If you’ve ever heard of SEO, then you’ve probably heard that it’s super important to your website’s success. If you’re not familiar with the term, SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s how you can get your website to show up in the search results on Google and other search engines. The higher up in the search results your website shows up, the more likely people are to click on it and visit it!
The thing is, staying on top of your website’s SEO can be tricky. You have to know a lot about a lot of things, including keywords, page titles, meta descriptions, and more. And even then there’s no guarantee that what you’re doing will actually get you ranked higher—or at all. That’s where this tool comes in! We’ve created a tool that makes it easy for anyone to create great SEO content that not only increases the amount of traffic going to their site but also helps them rank higher in the search results.
Table of Contents
Do It Yourself Seo Tools
Here are three awesome stats to turn your head.
As of 2021, there are now 7 billion searches per day on Google. (Up from 3.5 billion per day in 2019!)
53% of web traffic comes from organic SEO, compared to only 27% from paid search.
The first page of results on Google gets 71.33% of all clicks, compared to only 5.59% on pages two and three.
If you’re a marketer, this means one thing:
It’s time to get cracking on those SEO strategies!
The problem is SEO won’t work if you approach it in a hit-and-miss manner. Guesswork and “publish and pray” will do nothing to get you a top position on Google.
What you DO need for great SEO is hard data and a strategic roadmap to success, which you can get with solid, well-optimized content and solid SEO tools.
Problem #2?
These tools are expensive, and maybe beyond your startup’s monthly budget.
Not to worry, though! I’ve put together this guide just for you. In it we’ll look at:
A list of the best free DIY SEO tools out there
Step-by-step guidance on how to use each tool
Free SEO tools you should never use
Plus, I’ll show you my favorite paid tools (for when you’re growing and ready to make a bigger investment)
Ready to rock Google’s SERPs?
Let’s dive in!
For a full run-down of the tools, systems, and strategies you need to build a self-sustaining, profitable online business, check out my free class. Choose from two sessions: one if you’re ready to scale, and one for brand-new businesses. Watch now.
free DIY SEO tools
6 billion searches happen per day on Google (up from 3.5 bn/day in 2019). Time to get cracking on SEO strategies. Here are the top FREE tools to get started via @content_hackers
Click to Tweet
Free DIY SEO Tools: 5 Keyword Research and SEO Agency Tools
Need to find profitable keywords for your content?
Try these five tools for free.
(Disclaimer: This blog contains affiliate links. However, don’t worry! I never promote tools I don’t personally use – and love. ♥)
- Free Trial: DIY SEO Tool SEMrush
SEMrush is one of my personal favorite tools for keyword research. (I use the paid version, but you can totally use it for free if you’re just starting out!) It’s incredibly comprehensive, and packed with everything you need to discover profitable keywords for targeted traffic and leads.
To begin, head over to SEMrush’s signup page. All you need are your email and a password to create your own account.
SEMrush create your account
Once you create your account, you have two options:
Sign up for a free trial (where you can test the complete arsenal of SEMrush’s tools for 7 days)
Use SEMrush’s free version (you’ll have limited searches and access to data, but that’s OK for starters)
To start your free trial, click Get Free Trial. If you’d rather go for the free version, click Skip Trial.
SEMrush choose trial plan
Now, let’s get into how to use SEMrush for free!
If you chose to skip the trial, you’ll go straight to your SEMrush dashboard. It looks like this.
SEMrush dashboard
Source: www.semrush.com/dashboard2
To begin, choose one of your seed keywords. (Keyword research always begins with brainstorming seed keywords. Get the details on this in my in-depth guide.)
Type your chosen keyword into the search box at the top of the dashboard. For example, let’s say you go with writing tips as your seed keyword.
SEMrush writing tips seed keyword
Once you click Search, you’ll be able to view specific data on your chosen keyword such as:
Search volume
Keyword difficulty score
Keyword variations
Questions
Related keywords
SEMrush keyword overview
Source: www.semrush.com/analytics
Here are four great tips for using these analytics:
Go for a search volume of above 1,000
Go for a keyword difficulty score of below 40 if your site is new. For older sites, you can go for below 60.
