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Hey there, fellow SEO enthusiasts! Are you a small biz owner, a webmaster, or a digital marketer struggling to get your site seen? 

Do you dream of better search engine rankings but think your budget can’t stretch to cover big-ticket SEO services?

Well, breathe easy. The truth is, that the best DIY SEO software doesn’t have to empty your pockets. 

With the right free tools and some know-how, you can do amazing things for your site. This guide, crafted by an SEO expert with six years in the trenches, will show you how.

We’ll cover everything from finding the right keywords to building backlinks. You’ll also learn how to audit your site and make it a search engine-friendly powerhouse. 

Let’s dive in!

Summary

“This guide is your starting point for the best DIY SEO software and free SEO tools. You’ve learned about keyword research, on-page and technical optimization, backlink analysis, content creation, and local SEO. By using the free tools and following the tips in this guide, you can improve your site’s rankings and get more traffic. These tools are designed to help small business owners, marketers, and SEO beginners. Always remember consistency and following best practices are key to reaching your goals.”

Read This: What Is SEO-Based Content Writing

What is DIY SEO?

DIY Search Engine Optimization Business owners and marketers may increase their website’s ranking on search engines like Google without investing a lot of money thanks to search engine optimization (SEO). 

Because of their simplicity in design, beginners as well as experts can use these tools. 

They are excellent for small businesses and individual businessmen since they are user-friendly, affordable, and simple.

The Foundation of DIY SEO: Understanding the Basics

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of making your site rank high in search results. It’s the key to getting found by folks who are looking for what you offer. Think of it like this: if your website is a store, SEO is your sign and the best way to get folks through your door.

Why is SEO so important? Simply put, it boosts traffic, shows off your brand, and turns visitors into leads and sales. People trust Google, and sites at the top of the search results are seen as the best. This trust helps to grow your business. SEO is not just about rankings; it’s about being seen.

• On-Page SEO: This is the work you do on your website. This covers things such as:
  • Good content.
  • Smart title tags.
  • Clear meta descriptions.
  • Smart use of internal links.
• Off-Page SEO: This is all about what happens off your site. Think:
  • Backlinks.
  • Social media.
  • Brand mentions.
• Technical SEO: This is about making sure your site is easy for search engines to crawl and index:
  • Site speed.
  • Mobile-friendliness.
  • Site structure.

This is the foundation. Get these basics right, and you are off to a great start.

Qualities of a Good DIY SEO Tool

Understanding what makes a DIY SEO tool effective will help us better understand the tools effectively:

User-Friendly: Even for beginners without coding experience, DIY SEO tools should be simple to use and easy to understand.

Support: The tool’s help is essential for solving any problems you may come across while using it.

Essential Features: Without confusing users, the application should provide the functionality required for keyword research, on-page optimization, and rank tracking.

Affordability: DIY SEO is cost-effective, thus the tools featured here are either free or have cheap alternatives.

Read This: What Is The Best CMS For SEO

Now, let’s explore the Best DIY SEO Software and tools:

1. SEMRush – Your All-in-One SEO Solution

Award-winning all-in-one SEO tool SEMRush is ideal for both local, national, and global businesses. 

Image Source: SEMRush.com

It provides features like keyword analysis, on-page SEO ideas, competitor research, backlink opportunities, and social media management. 

To meet different company needs, SEMRush offers a free trial as well as several payment packages.

2. BrightLocal – Local SEO Made Easy

A complete toolkit created specifically for local SEO is called BrightLocal. 

Image Source: BrightLocal.com

It helps businesses manage online reviews, enhance Google Business Profiles, and enhance local search rankings. 

BrightLocal’s pricing options, which start at just $29 per month, make it cheap and practical for small businesses to target particular locations.

3. Long Tail Pro – Affordable Keyword Research and Rank Tracking

Bloggers, non-local businesses, and affiliate marketers can all benefit from Long Tail Pro’s cheap keyword research and rank tracking features. 

Image Source: LongTailPro.com

You may improve your SEO approach by using the keyword suggestions, search volumes, and competitive analyses provided. 

The seven-day free trial for Long Tail Pro’s plans, which start at $37 per month, is available.

4. KWFinder by Mangools – Budget-Friendly Local SEO Tool

A cost-effective keyword research and rank-tracking tool designed specifically for small and local businesses is KWFinder. 

Image Source: KWFinder by Mangool.com

It gives businesses the information they need to rank higher than competitors in their city by giving them accurate information on local search volumes and keyword difficulty. 

Plans with KWFinder start at $49 monthly and include a 10-day free trial.

