{"id":5427,"date":"2025-07-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nurseagence.com\/?p=5427"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:07:46","slug":"my-12-favorite-seo-tools-for-auditing-and-monitoring-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nurseagence.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/my-12-favorite-seo-tools-for-auditing-and-monitoring-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"My 12+ favorite SEO tools for auditing and monitoring websites"},"content":{"rendered":"
People love SEO analysis tools. I know because I\u2019ve been sharing my most-used SEO tools on LinkedIn for years, and these posts have always been amongst my most popular, getting as many as 146 comments and 144 reposts. Here\u2019s the latest installment on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n The interest in my SEO tools posts has never surprised me because SEO tools are overwhelming. There are so many.<\/em><\/p>\n Over the last ten years in SEO, I\u2019ve tried and tested many tools and have a shortlist of 12 must-use SEO analysis tools.<\/p>\n In this article, I\u2019ve not just shared the tools. I wanted to give you so much more than that. For each SEO analysis tool, I\u2019ve outlined a description of the tool, how you can start using it, the price, and alternatives. I\u2019m aware that my preferences might not be the same as yours, and I wanted this guide to be actionable and succinct, not overwhelmed with tools, so some tools that aren’t mentioned in detail are listed as alternatives instead.<\/p>\n The takeaway? If a tool is mentioned in detail or as an alternative, it\u2019s a solid, tried and tested recommendation.<\/p>\n Under each tool, I\u2019ve provided a specific use case of how I use it to do something unique, so you can level up your analysis with my favorite tips for using each tool.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get into it!<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Note: <\/em><\/strong>Some of the free tools below also offer paid plans, while some of the paid tools also offer free plans. We recommend you check the pricing pages for the tools that interest you to determine the ideal plan for your needs and goals.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n The tools listed below are free to use, but there might also be paid options with more features.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve shared some of the best SEO features available free, in each tool, and how you can get the most out of them for your SEO strategy.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader<\/a> is a free tool that reports on your website and its performance. The report is highly actionable, includes resources to support you, and shares hugely beneficial insights for SEO across the board.<\/p>\n Insights include:<\/p>\n It\u2019s very easy<\/em> to use.<\/p>\n You enter your website URL and receive a report with actionable SEO insights. Here are the results for my website:<\/p>\n By following the insights provided in HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader, I\u2019ve scored 100. I\u2019m pretty proud of that!<\/p>\n Now my website has perfect scores, and I use Hubspot\u2019s Website Grader as an initial check on client websites. It takes five minutes to get an actionable report, giving me a snapshot of the website\u2019s performance, helping me get an overview of what future work might need doing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s quick and easy to use<\/strong> compared to other tools that complete extensive crawls (Semrush and Screaming Frog, for example) and reports. For a quick overview, HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader is excellent.<\/p>\n If you check your website and your report is not looking good, you can sign up for the HubSpot Academy SEO course<\/a> to learn how to improve your website\u2019s SEO, user experience (UX), and more.<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>Completely free.<\/p>\n Alternatives:<\/strong> This tool has some alternatives, but none that give so much away for free. At best, you can get a search, maybe a few searches, before you\u2019re hit with a pay wall. Other auditing tools that provide free insights include Pingdom Tools for page speed<\/a>, Google Page Insights<\/a> (I mention this in detail next), and WooRank<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n PageSpeed Insights<\/a> is a free Google tool and, therefore, a must-have in your SEO analysis toolkit. It measures and reports the user experience of your website on mobile and desktop using Google\u2019s Core Web Vitals. It also identifies problems and suggests changes you can implement to improve the page\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n Simply type in the site URL you want to analyze and wait for the report to generate. You can toggle between mobile and desktop views.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how my site performs on desktop:<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n From using PageSpeed Insights, my site scores 100 across all elements:<\/p>\n For my site, I used PageSpeed Insights to brief developers on what needed to happen to score 100 across all elements. Once achieved, I use PageSpeed Insights to check my site every so often, every quarter or so, to ensure my site is still optimal as algorithms change.<\/p>\n What makes a site perform well in PageSpeed Insights changes over time, and as expectations change, I like to be sure I\u2019m delivering a high-performing site.<\/p>\n PageSpeed Insights provides information on how you can solve issues.<\/p>\n See the example below for my blog, which has an issue with unused JavaScript on mobile. PageSpeed Insights suggests that I reduce the plugins I\u2019m using. I\u2019m already very minimal with plugins, so while I won\u2019t implement this particular action, it\u2019s too good to review potential opportunities.