Use the Keyword Variations section to find other keywords to target.
Use the Related Keywords section to find amazing secondary keywords to sprinkle in your content.
If you scroll down, you’ll find the top sites ranking for your chosen keyword.
SEMrush SERP analysis
Are the results accurate?
You bet! Head over to Google and you’ll find that Copyblogger does indeed rank #1 for writing tips.
writing tips SERP
Of course, using SEMrush’s free version comes with a downside and that’s limitations.
You’re limited to 10 searches per day. If you click a link to view a report, that counts as one search.
You’re limited to 10 results per search. For example, the Keyword Variations section (which leads to the Keyword Magic Tool) lists 13.6K keyword variations. However, you’ll only be able to see 10 of them.
You won’t be able to view your keyword research history.
For a list of all the limitations in your free SEMrush account, check out SEMrush’s blog.
Don’t worry. If you chose the free trial, you can always downgrade to the free account by emailing mail@semrush.com.
- 10-Day Free Trial: DIY SEO Tool Mangools KWFinder
If you’re just beginning the content marketing journey and you need a few keywords to jumpstart your website, you can use the 10-day free trial of Mangools KWFinder.
To start, sign up for a new account. (What’s great is you don’t need to add your credit card information for the trial. When your 10 days are up, your account will simply expire and you can decide whether or not to go for the paid version.)
The signup process is super easy. Simply fill in the blanks with your information, head over to your email, and click the confirm link they send you.
KWFinder create an account
What I love about KWFinder is its user-friendliness. You can view important keyword data on your dashboard, complete with:
Search volume
Keyword difficulty score
SERP overview
KWFinder dashboard
Source: app.kwfinder.com
You can also refine your search by clicking Filter above the list of keywords.
KWFinder filter
Let’s say you want to filter for a search volume of 1,000 and a keyword difficulty score below 50.
KWFinder filter
Click Set Filter to view your results.
KWFinder result with filter
- Free Version: DIY SEO Tool Moz Keyword Explorer
Another great tool to add to your toolkit is the Moz Keyword Explorer. Moz Keyword Explorer has a paid version, but let’s dive into what you can do with the free version.
To start, you’ll need to create an account on the platform.
Moz sign up
On your dashboard, you’ll be able to see which tools you can use for free (and which are locked until you get the paid version). You can also see how many queries you have left (Moz Keyword Explorer’s free version allows you to get 10 queries per month).
Moz dashboard
Source: analytics.moz.com
To start using the keyword explorer, type your keyword into the search field.
Moz keyword research
Click Analyze to view your results.
moz keyword research results
The Moz Keyword Explorer is great because it shows you everything you want to know about a keyword in one glance. Plus, it has extra features that most other SEO tools don’t have. These are:
Organic CTR: Learn how many clicks come from organic instead of paid search.
Priority: According to the MOZ Q&A Forum, Priority “was conceived to aggregate all the other metrics – Difficulty, Opportunity, Volume, and (if you choose it) Importance.” The higher the priority score, the better your keyword.
Moz Keyword Explorer is also unique because you can view unlimited search results with a free account.
For example, say you want to view the complete list of keyword suggestions. All you need to do is click See all suggestions at the bottom of the keyword suggestions preview.
Moz keyword suggestions
This will allow you access to the complete list of suggestions for your keyword.
Moz unlimited keyword suggestions
serious business owner
- Free DIY SEO Tool: Answer the Public
If you’re looking for a simple tool that gives you information on exactly what people are searching online, Answer the Public is a great place to start. This tool churns out a list of Google and Bing’s autosuggest features to show you keywords actual people are using.
To start using Answer the Public, type your keyword idea into the search field and click Search.
What you’ll get is a bunch of keywords and keyword ideas for your content.
