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The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a global event that is impacting the entire economy. 

As we begin to navigate these difficult, uncertain times, what we do know is that small businesses have felt significant impacts.

The reality is that we will be feeling the effects for a while…

BUT, for many business owners, this is a unique opportunity to invest significantly more time working on your business (instead of in it).

That’s why SEO is so important

As the restrictions continue to tighten, more and more Australian’s are spending time at home. 

Inevitably, this means increased time using electronic devices and search engines, too. 

During the upcoming months, there is an opportunity to understand just how well your website is ranking and therefore, how easy it is for potential customers to find your business.

While the economic impact means people may not be ready to buy now, you can best position yourself for when things return to normal.

With good SEO practices in place, you will boost your rankings, visibility and traffic. 

That’s why we have compiled our 9 favourite free SEO tools to help you manage your business with the long-term in mind

1. Moz

Moz is the proven, all-in-one SEO toolset.

It simplifies SEO for everyone through its excellent education, software and community.

And the best part?

They are offering free MOZ Academy training courses.

You’ll learn how to audit sites, learn the local SEO fundamentals and get SEO certified.

Head on over to their website and take the training course for free with the code: “wegotthis”.

2. SEMRush

SEMRush is one of the greatest SEO tools of all time.

Yes, there is a paid version, but the free version has TONNES of great features.

It specialises in keyword research, competitor analysis and ad campaign optimisation.

This is a great way to benchmark your competitors SEO, plus it also provides an estimate on how much your competitors organic traffic is worth.

One of our favourite features is the Keyword Magic tool, which allows you to enter one of your keywords…

And it generates an entire list of related keywords!

3. Ubersuggest

Marketing guru Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest sounds too good to be true, let alone free…

But it isn’t.

Ubersuggest provides you with free access to many features that are normally only found in premium SEO tools.

Type in a keyword and it will give you a detailed analysis on the keyword difficulty, search volume, suggested keywords and much more.

It’s most unique feature is that it provides you with “X vs Y” keywords.

These keywords often have lower search volumes, BUT they are proven to be highly targeted and highly-converting.

To date, no other tool we know of has this feature.

If you’re looking at blogging or updating your website content during this time, it also shows you a list of content ideas. Amazing, right?!

4. BROWSEO

Believe it or not, how we see our own website is VERY different to how search engines see it.

Sure, you might think your website is SEO-friendly, but BROWSEO gives us the honest, inside look as to what it looks like to a search engine.

You can see how your page actually displays in the search engine results page (SERP).

This provides you with a golden opportunity to optimise your titles and descriptions to drive more organic clicks.

5. Google Search Console

While there is an abundance of SEO tools out there, the Google Search Console has to be one of our favourites.

First and foremost, the data comes directly from Google (so you know it is legit).

Plus, it is packed full with SEO features.

You’ll be able to check your indexing status and optimise the visibility of your website.

What does this mean? 

You can discover any of your pages that are not getting shown by Google and how to fix it!

6. SERPerator

Depending on your location and the device you are using, search results vary dramatically.

And that’s where SERPerator comes in extremely handy.

It allows you to compare the SERPs across various mobile devices and locations.

This is super important for small, local businesses who rely largely on local searches.

The best part is that you can see exactly how the results will look to someone searching on a particular device from any major city in the world…

AND compare this to any other mobile device!

7. YoastSEO (WordPress Plugin)

Firstly, WordPress is a must have for any business, in any industry, at any budget level.

It is a flexible, robust and easy-to-use website building tool.

If you are already using WordPress, Yoast SEO is a MUST. 

(If you aren’t, here’s 23 reasons why you should make the switch to WordPress).

Yoast SEO does everything in its power to please both visitors and search engines – a win-win!

Some of its great features include SEO analysis, readability analysis and XML sitemap generator.

8. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test

To put it simply, if your website isn’t optimised for mobile in 2020, you’re missing out.

And because it’s 2020, it also means that you don’t need a full-time web developer to make your site mobile friendly. 

So, what’s the secret?

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test!

Within seconds, this tool will tell you whether or not Google considers your website mobile-friendly.

You can also view your mobile usability report and any page loading issues.

9. Page Speed Tools

No list of SEO tools would be complete without page speed tests.

Did you know that 53% of people will leave your site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load?

Plus, page speed also plays an important role in SEO success.

At The Marketing Department, our 3 favourite page speed tools are:

  1. Pingdom
  2. GTmetrix
  3. Google PageSpeed Insights

These tools analyse your website speed and also have great access to support tools.

Simply enter a URL and test page load time, performance and interactions for a better end-user-experience.

We’re Here To Help

As we all work towards surviving (and even thriving in) this economic downturn, now is our time to innovate and invest in our brand to best position ourselves for when things return to normal. 

If you have any questions or need any help during this time, we are happy to help ANY business with free marketing advice and recommendations to help get you through – just get in contact with us.

We’d also love to hear how you are investing in your business during this time. Let us know in the comments below!

Nikki Harrison

Nikki Harrison is the Digital Marketing Manager at The Marketing Department. She's passionate about all things digital and is also an avid tennis fan!