7 Best Affordable SEO Tools Every Startup Needs
SEO is the key to getting found online. Trouble is… creating an SEO strategy can be expensive. Luckily, if your startup doesn’t have the budget for a dedicated SEO team (or even fancy SEO tools), there are still plenty of affordable ways to supercharge your SEO strategy.
This list is made up of free SEO tools, as well as those on the ‘cheap SEO tool spectrum’. Whilst using the free tools won’t get you as much insight as some of the paid ones, but they should offer enough for you to get started.
Here is our list of the 7 best affordable SEO tools every startup needs:
Free SEO Tool For Wordpress Users: Yoast
When it comes to optimising your posts for SEO terms, there aren’t many platforms better than Yoast. Its Wordpress plugin allows you to set a keyword you want your post to rank for, and then shows you how well optimized the post is. If your post isn’t well optimised, Yoast will show you how to improve it. Things Yoast checks for include:
- Keyword use
- Linking
- Meta description and titles
- URL
- Readability
Perhaps the best thing about Yoast, especially for startups with a limited budget, is that it is completely free. Although, there is also a paid version that ads content insights, the ability to optimize pages for multiple keywords, and the ability to automatically check for outdated content. The full version is available for a one-off fee of $80.
For Site Analytics: Google Analytics
While not strictly an SEO tool, Google Analytics can help with your SEO strategy by showing you how much of your content is coming from organic search. Using this data, you can tell if your SEO strategy is working, or if you need to change things up a bit.
Additionally, Google Analytics provides some information about which keywords are bringing in users. While the data provided is very limited, you can get an idea about the search terms you are ranking for.
Of course, the best thing about Google Analytics is it is absolutely free; you just need a Google account to sign up. Additionally, you probably already have it set up for your site. For a more in-depth look at how to use Google Analytics for SEO, check out this post on Medium.
A Free Way to Check Page Optimisation: Varvy SEO Tool
Varvy SEO is a free tool that tells you how well-optimised pages on your site are for SEO, as well as any issues that the page may have.
All you have to do to use the tool is go to the website and then copy the URL of the page you want to check into the search bar. The site will then analyse the page based on metrics including:
- Googlebot Access
- Optimisation on mobile
- HTTPS encryption
- Accessibility
- Page speed
- Image alt text
As well as the audit feature, the site has plenty of guides and tips to help you fix any issues the page may have.
Free But Limited Keyword Research Tool: Google Ads (Formerly Google Adwords)
Google Ads allows you to perform basic keyword research, despite it not being a dedicated SEO tool. When you search for terms you are interested in using, Google Ads will show you an approximate number of searches the term gets every month.
If the keyword gets a high number of searches, it could be a suitable SEO target. Like Google Analytics, Google Adwords is useful for startups because it is completely free.
More In-Depth Keyword Research: Word Tracker
Word Tracker is a keyword research tool that provides more information about keywords than Google Ads. Extra information includes actual keywords (Google only provides grouped keywords), actual results (Again, Google provides group results), and related search terms.
You can get a free seven day trial of Word Tracker which may be enough to gather a list of keywords for you to target in the future. If you want to unlock the full service, it starts at $27 per month.
Complete SEO Solution with Some Free Tools: MOZ Pro
Moz Pro is an SEO tool that offers several different SEO features in one package. Two of the tools, Keyword Explorer — which helps sites find keywords to target — and Link Explorer — which allows you to get an overview of the sites that are linking to you — can be used on a limited basis for free. There is also a free Chrome Plugin that provides analysis of sites you visit in Chrome.
To use the other tools, you’ll need to sign up to a premium plan. These solutions cover page rank tracking, site audit, page optimisations, and custom reports. Moz Pro doesn’t cover other aspects of digital marketing like PPC or social media.
Moz Pro starts at $99 per month, while Moz Pro Medium, the option Moz says is the most popular, costs $179 per month. The most expensive version of Moz is $999 a month. Each plan is available at a slight discount when you pay for the entire year at one time.
A Complete Digital Marketing Solution: SEMRush
SEMRush is an all in one tool that combines SEO auditing services with your PPC, social media, and content strategies. The SEO part includes a site audit that shows how your site is performing, as well as any issues you may have.
There is also a keyword suggestion tool that shows you keywords relevant to existing ones on your blog. Alongside the suggestions, the tool shows you the volume of searches. Another feature is a competitor analysis tool that lets you see how much traffic other websites are getting for specific searches, as well as their position in the search rankings.
While SEMRush offers a pretty complete suite of SEO tools, it does come at a cost. The cheapest service is $99 per month and is aimed at freelancers, startups, and in-house marketers. This plan costs the equivalent of $83 per month if you pay annually.