5. Nightwatch – Accurate Rank Tracking Across Multiple Locations

Nightwatch is a great rank-tracking tool suitable for businesses targeting particular cities or nations. 

Image Source: Nightwatch.io

It offers helpful insights into your local SEO efforts and allows you to track your search engine rankings down to the ZIP code level. 

Plans for Nightwatch start at $39 per month, and there is a 14-day free trial available.

6. Surfer SEO – Your On-Page Optimization Partner

With the help of the excellent on-page optimization tool Surfer SEO, you can easily plan, optimize, and audit your content. 

Image Source: SurferSEO.com

The Content Editor feature guarantees your content is well-optimized by making word and phrase suggestions based on top-ranking articles. 

Plans from Surfer SEO start at $59 a month, and there is also a free plan with fewer capabilities.

7. Jasper – AI Copywriting at Your Fingertips

Leading AI copywriting tool Jasper makes article creation easier. 

Image Source: Jasper.ai

It features beginning templates, Boss Mode for creating long-form content more quickly, and Surfer SEO integration. 

Jasper offers short-form content starting at $29 per month and covers over 25 languages. 

They provide a free five-day trial and 10,000 bonus credits when you sign up.

Segmentwise SEO Tools

Keyword Research: Finding the Right Words

Great SEO starts with knowing what people are searching for. This is where keyword research comes in. The best DIY SEO software often has tools to help you. You need to know what words your audience types into Google. This is what we call keywords.

Understanding keyword intent is also key.

• Informational: The user wants to learn. (e.g., “What is SEO?”)
• Navigational: The user wants to go to a specific site. (e.g., “Facebook login”)
• Transactional: The user wants to buy something. (e.g., “Buy red shoes online”)
• Commercial: The user is looking to compare and make a decision. (e.g., “Best running shoes 2025”)

Here are some great free tools for this task:

• Google Keyword Planner:
  • Description: This free tool (part of Google Ads) lets you find keywords.
  • How to Use: You need a Google account. Enter words related to your business. You can see how many searches are done for these words. Check out the trends.
  • Best Practices: Focus on terms with good search volume and low competition.
• Keyword Surfer (Chrome Extension):
  • Description: This is a free Chrome add-on.
  • How to Use: Search on Google. The data will show up right in your search results.
  • Benefits: It is very easy to see search data. You can see keyword ideas, and how many searches they get.
• AnswerThePublic:
  • Description: This is a tool for finding questions people ask.
  • How to Use: Enter a topic. The tool gives you questions.
  • Benefits: It can give you lots of content ideas.

By knowing the user intent, you can provide content that meets their needs. This helps you to rank higher in search results.

Website Audit & On-Page Optimization: Making Your Site Search-Engine Friendly

Before you start, you should know what is working, and what’s not.

Website audits are needed to find problems. These audits can help you improve your site. The best DIY SEO software will help you here.

• Google Search Console:
  • Description: This is a free tool from Google. This is one tool that you must have.
  • How to Use: Add and prove you own your site. Check out the “Coverage,” “Performance,” and “Core Web Vitals” reports.
  • Focus: You can find errors, indexing issues, mobile problems, and page speed issues.
• Free SEO Audit Tools (SEOptimer, Website Auditor, etc.):
  • Description: Other free tools that you can use.
  • How to Use: Enter your site’s URL. See the reports. Check out the issues, and how to fix them.
  • Focus: These tools will give you insights into your site.

Next, optimize your website pages:

• Title Tags: Each page needs a good title tag. Include your target keyword. Keep it short and sweet.
• Meta Descriptions: Write a short, clear description. Use your target keywords.
• Header Tags (H1, H2, H3): Use header tags to break up the text. Use your main keyword in the H1.
• Image Alt Text: Add “alt text” to images. Describe the image. Use keywords.
• Internal Linking: Link to other pages on your site. This helps search engines.
• URL Structure: Use clean, easy-to-read URLs. Include keywords.

Technical SEO: Improving Website Structure and Performance

Technical SEO makes sure your site works well. This helps search engines find and show your site.

• Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test:
  • Description: Use this to see if your site works well on phones.
  • How to Use: Enter your site’s URL and test it. You will see what is working.
  • Focus: Check for mobile usability problems.
• Google PageSpeed Insights:
  • Description: Test your site’s speed.
  • How to Use: Enter your URL and test it. See your score, and tips for improving speed.
  • Tips: Optimize images. Use caching. Make your code smaller.
  • Focus: Fast sites get better rankings.
• Google’s Rich Results Test:
  • Description: Rich snippets make your search results look better.
  • How to Use: Test your site to see if your site is set up correctly.
  • Focus: Use Schema markup to add rich snippets. This includes things like star ratings.
• XML Sitemap Generator:
  • Description: This is a file that helps search engines.
  • How to Use: You can create a sitemap. Then send it to Google Search Console.
  • Focus: Sitemap tells search engines about all the pages on your site.

