Tammivaara Digital Marketing

Looking for ways to improve your website’s SEO with limited budget?
Here are 10 free SEO tools that can help you with keyword research, content optimization, technical analysis, and more — with honest pros and cons and pricing info in case you want to upgrade later 🙂

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that lets you track how your own website performs in search results.

What you can do for free:

Monitor clicks, impressions, average position, and indexing issues. Fix mobile usability problems and submit sitemaps.

Paid features:

None, Google Search Console is completely free 🙂

What you can do for free:
Monitor clicks, impressions, average position, and indexing issues. Fix mobile usability problems and submit sitemaps.

Paid features:
None — completely free :).

Pros:
– Direct data from Google
– Shows real user queries
– Helps with indexing and mobile optimization

Cons:
– Only for your own site
– Can be a bit technical for beginners

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a tool originally designed for advertisers, but it’s still useful for SEO keyword research.

What you can do for free:
Find keyword ideas, see search volume ranges and competition.

Paid features:
To see exact numbers, you need to run a Google Ads campaign.

Pros:
– Trusted data source
– Helpful for finding related terms

Cons:
– Hidden volume data without spending
– Geared toward advertisers, not SEO specialists

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest, created by Neil Patel, is an SEO tool for keyword research, site audits, and content ideas.

What you can do for free:

Search up to 3 keywords or domains daily. See traffic estimates, keyword ideas, and SEO difficulty.

What you can do for free:
Search up to 3 keywords or domains daily. See traffic estimates, keyword ideas, and SEO difficulty.

Paid features:
Unlimited searches, historical data, full audits, competitive analysis.

Pricing:
From 29€/month (1 website) to 99€/month (8-15 websites). Custom plans are available.

Pros:
– Easy to use
– Budget-friendly
– Good for beginners

Cons:
– Free plan is restrictive
– Data can be inconsistent
– Slower than premium tools

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is a free version of Ahrefs for site owners to monitor technical SEO and backlinks.

What you can do for free:
Run a site audit, check backlinks and performance for your own site.

Paid features:
Full Ahrefs access: keyword explorer, competitor research, SERP history, etc.

Pricing:
From $99/month

Pros:
– Excellent audit and backlink data
– Clean and professional interface

Cons:
– Only for your own domain(s)
– Free version lacks keyword tools

Moz Free Tools

Moz Free Tools are part of the Moz ecosystem, offering domain analysis, keyword metrics, and basic page optimization tools.

What you can do for free:
Check domain authority, perform 10 keyword searches/month, and analyze one page at a time.

Paid features:
Expanded keyword data, link tracking, and site audits.

Pricing:
Moz Pro costs from $49/month (1 site) to $299/month (25 sites)

Pros:
– Beginner-friendly
– Well-known domain authority metric

Cons:
– Low usage limits
– Premium plans are pretty expensive

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog is a powerful desktop-based SEO crawler used for in-depth site audits and technical analysis.

What you can do for free:
Crawl up to 500 URLs, detect broken links, redirects, duplicate pages, and basic on-page SEO issues.

Paid features:
Unlimited URLs, crawl scheduling, advanced integrations.

Pricing:
£279/year for advanced features

Pros:
– Deep technical insights
– Excellent for large sites
– One-time annual payment

Cons:
– Learning curve
– Desktop-only tool & advanced features pricey

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic helps you discover the questions real people are asking on Google — great for content ideas and SEO strategy.

What you can do for free:
1–2 keyword searches per day with visualized question data.

Paid features:
Unlimited searches, data over time, CSV exports, team access.

Pricing:
From €11/month (Individual) to €199/month (Expert)

Pros:
– Great for blog topic inspiration
– Natural language queries

Cons:
– Free use is very limited
– Some duplicate or vague results

SEO Minion

SEO Minion is a free browser extension that helps with on-page analysis, link checking, and SERP previews.

What you can do for free:
Highlight links, check H1/H2 structure, preview how your page appears in search results.

Paid features:
None — it’s fully free.

Pros:
– Fast and simple
– Great for fast checks
– Works in-browser

Cons:
– Not for deep audits
– Live pages only

Google Trends

Google Trends shows you how search interest changes over time and lets you compare topics by popularity.

What you can do for free:
See rising and declining keywords, compare regions, and track seasonal trends.

Paid features:
None — 100% free.

Pros:
– Great for trend validation
– Useful for content timing and planning

Cons:
– Doesn’t show volume numbers
– More general than tactical

ChatGPT

ChatGPT, especially in its GPT-4 version, can help brainstorm keywords, generate outlines, write meta descriptions, and more.

What you can do for free:
Ask questions, generate ideas, draft copy — anything text-based.

Paid features:
GPT-4 access, custom instructions, file uploads, and better memory.

Pricing:
Free or $20/month for plus features.

Pros:
– Very flexible
– Useful for SEO content creation
– Saves time with repetitive tasks

Cons:
– Needs manual fact-checking
– May sound generic without editing

Summary

Free SEO tools are more useful than ever — and using just a few of them together can take your content and strategy to the next level!

Whether you need keyword ideas, technical audits, or help writing metadata, these tools are a great place to start.

Need help creating Finnish SEO content that’s clear, optimized, and actually works for your audience?
👉 Check out my Finnish SEO services here