SEO is an integral part of every website and there is no shortage of tools that can help you succeed. These tools can help you manage various aspects of your site to improve your rankings on Google and other search engines.
And the best part is that in many cases, the tools are free to use, thus there’s no excuse not to use them. Many of them can help you identify problems with your site or help you target specific rankings, but it comes down to the tool.
In most cases, websites will use a variety of tools for SEO. Some work for analytics, while others help improve site functions in more SEO-friendly ways. As such, you want to make sure you have a way to cover all of the bases.
Today, I will highlight the best SEO tools you can use to improve your site rankings.
What Are SEO Tools?
SEO tools are those that can help an individual or a business plan and execute an online search strategy in a more organic way. These types of platforms are mainly used to improve the website search ranking for the specified individual or business.
The best SEO tools will provide customers with a full suite of features and functionality. Some of the main things that these different SEO analysis software platforms give the user include powerful keyword research tools, backlink aids, rank tracking means, and reports.
The best SEO tools can also be used to look at what the competition is doing. These platforms will help give the user an inside look at different industry niches and see what works and what doesn’t.
Here are some of the best SEO tools online today. Give them a look, compare them, see which one works best for you, and then make an educated choice.
1. Yoast SEO
When it comes to free on-page SEO tools, there is no bigger name than Yoast SEO in the WordPress community. It is a comprehensive tool that provides SEO tips and helps improve the readability of your content for actual visitors.
After all, it’s easy to forget that the content is actually for real people.
On the SEO front, Yoast provides a variety of tips like keeping track of keyword usage, reminders to fill in the meta description, tracking the number of outbound and internal links, image alt attributes, and title width of your post to name a few.
It also helps you increase the readability of content by displaying the percentage of passive sentences, the Flesch reading score, catching consecutive sentences, checking the length of sentences, and more. All of these tips for both SEO and readability happen in real-time.
Benefits of Using Yoast SEO
- Provides simple and effective SEO tips while writing
- Checks the readability of your content to make sure visitors can enjoy it
- All of the tips are in real-time
Pricing of Yoast SEO
- A free version is available
- Yoast SEO Premium begins at $99 per year
2. All In One SEO
All In One SEO (AIOSEO) is one of the best tools available on WordPress when it comes to optimizing your website’s SEO. And it’s insanely popular with over 3,000,000 users, which puts it among the most popular plugins in general.
It works well for both general SEO, or you can focus on your local SEO efforts exclusively.
In terms of usability, it’s quite simple. Simply scan your website and the tool will generate an SEO report. The report will not just list what it found your website is doing wrong, but instead provide information on how to fix it.
On top of this, you’ll also gain a slew of features to utilize. For instance, this tool can generate XML sitemaps and submit them to Google for you. With everything it offers, it’s one of the best choices for small businesses.
Benefits of Using All In One SEO
- Video SEO sitemaps
- Link assistant helps you improve internal links
- Create and manage redirects
Pricing of All In One SEO
- A free version is available
- The Basic plan begins at $124 per year
3. SEMrush
Another one of the best SEO tools out there is SEMrush. This platform provides an all-in-one tool that is perfect for beginners. They also hand out 7 days of their platform for free. This means you can try it for a week to see if you even like it.
The tool also has a variety of premium add-ons you can use to expand the functionality.
Keyword research and backlinks are both very important in the SEO world. SEMrush looks to give users a package where they can do a little of everything, all from one dashboard instead of needing multiple tools.
The platform is designed with beginners in mind. It is intuitive and accessible. It is also well-organized and as stated above, has arguably the most detailed dashboard of any platform on this list.
Benefits of Using SEMrush
- Excellent online support
- View competitor backlinks
- Topic research for new ideas
Pricing of SEMrush
- 7-day free trial
- Plans begin at $129.95
- Premium add-ons are available at varying price points
4. Google My Business
If you own a business that only operates locally, optimizing your local SEO is critical for success. And Google My Business was designed with this thought in mind. This free service helps you customize how your business appears in both searches and on Google Maps.
And trust me, local businesses need all the help they can get.
I guarantee you have been taking this feature for granted as a user. If you’ve ever done a “stores near me” search on Google, you will see a list and Google map showing the location of stores that match your search.
