Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an important part of marketing a firm’s website. There are a lot of things to do to properly implement SEO best practices and it can be expensive. With this in mind, we’ve listed some tools we actually use and that are free. Here they are in no particular order:
Google Webmaster Guidelines – This is a must read if you want to be rank in Google. Information about all the various tools and diagnostics available for free can be found here.
Google Webmasters Site – Sign in here for access to webmaster diagnostic tools.
Keyword Tool – This quick, simple and easy to use tool is excellent for providing Google keyword suggestions. It will also provide keyword suggestions for Bing and YouTube. Multiple languages are also built into the tool.
Pingdom – One of the Google ranking factors is website speed. How fast does your website load? Well, this site can tell you.
BuzzSumo – Looking for a phrase to see if its popular based on the number of shares? Look no further than BuzzSumo. The free version will show you the phrase’s popularity. And the paid version will provide more information such as backlink data.
Yoast – If you use WordPress, Yoast provides an excellent free SEO plugin.
Backlinko – Without other websites linking back to your site, your site will not rank well. Enter Brian Dean from Backlinko. His newsletter provides tips and techniques to help with SEO activities.
Quick Sprout – One of the best known blogs providing advanced SEO best practice.
Search Engine Land – For the latest news, white papers, and research reports related to the SEO industry. Subscribe to their newsletter to learn up to date search information – an recent news item from them prompted us to write why websites need to be responsive and mobile-friendly now.
Photo: courtesy G. Milo.