Here are the results you’ll get (complete with cool visualization).
Questions: The top questions people are asking about your keyword. For example, “tips when writing a book” and “tips when writing an essay.”
Answer the Public questions
Source: answerthepublic.com
Prepositions: These are keyword variations people use when they search for your keyword using certain prepositions. For example, “writing tips for beginners” and “writing tips in English.”
Answer the Public prepositions
Comparisons. Keyword variations based on words such as “or,” “versus,” and “like.”
Alphabeticals. These are keyword variations listed from A to Z. As you can see, the list is comprehensive!
Answer the Public alphabeticals
Related. These are keywords similar to your seed keyword.
- Free DIY SEO Tool: Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is another free SEO tool you can add to your toolkit. What’s great about it is it’s super easy to use, clean, and simple.
To begin using Ubersuggest, head over to its homepage and type your seed keyword into the search bar.
Ubersuggest search
When you do, you’ll get information on:
Search volume
Keyword difficulty
Paid difficulty
Cost per click
Ubersuggest keyword overview
Source: app.neilpatel.com
Two tips to keep in mind if you’re doing paid search:
Go for keywords with lower paid difficulty…
…but higher cost per click.
(These apply to paid search, but why not use this information to weigh the value of organic keywords as well?)
When you scroll down, you’ll be able to look at data like mobile or desktop usage, clicks on SEO results, and the age range of searchers.
Remember:
Desktop searches convert better than mobile searches, so go for keywords with higher desktop volume.
The higher the clicks on SEO results, the better your keyword. As you can see, “writing tips” has 2,314 clicks, making it a profitable keyword.
Going for a higher searchers’ age range is a good idea if you want to target people with buying power.
Ubersuggest volume, SEO results, age
On the same page, you’ll also be able to see other keyword ideas to inspire you…
Ubersuggest keyword ideas
…plus, great content ideas from your competitors.
Ubersuggest content ideas
What’s great about Ubersuggest is you have a clean way to export your data. All you have to do is copy the keywords to your clipboard.
Ubersuggest copy keywords to clipboard
Create a new doc in your word processor and paste from the clipboard to get a copy of your list of keywords.
keyword list exported from Ubersuggest
Free DIY SEO Tools: 10 SEO Checker Tools and SEO Web Page Analysis Tools
Want to know how your site is doing in the SERPs?
Want to strategically plan your way to the top, plus beat your competition?
Check out these 10 free tools.
Free DIY SEO Tool #1: SEMrush’s Off-Page SEO Analysis Tool
To check out your site’s SEO in SEMrush, simply head over to your dashboard and type your URL into the search field.
You can select whether you want to do a domain overview or keyword overview.
SEMrush domain overview
Select Domain Overview and you’ll see your domain authority, organic search traffic, and backlinks. You can also check out your organic and paid search traffic trends.
SEMrush domain overview details
Authority Score. This number refers to your domain authority. New sites are ranked one, while more established ones can go up to 100. The higher your domain authority, the stronger your site.
Organic Search Traffic. This tells you how many organic visitors you’re getting, plus how many organic keywords you’re ranking for.
SEMrush organic research
Scroll down to see the top keywords your site is ranking for.
SEMrush top organic keywords
Backlinks. Backlinks are inbound links from other websites. Click the backlinks tab to view more detailed information…
SEMrush backlinks report
…and scroll down to see who’s linking to you and which pieces of content they’ve linked to.
SEMrush backlinks for Express Writers
Want to see how you’re doing against competitors?
Go back to your dashboard and type your domain into the Domain Analytics search bar. Then, add your competitors’ domains and click Add Domain for each.
SEMrush domain analytics competitors
This allows you to compare your site with theirs.
SEMrush domain analytics competition data
Free DIY SEO Tool #2: Moz’s Free Tools
Moz’s tools aren’t only for keyword research. They have great SEO analytics tools, too (you can use the limited versions for free).
To start, click Free SEO Tools at the top right of your dashboard.