As a result, it’s one of the most powerful SEO tools for local businesses. This allows customers to find the location, business hours, the website for ordering online (essential for restaurants), phone number, and customer reviews.
Benefits of Using Google My Business
- Tremendously helps your local SEO
- Helps customers find your business with Google Maps
- Makes your phone number visible in searches
Pricing of Google My Business
- Free service available from Google
5. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is another all-in-one tool that makes the list because while it is very similar to SEMrush, it goes a step further and shines when it comes to depth.
If you have actually been around SEO for a while, already know what your goals are, and are looking to maximize everything you can, then Ahrefs is the SEO tool for you.
While the platform is not as intuitive and easy to use as SEMrush, it does have a set of tools that can get your SEO strategy exactly where it needs to be, provided you take a little while to learn the platform.
Ahrefs has the best backlink analysis tool around. They also give you the ability to search for popular content using keywords. All in all, Ahrefs is one of the most detailed SEO tools online.
Benefits of Using Ahrefs
- View search results and traffic profiles of any site
- Audit any website’s user on-site performance
- Generate keywords
Pricing of Ahrefs
- Free limited account is available
- Plans begin at $129 per month
6. XML Sitemaps
XML Sitemaps is one of the best free SEO tools with over 1 million active installs. It focuses exclusively on generating a sitemap that can help search engine bots crawl through your website. It works on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask.com.
Everything the plugin does is automatic, so it doesn’t get any easier.
A sitemap is exactly what it sounds like, a map of your website. It contains a list of pages within a domain and search engines can use it to crawl through a website. This will ensure that the bots crawl through the pages you want them to and speeds up the indexing process.
In fact, you can speed up the process even faster by uploading your sitemap on the Google Search Console. Normally, it could take anywhere from 4 days to 4 weeks before a search bot crawls a site. Providing a sitemap to Google speeds it up tremendously.
Benefits of Using XML Sitemaps
- Provides Sitemaps compatible with multiple search engines
- The plugin does all the work, simply install it and press the button
- Helps search bots navigate your website
Pricing of XML Sitemaps
- The plugin is free to use
7. Conductor
Conductor is a very powerful SEO tool that uses a combination of SEO marketing and content marketing platforms. This allows users the ability to improve their SEO results by making necessary changes.
The platform has custom reporting capabilities as well as detailed competitor data feedback that you can look at and use to your advantage.
You can also improve your content creation process by utilizing the platform’s enhanced workflow. It uses AI to make content recommendations that can help you find great content ideas that rank higher.
The design is very user-friendly as well, which means even if you are a newbie to the world of SEO, you should have no issues using it.
Conductor offers a free trial, like most of the SEO tools on this list. Test it out for a while before committing.
Benefits of Using Conductor
- Integrates with Google Analytics, Search Console, and Adobe
- Allows users to track competition
- On-page editor to make content changes on the fly
Pricing of Conductor
- Free trial is available
- You’ll need to contact them for a pricing quote
8. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is more than just a way to track how visitors use your website. It’s a centralized location where everything from ad spending to AdSense revenue is monitored.
In this instance, I am talking about the Queries report in Search Console.
The Queries section displays all the different phrases and keywords people use to find your content. This will show the different variants people have used as well as how often a specific term receives a click from the search engine.
This is invaluable information as it shows you how people are finding your content and whether or not it’s important to them. Using data from Google Analytics, you can determine what future keywords you want to use in your content to further engage the audience.
Benefits of Using Google Analytics
- View the geo-location of where visitors live
- See the age groups that click on your content
- Determine the profit potential of every keyword
Pricing of Google Analytics
- Free service offered by Google
9. SpyFu
SpyFu makes our list because it is probably the best SEO tool to use when it comes to competitive analysis. Basically, this doesn’t act as an all-in-one tool, but it does offer the very best competitor analysis out of all the systems on this list.
And in many cases, knowing what the competition is doing and trying to do it better is more than half the battle.
The name kind of says it all. It basically allows you to spy on your industry rivals (legally) when it comes to their SEO practices. The SpyFu tool can really give you a leg up on the competition if you are able to leverage and use it the right way.
