There are many tools and applications that are in every optimizer’s arsenal, but only a few are truly useful and effective for their purpose. I’m going to share with you the tools I find relevant and helpful for anyone who wants to optimize their Web site.
Keywords, Meta Tags, Niche-Industry Research
- Google Trends – Compare and research various topics and review the trends with them. For example, “britney spears, lindsay lohan,”you can aggregate search volume, news, and of course, it’s pretty with Google.
- Blogpulse Trends – Similar to Google Trends, but focused only on blogs. Blogs are important if you plan on viral marketing or want to see what active users are buzzing about. If used correctly, they could buzz about you.
- Wordtracker: Free Keywords – Gain valuable insight on search volume for various terms. For example, comparing the frequency of “cars” versus “autos” that users search for.
- Keyword Density Checker – Visually and statistically look at the most frequently used keywords on your Web site. The tag cloud is helpful to quickly glance, as well as the table of frequently used terms.
- Meta Tag Analyzer – Get a review of your keywords and Meta tags all in one page. Warns you if you are out of compliance in various areas.
Web site reviews and research
- Xinu – Compare a lot of valuable information on any Web site, including Pagerank, Alexa Rank, Backlinks information, Social bookmarking and news counts, IP information, W3C Validation, number of indexed pages and more. The original distribution of this free Web suite is available here.
- Google Webmaster Central – Webmasters have always wanted to know what’s up with their site after they submitted it to Google. Google responded with a very intuitive tools to assist site owners identify problems to fix them, and get their content indexed as well as learn how Google surfers find the site.
- SEOmoz Page Strength Tool – Get an overall composite score on how well your site is doing amongst the search engines and backlinks within them.
Additional Tools
- Backlink Watch – Learn more about the backlinks you have such as the anchor text (link text), the PageRank of that page, and if the nofollow attribute was included (meaning you don’t get credit for the link).
- Backlink Finder – Want to build quality targeted backlinks? This tool will help you find web sites that let you submit your site to it. Note that some of these sites are just linkfarms and won’t necessarily will result in PageRank increases.
- Backlink Builder – Not sure if it’s still working, but has served me well. Very similar, arguably better than the Backlink Finder above.
- SearchStatus Firefox Addon – This addon is a must for Webmasters looking to analyze their web sites or possible link partners.
- DMOZ – Submit your Web site to the largest human edited directory. Google issues a bonus for sites that even make it to here. Additionally, other “copycat” directories source their data from DMOZ. It’s free, but does take a while for your site to be approved. In the meantime you can find quality link partners within your category if you’d like.
There’s probably a lot more search engine optimization tools out there. If you have any that you recommend that are free, let me know in the comments.
