25+ Free SEO Tools To Grow Your Website Traffic (2026)

Search engines reveal what your customers are looking for. That’s why free SEO tools are so important for business owners—knowing the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) can help you become a more effective entrepreneur. Whether you’re using search volume to evaluate demand for a product idea or learning how to fine-tune your content, learn how to make SEO work for you.

In BrightLocal’s 2025 SMB Marketing Report, 40% of US small and medium-sized business owners and managers said SEO has a “high impact” on their business. It was the top-rated marketing channel in the survey, ahead of paid social (32%) and paid search (31%). 

Many of the best ecommerce SEO tools charge a monthly fee, but there are many good free SEO tools (or tools with free trials) to start with. You can use them for keyword research, backlink analysis, and more. Here are some of the best.

Shopify SEO tools (built-in features + free apps)

• Shopify built-in features
• StoreSEO
• GoSEO Product Optimizer
• Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer

Every Shopify plan includes SEO features that work in the background, and you don’t need to install anything to use them. 

“We spend next to nothing on advertising, like less than 1% of our revenue. Everything we do is native marketing. We’ve never hired an SEO agency. We use Shopify, read a couple articles, and we are the number one in search for most of what we want,” says Adam Wolfe, founder and CEO of auto accessories brand Boost Auto. 

Here are some of the best native Shopify SEO tools, as well as third-party tools in the Shopify App Store. 

Shopify built-in features

Several SEO fundamentals are already set up when you launch a Shopify store, and you can access most of them directly from your Shopify admin:

• Sitemap. Every store automatically generates a sitemap.xml file linking to your products, pages, collections, and blog posts. You can submit this file to Google Search Console to help Google find and index your store.
• Robots.txt. Every store includes a default robots.txt file that tells search engines which pages to crawl. You can edit this file to allow or block specific pages or crawlers, including AI crawlers.
• AI-search optimization. Shopify provides guidance for optimizing your store for AI shopping assistants. You also get access to Knowledge Base, a free app that lets you customize the FAQs AI agents use to answer questions about your store.

See Shopify’s SEO documentation for a full breakdown of these and other built-in features.

StoreSEO

StoreSEO is a Shopify app that works within your Shopify admin and combines SEO scoring, AI content generation, and image optimization in one dashboard. It also integrates with Google Analytics and Google Search Console, so you can track your store’s SEO performance without leaving Shopify.

Key features:

• SEO score and health reports for products, blogs, and pages
• AI content generator for meta titles, descriptions, and image alt text
• Image compression and file-type conversion

Use it for: All-in-one SEO management for Shopify stores.

Totally free or not? StoreSEO is free to install, with a free trial for paid features. Paid plans start at $14.99 a month and add more product coverage, AI credits, and automatic sitemap submission.

GoSEO Product Optimizer

The GoSEO Product Optimizer is a Shopify app that offers a plan with free SEO tools and works within your Shopify admin. It includes SEO scores to monitor how optimized your product pages are, alongside AI content generators to produce copy for product descriptions, image alt text, and tags. 

Key features:

• Built for Shopify stores
• AI-generated product description copy and tag suggestions
• SEO score to analyze on-page optimization 

Use it for: Page optimization on your Shopify store.

Totally free or not? GoSEO Product Optimizer is free to install. There’s also a paid plan. For $14 a month, you can also access real-time SEO recommendations, an SEO audit by an expert, and more ChatGPT features. 

Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer

The Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer offers one-click image optimization for Shopify stores. It includes automated image backups, image compression, and alt text to ensure that product imagery doesn’t hinder search performance. 

Key features: 

• Image optimization 
• Automated image backups
• 24/7 support

Use it for: Image optimization on your Shopify store.

Totally free or not? There’s a free Tiny SEO plan. For more features, including lazy loading, asset preloading, and instant indexing, choose a paid plan, which starts at $14 a month. 

