and performance for both mobile and desktop versions. It also provides a grade between 0 to 100 while giving suggestions to improve your site and how quickly it takes the site to load certain metrics.
Rank Math Plugin
If you have a WordPress site, this plugin is helpful for optimizing your website’s content. You can add meta titles, descriptions, and structure to your data in a user-friendly way. Plus, this plugin suggests ways to increase your ranking for keywords when you indicate which one you’re targeting. The 404 Monitor feature is handy for identifying missing or broken content so you can easily redirect the URLs in the plugin’s Redirections settings.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics packs a powerful punch for a free tool. This tracks almost every bit of traffic imaginable on your website, such as where it comes from, which page is receiving it, and other useful analytics. Though not strictly SEO-focused, it’s great for understanding your organic traffic and tracking your efforts. Pair it with other analytics tools to unlock even more insights.
Yoast SEO Plugin
Another great tool for WordPress sites, Yoast SEO Plugin makes optimization easier while also helping to identify gaps in your content. You can improve and modify your content with this plugin through SEO, readability, and social. It also has features to set meta descriptions, titles, canonical URL, label index/no-index pages, and configure other backend settings on your site.
Google Trends
Sometimes, even just seeing which popular terms are trending over time is a helpful way to boost your own SEO. Google Trends is a great way to see an overview of which keywords are being searched, when people search for them, and how multiple words compare against one another. Tools such as these can help craft a marketing strategy, so don’t overlook it when generating SEO content topics.
SERPsim
SERPsim, from Toolbase.io, allows you to preview how your web page will look in Google’s search results. Before you even publish your web page, you can see how your meta title and description will appear in mobile and desktop search results. The snippet preview tool also lets you check for truncation issues and fix them instantly.
Answer the Public
Answer the Public allows you to search for hundreds of keyword ideas by submitting just one keyword in its database. When you enter in a relevant keyword, this ‘search listening tool’ provides an exhaustive list of long-tail keyword opportunities for you, as well as common questions asked. Please note that it only allows two free searches per day.
Google Search Console
Receive constant site analysis, alerts, and error reports through Google Search Console. Bing and Yandex also have search consoles (called ‘webmaster tools’) if those search channels are important for your brand. Use Search Console to look over and fix technical issues on your site, and explore important SEO data like clicks, impressions, average ranking position, and more. However, big sites may find it limited since it only shows a handful of technical SEO issues, the top 1,000 backlinks, and the top 1,000 organic keywords.
Ahrefs SEO Toolbar
A free extension for Chrome and Firefox, the SEO Toolbar from Ahrefs lets you check for broken links, trace redirect chains, and highlight ‘nofollow’ links for any webpage. It also generates a helpful on-page SEO report that includes your page’s title, meta description, word count, headers, hreflang tags, canonicals, and OG tags. While the technical and on-page SEO features are free, you must create an Ahrefs account to see additional SEO metrics.
Finding an SEO Strategy That Works
Though these tools are definitely helpful in their own right, it’s important to consider all facets of an SEO strategy to improve your ranking. By combining these tools with other strategic marketing, you’re better able to serve your brand and, as a result, the people searching for exactly what you can offer.
Schedule a consultation with Mavericks Marketing today to propel your brand with a disruptive SEO strategy, boosting your online visibility and traffic!
