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SEO: FREE Open Source Tools

Listed below is a cheat sheet of a compiled set of tools and resources to boost your global reach through the practice of SEO. While SEO has one distinct goal, there are several categories in which SEO demands attention from. Here, we’ve broken down the categories into 5 areas that need to be treated in order to correctly build engagement.

1. Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to the optimization of your website. Structurally, this enhances your website’s performance by increasing speed, decreasing loading times, reach a targeted audience and leads, and make necessary updates to your website. By excelling and understanding this area, you begin to understand the backend of your applied strategies.

  • GOOGLE ANALYTICS

  • GOOGLE PAGESPEED INSIGHTS

  • GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

  • HREFLANG TAGS GENERATOR

  • MAP BROKER XML

  • GT METRIX

  • BROWSEO

2. Keyword Research

Keyword research refers to the findings and research that goes into growing alternative terms within a search engine. The idea of keyword research is practiced by the ones who are aiming to rank on the first page and display their website as a top resource. To generate more traffic to your website, keyword research is essential in overcoming competition within a certain niche.

  • GOOGLE ADWORDS: KEYWORD PLANNER

  • GOOGLE COERELATE

  • ADWORD AND SEO KEYWORD PERMUTATION GENERATOR

  • IMforSMB BULK KEYWORD GENERATOR

  • KEYWORD IN

  • SOOLVE

  • UBERSUGGEST

3. Rank Tracking

Rank tracking refers to checking your position according to the search engine. While it is important to make the efforts within your keywords, tracking and seeing where your website ranks is essential in understanding patterns and visibility.

  • SEO PANEL

  • PIPULATE

  • SERPOSCOPE by Serphacker

  • MATOMO

  • OPENSEO

  • SEER’S SEO TOOLBOX

  • SEMRUSH

4. Content Optimization

Content optimization refers to the development of reaching the most amount of people. Through the other categories mentioned above, such as keywords, meta and title tags, creating links, optimizing media, clean HTML/CSS, and using social media.

  • SEOCLARITY

  • SEARCHMETRICS

  • MOZ PRO ON-PAGE OPTIMIZATION

  • BRIGHTEDGE CONTENT IQ

  • SERPSTAT: RESEARCH KEYWORD GAPS

5. Link Building

Link building refers to the authenticity of your website being a viable source for others to consult. A popular tactic used to let search engines know you are active and up to date, linkage is crucial to establishing yourself online. By forming a reliable presence, this engages your overall potential to be a top ranking source.

  • SEO TOOLBAR

  • GOOGLE WEBMASTER CENTRAL

  • LINK EXPLORER

  • COMMON CRAWL

  • RAVEN SEO TOOLS

  • MAJESTIC SEO

  • SEOQUAKE

When starting out, open source tools make it possible to educate yourself on SEO without the financial commitment. The importance to know what happens behind the scenes of your online business, product or service gives you an advantage to better understand the needs of your clients or prospects. While a general understanding of SEO is highly beneficial, digital marketers and strategists who regularly practice SEO are sought out for their digital sensibilities.

Getting Started: What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the implementation of different strategies in order to gain more visitors to your website. SEO taps into what people are searching for online by determining the content they choose to consume. By answering questions, producing quality content, and engaging with your audience, you begin to optimize your product to reach a larger amount of people. Although SEO takes longer to show results in comparison to SEM, it shows more credibility and avoids seeming like sponsored content. A way to properly establish  yourself online, SEO guarantees your visibility and by expanding the potential of your reach.

 

Organic SEO

An organic growth is only effective with proper SEO strategies. Known for supporting long term growth, SEO works on restructuring your website’s content to better communicate key content that is being researched everyday. Listed below are the main factors that are highly considered when something is searched for. To optimize your SEO strategies, the following needs to be prioritized:

  • UI/UX for Customer engagement

  • Diversified Keyword Research

  • Research Competition

  • Update HTML (meta properties)

  • Linkage

Paid SEO (SEM)

Search Engine Marketing differs from SEO as it delivers results faster. It is an easy process for a quick fix, however if you plan to run ads for a long period, this may come more as an investment. Additionally, SEM involves SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) which is only achieved with PPC (Pay Per Click). Driven by visibility of SERPs, the content becomes optimized to rank at its highest point. While it may feel as though SEM is the overarching solution, you must beware that the lack of content and its quality will deteriorate in relation to the amount of ads or sponsored content that appears on a page.