What are the free DIY (Do-it-Yourself) tools I use myself to optimize for SEO?
I only recommend resources or services that I use/d myself
My preferred audience for this post is the web savvy
- blogger
- social media
- and search user
Thus I decided to share SEO related tools that will enable you to do DIY SEO on your own.
For DIY SEO you want to do several aspects of SEO yourself:
- keyword research
- website optimization (on page SEO)
- link building
- search rankings monitoring
I introduce to you the most essential DIY SEO resources you need!
Please take note that those often also offer premium features that are paid! Usually just some are free.
1. Keyword Research
I have a dedicated guide on using free tools for niche keyword research.
Thus here I will only mention some of them I use most often.
Google Trends is a great place to start to found out about demand in general.
Then tools like Ubersuggest and Semrush let you check some keywords for free.
Yet others like Seobility or Twinword will allow you to look up way more.
Add to it AlsoAsked and you may have found low hanging fruit to optimize your content for already.
2. Website Optimization
Of course Google Search Console is the place to start when you check your website.
The above mentioned Ubersuggest and Semrush will also provide website audit features.
Yet they often add redundant “errors” or mistakes that are not really relevant or sometimes misleading.
When it comes to website speed Pingdom Tools are my all-time favorite!
You want to start with Google’s PageSpeed Insights though. Yet I find them a bit confusing.
To limit the amount of resource hogs and privacy invasions also use uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.
Ads and tracking scripts usually slow down websites, clutter them and annoy users.
3. Link building
Link building or rather attracting links is nothing you should automate.
What you can do though is look up links from competitors e.g.!
Then Ubersuggest or Semrush are your friends!
Semrush finds a lot of non-existent or spammy links that do not matter.
Ahrefs was better at locating real links for my blog here.
Or check broken links on third party sites you want to get a link from!
SEO crawlers like Screaming Frog allow this for free up to a certain limit.
Yet they are completely free ones like the ones I sued for the linked article above: BeamUsUp and Greenflare.
4. Search rankings monitoring
While rankings are less and less reliable it’s still a good idea to know where Google shows you.
Google Search Console is also a great starting point to check those.
The data is a bit limited for privacy reasons. Also GSC is a bit hard to use.
There is much better user interface for the GSC data. It’s called SEO Gets.
It just plugs into your GSC and displays the data in a much more readable way.
Again Ubersuggest and Semrush let you monitor some rankings for free.
Most ranking check tools are premium by default in contrast.
Unless you’re a full time SEO you don’t need to pay for those IMHO.
As a blogger etc. free tools are enough for most hobbyists.
Do these free SEO tools suffice? It depends!
These free products and services allow to engage in do-it-yourself SEO and to prosper with your website or blog.
Believe in yourself! You can optimize, improve and fix your site yourself.
DIY SEO is not difficult in case you know the basics of how Google works. Just try it.
You do not need an SEO consultant unless you are not web savvy at all or you work in a very competitive market.
In many cases do it yourself SEO will be sufficient – at least I’d attempt it first.
I needed months and years to gather all that knowledge, you can learn SEO much faster using these resources.
That’s my goal: to create additional value for you by recommending those products and services.
Do these free SEO tools suffice? It depends!
So you are venturing beyond your own site?
Want to optimize for others?
Then some paid or premium tools might be needed!
Then you can just upgrade your Ubersuggest or Semrush account IMHO.
