Want to improve your website’s SEO but don’t know where to start? Good news: there are powerful, free SEO tools that we use as a marketing agency, and you can use them, too!
At Burgie MediaFusion, our Worthington, Ohio-based marketing agency provides comprehensive SEO auditing, strategy, and implementation services. Yes, we use premium SEO software, but we also rely on free tools to check our clients’ website performance.
We’re highlighting 5 free SEO tools that we use regularly, explaining how they work, and helping you decide when it’s time to bring in expert support.
1) Examine the Search Engines Themselves
Before diving into SEO tools, one of the simplest ways to assess your website’s visibility is using search engines directly. This helps you understand what pages are being indexed and how your metadata appears in search results.
How to do it:
- Type site:YOURDOMAINHERE.com into Google. This will show you what pages are indexed.
- Google your business name to check that your Google Business Profile appears and is up to date.
This step gives you a high-level overview of your website’s search presence before using other SEO tools.
2) Google Search Console—The Ultimate Free SEO Tool
Google Search Console (GSC) provides a wealth of SEO insights for free. It helps monitor your site’s indexing status, search performance, and potential issues.
What you can learn from GSC:
- Which pages are indexed (and which ones shouldn’t be).
- Organic search impressions, clicks, and click-through rates.
- Top queries driving traffic to your website (great for keyword strategy!).
- Core Web Vitals (mobile and desktop performance).
- Security issues or Google penalties that need immediate attention.
- Backlink insights – see which pages and domains are linking to you.
How to use it: You’ll need a Google account and the ability to verify ownership of your website (via Google Analytics or a code snippet).
3) Lighthouse—Checking Your Technical SEO Health
SEO isn’t just about keywords; it’s also about how well your site performs technically. Lighthouse is a built-in Chrome tool that analyzes page load speed, accessibility, and best practices.
What Lighthouse tells you:
- Performance Score – How fast does your site load?
- Accessibility Score – Is your content readable and user-friendly?
- Best Practices Score – Does your site follow security and coding standards?
- SEO Score – Basic SEO optimizations that should be in place.
If your site scores low, work with a developer to make improvements.
4) Page Speed Insights—A Major SEO Health Metric
Page load speed is critical for both SEO and user experience. Slow sites lead to higher bounce rates and lower search rankings. Google’s Page Speed Insights provides a breakdown of why your site may be slow and how to fix it.
What to look for:
- Time to load content – Faster is better.
- Opportunities for improvement – Google provides suggestions, like reducing image sizes or enabling browser caching.
- User experience factors – Mobile-friendliness, layout shifts, and more.
Pass the report to a web developer to make necessary changes!
5) Deadlink Checker—Cleaning Up Old Links
Broken links hurt user experience and subsequently, the SEO health of a website. Deadlink Checker helps you find and fix internal and external broken links that may be damaging your site’s credibility.
How to use it:
- Visit Deadlinkchecker.com.
- Enter your URL and run a scan.
- Review the report and fix or remove broken links.
This simple check keeps your site clean and improves search engine trust.
When to Bring in Expert SEO Support
These free SEO tools are a great starting point for monitoring your website’s SEO health, but you may hit roadblocks that require expert help. If you:
- Run into technical SEO issues that need coding expertise.
- Want to improve rankings but aren’t sure what content to focus on.
- Need backlink building or PR strategies to boost authority.
That’s where we come in! At Burgie MediaFusion, we specialize in SEO strategy, content optimization, and digital marketing to help businesses rank higher and attract the right audience.
Need a deeper SEO strategy? Let’s chat about how we can optimize your website for search success. Contact us today!
Happy optimizing!
