You can create a user-friendly and attention-grabbing website, but does it really matter if it fails to rank highly in engine searches? Search engine optimization (SEO) reports show that over 90% of the entire Internet traffic comes from Google, Yahoo, and other engines, so it would be foolish not to invest time in website optimization.

But in order to do it efficiently, you need to use highly authoritative tools and automate most of the processes. Most webmasters don’t want to spend a fortune buying SEO platforms and our goal is to help you overcome the obstacle by presenting eight free optimization tools to boost your search engine rankings. Let’s take a look!

 

1.     Google Keyword Planner

It is impossible to create a list of SEO tools without a few of Google’s products. We begin with Google Keyword Planner, a quintessential platform for content creators who want to find and use the most relevant search terms and phrases exclusively.

You probably know how it works – just enter the search term and Google Keyword Planner will show you a full list of more and less relevant synonyms. For example, content writing agencies like Essayshark have to make the decision between:

  • Essay writing
  • Academic paper writing
  • Paper writing
  • Assignment writing

All these options seem similar to the human brain, but Google Keyword Planner can tell you which one is the most popular.

 

2.     Google Trends

The second free tool that can improve your ranking is Google Trends. It enables you to discover the most popular topics in any given period or region, so you can create content which perfectly matches users’ interests.

You can discover a lot of interesting ideas and rely on Google Trends’ simple but effective data visualizations. There are also lists of recently trending themes as well as annual reviews of the most commonly searched phrases globally.

 

3.     Google Analytics

If you are not using Google Analytics already, we bet you are a beginner-level webmaster. You only need to create an account for free, enter the website address, copy/paste the tracking code, and you are all set to go.

The platform gives you a complete overview of website performance and includes a wide range of valuable reports. You should test it yourself, but we recommend you to try these features:

  • Use traffic channel reports to see where the audience comes from.
  • Review bounce rate reports to determine malfunctioning pages.
  • Use conversion goals report to understand whether your website is achieving the planned objectives.

 

4.     SEO Quake

The first tool on our list that doesn’t come from Google directly is SEO Quake. It’s a highly intuitive and user-friendly browser extension that reveals pretty much everything you need to know about the functioning of your website, including its search engine ranking.

Conducting a simple SEO audit, you get to find out real-time statistics related to the number of social mentions, indexed pages, outbound links, performance issues, etc. SEO Quake is easy to control and it functions super-quickly.

 

5.     Pingdom Page Load Speed Checker

Do you know that pages that load within two seconds have an average bounce rate of 9%, while pages that take five seconds to load have a bounce rate of 38%? Today’s users are impatient and they want your site to open almost instantly.

Search engines also appreciate speed as one of the basic SEO parameters, which is why we encourage you to use Pingdom. You need to enter a URL and Pingdom will show you the results within seconds. That way, you can see whether the page takes too long to load and learn how to improve.

 

6.     Ahrefs Backlink Checker

The authority of your website strongly depends on links from other sites leading back to yours. Ahrefs Backlink Checker is the best free tool to analyze backlinks and learn up to 100 URLs redirecting users to your pages.

Jake Gardner, a digital marketer at nerdywriters.co.uk, says he loves using Ahrefs because it analyzes over 18 trillion links on almost 200 million unique domains: “Such figures make Ahrefs Backlink Checker more comprehensive and reliable than any other free platform you can find online.”

 

7.     Mobile Friendly Test

Mobile surfing has been growing steadily in the last decade and now nearly 80% of users browse the net on their smartphones. In such circumstances, Google and other search engine save the highest-ranked spots for fully responsive websites that fit every device and screen dimension.

It is also a reason why you should start using Mobile Friendly Test, a tool that quickly evaluates the responsiveness of your domain. The test is over in a matter of seconds, so you can and should perform it every once in a while just to make sure that the site is optimized for mobile experiences.

 

8.     SEMRush

If you want to automate the vast majority of SEO processes, then you should certainly try SEMRush. It’s an all-around optimization platform with functions that cover pretty much everything you need to know about website performance. From site audits and backlink analysis to position tracing and competitive intelligence, SEMRush will help you to cover it all and grow and improve the website long-term.

 

Conclusion

SEO is one of the cornerstones of website functioning. It makes all the difference between high and low-performing sites, so you better be ready to use state of the art SEO platforms. In this post, we analyzed the top eight free SEO tools that can help you to boost search engine rankings.

There are tons of other solutions available online, but we believe these are the best and cost-efficient tools. Which one is your favorite here?

 

Becky Holton is a journalist and a blogger at Australian writing services. She is interested in education technologies, college-paper.org reviews, assignment help and is always ready to support informative speaking. Follow her on Twitter.