Keyword research tools

• Ahrefs
• WordStream Free Keyword Tool
• Keyword Tool
• Google Keyword Planner
• Ubersuggest
• Amazon Keyword Research by Helium 10
• AnswerThePublic
• Seed Keywords

Free keyword research tools help you uncover which phrases your target audience is looking for on search engines. Once you identify them, you can include keywords in your website copy to increase the odds of appearing in the search results for those phrases. Here are the best options: 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs’s comprehensive package starts at $29 a month, but the company also has a suite of free SEO tools for keyword research. These tools can check the difficulty of a keyword, search engine results page (SERP) analysis, and more. 

Key features:

• Keyword generator to gain insights across Google, Bing, YouTube, and Amazon
• Backlink checker to crawl the web for a list of websites that link to yours
• Keyword rank checker to see where you rank for your chosen keywords
• Broken link checker to find broken links on your website
• Brand Radar to track your brand’s visibility in AI-generated answers across platforms like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity

Use it for: Keyword research and tracking backlinks.

Totally free or not? Ahrefs has several free tools, but it does try to upsell you to one of its paid packages, which starts at $29 a month.

WordStream Free Keyword Tool

WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool provides recommended target words and phrases to incorporate into your SEO strategy. Enter a keyword or your website URL to receive a list of recommendations and keyword difficulty rankings. It’s a helpful free SEO tool for coming up with short- and long-tail keywords to target, filtered by industry and location.

Key features:

• Shows keyword search volume, Google Ads bid range, and competition score
• Filters keywords by industry, state, or country
• Suggests keywords from related keywords or website content 

Use it for: Keyword research.

Totally free or not? WordStream’s keyword tool is free to use.

Keyword Tool

Keyword Tool is another keyword research tool for search engines like Google and Bing. It also offers insights for YouTube, Amazon, and social media platforms, including X and Pinterest.

The free version of the tool lets you find relevant long-tail and short-tail keywords. If you want insights into search volume, competition, and keyword difficulty, you’ll need to pay for the Pro version.

Key features:

• Uses Google Autocomplete data to suggest keywords
• Generates up to 750 keywords for free
• Available in 83 languages

Use it for: Keyword research.

Totally free or not? You can access limited features on Keyword Tool’s free version, including lists of long-tail keywords. To unlock search volumes and additional features, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan (starting at $68 per month if billed annually).

Google Keyword Planner

With Google Keyword Planner, you can find new keywords to target, research estimated search volumes, and discover related keywords and phrases. You can also unlock long-tail keywords to find phrases that are hyper-focused for your business and its goals.

Key features:

• Bid estimation to guide pay-per-click (PPC) budgets
• Learn about keywords related to your business 
• Forecast conversions for keywords

Use it for: Keyword research.

Totally free or not? Google’s Keyword Planner is free to use. However, you must sign up for a Google Ads account, create a campaign in Expert Mode, and enter your billing information. 

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free SEO tool that provides keyword suggestions based on a URL or a target keyword of your choice. You get three daily searches with a free account. Anything beyond that requires a paid subscription. 

Ubersuggest offers you a list of keyword ideas you can use to generate product ideas, capture more organic traffic, craft your next blog post, and more. You can also see the blog’s ranking at the top of the SERPs with your target keywords to understand search intent and generate content ideas.

Key features: 

• Overview of keyword trends, volume, and SEO difficulty scores
• Content ideas based on popular URLs in your niche 
• Competitor keyword analysis

Use it for: Keyword research and SERP analysis.

Totally free or not? You can run three free searches a day on Ubersuggest. If you want to do more, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan, which starts at $29 a month. You can start a free seven-day trial of any plan.

Amazon Keyword Research by Helium 10

With Amazon Keyword Tool by Helium 10, you can research keywords using Amazon’s Standard Identification Number, a 10-character code that identifies Amazon products. In addition to search volume, this free SEO tool reveals the estimated number of competing products, match type (organic searches, sponsored ads, or Amazon Recommended lists), and frequency of related words. It’s a great tool to improve your Amazon search rankings.

Key features: 

• Related keyword suggestion 
• Taps into Amazon data
• Magnet IQ Score filter to compare with competing products 

Use it for: Amazon SEO.

Totally free or not? You can use Helium 10’s Amazon Keyword Tool for free. If you want more features, you’ll need to sign up for one of the paid plans which start at $99 a month if paid annually. 