Moz Free SEO Tools
Source: moz.com
Let’s look at the tools one by one.
- MozBar
MozBar is amazing because it lets you see page authority and domain authority without leaving the page or SERP.
To start using it, you’ll need to download the extension. (Don’t worry, it’s totally free and takes only a few minutes to download.)
Click MozBar from the Free SEO Tools dropdown menu, then click the download button.
MozBar download page
After you’ve downloaded it, go to your extensions options and select MozBar.
MozBar chrome extension install
Click on the blue M to activate MozBar.
MozBar extension in Chrome
When you do, the extension will appear on your browser. Visit any site to instantly see its page authority, links, domain authority, and spam score. (All this data is included in the free version. To unlock more data for MozBar, you’ll need to go for Moz Pro.)
MozBar in action
- Link Explorer
Moz’s Link Explorer allows you to view your site’s domain authority, linking domains, inbound links, and ranking keywords.
To use it, simply click Link Explorer from the dropdown menu and type your keyword into the search field.
Moz free SEO tools – Link Explorer
Moz Link Explorer
Source: moz.com
Click Analyze to view your results.
Moz Link Explorer results
Just like other free Moz tools, you only get 10 free queries per month.
- Check My Online Presence
This tool is great if you run a local business. It helps you discover if your website is listed accurately and consistently across all web directories.
Using it is super easy. Simply type in your company’s name and address to get started.
Moz Check Your Online Presence
free training content transformation
Free DIY SEO Tool #3: Check My Links
Worried your site has broken links but don’t have enough time to check them one by one?
Try Check My Links, a Chrome extension you can use as you browse. It highlights broken links so you can see what needs fixing at a glance.
To start, you’ll need to install the extension on your browser. Click the Add to Chrome button and select Add extension in the pop-up box that appears.
Check My Links Chrome extenstion
Once you see the extension on your toolbar, click it and select Options.
Check My Links options
Check the boxes depending on your preferences and save when you’re done.
Check My Links options menu
The next step is to visit a page you want to check. When you land on the page, Check My Links will ask your permission to access it.
Click the extension and reload the page.
Check My Links wants access
Here you go!
Using Check My Links on a Content Hacker blog
As you scroll through the page, you’ll see each link highlighted in green, yellow, or red.
Content Hacker blog with Check My Links
Cool, huh?
Free DIY SEO Tool #4: Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider
If you want a quick way to make sure your website’s SEO is running on all cylinders, check out Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider. It checks for:
Broken links
Page titles and meta descriptions that are missing, too short/long, or duplicated
Duplicate content
Redirect chains and loops
To begin, download SEO spider to your computer.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Here’s what you can get from the tool’s free version.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider paid vs free features
Free DIY SEO Tool #5: SEO Plagiarism Tools
Worried about unintentionally toeing the line between taking inspiration and copying? Use a free SEO plagiarism checker to make sure your content is totally unique. The two below are solid and easy to use:
The SEO Tools Plagiarism Checker – Copy and paste the text you want to check, or upload a file up to 2,000 words in length.
Plagiarism Checker
Small SEO Tools Plagiarism Checker – This tool has the copy-and-paste and upload features as well as the option to import content from Google Drive or Dropbox.
Small SEO Tools Plagiarism Checker
Free DIY SEO Tool #6: SEO Title Tools and Snippet Tools
A compelling title and meta description can mean the difference between people clicking and people ignoring you.
So, before you push that publish button, it’s a great idea to test drive your meta title and description first.
Here are three free tools that allow you to do that.
Portent’s SERP Preview Tool. This tool makes it easy for you to stay within the recommended meta title and description length.
Portent SERP Preview Tool
Ezlocal’s Title Tag Length and Meta Description Length Check Tool. This tool offers the same guidance, with the added option of pasting any string of characters from another source.
EZlocal pro
Google SERP Simulator. This tool allows you to actually preview what your meta title and description will look like on the SERPs.
