SEO optimization tools make SEO infamously challenging, even for professionals. If you’ve been trying to go it alone, you should know that there are lots of these tools that can free up your time and even—gasp!—sometimes do a better job than you could all by yourself!
Here are 33 of them to check out.
2. Google Analytics
This is a web analytics service by Google for tracking website traffic. It gives a wealth of useful information on websites, including the number of site visitors, traffic sources, and demographics by area. Take control of your data with our free Google Analytics guide.
3. Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a Chrome extension that audits web pages against a set of best practices for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, and SEO. You get a report with detailed information and suggestions for improvement.
4. Google Mobile-friendly Test
This is a free tool that checks if a webpage is mobile-friendly, meaning that it is optimized for smaller screens and touch-based navigation. It provides a report on whether the page is mobile-friendly and if there are any issues, such as text that’s too short, links that are too close together, and if the page is using mobile-friendly technology.
5. PageSpeed Insights
PageSpeed Insights measures and reports the performance of web pages and provides recommendations for optimization relating to the page’s loading time, the size of the page, and the number of requests made by the page.
6. Backlink Checker
This is for analyzing backlinks and identifying potential link-building opportunities, showing the number of backlinks to a website, the quality of the backlinks, and the anchor text used in the links.
7. Google Tag Manager
This is for managing and deploying marketing and analytics tags on a website without having to modify the code.
8. SEOquake
This provides SEO metrics and other useful data for any webpage, displaying data on a webpage such as the number of internal and external links, the number of headings, and the age of the domain.
9. Ubersuggest
Use this for researching keywords and analyzing competitors. View top-ranking pages for a keyword, the keywords that the pages rank for and the estimated traffic to the pages.
10. Buzzsumo
This is for researching popular content and identifying influencers in a particular niche. See the most shared content on social media for a particular topic and identify influencers who have shared the content.
11. Google Search Console
Monitor your website’s performance on Google search and receive alerts for any issues such as crawling and indexing problems, security issues and search appearance.
12. Google Keyword Planner
Research keywords and their search volume for use in SEO and PPC campaigns.
13. SEMrush
Use this for tracking keyword rankings, analyzing competitors, researching backlinks, and identifying potential advertising opportunities.
It’s wild how overwhelming this collection looks at first glance—folks often freeze when staring down a list like this, but each tool does bring something noticeably different to the table. Sometimes you only know what you’ve been missing after you tinker around with a couple of them. For example, running a site audit with one tool and then comparing the results with another can open your eyes to overlooked details. And, honestly, not everything suits everyone: some tools are too bulky for smaller sites, while others surprise you with laser-focused insights that bigger platforms gloss right over.
If you’ve ever spent an afternoon obsessively watching your rankings (don’t worry, we’ve all done it), you’ll know the sense of control these tools hint at is addictive, but slightly illusory. Sure, data analysis helps, but the search algorithms? Always shifting. Even the best-reviewed tools need a watchful human eye and a healthy dose of skepticism. Sometimes it’s better to try a bunch—free trials are your friend—rather than tie yourself to just one shiny dashboard hoping for a silver bullet.
14. Ahrefs
Use this for analyzing backlinks, researching keywords, tracking website traffic and monitoring the performance of organic search and paid advertising campaigns.
15. Moz Pro
This is a whole suite of tools for tracking keyword rankings, analyzing backlinks, identifying technical SEO issues, and monitoring the performance of organic search and paid advertising campaigns.
16. Majestic
Use for analyzing backlinks, researching competitors, tracking keyword rankings, and providing data on the trust and popularity of a website.
17. Raven Tools
This is a group of tools for tracking keyword rankings, analyzing backlinks, managing social media campaigns, creating reports, and monitoring the performance of organic search and paid advertising campaigns.
18. SERPstat
Use this for analyzing competitors, researching keywords, tracking website traffic, and identifying potential advertising opportunities.
19. SpyFu
Research competitors’ keywords and PPC campaigns. See the keywords that competitors rank for, the ads they run, and the estimated cost-per-click of their ads.
20. Woorank
Use this tool for analyzing website performance and providing recommendations for optimization.
21. Yoast SEO
Operates as a WordPress plugin that helps to optimize website content for SEO and readability.
22. All in One SEO Pack
Yet another WordPress plugin that helps to optimize website content for SEO.
23. The SEO Framework
This is another WordPress plugin that helps to optimize website content for SEO.
24. GTmetrix
Use this tool for analyzing website performance and providing recommendations for optimization.
25. Bing Webmaster Tools
This is a set of tools for monitoring website performance on Bing search, receiving alerts for any issues, and submitting sitemaps.
26. DeepCrawl
This is a tool for crawling and analyzing website structure and content.
27. Google Structured Data Testing Tool
Use this for testing and validating structured data on a website.
28. Ahrefs Content Explorer
Used for researching popular content and identifying influencers.
29. Moz Link Explorer
Helpful for analyzing backlinks, researching keywords, and tracking website traffic.
30. Majestic Site Explorer
Useful for analyzing backlinks, researching competitors and tracking keyword rankings.
31. SEMrush Site Audit
Use this for identifying and fixing technical SEO issues.
32. Screaming Frog
This is for crawling and analyzing website structure and content.
33. Google Trends
This is a popular tool for researching the popularity of keywords and topics over time.
The beauty of this list is that many of them are free.