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic translates a keyword or URL into a list of natural-language questions and phrases people search for, like “how does” or “why is.” These questions make strong headers for blog posts, FAQ pages, and other content. You can download the list as a CSV file or view it in the visual analyzer, a wheel that groups questions into categories like how, why, where, and when.

Key features:

• Natural-language questions based on keywords and grouped by category
• Keyword data from Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon, and Instagram
• CPC pricing insights, categorized as cheap, medium, or expensive

Use it for: Relevant keywords and content ideas.

Totally free or not? AnswerThePublic offers three free searches per day. Paid plans start at $13 a month, with a seven-day free trial.

Seed Keywords

Seed Keywords uses crowdsourcing to get insights on keyword data for your brand. You prompt your network to picture themselves in a hypothetical scenario, and ask what phrase they would search in that scenario. This can help you understand how people search, which can inform your brand research process. 

Key features: 

• Network collaboration to uncover unique keyword data
• Unique URLs to track and collect keyword data 

Use it for: Keyword research.

Totally free or not? Seed Keywords is completely free.

Website audit and analysis tools

• Bing Webmaster Tools
• SEO Review Tools
• Semrush
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• GTmetrix
• HigherVisibility Google SERP Snippet Optimization Tool

Technical search engine optimization is the process of increasing your website’s functionality. If you’re looking for an easy way to track your website’s speed and mobile-friendly design, here are the best free SEO tools: 

Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing holds 4.47% of the worldwide search market and 9.93% of the desktop search market. Bing Webmaster Tools offer a variety of SEO features, including backlink tracking, keyword research, and site audits. You can use the free SEO tool to run reports as well.

Key features:

• Diagnostic tools to uncover issues that impact your website’s visibility
• Mobile-friendliness testing tool
• Bing Webmaster API to submit sitemaps, links, and other website data to Bing
• AI Performance report to see when and how often your content is cited in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot and Bing

Use it for: Website audits and tracking backlinks.

Totally free or not? Bing Webmaster Tools is a free service.

SEO Review Tools

SEO Review Tools offers one of the most comprehensive collections of free SEO tools available, with more than 70 SEO functions. Use it to help create content clusters or test your Core Web Vitals. 

There’s also an AI content analysis tool to identify what your audience is searching for and spot content gaps. You can get recommendations to improve how your content shows up in AI-powered search results.

SEO Review Tools is a great option to explore if you want to build a free tech stack for your SEO needs.

Key features:

• Core Web Vitals test
• Internal link analyzer
• SEO redirect checker

Use it for: Tracking backlinks, keyword research, SERP analysis, and checking broken links.

Totally free or not? The tools available through SEO Review Tools are free to use.

Semrush

Semrush offers a wide range of SEO features. Though you’ll need a paid account to access most of them, the site’s free SEO tools can help you monitor and improve your site’s search performance. 

Key features:

• Track search rankings; free for up to 10 keywords 
• Google SERP Simulator to preview how your content will appear on search 
• Capped at 100 pages, the website audit analyzes site health, errors, and crawlability 

Use it for: Search rankings and site audits.

Totally free or not? There are several free tools. If you want more complex features, you’ll need to pay for a subscription (prices start at $117.33 a month when you pay for the year). 

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a free SEO tool that crawls up to 500 URLs. It flags broken links, missing meta tags, and redirect issues on your site. Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, they offer a paid license option to crawl more URLs and unlock additional features.

Key features:

• Broken link finder and redirection audits
• XML sitemap creation and configuration
• Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux
• AI assistant integration (MCP) to run crawls, pull data, and ask questions

Use it for: Website crawling and technical SEO audits.

Totally free or not? You can access most of the features in Screaming Frog SEO Spider’s free version, and crawl up to 500 URLs for free. If you want advanced features, such as crawl comparisons, Google Analytics integration, and spelling and grammar checks, upgrade to the paid version for $279 per year.

GTmetrix

GTmetrix is a free SEO tool that checks your site for speed, performance, and structure issues. Create an account for monitoring from various locations, like San Antonio, Texas; Mumbai, India; and London, UK. 