Google SERP simulator
Free DIY SEO Tool #7: SEO Site Checker Tools
If you want a quick overview of your site SEO, these tools are gold.
Free SEO Analysis Tool. Neil Patel’s tool allows you to scour your site for speed, broken links, warnings, and critical errors. It’s easy to use and you can see all the data at a glance.
Free SEO Analysis Tool
Sitechecker. This free checker gives you an in-depth look at your site’s technical SEO. You can view your site’s critical errors, warnings, and more.
Sitechecker
What I love about this tool is how simple yet detailed it is. Click any of the cards to dig into your site’s main issues. For instance, let’s look at the Critical Errors card.
Sitechecker critical errors
Source: sitechecker.com
Free DIY SEO Tool #8: SEO Submission Tools
If your site is new, you won’t have any links that’ll help Google’s spiders crawl your pages.
To submit your site to search engines, use these two free tools.
Entireweb. Simply fill in the blanks with your URL and email address and click Proceed. Go to your email and confirm by clicking the link you receive. Your site will then be submitted to the top search engines like Google, Bing, AOL, and more.
Entireweb
AddMe.com. This free tool allows you to submit your site to the top 20 search engines in one shot.
AddMe
Free DIY SEO Tool #9: WordPress SEO Plugins and Tools
If you use WordPress as your content publishing platform, you need these free SEO WordPress plugins.
Yoast SEO – This is the #1 WordPress SEO plugin for a reason. It gives you all the tools you need to optimize your posts right inside the WordPress platform. Yoast SEO even includes analysis and suggestions to improve your SEO.
Yoast SEO analysis
SEO Press – This is an easy-to-use tool that will help you optimize your content, improve your SEO, and boost traffic and social sharing – all from within WordPress.
SEO Press
Source: ps.w.org
writing mistakes
Free DIY SEO Tool #10: Google Trends (YouTube SEO Tool)
Did you know you can search for topic trends on YouTube with Google Trends? Simply enter your search term and select “YouTube Search” from the last filter category.
Google Trends for YouTube
Source: trends.google.com
The data shows you how popular your keyword is with YouTube searchers.
The Next Step Up from Free DIY SEO Tools: 4 Paid SEO Tools Worth Investing In
Of course, you shouldn’t stick to free SEO tools for a lifetime.
Why’s that?
Two reasons.
Reason #1: Paid tools are brilliant because money is put into hiring talented professionals to research, develop, and maintain them. (The same way quality ingredients make your latte with Ruta Maya organic premium roast coffee beans more expensive than the free instant coffee you get on your cafeteria lunch break.) ☕
free diy seo tools quote
I’ll show you an example.
Imagine you want to find the keyword difficulty score for “writing tips.”
Here’s what you get on the free tool Ubbersuggest.
ubersuggest keyword difficulty data
Source: app.neilpatel.com
Looking at that low score (24) you’d think, “WOW! I can rank for this keyword in no time!”
But head over to KWFinder and look up the same keyword.
Here’s what you’ll get.
KWFinder kw difficulty score
Source: kwfinder.com
Oops! Looks like “writing tips” is more difficult to rank for than you thought. Plus, you’re going up against big names like Copyblogger and Grammarly.
Without the paid tool, you would have gone ahead and tried to rank for this keyword even though your site is new and your odds are low.
Reason #2: You don’t want limits. Free versions of paid tools are extremely limited, and which big dreamer wants to work with limits? (Hint: none of them.)
So yes, free SEO tools are great to start with.
But the moment you have the budget for premium paid tools, I say go right ahead and buy them.
Here are four I recommend.
Paid SEO tools are totally worth it once you can spring for them. @content_hackers faves: @semrush @ahrefs @buzzsumo @mangools_com
Click to Tweet
SEO Tool #1: SEMrush (Paid Version)
If you’re starting out and want just one paid SEO tool, definitely make it SEMrush.
I personally use it for my keyword research and SEO analysis, and it’s pure gold.
