{"id":39386,"date":"2024-09-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhblog.dream.press\/blog\/?p=39386"},"modified":"2025-05-21T21:57:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T04:57:25","slug":"best-seo-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.dreamhost.com\/blog\/best-seo-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"37 of the Best SEO Tools for Small Businesses (Updated for 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a small business owner, you\u2019re likely laser-focused on results. Conversions. Leads. Sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you may think to yourself, surely<\/em> paying Google for preferred placement and top visibility at the very top of its search results will yield the best results\u2026 Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, nope!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we\u2019re comparing here is pay-per-click (PP<\/a>C<\/a>) marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) marketing. And believe it or not, a whopping 70% of marketers report that SEO is more effective than PPC<\/a> at driving sales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/h3>\n

SEO improves a site’s ranking in search results by enhancing relevance and quality. By optimizing for these factors, you can increase your visibility and achieve higher rankings.<\/p>\n \n Read More <\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because SEO \u2014 the process of deploying the same keywords as your ideal customers in content and improving website usability for search engines and humans \u2014 is long-lasting, only gets more effective over time, tends to attract higher-quality leads, and generally costs less than paid marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For small business owners and managers, this is excellent<\/em> news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the right knowledge and tools, businesses of all sizes and growth stages can take control of their SEO to boost website search engine visibility, earn more traffic, and eventually convert that traffic into purchases and hopefully even loyal customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we created this ultimate guide of SEO tools to help you with keyword research, link building, content marketing, on-page SEO, and beyond \u2014  to position you to be in control of your own digital destiny. To equip you with the tools you need to earn better rankings, attract more customers, and scale your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to dig in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding Each SEO Tool Category<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not only have we split up this list into pricing categories, but we\u2019ve also broken each of those buckets down into tool types. Here\u2019s a quick breakdown of each type, so you can tell if you need it based on your SEO goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keyword Research Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keyword research<\/a> is the process of determining the words or phrases your potential customers use when searching online. Keyword research tools help you conduct this research, and streamline the process of choosing the best keywords based on the terms that users are actually<\/em> searching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link Building Software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Link building<\/a>, part of any good SEO strategy, is how you generate backlinks, or inbound links, to your website. Links help search engines better understand your content, tell the story of your authority and trustworthiness, and help website users get more value from your website \u2014 increasing time on site and even sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content Marketing Platforms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Content marketing is all about creating and publishing helpful content in blogs, videos, ebooks, landing pages, social media posts, and more. Content marketing is one of the best outlets for maximizing keyword usage. The tools we\u2019ll share here will help you realize SEO opportunities and gain more visibility in search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Website Rank Checking and Tracking Tooling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRank\u201d refers to how close your content or website appears to the top of a search engine results page (SERP). Rank-checking tools can help you improve your website ranking<\/a> by identifying your best optimization opportunities. Meanwhile, rank-tracking tools provide crucial information about your current SEO ranking, so you can see how your improvements move the needle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO Reporting and Analytics Software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reporting and analytics tools do exactly what they say on the tin: they offer insight into whether or not your SEO strategy is working. Typically, they\u2019ll make it easy to view and understand your site\u2019s SEO data so you can identify areas to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On-Page SEO Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Compared to off-page SEO, on-page SEO<\/a> includes the SEO factors you can influence on your own website, from the content itself to slightly more technical on-page elements like headings, HTML tags, and metadata. Tooling that improves on-page SEO is crucial to helping search engines \u201cget\u201d your website and boost your visibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that, let\u2019s dive into the content you\u2019re really here for \u2014 more than 30 recommendations for the best free, mid-range, and robust SEO tools on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free SEO Tools for DIY SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Working with a limited budget? Just getting into SEO and trying to test the waters before jumping into a paid subscription? Whatever your reason for seeking free, here are some of our fave SEO tools that are either entirely free or at least have a powerful free tier that we find super useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO Tools for Keyword Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Google Ads Keyword Planner<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Google\u2019s Keyword Planner<\/a> is a comprehensive keyword research tool for all types of users, including those with zero SEO knowledge. Get started by simply typing in one (or more) terms associated with your business, product, or niche. You can also use it to access tons of SEO metrics. You can look up keywords, get traffic estimates, and decide how competitive keywords are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Features<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n