SEO Tools, Tips & Trends | SEO Blog at Website Magazine

One-Stop Guide to SEO Freebies

Written by Peter Devereaux | Jun 2, 2014 5:00:00 AM

With all of the different SEO tools available procuring the right one takes time to research and possibly a decent amount of pocket change.

 

Luckily, for Web workers who are operating on a tight budget there are some free SEO tools available as well.

 

BITLY

While a disputed idea for sure, there is some merit to social-SEO (the idea that social engagement, particularly on Google+, can benefit SEO). That said, when posting on social media websites being concise is as important as the message you are trying to send. For example, on Twitter users only have 140 characters to get their message out. If a user wants to include a link they must take the links characters into consideration. With Bitly, Web workers can shorten links to just a few characters. For example, if a developer was trying to link to the Website Magazine article, "Using Webmaster Tools to Make Fundamental HTML Improvements" by Pete Prestipino, they might notice that the URL is 134 characters. After using Bitly, the shortened URL is just 21 characters (https://bit.ly/1rgucqR). The free URL shortening service offers Web developers a strategic tool when trying to improve their social media presence (and, in turn, their SEO).

 

TRAFFIC TRAVIS

Keeping an eye on competitors is an essential part of day to day operations for businesses. Traffic Travis enables developers to monitor the amount of backlinks (links that are direct toward a particular website) that competitors have and compare that number to the amount of backlinks to their website. The software also enables Web workers to uncover technical mistakes, like missed "alt" or "div" tags that could negatively impact their search rankings.

 

YOUTUBE KEYWORD TOOL

With the importance of video being realized by SEOs, it is crucial that Web workers use the correct keywords for every video. This tool allows developers who have hit a road block with keyword ideas to quickly generate suggestions at the push of a button. For example, when "honor" is entered as keyword the user would like other suggestions for, 99 other suggestions related to the term are displayed.

 

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

The technology giant offers a wide array of SEO tools packaged inside of its free version of Google Analytics . With features like Social Reports, which shows the user the impact that social media is having on their company's conversions, and Mobile Ads Measurement, which allows the user to keep track of performance issues and trends for mobile ads and apps, it is easy to see why Analytics is one of the most popular free SEO tools available. 

 

MOZBAR

Internet professionals know that while having multiple tabs open is a necessity, it cannot only become a nuisance but it can slow down their computer as well. Fortunately, using MozBar requires no extra tab because it runs in a toolbar. The benefit of this being in a toolbar is that users will not have to go back and forth between tabs to see what their SEO metrics are telling them. For more in-depth metrics users can open the page overlay feature which is easily collapsible once developers are finished. It is important to note that MozBar is available for Firefox and Chrome only.

 

OPEN SITE EXPLORER

This tool, also from Moz, lets search professionals compare their websites to their competitors based on several standing categories. These categories include Page Authority, Domain Authority as well as Total Internal and External Links. Web workers can compare up to four competing websites with their own.

 

GOOGLE WEBMASTERS

Exclusive to Google's search engine, this tool assists marketers in monitoring and improving their websites presence on the aforementioned search engine. Webmasters has a variety of useful features that includes allowing users to easily delete and submit data that they want shown in their search results along with the Crawl Stats page which allows them to see what Googlebot's (Google's Web crawling bot that discovers new and updated wWb pages) activity has been on their site in the last 90 days. Webmasters also has a Search Queries page which displays all Google searches that have returned URL's from the users' website.