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing like using Google-owned tools to improve your SEO in the search engine. After all, Google\u2019s resources are created with Google\u2019s requirements in mind. If your website can perform well in Google\u2019s tools, then it\u2019ll likely have the best chance of ranking in Google search engine results pages (SERPs).<\/p>\n Plus, PageSpeed Insights bridges the gap between SEO and developers. Often, SEO know there\u2019s an issue with the site, but don\u2019t know how to communicate their needs to developers. PageSpeed Insights\u2019 recommendations provide a dev-friendly explanation so issues can be resolved easily.<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>Free<\/p>\n Alternatives: <\/strong>PageSpeed Insights is a pretty solid tool for providing insights. Nothing else provides the data, for free, quite like this tool does. The downsides of PageSpeed Insights are that there\u2019s no priority or indicator of how complex the issues are to solve.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for a tool that helps prioritize tasks based on their importance, HubSpot\u2019s SEO Marketing Software and Semrush\u2019s Site Audit are good for prioritization. I\u2019ll get into detail about these later.<\/p>\n Google Search Console<\/a> (GSC) is probably the tool I visit and use the most. It\u2019s fantastic and it\u2019s free. Several reports within Google Search Console will help you improve your SEO and appear in the SERPs for the search terms and phrases your target audience is looking for.<\/p>\n There is a lot you can do with this tool. To start using Google Search Console, you must set it up on your website. This tool is a must-have for any website<\/strong>. If you\u2019re not already using it, pause reading this article for a moment and set it up. This Google guide explains how to get started on GSC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once set up, you use GSC by clicking through reports on the left-hand navigation.<\/p>\n I use GSC for a range of purposes. For this demonstration, I\u2019ll share how I like to analyze keywords using the performance report, since I probably do that the most.<\/p>\n Go to GSC<\/a> > Performance > Queries.<\/p>\n This report shows any queries (think: keywords) that have returned your site in Google. I like to filter by clicks to identify the most clicked queries and impressions to identify queries where my site has appeared the most.<\/p>\n I often compare data; here\u2019s a screenshot of the last three months compared to the previous three months for my boutique marketing agency:<\/p>\n By comparing data and then filtering by the column \u201cclick difference,\u201d I can see where I\u2019ve lost clicks (for my brand name, for the keyword \u201cSEO consultant Shrewsbury,\u201d and for my name). I can use this data to take action to improve my SEO.<\/p>\n Google Search Console is a tool that does a lot, for free, in an easy-to-use way. Unlike third-party tools that offer similar reports (keyword tracking, for example), the data in GSC is the data of what actually happened, for example, the actual keyword someone searched, and how many clicks that keyword generated for your site. While third-party tools are excellent, they\u2019re not as close to the truth as GSC.<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>Free<\/p>\n Alternatives: <\/strong>Bing Webmaster Tools (mentioned in detail next) is the main alternative to GSC. I\u2019d argue that there\u2019s no alternative<\/em> for GSC; just tools you should also be using.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Microsoft Bing Webmaster<\/a> gives you access to tools that offer insight into your website, such as reporting, diagnostics, and SEO tools. The SEO tools you can use for free can help you analyze your website, manage backlinks<\/a>, and review keywords to ensure your site is well-optimized for organic search.<\/p>\n How to Use Bing Webmaster Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) is an SEO analysis tool you should use. It\u2019s free and, like GSC, it provides insights into what\u2019s actually happening relating to your site and search engine, but instead of Google, it\u2019s Bing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to set up, and Bing\u2019s Guide on getting started is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can do a lot with Bing, but I wanted to find a specific report that Bing does better than GSC, so I can focus on that use case for this article.<\/p>\n The backlink report is a good example of where Bing excels. I like to use this to show prospects or clients backlink opportunities. While some tools do this for you, I find a quick overview using Bing helpful, especially if you\u2019re on a call and want to find opportunities without starting a report that takes up to hours (or even days for large websites) to run.<\/p>\n Go to BWT<\/a> > Backlinks<\/p>\n First, you\u2019ll see a list of domains pointing to your website.<\/p>\n Usefully, you can conduct a mini backlink audit using BWT.<\/p>\n Click \u201cBacklinks to Any Site\u201d and enter a second domain. You\u2019ll get a report that looks like this:<\/p>\n You can use this report to identify backlinks competitors have, but you do not. Consider if they\u2019re worth contacting to get a link from the linking sites to your site.<\/p>\n There are many reasons to like BWT. It\u2019s easy to use; you can view reports and identify issues in plain English. BWT supports IndexNow, a protocol that instantly notifies search engines when you publish, update, or delete content, helping your pages get indexed faster without waiting for traditional crawlers. This is something you might as well set up.<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>Free<\/p>\n Alternatives: <\/strong>Google Search Console (mentioned above) is the main alternative to BWT. I\u2019d argue that there\u2019s no alternative<\/em> for BWT; just tools you should also be using.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Google Trends<\/a> levels up your traditional SEO research and audits by showing you what\u2019s popular in industries, topics, and ideas people are exploring. Google Trends is a great place to explore the untapped potential that can yield a large keyword landscape for your website.