The best thing about SpyFu is that they give you access to all the data they uncover no matter which level of their services you sign up for. If you are looking for a competitive edge in a niche-specific industry, then give this platform a look.
Benefits of Using SpyFu
- Determine competition keywords and how they rank
- Discover organic keywords on a competitor’s site
- Find out how many clicks per day, week, or month a site gets
Pricing of SpyFu
- Free searches are available
- Plans begin at $39.99 per month
10. RankMath
Do you want to receive SEO insights while writing your content? If so, then there’s no doubt that RankMath is the best SEO tool for you. It helps you optimize titles, metadata, and much more in real-time.
Of course, this is only one aspect of this tool.
You’ll also gain access to more advanced analytics that you can view directly from your WordPress website. This includes how well the keywords that you are using are ranking.
And unlike other SEO tools, this plugin was built for speed. This ensures your website runs as fast as possible, which also helps improve your SEO efforts. Overall, it’s a terrific addition to any website.
Benefits of Using RankMath
- The setup wizard is easy to follow
- See a rating of every post and page in real-time
- Import Schema from other websites
Pricing of RankMath
- A free plugin is available
- Plans begin for just $6.99 per month
11. Moz Pro
When it comes to names in the world of SEO tools, it doesn’t get much bigger than Moz. They are a recognized and trusted name, and they have been around for quite some time.
Still, even with all that notoriety, a platform still has to provide excellent tools, and Moz does exactly that.
The software comes with a very user-friendly layout. With keyword research and tracking built-in, the product gives you everything you need to get your website search rankings up.
There is also a really nice competitor research page that can be utilized, as well as page view tracking rules. Moz continues to bring value to the SEO market, and its platform remains in the discussion of the best SEO tools out there today.
Benefits of Using Moz
- Discover and prioritize the right keywords
- Find website SEO errors
- Get suggestions on how to fix all errors
Pricing of Moz
- A free trial is available
- Plans begin at $99 per month
12. Majestic
When it comes to SEO, it isn’t just how you write content, it’s also about how you link to other websites and how they link to you. These links add authority and if more websites link back to you, it makes search engines think you are an authority.
One way to keep track of this information is to use Majestic.
This tool allows you to see all of the links that lead back to your website. It also displays the weight of each link, which in simpler terms, means how important each link actually is.
You can use this information to see what links are the most successful and try to collaborate with websites that could help add more backlinks to your own website. Thus, adding more authority to your website, which increases your rankings.
Benefits of Using Majestic
- See the trust rating of the website that links to your website (a more trusted website gives you more authority)
- Discover link potential by viewing sites that link to the competition
- Upload a million websites at once via CSV files
Pricing of Majestic
- Free searches are available
- Plans begin at $49.99 per month
13. Google Trends
Another useful tool by the search engine giant is Google Trends. This system shows real-time reports regarding search terms people use. You can break the data down by location, time span, specific categories, or across different aspects of the Internet.
You can also limit where the data comes from by country to get results that better reflect your audience.
Like some of the other systems in this list, Google Trends has the ability to download its results into a CSV file. This includes location, topics, and related queries. This is helpful if you want an offline worksheet when creating content ideas.
One feature that stands out is the capacity to compare keywords. You can pit one word against another to see which has the greater impact on search criteria. For instance, comparing “fitness” to “exercise” shows that “fitness” is far more often searched on Google.
Benefits of Using Google Trends
- Google displays the top trends and stories that cover them
- Compare historical search data over multiple years
- Zone in on specific cities or town searches to benefit local SEO
Pricing of Google Trends
- It is a free service offered by Google
14. WP Meta SEO
If you are making widespread changes to your website, managing the SEO of every new page or updated page can be a tall order, especially on larger websites. One way to ease the burden is to use WP Meta SEO.
This is one of the best SEO tools for developers looking to redesign their websites.
This is all thanks to its unique bulk editor, which as the name implies, allows you to manage SEO properties across the entire site at once. This can help you save time, as it avoids you having to constantly go from page to page making the same changes.
There are also a variety of other useful features like a full redirection manager, or the ability to integrate with Google Search Console to get keyword ranking data. It’s a comprehensive tool that website owners should take advantage of.