Backlink Analysis & Building Authority: Getting Links That Matter

A backlink is a link from, say, another site to your site! Very important for setting out correctly in your SEO terms. The software for DIY SEO is quite capable of performing backlink analysis.

• Google Search Console (Links Section):
  • Description: See the sites that link to you.
  • How to Use: Check through the “Links” report. You will see top linking sites, internal links, and external links.
  • Objective: Find out who links to you.
• Free Backlink Checkers (Ahrefs Backlink Checker, Semrush Backlink Analytics):
  • Description: These are free tools.
  • How to Use: Enter a competitor’s URL and see their backlinks.
  • Objective: Find out what sites link to your rivals. See if you can get links too.

Now, do some of these effective link-building ideas:

• Guest blogging: Write guest posts for others. It gives you backlinks.
• Broken link building: Find broken links on other sites. Then you can offer your content as a replacement for such sites.
• Creating linkable content: Create content that people will want to share. 

Content Optimization: Engaging Your Audience & Boosting Rankings

Good content is fine for optimizing for SEO; it should be written for humans and search engines alike.

• Free Keyword Density Checker (SEO Review Tools):
  • Description: Checks keyword density.
  • How it works: Enter your content, then check the content.
  • Focus: Don’t use too many keywords.
• Free Content Analysis Tools (Surfer SEO, Frase.io):
  • Description: Tools that help with content.
  • How it works: See how to use the right keywords.
  • Focus: Analyze the content to see what’s good.

Now, improve your content:

• Readability: Readable content is one that has short paragraphs, appropriate headings, and bulleted lists.
• Headlines and Subheadlines: Break the text into sections using headings.
• Linking Within: Link to other pages in your site.
• Call to Action: You urge users to take a particular action.

Local SEO: Targeting Local Customers

Local SEO will help you reach local customers.

• Google My Business:
  • Description: This is a free and, very important tool.
  • How to Use: Create and enhance a Google My Business listing: add in your name, address, phone number, and more.
  • Focus: Your listing has to be correct.

Use local keywords As “…[service] near me.”

Rank Tracking: Monitoring Your Progress

Also, track what is and what isn’t working.

• Google Search Console (Performance Report):
  • Description: You can see how is your site performing.
  • How to Use: You can track how your site is appearing.
• Free Rank Trackers (SerpWoo, AccuRanker):
  • Description: These tools track the rankings.
  • How to Use: Start a campaign to track your site.

SEO for WordPress and Other Platforms

Here are suggestions for a well-known site:

• SEO for WordPress: Use an SEO plugin. (Yoast SEO, Rank Math).
• SEO for Other Platforms: Make sure you optimize your site.

Read This: How To Show Favicon In Google Search Results

Best Free DIY SEO Tools

Although advanced features are only available in premium software, there are several great free programs you may use:

Keywords Everywhere: A browser addon called Keywords Everywhere offers data on search traffic, CPC, competitiveness, and trends.

Keyword Sheeter: Creates related keywords for your seed keyword idea with the keyword sheeter.

MozBar and Moz Link Explorer: For the top search results, MozBar displays the PA and DA metrics, while Link Explorer offers additional information on backlinks.

Google Search Console and Google Analytics: Google’s tools for understanding your website traffic and solving technical SEO refers to are Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

Can You Do SEO for Free?

Yes, utilizing these tools you can perform SEO for free. 

Paid tools, on the other hand, give you more accurate information while saving you time and work. 

For better outcomes, think about spending less on a tool like Long Tail Pro.

Read This: How To Do SEO For Google Maps

Conclusion

Best DIY SEO software is a great first approach.

Now is your time to dive into these tools. You will start to see results. SEO takes time.

Here is a quick recap of the biggest ones:

– Keyword research

– Optimization

– All technical stuff works just fine

– Solid backlinks

– Write content people actually want

Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay in the box. Keen on trying different things, and your website will grow.

Good luck traveling to a world of possibilities!

Read Also

• Top 65 Technical SEO Interview Questions And Answers
• Does Bold Text Help SEO
• How To Create The Perfect H1 Tag For SEO
• Google Announces Five Changes Coming To Mobile Search
• Benefits Of Using Semrush

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