<\/p>\n Note that Google Trends isn\u2019t where you\u2019ll get granular data. I think this tool performs best when you use it as a compass to set a direction for your SEO strategy and then pair those insights with a more robust software like HubSpot\u2019s SEO Marketing Tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n Google Trends is incredibly simple, but so helpful.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how you can use it to compare search trends.<\/p>\n Go to Google Trends<\/a> > Type in a keyword > Click Explore<\/p>\n To demonstrate how you can use Google Trends, I typed in the keyword \u201cChatGPT.\u201d The graph shows an upward trend (followed by a plateau) for people searching the keyword.<\/p>\n I added \u201cGemini\u201d as a comparison to see which tool was most popular. ChatGPT wins by a landslide (currently 91 days’ searches versus 15).<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the report looks like:<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re doing keyword research<\/a>, it\u2019s worth looking at the trend because it may be that one keyword is getting more interest than another. Trends might help you decide how to position your services. A good example is the search numbers for website content management systems (CMS), Magento, and Shopify.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an e-commerce marketing agency or a developer, wondering where to niche, Shopify is a clear winner in terms of popularity.<\/p>\n One, Glimpse, a bonus SEO analysis tool called Glimpse<\/a>, which brings even more insights into Google Trends.<\/p>\n With Glimpse turned on, you supercharge insights.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the SEO analysis tool, Google Trends, looks like used with Glimpse:<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n You can see extra data for \u201cPeople Also Search\u201d and \u201cRelated Trends.\u201d<\/p>\n You can see keyword trends, as opposed to keyword search volumes. Google Trends allows SEO marketers to be on trend with content.<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>Google Trends is free to use. Glimpse is free until you want additional features, then it costs:<\/p>\n Alternatives: <\/strong>For trending keywords alternatives, you can try Exploding Topics<\/a> (also has billable upgrades), or if you want a free way to identify trends, you can use tools designed for social media, such as TikTok\u2019s Creative Content Insights<\/a>. There\u2019s every chance keywords searched in TikTok are also searched in Google. This holistic approach to keyword research is essential for the future of SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Schema and structured data refer to code that you can add to your website to provide more context to Google about the contents of your website.<\/p>\n It\u2019s incredibly useful for giving the bots data without overwhelming visitors.<\/p>\n Structured data is, as it sounds, how data is organized.<\/p>\n Schema is the structure that search engines use to understand data. It is made up of types <\/strong>and properties.<\/strong><\/p>\n This code helps search engines display your content in rich format (search results other than the traditional blue link text). For example, the recipes displayed below are rich results:<\/p>\n Note that Google only uses 35 of the schema types<\/a>. However, they don\u2019t penalize you for including structured data they don\u2019t use. Check out their rich results page<\/a> to learn more about the schema types you can implement on your website.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve found your schema, you can validate it using the <\/a><\/p>\n
Free SEO Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n
1. HubSpot Website Grader<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Here are some things HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader allows you to do:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How to Use HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How I Use HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Why I Like HubSpot\u2019s Website Grader<\/strong><\/h5>\n
2. PageSpeed Insights<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Here are some things PageSpeed Insights allows you to do:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How to Use PageSpeed Insights<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How I Use PageSpeed Insights<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Why I Like PageSpeed Insights<\/strong><\/h5>\n
3. Google Search Console<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Here are some things Google Search Console allows you to do:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How to Use Google Search Console<\/strong><\/h5>\n
How I Use Google Search Console<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Why I Like GSC<\/strong><\/h5>\n
4. Bing Webmaster Tools<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Here are other things you can do with the Bing Webmaster SEO tools:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How I Use Bing Webmaster Tools<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Why I Like BWT<\/strong><\/h5>\n
5. Google Trends<\/a> and Glimpse<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Here’s what you should look for in Google Trends:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How to Use Google Trends<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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How I Use Google Trends<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Why I like Google Trends (and Glimpse)<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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6. Schema.org<\/a> and Schema Validator<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Schema.org<\/a><\/strong> helps you to:<\/strong><\/h5>\n
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