21 Best FREE SEO Tools for On-Page Optimization

Google's official position on webmaster best practices really hasn't changed much over the years. What has changed is the search engine's ability to enforce these guidelines through improved algorithms. The implementation of Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird has had a profound impact on the SEO landscape.
Google's Matt Cutts has remarked that no one should be surprised when a website that hasn't followed the guidelines is penalized. What Cutts overlooks or chooses to ignore is something that I have dubbed the "Google Paradox". I suspect the Google paradox is the root cause for one black hat forum member expressing his desire to "punch Matt Cutts in the face" (per Cutts' Pubcon 2013 keynote).
In order to reach the top of the SERPs and stay there in 2013 and beyond, your website must deserve to be there. It needs to be the best in class. It must offer the best user experience in that niche. Fortunately, there are a number of free tools that can help you achieve that goal.

Keyword Research

Developing the right list of keywords remains a staple of SEO, even in 2013. Because the keyword selection has such a profound impact on the overall performance of a website, the keyword selection process shouldn't rely on a single tool.

1. Wordstream

The Wordstream Free Keyword Tool offers thousands of keyword ideas from a huge database of more than a trillion unique searches. This tool outperforms some of the paid alternatives in the market.

2. Keyword Eye Basic

Keyword Eye Basic is a visual keyword suggestion tool, that works particularly well for brainstorming sessions.

3. YouTube Keyword Tool

Julie Joyce recently described in detail just how great the YouTube Keyword Tool is for keyword research for all kinds of content, not just video.

4. Übersuggest

Übersuggest utilizes the "Suggest" data from Google and others. A terrific tool for developing long-tail

Seo Potential Search Volume

Potential Search Volume

Let’s look at some of the most common keyword analysis tools and methods to find out the potential search volume for a website. So, where do you start finding your potential search volume?

Which keywords are there potential for?

After doing a proper competitor analysis, you have found out what the main competitors are using for keywords. This is usually a good start, since its important factors for your overall search engine optimisation strategies. Now it’s time to do a keyword analysis.

What’s in a keyword analysis?

Doing a keyword analysis is based around the principle that you get a deeper understanding of what your target group will be searching for. Yes, that’s exactly how it works. People go to Google because they have a question or problem to solve. Your website is the one supposed to solve it.
It’s not enough to know which 100 keywords your potential users are writing most frequent in Google. You also want to know which forms are used (ie: singular or plural?). Further, it’s important to understand which other keywords are used together with your main keywords (Example: London, UK, cheap or quick). Basically, you need to understand your target group’s language in search engines to succeed with search engine optimisation.

Keyword tools to find potential search volume

There are a wide range of tools to extract keywords from. The one that you use is completely up to you. However, the most common keyword tools are probably the following:
• Google AdWords Keywords Tool
• Google Insights
• Google Trends
• Google Zeitgeist
• Wordtracker
• Microsoft AdCenter Keyword Tool
• Trellian’s Keyword Discovery
Also make sure to read “Keywords To Optimise” to get deeper knowledge and understanding of which words and phrases to target and Keyword Analysis to get an understanding of why to care about keywords in the first place.

Seo Keyword Analysis

Keyword Analysis

It’s time to find out which keywords you’ve been using so far. If a certain keyword or phrase is not found in your content, you are not very likely to be seen at the top of search engines for that keyword or phrase either.

Continue below to find out why analysing the keywords and phrases used today is an essential part of search engine optimisation.

The relationship between search engines and keywords

If search engines were like sharks, then keywords would be the fish they need to grow. One fish is not enough: a big search engine like Google needs 100’s of relevant keywords in your content if you should get a decent amount of traffic.
It’s very easy to find yourself writing general words from time to time. However, to ensure you’re found in the search results you should be as specific as possible.
There are literally billions of pages with information about various topics – and it becomes harder to be found, since new websites are launched every day. If you don’t stay ‘on topic’ with your content, your chances of being found are very slim.

Where to use keywords?

Keywords should occur naturally in your titles, headlines, internal links, backlinks, file names and folders, alt-text and in the general content. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

Are keywords used in image Alt Text?

Search engines cannot really understand the content of images, unless you set an ALT-text (Alternative Text). Make sure to check if ALT-texts are set. If you need more guidance about this, read “Creating Clear Alt Text”.

Are keywords used in headlines?

Search Engines put a lot of emphasis on main headlines, since it’s an indicator of what your content is all about. Find out if you have headlines on your website and check if keywords are included in the headlines? In case you need SEO advice for headlines, read our chapter about ‘Creating Compelling & SEO Friendly Headlines’. Feel free to do our free seo review to find out how well a certain page of yours scores.