Benefits of Using WP Meta SEO
- The dashboard summarizes all of the SEO data for you
- Create a sitemap to submit to Google
- Gain advanced image SEO tools
Pricing of WP Meta SEO
- Costs $49 for 1 year of support
15. Rankie
Do you want to keep an eye on your Google rankings from your WordPress website? If so, the Rankie plugin is one of the best options available. You’ll be able to see all page rankings updated in real-time.
And all of this is viewable directly from your WordPress website.
As you can guess, this tool is mainly focused on SEO analysis, which may seem strange when free tools like Google Analytics exist but being able to do it all from WordPress itself, warrants the price for many developers.
In fact, you can even use it to connect to Google Analytics from your website. If this is your goal, then Rankie is definitely one of the best SEO tools for you.
Benefits of Using Rankie
- Generate ranking reports to see your progress
- Research keywords from WordPress
- Supports all languages
Pricing of Rankie
- It is a premium plugin starting at $27
16. Google Keyword Planner
If you are looking for help finding keywords for your next blog, look no further than the Google Keyword Planner.
Keywords are an essential part of SEO because they are the terms that visitors look for in search engines. As such, there’s no better option than Google itself when it comes to keyword research.
Luckily, the Keyword Planner is simple to use. You can search for individual keywords or some that are related to your website. The information you can view includes the frequency the keyword is searched for, how searches change over time, and even the competition you can expect.
Most notable is the inclusion of an advertisement budget. This is in the form of a “Suggested Bid,” and its purpose is to provide a rough estimate of how many results the keyword is likely to bring up.
With that said, this estimate is based on Google searches and does not take into account your website’s social media efforts.
Benefits of Using Google Keyword Planner
- Provides keyword information to help you pick out the most profitable option
- Did I mention it’s free?
- There is no limit on the number of keywords you can research
Pricing of Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword Planner is a free service offered by Google
17. AlsoAsked
To this day, one of the most common ways people use search engines is to ask questions. Answering common questions is a surefire way to rank higher, but how do you figure out what questions to answer?
One way is to use AlsoAsked.
This free SEO tool allows you to enter a keyword and pull up the frequently asked questions you would find on search engines like Google. It provides this in an easy-to-understand form.
The proper way to use this tool is to look at the questions it pulls up and try to answer these questions in your writing naturally. This will ensure that your post will appear in searches when that question is asked.
Benefits of Using AlsoAsked
- Pulls up over a dozen different questions
- Shows which questions are more popular
- Search in different countries
Pricing of AlsoAsked
- 3 free searches
- Plans begin at $12 per month
18. GTmetrix
Speed plays an important role in both the visitor experience and your rankings. In fact, it’s one of the very few confirmed factors Google uses in its rankings. GTmetrix can help you determine how fast your website is loading.
It also provides tips to help you improve your speed.
This tool provides an enormous amount of data that you can use to troubleshoot your pages. It provides a letter score based on the structure and performance of the website and how long it takes for various pages and elements to load.
For instance, if you have a very large media file like a banner on your homepage that takes too long to load, the tool will make you aware of that. By using the troubleshooting tips it provides, you can shave load time with minimal work.
And there’s even a free version available.
Benefits of Using GTmetrix
- Provides numerous statistics about your website’s load speeds
- Find out what’s slowing your load times
- Compare your website speeds against the average
Pricing of GTmetrix
- A free plugin is available
- Plans begin at $4.25 per month
19. Smush
Smush is one of the best free SEO tools for WordPress. It focuses on compressing the size of your images without impacting their quality, which can significantly speed up your website.
What does this have to do with SEO? Well, speed is one of the primary factors a search engine uses to rank your site.
When it comes to speeding up a website, images just happen to be the number one reason why many websites run sluggishly. They can end up being very big files if you do not optimize them. Smush does this when you upload them to your site.
It also implements lazy loading, which is a technique in which images are only loaded when they are viewable by the user. This means if you have an image on the bottom of the page, it won’t slow down the initial loading of the page when it isn’t visible.
Benefits of Using Smush
- No daily limits on the number of images you can compress
- Set a max width and height for images to be resized
- Optimize your entire media library
Pricing of Smush
- A free plugin is available
- The Pro version begins at $15 per month
20. Keyworddit
Reddit is one of the most popular websites out there that has a subreddit for just about anything and everything you can imagine. This makes it one of the best places to see what a specific community is talking about.