I’ve already given you a hint of SEMrush’s awesomeness with the free version, but here’s what you’ll get when you go for the paid version.
Up to 10,000 rows of data on your searches (compared to just 10 in the free version)
Up to 3,000 keyword reports (compared to just one in the free version)
Track up to 500 keywords at once
Pricing:
Pro: $83.28/month billed annually or $99.9/billed monthly
Guru: $166.62/month billed annually or $199.94/billed monthly
Business: $332.28/month billed annually or $399.95/billed monthly
SEO Tool #2: Ahrefs’ Suite of Tools
If you’re going to buy SEO tools, make sure Ahrefs is on your consideration list. Purchasing a plan from Ahrefs gives you access to their entire toolkit, including:
Keywords Explorer – A comprehensive keyword research tool
Site Explorer – Check your organic search traffic and backlink profile
Content Explorer – Research popular content and see what’s getting engagement
Rank tracker – Track your SERP rankings and compare to your competitors’
Site Audit – Crawl your entire site and get a thorough look at how it’s performing, SEO-wise
Alerts – Get alerts whenever you’re mentioned online, whenever you earn or lose backlinks, or when your keyword rankings change
Ahrefs dashboard
Pricing:
Lite: $82/month billed annually or $99/billed monthly
Standard: $149/month billed annually or $199/billed monthly
Advanced: $332/month billed annually or $399/billed monthly
Agency: $832/month billed annually or $999/billed monthly
SEO Tool #3: BuzzSumo
Sure, you can write splendidly around a keyword and see your content shoot to the #1 position in Google…
…but how do know your audience will love what you write about it?
Enter BuzzSumo.
This amazing tool shows you EXACTLY what your audience loves by giving you a list of top-shared articles and blogs around your keyword.
Is BuzzSumo technically an SEO tool?
No.
However, I’ll argue that topic research and keyword research go hand-in-hand. When you find the golden combination of profitable keywords + on-point topics, your content will fly.
To use BuzzSumo, enter your keyword/topic into the search box to see top-shared blogs and articles surrounding those terms. Analyze what’s doing well, the angle they used, and how you could do better.
BuzzSumo
Source: app.buzzsumo.com
With BuzzSumo, you can also check what’s working for your competition. Simply type your competitor’s domain in the search box to see their top-shared content.
BuzzSumo top shared content
Pricing:
Pro: $79/month billed annually or $97/billed monthly
Medium: $139/month billed annually or $179/billed monthly
Large: $239/month billed annually or $299/billed monthly
SEO Tool #4: Mangools KWFinder (Paid Version)
Mangools KWFinder is a must-have if you’re going into paid tools. It’s the easiest keyword research tool out there, plus it’s more affordable than other tools.
Already using the free trial of KWFinder? Simply upgrade to the paid version after your 10-day trial.
Pricing:
Basic: $29.90/month billed annually or $49.00/billed monthly
Premium: $39.90/month billed annually or $69/billed monthly
Agency: $79.90/month billed annually or $129/billed monthly
By the way, investing in paid SEO tools is just one piece of a solid business strategy that leads to GROWTH. Learn all of the other working parts with 1:1 guidance, lessons, templates, and more in my Content Transformation System.
4 Free DIY SEO Tools to Stay Away From
Before we end, I’ll list four SEO tools you should avoid. (Warning: Don’t touch #3 and #4 with a ten-foot pole!)
AtoZ SEO Tools. You don’t need AtoZ SEO tools. Why? You can get all of them free from other, more reputable sources like Moz Keyword Explorer, the free version of SEMrush, and more.
Small SEO Tools Article Rewriter. Don’t use this tool, or any rewriter tool in general. Unless you’re into black hat SEO — which you’re not.
Shared SEO Tools. These are tools bought by a merchant and shared by a bunch of people using VPNs. Nope, nope, nope.
Nulled SEO Tools. Nulled SEO tools are the equivalent of pirated software. In other words, they’re stolen tools. Need I say more?