Are keywords used in titles?

Since titles are the single most important on-page factor, you better spend some time creating outstanding titles. Make sure you check if your primary keywords are included in the titles. Not only the start page, but all pages on your website have a unique title with at least one keyword, describing your content. Our free seo report can help you find out if you have considered titles in your marketing efforts.

Are keywords used in content?

Since keywords are what search engines clearly understand and refer to, make sure to include keywords in your content. It’s wise to include not only your number one keyword, but even 5-10 more important keywords in your general text/content. Since there is a lot to consider, make sure to read ‘Creating Outstanding Web Content’ in order to get a full understanding of search engines best practice for keywords and phrases in your web content.

Are keywords used in URL’s?

URLs (other name?) are one of the first things you see in search engine listings. It’s always apparent in the top of your navigation as well. It’s therefore sensible to include one of your most important keywords in the URL path.
Example: YourDomain.co.uk/Keyword

How to find which keywords to use?

There are lots of keyword tools and techniques to use in order to find out which expressions and phrases to use. For further information, see the following on-page advice chapters:
-Potential Search Volume
-Keywords to Optimise

Seo Indexed Pages

Indexed Pages

How many sub-pages you have included in Google, Yahoo and Bing is an indicator of how visible and important your site is. If you are not indexed, ie: included, you cannot be found either.


Make sure all your web pages are included in Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Determine indexation

To get all your web pages indexed or included in search engines, the first step is to consider search engine optimisation. Before you are found, you don’t exist for search engines and therefore cannot be found by any users either.
If you for instance publish 20 pages, but only 10 are found in Google, there might be some kind of technical problem with your site. It also may be because you have no internal or external links pointing to your newly published content, or there might be duplicate content issues.

How many indexed pages do you have?

It’s simple to check out how many indexed pages your websites got. Simply type ‘site:www.yoursite.co.uk’ (change to the name of your own website) in Google, Bing or Yahoo:

Why care about the amount of indexed pages?

As mentioned before, only pages that are indexed can be found. A large collection of indexed pages can give the impression of authority to search engines. Websites with large amounts of content and indexed pages are often ranked better than small sites.

How to get your website indexed fast?

-Inbound Links: Make sure to get many incoming links from trustworthy sources.
-Sitemap: Submit a XML-sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Tools.
-Internal Links: Make sure at least one link points to your new content.

 Content & Conversion Analysis

Content and website conversion analysis are closely linked to your search engine optimisation efforts. If done in close symbiosis, you can expect to see great outcomes.

Let’s start with your current content and determine what to consider.

Entry points for your web content

If your competitor and keyword analysis have been done properly, you will be more likely to see visitors coming in to your website from a wide range of keywords.
That is of course a good start, to have a wide stream of visitors coming in. But what do you do with them while they are on your site?

Is your content unique and selling?

When you get visitors on your site, it’s important that your content is interesting enough to keep them there. Otherwise, they will not suggest it to others, nor will they become potential customers for you.
You need to ask yourself: Is the website content authentic, unique while answering queries from visitors? That’s usually the most important part.
Furthermore, you need to ask yourself, ‘What is the purpose of my content’; does it lead to a satisfying level of sales/conversions? If not, perhaps it’s time to come up with a new plan.

What’s your web conversion metrics?

There are many types of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to measure how well your website is doing in connection with search engines optimisation.
Today, it’s usually rather simple to set-up conversion optimisation. All you need to do is to define what matters to you and set names on your conversion metrics.  (e.g.: Newsletter Sign-Ups, Order Requests). Conversion goal measuring doesn’t need to be harder than that.
There are many types of metrics to include in a website conversion analysis and below we have listed a few of the most common ones.
Examples of Website Conversion Metrics

• Sale, common on e-commerce sites. This can be any product or service, such as a golf-set.
• Lead, such as filling out a contact form.
• Sign-up for a newsletter or your brand’s social media presence.
• Request a proposal.
• Register for a forum or community. A common type of conversion.

Which content? Landing page vs website

With a well optimised website, it’s possible to get visitors from 1000’s of various keywords every day to various pages on your website. If you participate in paid search, you are also likely to use landing pages. This is often a good way of getting highly targeted traffic to convert well. Either way, you need to set-up conversion metrics for both your landing pages and normal website if you are serious about your search engine optimisation ambitions.

Free tools to analyse & improve website conversions

-Clicktale
-Google Analytics
-Google Website Optimiser
-Yahoo! Web Analytics (Free for Yahoo Advertisers)