Key features:

• Performance and structure scores for easy benchmarking
• Speed visualization graphic 
• Top issues and their priority

Use it for: Site performance and speed. 

Totally free or not? GTmetrix’s free version provides different charts and graphics to help you visualize how your page loads. If you need historical data and more test locations, you can upgrade to a paid version, which starts at $4.99 a month if billed annually.

HigherVisibility Google SERP Snippet Optimization Tool

The Google SERP Snippet Optimization Tool is a real-time editor that helps you write optimized meta titles and descriptions. As you enter text in the form field editor, the free SEO tool will show you how your entry will appear in a Google search.

Checking the length of your title and description will make sure vital information doesn’t get cut off. 

Key features:

• Flags whether your metadata exceeds the character limit 
• Visualize rich snippet data, including meta titles, descriptions, and ratings 

Use it for:SERP snippets, meta titles, and meta descriptions.

Totally free or not? Google’s SERP Snippet Optimization Tool is free to use.

Backlink analysis tools

• SEOptimer Free Backlink Checker SEO Tool
• Synup Listing Scan
• BrightLocal

Backlinks are a valuable currency in SEO. Other sites linking to yours influences customer trust and credibility. Many backlink checkers also score this trust as domain authority, a metric developed by Moz that predicts how likely a site is to rank in search results, scored from 1 to 100. A higher score generally signals a stronger backlink profile. Here are the best free backlink checkers to monitor your site’s backlink profile: 

SEOptimer Free Backlink Checker SEO Tool

Enter your website URL into SEOptimer’s free backlink checker to learn which sites link to yours. In addition to tracking your backlinks, you can also enter a competitor’s URL to see who’s linking to their site. This can help you build a backlink database of potential sources. 

Key features:

• View top pages by backlinks
• See the most popular anchor text for backlinks in a site’s profile
• Uncover top countries and top-level domain (TLD) extensions

Use it for: Tracking backlinks.

Totally free or not? The basic Free Backlink Checker SEO Tool is free to use.Advanced features, such as keyword recommendations, SEO audits, and weekly email digests, start at $21.75 per month when billed annually.

Synup Listing Scan

The Synup Listing Scan is a complete audit and review of your local listing profiles. Enter your basic information and the free SEO tool will scan your digital presence and check your Google listing, as well as third-party listing sites like Yelp and your local chamber of commerce. You’ll also see your reputation via reviews.

Key features:

• Find local listings on review sites
• Check for consistency across local SEO listings 
• Reputation and review scores

Use it for: Local SEO.

Totally free or not? Synup lets you run a scan of your local listings for free.

BrightLocal

BrightLocal offers a host of local free SEO tools for small businesses. These free tools provide a good insight into your current local positioning and identify areas for improvement. 

Key features:

• Google Review Link and Place ID Generator to create and share custom Google review links for customers
• Local RankFlux to track daily rankings and see suspected algorithm changes
• Local SERP Checker to perform localized keyword research

Use it for: Local SEO.

Totally free or not? BrightLocal has a few free tools, but accessing the advanced features requires a paid package. These start from $31 a month if you pay for the year.

On-page SEO tools

• Detailed SEO toolbar
• Wincher

Search engines use the content on a web page to contextualize what it’s about and determine its ranking. Your site’s on-page elements also impact user experience, which is a ranking factor in many algorithms.

An on-page SEO checker scans a specific page against a target keyword, and flags what’s missing or needs work. This might include your brand’s title tags, meta descriptions, headings, or content gaps compared to top-ranking pages. A clear list of fixes can help each page rank and read better. Here are the best free on-page SEO tools:

Detailed SEO toolbar

The Detailed SEO toolbar is a browser extension that displays SEO metrics. Available for both Chrome and Firefox, it’s a free SEO tool for your right-click menu. The extension lets you complete basic tasks, such as highlighting nofollow links, performing a site search, and viewing the site in another SEO tool. 

Key features: 

• View structured data markup on a page
• Analyze the web page’s structure, including heading tags
• Check for duplicate versions of highlighted text elsewhere on the internet 

Use it for: On-page SEO analysis. 