The Best Free DIY SEO Tools for SERP Ranking Success
Here’s the thing.
You can guess which keywords will get you success on Google’s SERPs and “publish and pray” yourself to mediocre results.
OR you can invest in quality SEO tools and consistently strategize your way to the top.
diy seo for small business
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term process that helps your website rank higher in the search results. The earlier you start on your diy seo optimization efforts, the faster you’ll receive organic, targeted keywords from potential customers and clients.
While you’ll want to hire a professional at some point to handle all of your optimizations, there are simple DIY SEO tips for small businesses that can help you build a strong foundation for your website.
What is SEO for Small Business Owners?
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to help online search engines understand what your page, blog, or other types of web property is about. It’s one way you can improve your visibility in the organic (non-paid) results for specific keywords and phrases relevant to your business.
If you drive consistent traffic from search engine results pages, you’re more likely to reach and engage your target audience. This could lead to more sales, leads, or whatever else you’re looking for from your website.
The entire process of building a strong SEO foundation for a site can take months with professional help and significant time dedicated to it on your part. There are specific techniques that must be followed when creating and optimizing content such as link building, on-page SEO, content strategy.
“Do it yourself SEO” is a phrase commonly thrown around, but what does it really mean? In this post, we’re going to go over eight simple strategies that (when used correctly) can help you improve rankings and drive more traffic to your site. Let’s get started!
Small, integral steps can be taken to begin your own DIY SEO strategy and gain more traffic from Google.
What Are 8 Easy, DIY SEO Tips a Small Business Can Take?
Tip 1: Add Your Site to Google My Business
First off, Google My Business is free and allows you to take control of what users see when they search for your business on Google. For example, when a person searches for your business or your business is displayed, you’ll have control of your:
- Business description
- Open and closing times
- Contact details
- Address information
- Link to websites
Secondly, you’ll also be able to list your site on Google Maps and enjoy ranking for local search results, which are much easier to rank for as a small business. Google My Business allows businesses to take control of their presence on Google.
Start adding your business to Google My Business here: https://www.google.com/business/
Tip 2: Add Your Site to Leading Citation and Review Sites
Next, citation and review sites are still important, although some sites are more important than others. You can gain targeted traffic from these sites and trust. A few of the leading sites you should add your business to are:
- bbb.org
- indeed.com
- linkedin.com
- mantra.com
- superpages.com
- yellowpages.com
- yelp.com
There are also industry-related sites that you’ll need to research and add your business to. Moz has a lot of great citations sources (grouped by industry) to consider. These citations are important, particularly in the beginning, because they give your business legitimacy.
Who doesn’t want to work with a business that has thousands of positive reviews and recommendations from other businesses? That’s some serious power when it comes to convincing people to buy from you. If you don’t have the time (or resources) or tools
Tip 3: Use Google Search Console to DIY Your SEO
Google Search Console is free and allows you to add your entire site to the platform. An integral part of technical SEO, the console will provide you with insight on:
- Performance
- Coverage
- Enhancements
- Much more
Consequently, coverage is important because it tells you about the errors found on your site during a Google crawl. Correcting these errors helps maximize your site’s indexed pages and can be used to improve user experience.
Search Console is a tool that you should be using because it is free and can be used to identify low-hanging fruit.
Additionally, you can track the SERPs for your business’ keywords to see how they are performing over time. This will help with keyword research and brainstorming new long-tail keywords that pair well with your existing ones.
Tip 4: DIY SEO by Optimizing Your Site for Keywords
DIY SEO relies heavily on on-page optimization. You control the on-page factors that impact your site’s rankings. The keywords you choose should be naturally placed inside of your content in:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Alt tags
- Headers
- Throughout your content
Guessing what keywords people are looking for is putting your entire SEO strategy at risk. Instead, you should use tools to help you find keywords your target demographic is already searching for.
A few tools to help you find your keywords are:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword Generator
- Keyword Surfer
You’ll also find a lot of paid tools that can help you optimize your site for specific keywords and even track your rankings over time.