That’s where the Keyworddit tool comes into play.
So, how does this tool actually work? Well, you just type in the name of the subreddit you want the tool to analyze. Once it is done scanning that subreddit, it will generate a list of keywords based on its scan.
This is particularly useful for niches. You see, Reddit has become a melting pot for smaller communities to gather around. This makes it a valuable resource for websites to study and you can create content based on what’s hot in a specific topic.
Benefits of Using Keyworddit
- View the monthly search volume
- View where the search results are coming from
- Easily export the results to Excel or Google Sheets
Pricing of Keyworddit
- It is a free tool
21. Keyword Tool
One of the simplest and easiest sites on the Internet is simply named, Keyword Tool. In the free version, you have access to more than 750 long-tail keyword suggestions and works with or without an account on the site.
You can select between various platforms such as Google, YouTube, Bing, or even Amazon.
It also provides common questions searchers ask in relation to the keyword. This has the potential to provide more than just results for search engines as it expands what platforms you can optimize on.
The Pro version allows you to see search volume and how your competition is ranking. You can also view searches with different languages to help you target audiences more specifically.
Benefits of Using Keyword Tool
- Supports searches in 192 countries
- View data from the most popular platforms besides Google
- Also provides data on image searches
Pricing of Keyword Tool
- A free version exists
- The Pro version begins at $69 per month
22. Google Search Console
The Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) is a free service to help website owners track technical problems that hurt their website’s rankings. Google will analyze and tell you exactly what your website is doing wrong.
And trust me, you are going to want tips directly from Google.
This includes being able to see your website’s performance for specific keywords over the last 16 months, a URL inspection tool, the ability to directly upload a sitemap to Google (you no longer have to wait for the bots), and mobile usability tracking tools.
It is important to note that almost every major search engine has a similar service. While I am mentioning Google Search Console, you may want to also take a look at others like the Bing Webmaster Tools. These tools are tailored for the specific search engine.
Benefits of Using Google Search Console
- Optimization tips directly from Google
- Checks the mobile usability of your website
- Upload sitemaps directly to Google for fast results
Pricing of Google Search Console
- It is a free service offered by Google
23. SEO Analysis & Website Review by WooRank
The SEO Analysis & Website Review by WooRank is an amazing SEO tool that comes in the form of a Google Chrome extension. This tool analyzes your website and provides a score.
More importantly, it tells you exactly how to fix the problems it detects on your website.
It does this in a really innovative way. Once the tool is done analyzing and provides a report it will also provide a checklist you can use to solve each problem it detected.
This is a big departure from the tools that just tell you the problems but leave out the most important bit…how to fix them.
Benefits of Using SEO Analysis & Website Review
- Shows which problems should be a higher priority to fix
- Website reviews always use the latest data
- Can be used to analyze the competition
Pricing of SEO Analysis & Website Review
- It is a free extension for Google Chrome
24. SEO Panel
A great addition to the best SEO tools available is a platform called SEO Panel. What makes this particular platform unique is the fact that it is the only one on our list that is open-source and totally free to use.
It can be accessed using the cloud, or users can get download it for free and install it on a Mac or Windows computer. It is compatible with either.
The fact that it is totally free is always nice. However, don’t let the fact that it is free deter you from trying it out. The product actually has a ton of great features that can help improve your SEO rankings.
The features provided are comparable to any other SEO tools on this list. It is a great tool if you are looking to get into SEO for free, and it offers a very easy-to-use dashboard option.
Benefits of Using SEO Panel
- Check keyword ranking and targeted keywords
- Auto-submit sites to directories
- Check on social media details
Pricing of SEO Panel
- It is a free service anyone can use
25. Ubersuggest
If you need a simple and free tool for nothing more than keyword suggestions, Ubersuggest is a good choice. By default, it compares your term with what you would find in the Keyword Planner of AdWords as well as Google suggested phrases.
Once you put in your word, Ubersuggest will accumulate hundreds of relevant terms as well as their current search volume. This tells you how frequent each one is in terms of activity from people using Google.
You’ll also have access to an estimated cost-per-click for advertising purposes as well as a competition score. This can help you determine a good course of action when planning a marketing budget.