Totally free or not? The Detailed SEO toolbar is free to use. 

Wincher

Wincher offers a suite of SEO tools, including a free on-page SEO checker. Enter a URL and keyword target into the search bar to view how well your page performs for that term. The tool will show you opportunities to improve the page for your target keyword.

Key features:

• Checks key on-page SEO elements, including title tags, media, code, and URL structure
• View solutions to fix critical on-page SEO issues

Use it for: On-page keyword optimization. 

Totally free or not? The on-page SEO checker tool is free. For other features, including reports for up to 500 keyword reports, 10 websites, and daily ranking updates, you need a paid plan, which starts at $49 per month when billed annually.

Analytics and performance tools

• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• Google Trends
• Google Business Profile
• Google PageSpeed Insights

Google Search Console and Google Analytics are the reporting core for tracking organic traffic. Search Console shows how pages perform in search results, including impressions, clicks, and average position. Analytics shows what happens after visitors land on your site, including traffic sources and on-site behavior. Together, they cover the full picture from search result to conversion.

Rankings alone no longer tell the whole story. AI-generated summaries now show up above traditional search results for many queries, and they change how often a search leads to a click at all.

Pew Research Center found Google users clicked a search result in just 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% when it didn’t. This makes AI-search visibility, not just traditional keyword rankings, a key metric to track. Store owners can start by checking how often their pages get cited or referenced in AI-generated answers, alongside standard click and ranking data.

These free SEO reporting tools can help: 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks your website’s traffic and visitor behavior, with organic traffic as one of the clearest signals of SEO progress. This shows how many visitors are finding your store through search, separate from direct visits, paid ads, or social media. Google Analytics also reports on bounce rate and other on-site metrics that help explain what visitors do once they land on your site.

Install the HTML code in your website’s code to start taking advantage ofGoogle Analytics for free.

Key features:

• Custom reporting dashboards
• Detailed event tracking to measure specific actions (e.g., conversions) 
• Easy to integrate with Shopify

Use it for: Website analytics.

Totally free or not? Google Analytics is free to use.

Google Search Console

Formerly Google Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console is a free SEO tool that tracks your website’s performance in Google searches. You can dig deeper into your data, find click-through rates and which keywords you rank for, and submit XML sitemaps and individual URLs for ranking.

Key features:

• Flags technical SEO issues that impact your site’s ability to rank
• Submit sitemaps and individual URLs for Google to crawl
• URL inspection tool to understand how Google indexes your site

Use it for: Keyword performance and click-through rates.

Totally free or not? Google Search Console is free to use.

Google Trends

Google Trends is another free SEO tool to inform your keyword strategy. Enter a topic or phrase and Google Trends will show you line graph charts depicting peaks and dips in search volume for that phrase. It will also tell you where in the world the phrase is trending, as well as related trending keywords.

Key features:

• View and compare keyword search trends with decades of data
• Discover rising and breakout terms that are increasing in popularity
• “Trending now” page to discover trending topics

Use it for: Keyword research.

Totally free or not? Google Trends is free to use.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is an important tool when it comes to local SEO. With it, you can create and manage your Google listing that pops up when someone searches for your business. This is also what shows up in Google Maps. Note: You don’t need a physical business presence to use this tool, but you must make contact with clients in person.

Key features:

• Customizable profile to display your business’s address, contact details, and location
• Collect reviews from customers 
• Detailed local search performance reports

Use it for: Local SEO.

Totally free or not? Google Business Profile is free to use.

Google PageSpeed Insights

PageSpeed Insights is a diagnostic tool that can help you identify SEO issues with page load time. If your site takes too long to load, your SEO rankings will fall. Enter your URL to receive an SEO audit and list of recommendations to improve your site performance. You can run both desktop and mobile-friendly tests.

Key features:

• Free Core Web Vitals assessment 
• Diagnostic performance issues
• Compare site speed on mobile and desktop

Use it for: Website load speed and technical SEO audits.

Totally free or not? Google PageSpeed Insights is free to use.