You probably already know that backlinks can be incredibly powerful, but when you’re just starting out it’s not always obvious what to do about them.
All you have to do is spend some time improving your content so that other people will want to link back to you naturally. One way to get started is using anchor text in your content that matches target keywords.
Tip 5: Optimize for Mobile
Approximately 81% of mobile users search for a product or service online. Google’s mobile-first index also makes heavy use of voice search. Your site, if it’s using WordPress, Shopify, or another platform, should be easy to optimize for mobile if it’s not optimized already.
Responsive themes will work on any screen size, allowing your visitor’s easy access to your site on their smartphones or tablets.
We recommend that you perform a mobile-friendly test.
Enter in your URL and test it to see what changes Google recommends for your site. The test will provide a screenshot of how the page looks on mobile and any issues with page loading. You can then read the report to see how you can fix your mobile site.
Clear Cache – If someone visits your website and it is slow at loading up, they will not stick around. You should regularly clear out any temporary files that might be hanging around on your server or in the visitor’s browser cache to ensure optimal performance. This caching policy helps mobile sites load faster, which means less traffic leaving before your site loads.
Tip 6: Make Use of Internal Links
Internal links are one of the easiest DIY SEO practices to follow. The key is to add links on your pages and content back to other pages on your site. For example, let’s assume that you own a car repair business.
You can link up your main service page to subpages for:
- Oil changes
- Tire rotation
- Tune-up
When you write blogs or add new pages, they can be interlinked to other pages on your site. Strong interlinking allows you to:
- Point Google bot to more pages
- Spread link value around your site
- Reduce bounce rate
Try and make internal links have a hierarchy and a purpose. Yoast has a complete guide on internal linking that’s worth reading through.
Be sure to include important keywords in your title tag, description tag, H1 tags, and anchor text. This is obviously very important for on-page SEO optimization.
Tips 7: Setup Google Analytics to Measure Your DIY Efforts
Google Analytics is a must-have. Yes, you’ll be able to track your traffic to your site, but Analytics provides a wealth of information that’s useful for SEO. You can improve SEO performance in numerous ways using Analytics:
- View pages that have high bounce rates and make changes to improve these rates
- Track SEO performance to see how your efforts are paying off
- Use annotations to show issues and changes
- Find keyword opportunities by tracking internal site search queries
- Find pages that convert the best and can have their SEO improved
Annotations can also be used to mark when you’ve started new phases of your SEO strategy. When used properly, Analytics can provide you with information you can use to further optimize your DIY SEO for small business.
Tip 8: Speed Up Your Site to Maximize Conversions From Organic Traffic
Making a good first impression only happens once. When your site is slow, users will exit the site before it loads or won’t go to multiple pages on a site. One study found over 50% of users will leave a site if it doesn’t load in three seconds or less. Speed is also a factor for mobile searches.
Focusing on user experience can lead to more sales and higher search rankings.
You’ll have a lot of opportunities to optimize your site speed:
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Install a caching plugin or use a server caching system
- Run PageSpeed Insights and follow all recommendations
As you’re able to lower the load time of your site, you’ll notice that Google will crawl more pages and your users will stay on the site longer. Google measures site speed by using what they call Core Web Vitals (CWV).
The average load time for your home page, give users a sense of how fast or slow it is. The pages are measured over a cellular network (a great proxy for mobile page speed).
Using these metrics, Google can determine if they should rank you higher in search results for faster websites. Speed matters because sites that take longer than 4 seconds to load begin losing conversions.
Wrap Up: How 8 Easy, DIY SEO Tips a Small Business Can Take A Business to The Top of Google?
In conclusion, while DIY SEO for small business owners is possible, it’s also time-consuming. You’ll need to keep on top of the industry and work on off-page SEO – something we didn’t cover. Over time, it’s often better to bring on a dedicated team to work on your search engine optimization so that you can focus on growing your business.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines