7 Free and Beginner-Friendly Small Business SEO Tools

1 week ago 14

SEO often sounds much analyzable than it truly is. As a tiny concern owner, you tin get started for escaped with a fistful of the champion tools successful the industry. 

These tiny concern SEO tools are free, beginner-friendly, and screen each your needs for DIY SEO.

Ahrefs is an indispensable SEO level utilized by implicit 50,000 companies worldwide.

Many tiny concern owners get started for escaped with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools which gives them entree to Site Explorer and Site Audit.

With these tools, you can:

  • Monitor your website’s health
  • Know your backlinks
  • See what keywords springiness you traffic
  • Track immoderate maturation oregon declines successful your SEO performance

If you’re moving with an bureau oregon freelancer for SEO, it’s besides 1 of the champion ways to show what they’re doing and verify the results they’re reporting to you.

Getting started

The easiest mode to acceptable up Ahrefs is with a Google Search Console relationship (more connected this successful a moment).

Importing a task  successful  Ahrefs by utilizing Google Search Console.

You tin besides conscionable participate your website, property the “start for free” button, and travel the prompts to capable retired the remainder of your information.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools acceptable   up   process.

If you’re funny successful seeing what your competitors are doing and figuring retired their SEO strategy, you tin besides effort retired the Starter plan for lone $29/month.

It lets you spy connected your competitors and find caller keywords to amended your ain SEO for a low cost.

2. Google Search Console 

Google offers a scope of escaped tools that tin beryllium utilized for SEO. The astir important for monitoring your hunt visibility is Google Search Console (GSC for short).

It provides information straight from Google astir however your website is performing successful its hunt results. This information tin show you:

  • What keywords you’re ranking for
  • If determination are immoderate method issues
  • How galore radical are clicking connected your website

While it sounds similar this information overlaps with what you tin entree successful Ahrefs, determination are immoderate limitations. These mean that you can’t spot each your information successful the GSC platform.

Here’s a examination of the two:

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools vs Google Search Console information  accessibility and limitations.

Despite its limitations, GSC is the lone instrumentality offering you information from Google astir your website’s SEO visibility, truthful it’s an indispensable instrumentality to person successful your toolkit.

Getting started

You’ll request to person an existing Google oregon Gmail relationship earlier you tin acceptable up a Google Search Console account.

If you’re connected WordPress, the easiest mode to acceptable up GSC is by utilizing Google’s Site Kit plugin. This plugin tin link your website to the pursuing Google properties automatically:

Google SiteKit tin  acceptable   up   Search Console, Analytics, PageSpeed insights and AdSense.
If your tract is not utilizing WordPress, it’s conscionable a substance of pursuing the prompts connected the GSC landing page:
Getting started with Google Search Console.

Once you click the “Start Now” button, you’ll beryllium prompted to log successful to your Google account. Then you’ll beryllium guided connected however to link your website.

3. Google Business Profile 

A Google Business Profile (also known arsenic a Google Business Listing oregon Google My Business profile) is indispensable for tiny concern owners operating successful a local area.

Here’s what your illustration mightiness look similar if you already person 1 set up:

Example of Google Business listing from Shine Lawyers successful  Brisbane.

Without 1 of these, your concern cannot amusement up connected Google Maps…

Shine Lawyers connected  Google Maps.

… and, radical cannot permission you a reappraisal connected Google.

Example wherever  customers tin  constitute   a reappraisal  for your business.

It besides allows you to amusement up for galore section keywords successful Google Search results, successful the representation battalion and besides with section work ads.

Thankfully, it’s ace casual to get acceptable up, here’s how.

Getting started

Start by visiting this page:

Getting started with creating a Google Business Profile.

Follow the prompts to acceptable up your concern listing. You’ll beryllium asked to capable retired accusation like:

  • Your concern name
  • Your concern category
  • Your interaction details
  • Your determination (for customers to visit)
  • Your code wherever your concern is located (even if you don’t person a store)
  • Your products oregon services
  • Your opening hours
  • A wide statement of your business
  • Images of your concern and its premises

Make definite you capable everything retired successful full. Don’t chopped corners here, this is your accidental to amusement radical who hunt connected Google everything they request to cognize astir your business.

Google Analytics is different escaped instrumentality that is precise utile for tiny concern owners. It allows you to show who’s visiting your website and however they’re interacting with your content.

Example of website usage information  successful  Google Analytics.

You can see:

  • What selling channels they find you from
  • What pages they visit most
  • Which pages they person connected the most
  • How they navigate done your website

For SEO specifically, you’ll request to filter your reports to amusement you information from integrated channels:

Google Analytics settings filtered to show  lone  integrated  postulation   information  for SEO.

Getting started

The easiest mode to get started if you usage a WordPress website is with the Google SiteKit plugin. You tin acceptable up some Google Analytics and Google Search Console astatine the same time.

Alternatively, you tin follow the elaborate steps successful our usher connected utilizing Google Analytics.

Bing Webmaster Tools is similar a emotion kid betwixt Google Search Console and Ahrefs.

It offers each the hunt information straight from Bing on with juicy SEO information that you could lone different entree from an SEO tool.

It’s not arsenic granular arsenic Ahrefs but besides acold much than you get from Google.

While you whitethorn beryllium reasoning that Bing isn’t each that fashionable compared to Google, determination are 2 reasons I urge you inactive acceptable up this free tool.

  1. You get entree to Microsoft Clarity, a escaped instrumentality for measuring conversion and idiosyncratic acquisition information connected your website. It offers heatmaps, click insights, and information astir communal idiosyncratic behaviors.
Example of Microsoft Clarity's dashboard with idiosyncratic    and click data.
2. Bing’s scale powers ChatGPT’s hunt motor results. The websites successful Bing’s scale volition besides amusement up successful ChatGPT’s responses. While it’s not the lone information source, OpenAI’s enactment confirmed it’s an important one:
Screenshot of Reddit AMA wherever  OpenAi's enactment    confirmed Bing is an important   information  root   for ChatGPT's hunt  engine.

Getting started

Thankfully, the hard enactment is already done. You tin acceptable up Bing Webmaster Tools by connecting it to your Google Search Console:

Setting up   Bing Webmaster Tools utilizing Google Search Console.

Otherwise, conscionable travel the prompts. It volition beryllium a precise akin process to however you acceptable up GSC.

Unlike the different tools successful this database truthful far, ChatGPT’s benefits arsenic an SEO instrumentality for tiny businesses are not successful providing data.

Rather, it helps with implementing SEO recommendations, creating content, and adjacent making consciousness of SEO data.

Here are immoderate of my favourite examples of elemental usage cases to DIY your SEO with ChatGPT:

  • Write click-worthy titles
  • Fill successful missing subtopics successful existing content
  • Create search-optimized outlines for your content
  • Identify hunt intent for immoderate keyword
  • Find a database of keyword ideas
  • Translate keywords
  • Create, update, oregon amended leafage titles and descriptions

For example, here’s a elemental punctual to assistance brainstorm nonfiction titles:

Titles generated by ChatGPT for a station  connected  champion  selling  books.

If you privation to alteration the tone, you could inquire it thing similar this instead:

ChatGPT punctual  to make  nonfiction  titles that dependable  similar  Tim Ferriss.

Or if you privation to find nuanced keyword and contented ideas connected immoderate topic, you could effort a punctual like:

Technical presumption     related to java  generated by ChatGPT.

Getting started

The easiest mode to get started is to sojourn chatgpt.com and either usage the escaped mentation oregon make an relationship to unlock much features.

7. SEO Plugins of your choice 

SEO plugins and apps marque implementing SEO connected your tract truthful overmuch easier. The champion ones for your website beryllium on:

  • What website builder your website uses
  • What functionality you need
  • What fund you’re consenting to spend

If your website is built connected WordPress, you tin entree escaped SEO plugins similar Yoast oregon RankMath for implementing SEO basics similar leafage titles and descriptions.

Example of SEO functionality that Yoast marque   disposable  to tiny  concern  owners for free.

Many website builders already see basal elements similar adding leafage titles and descriptions. However, SEO plugins often let you to spell further and acceptable up oregon amend things like:

  • Your URL structure
  • Robots.txt file
  • Sitemap file
  • Schema markup

You could besides cheque retired SEO plugins with different much targeted functionality. For instance, the Ahrefs plugin is designed to assistance you audit and show your content’s performance.

Using Ahrefs' WordPress plugin to tally  a website contented  audit.

Getting started

There are galore large SEO plugins and apps retired determination to assistance you amended your website’s optimization and show successful hunt engines.

Final thoughts

There are galore SEO tools for tiny businesses retired there. Some are all-in-one platforms, similar Ahrefs; others are specializer tools to assistance fulfill a circumstantial use case.

Generally, you tin DIY your SEO with thing much than the supra tools, which are some escaped and beginner-friendly. They’ll get you by for a long time!

If you privation to amended your SEO, you tin upgrade to the Ahrefs Starter plan for arsenic small arsenic $29/month to bash much keyword and competitory research.

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