Even if you don’t plan on launching a PPC campaign, the relevant word list alone is worth at least trying out the site.
Benefits of Using Ubersuggest
- Color-coded results that help you tell what is good and bad
- Allows you to see what keywords competitor pages rank for
- View how keywords are trending
Pricing of Ubbersuggest
- It has a limited free service
- Pricing starts at $29 per month
26. LSIGraph
Latent Semantic Indexing is a process in which optimization focuses on searcher intent. In other words, it’s all about what people are looking for based on how queries are structured.
LSIGraph is a simple tool that analyzes your keywords and gives you suggestions based on this indexing.
By including relevant semantic terms within your content, search engines can determine what exactly you’re trying to convey. This means your content is more likely to get in front of the right people searching for specific information.
One thing that makes this tool stand out is the information that accompanies your search term. LSIGraph gives you a detailed example of how to use the LSI keywords and steps to follow for putting them into your website.
Benefits of Using LSIGraph
- Presents opportunity score to help you identify the best options
- View the most popular search intent behind keywords
- Analyze competitor pages to find out what they rank for and other stats
Pricing of LSIGraph
- Plans begin at $24.92 per month
27. KWFinder
KWFinder is an easy tool to use that shows suggestions, Google results, and difficulty regarding keywords. You can use the system in a limited capacity without registering an account and it also gives the ability to export the data to CSV or the clipboard.
It also supports search by specific language to better target certain audiences.
This free keyword analyzer is useful, but you get so much more when paying for a premium account. For instance, you have access to rank tracking of keywords, backlink analysis, and more searches performed per day.
If you plan on using PPC through Google Adwords, KWFinder includes an average cost-per-click rate of what you might pay for ads. Of course, this doesn’t include any bidding strategies you put into place for keywords within Google.
Benefits of Using KWFinder
- See what position your competitor’s pages rank for
- View historical search volume data
- Search by country or city
Pricing of KWFinder
- Free searches are allowed each day
- Plans begin at $29 per month
28. SerpStat
SerpStat claims to be an all-in-one SEO research tool. And from what’s available when using it, the claims are close to being justified. The site has tons of information regarding keywords ranging from organic results to competitor searches.
And even better, this information is presented in an easy-to-understand manner.
Keyword research is broken down into separate categories such as “SEO Research” and “Content Marketing.” Each of these segments is rich with data concerning how various words are used on the Internet as well as the most popular from around the world.
Unfortunately, not all of the keyword analysis tools are available unless you pay for the premium service. Luckily, SerpStat is comparable in price and is probably one of the lowest premium services I’ve seen from an SEO platform.
Benefits of Using SerpStat
- Performa site audit to see how your site ranks and how you can improve it
- Scan websites to detect if they used AI content generation
- Analyze what competitors are doing to build your own PPC campaigns
Pricing of SerpStat
- You can try the tool for 7 days free
- Plans begin at $59 per month
29. ChatGPT
Closing out this list might be the newest tool out there, ChatGPT. Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably already know that it is an AI that can do a lot of things depending on what the user asks of it.
While the results are sometimes questionable and are far from perfect, you can also use them to aid your SEO efforts.
For example, you could ask ChatGPT to come up with catchy titles for specific keywords. Or perhaps you could ask it to identify what keyword a competitor’s page is ranking for. The door is wide open.
Obviously, we are still in the early days of AI, so the results you get may vary wildly here, thus don’t rely too heavily on it. But there is no doubt that AI will play a major role in SEO efforts going forward as the technology improves.
Benefits of Using ChatGPT
- Generate code snippets for your website
- Use it to create titles for your content
- Ask it to find you what topics are trending
Pricing of ChatGPT
- It is a free AI tool
Start Ranking Higher Today with These SEO Tools
As you can see, there is no shortage of SEO tools to choose from, and if I’m being honest, there are hundreds of more you can choose from. Most tools have several alternatives you can use and as this list has demonstrated, most are free.
SEO is a vital part of any website because most organic traffic comes from searches on Google, and other search engines. Optimizing the content you create for these search algorithms is necessary to rank highly.
I hope you found the SEO tools recommended above helpful in improving your site’s rankings.
What SEO tools do you use?
