Before you spend a single dollar on SEO tools, do your research — there’s an enormous amount of free tooling out there that can help you in different ways. Some of it is focused on linking (backlinks), some on traffic, content, and speed. Here are the tools worth reaching for first.
Google Chrome Browser
If you’re just starting into SEO, this is the best first move: install Google Chrome. Chrome ships with strong development tools, including AMP validation and website inspection tools, and its ecosystem of extensions covers web development, design, SEO, and more. The further you get into SEO, the more you’ll rely on it.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the world’s leading platform for online traffic analytics. You’ll need a Google account to access it, but it’s completely free and worth setting up right away — Google walks you through setting up your domain property and linking it to the platform.
Google Search Console
Another free tool from Google, with extensive documentation covering the aspects of your site that affect search visibility.
SEO Quake Bar
Once Chrome is installed, search for and install the SEO Quake Bar extension from the Chrome Web Store. It lets you inspect your own pages — and others’ — to see what changes might improve your visibility.
Alexa Toolbar
Alexa is useful for insight into your site’s page rank. Many people subscribe expecting their rank to improve as a result — it won’t, that’s not how it works — but Alexa is still useful for seeing who’s linking to your site, average site speed, and a handful of other details.
Check My Links
Check My Links is a Chrome extension that checks your page for broken links. Broken links can hurt your ranking, since crawlers penalize pages that contain them. It’s also useful the other way around: when you’re looking for backlink opportunities and find a site with broken links, that’s your opening — flag the broken link, then pitch them on linking to your content instead. Not a foolproof method, but good practice for the backlink pitch you’ll need to make again and again in SEO.