As a small business owner, you understand the significance of establishing a robust online presence. In the current era of digitalization, possessing a website is crucial; however, it alone is insufficient. It is equally important to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines to enable potential customers to locate your business online.
SEO
SEO, an acronym for “Search Engine Optimization,” relates to optimizing a website or online content in order to achieve higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). The objective of SEO is to enhance a website’s visibility and relevance to users of search engines, ultimately driving more organic traffic to the site.
Optimizing website content and structure, building high-quality backlinks, utilizing relevant keywords, and staying updated with search engine algorithm updates are some of the SEO techniques. SEO plays a crucial role in online marketing and significantly affects a website’s success.
If you’re new to search engine optimization (SEO), it may seem overwhelming. Nonetheless, numerous free SEO tools are accessible to assist you in enhancing the visibility of your website and increasing the amount of traffic it receives.
1. Google keyword planner
To begin, let’s start with a brief review of a crucial SEO strategy: conducting keyword research.
What defines an SEO keyword? It is a meaningful word derived from a title or document that serves as an indicator for online content. To put it in simpler terms, reflect on your most recent search query on Google. What did you enter into the search bar? The set of words you inputted is regarded as a compilation of SEO keywords.
When you think systematically, rephrase the passage while preserving the original meaning: It is believed that short-tail keywords consist of 1-2 popular words, while long-tail keywords consist of 3-5 words that form a phrase. The articles that appeared on the first page of search results probably utilized these keywords in their headlines and throughout their posts. Consequently, prior to writing any online content, it is advisable to employ an SEO tool for conducting research.
Can you envision which SEO tool has the greatest understanding of keywords? Our trusty companion, Google! Google possesses a SEO Keyword Research Tool called Google Keyword Planner.
Despite being available for free, many people are deterred from using this tool due to the misconception that they must first run an ad campaign. However, rest assured that we will guide you through the process of accessing this tool in a few simple steps. All you have to do is visit Keyword Planner and log in using the relevant Google account.
- You’ll see a page asking you for your main advertising goal. At the bottom there is a section that asks if you are an “expert”… guess what, today you are! Click that button
- On the next page you will see a prompt that says “create an account without a campaign”
- Congratulations! You’ve done it.
- You are now within the tool and can start researching your SEO keywords
To initiate the research process, access the settings and tools icon located in the upper right hand corner, then select “keyword planner”.
You have the opportunity to find new keywords or explore search volumes and forecasts. Utilize this tool to identify different keywords for your website, blog, sales pages, and more. Enter the keyword you wish to write about and observe its search frequency, as well as related keyword suggestions.
Google Keyword Planner provides data showing that the average monthly search volume for this keyword ranges from 1,000 to 10,000. However, it is worth noting that this range is quite broad and lacks specificity. Regrettably, this limited information is all that is available to you unless you have launched a campaign. Once you have done so, you will be granted access to additional valuable insights.
One of the reasons why this is our preferred SEO keyword research tool is because it automatically generates additional keyword ideas, such as “personal branding photography”. Typically, we begin by using this tool to come up with a few long-tail keywords, and then we proceed to another tool (more details below!) to delve deeper into the research.
No matter the depth of the free insights, the keyword ideas found on Google are guaranteed to accurately reflect the platform’s current status. When using Google, there is no need to be concerned about the validity of a keyword.
2. Ubersuggest
After that, we proceed to seek advice from Neil Patel, who is renowned for his expertise in SEO. His website, Ubersuggest, is undoubtedly one of our preferred tools for conducting SEO keyword research at no cost.
Ubersuggest offers comparable outcomes to Google’s Keyword Planner, but with a user-friendly interface and precise search volume data. We often utilize Keyword Planner to identify a few preferred keywords before cross-referencing the search volumes on Ubersuggest.
We have a few preferred tools on Ubersuggest that we really enjoy using.
- Google SERP (search engine result pages): you can easily see which websites are currently ranking for this keyword without having to hop on Google and research yourself.
- Volume by Month: this is amazing if you have a seasonal business or product. It allows you to understand when your audience might be searching for certain topics.
- Content Ideas: not only can you see what some popular headlines are for this specific keyword, but you can also see the number of links on Facebook & Pinterest.
Hot SEO tip
Using Honeybook is one of the best methods to create a workflow for writing online content which will increase your efficiency and ensure you remember all crucial steps, such as keyword research.
To ensure we stay on track with our SEO goals, it is helpful to create a workflow and include all essential tasks from keyword research to analyzing analytics. This workflow can also be integrated with our calendar, allowing us to have reminders and stay focused, even during hectic times.
3. Google analytics
Google Analytics, a web analytics service that is free of charge, is utilized for tracking and providing reports on website traffic. With the aid of this tool, one is able to observe the performance of their website, determine their most frequented pages, and ascertain the sources of inbound traffic.
4. Google search console
Google Search Console is a tool that you can use for free to keep track of, manage, and enhance your website’s prominence in Google search outcomes. It offers valuable information on how Google scans and indexes your website, and also notifies you about any problems that could potentially impact your search rankings.
5. SEMrush
SEMrush is a widely used SEO tool that provides a free version with restricted capabilities. It enables you to conduct keyword research, monitor your website’s position in search results, and analyze your competitors’ websites.
6. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a well-known SEO tool that also has a free version, although it has limitations. It not only gives you information about your own website’s backlink profile but also provides insights into your competitors’ backlink profiles.
7. Moz local
Moz Local is an online tool that is available at no cost and assists in the management of your business’s local listings on different online directories. Its aim is to guarantee the accuracy and consistency of your business information across all directories, ultimately leading to potential enhancement of your local search rankings.
8. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO, a well-known WordPress plugin, assists in optimizing your website’s content for search engines. It offers instant feedback regarding the readability and usage of keywords in your content, along with improvement suggestions.
9. Google My Business
Google My Business is an online tool offered for free that enables you to control your business’s presence on Google, encompassing search and maps. By utilizing this tool, you can modify your business details, upload media such as pictures and videos, and address customer reviews.
10. Screaming frog
Screaming Frog is a tool that can be used to examine the structure of your website and pinpoint any problems that could potentially impact your search rankings. With the free version of this tool, you have the ability to crawl a maximum of 500 URLs.
11. Google trends
Google Trends is a tool that is available for free and enables users to analyze search trends over a certain period. Utilizing this tool can assist in the identification of seasonal trends and popular topics within a particular industry at present.
12. Answer the public
Answer the Public is a tool that is free of charge and generates a compilation of questions and phrases that are connected to your chosen keyword. This tool can assist you in determining suitable subjects to develop content about and enhance the importance of your website in relation to specific keywords.
13. SERP simulator
SERP Simulator is an uncharged tool that permits you to preview the appearance of your website in search results. It can aid in optimizing your meta titles and descriptions to achieve the highest click-through rates.
14. Check my links
Check My Links is a Chrome extension that is available for free. It enables you to check your website for broken links, assisting in enhancing your website’s user experience and preventing negative SEO impact.
15. GTmetrix
GTmetrix is a tool that offers a free analysis of website speed and performance. It informs about the loading speed of your website and highlights areas for improvement. Additionally, it gives suggestions to enhance the speed of your website.
16. MozBar
MozBar, a Chrome extension available at no cost, offers SEO metrics for any website you browse. These metrics include domain authority, page authority, and backlink data, which enable you to swiftly evaluate the SEO performance of your rivals’ websites.
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Small businesses can enhance their search visibility, optimize their website for search engines, and attract more website traffic by employing these SEO tools. By making use of these tools, small businesses have the opportunity to contend with bigger businesses in the online realm and improve their prospects of success in the digital marketplace.
