There is a common misconception you must spend a fortune on SEO software. Although paid SEO software has its benefits, if you’re new to SEO you don’t need to spend a cent to get the software you need. When we started Rhythm Design & Marketing we couldn’t afford the best SEO software. We didn’t even pay for SEO software for the first year we operated. We did however have a lot of SEO clients that we got great results for using the best SEO software that’s free.
This guide is going to teach your how to download and install the software you need to get started with SEO. Please note this is not a guide on how to use the software, that will come in later sections of the SEO step by step guide.
This guide is going to teach you how to download or install:
- SEO Power Suite
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- SEO Yoast Plugin (for WordPress websites)
SEO Power Suite
SEO Power Suite must be the best SEO software that you can get for free. SEO Power Suite is a bundle of four SEO programs that covers every aspect of a SEO campaign from rank tracking to on-page backlinks. SEO Power Suite offers a free version of their software which is all you need if you’re just starting out. If you intend to take SEO seriously it might pay to invest in the upgraded version which ranges between $500 – $1,100. In this guide we are only going to use the free software. The four programs included in SEO Power Suite are:
Rank Tracker
Rank tracker is advanced SEO software that allows you to track not only your websites rank, but your competitors as well. It’s a highly customisable SEO tools that allow you to check Geo-specific rankings for any location which is perfect for Local SEO. Rank Tracker will find thousands of keywords for your website and help you pick the best ones and prioritize them for targeting.
Website Auditor
Website auditor allows you to run an SEO audit on your website to find issues that could affect your website ranking. Website auditor can find and fix any broken links on your website, check HTTP response codes to eliminate page loading problems, check HTML code for errors and warning, fix SEO titles and descriptions that are missing and control internal links structure.
SEO Spy Glass
SEO Spy Glass allows you to uncover all back links to your site as well as spy on your competitor’s SEO efforts. With SEO Spy Glass you can find all the backlinks that point to your site and your competitor’s website. In addition to investigating backlinks you can run anti penalty audits to find backlinks that could be penalising your website.
Link Assistant
Link Assistant allows you to easily manage your links and find opportunities to build backlinks to your website. Link Assistant will verify your links by making sure they are still pointing to your website and still bring value to your SEO strategy.
How to Install the Free version of SEO Power Suite
You can download SEO Power Suite for free at https://www.seopowersuite.com/, this will include all four programs mentioned above.
For detailed instructions on how to install SEO Power Suite on PC, Mac or Linux, click here to visit the instruction guide on the SEO Power Suite website.
Google Analytics
When looking for the best SEO software, people often overlook Google Analytics and it applications for SEO. Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google analytics is an important part of SEO because it allows you to:
- Track how many people visit your website,
- Where your visitors are coming from,
- What websites send your website traffic,
- The most popular pages on your website,
- The amount of time visitors spend on your website.
How to install Google Analytics
1.) Analytics Account Set up
You will need a Google Account, if you don’t have a Google account you can set one up here. If you already have a Google Account, make sure you intend on keeping that account for the lifetime of your website.
After creating a Google Account (if necessary), go to Google Analytics and click sign into Google Analytics button and enter your details. On the next page click ‘Sign Up’ under start using Google Analytics.
You will be presented a screen with details about creating a new account, fill these details in.
2.) Installation of the tracking code
Once you’ve created the Analytics account, you need to click the ‘Get Tracking ID’ button. A pop up will appear where you will have to agree to the Google terms and conditions. Once you agree to the terms and conditions you can get the tracking code.
The type of website you have will determine how you install the tracking code. WordPress is the most popular CMS system, and is our platform of choice. There are a number of ways to install the tracking code on a WordPress website. Since we use the Genesis theme we just click ‘theme setting’ and paste the code into the Header and Footers Script section. After you’ve saved the code in the heading section, go back to your Google Analytics account and click verify.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free online software offer by Google that allows you track and maintain your websites presence in Googles search engine results page. Google Search Console will help you understand how the Google bot interrupts your website so you can target your SEO efforts effectively. With Google Search Console you will be able to see:
- Ensure the Google bot can access the content on your website.
- Submit new website content to be indexed and remove pages that you don’t want to appear in search engines.
- Monitor and fix any malware or spam issues your website might have.
- Find the search queries that cause your website to appear in the search engine results.
- Highlight data to help Google understand your website.
- Find backlinks and internal links on your site.
How to Install Google Search Console
1.) Add Website to Google Search Console
Log into your Google Search Console account, if you don’t have a Google Search Console account, you can create one here.
Once you’ve logged in, click on the red button which says, ‘Add Property’ and enter your websites URL.
2.) Verify your Website
There are several ways you can verify your Google Search Console account. Considering you should have Google Analytics activated, you can verify Google Search Console with the same tracking code.
In the Google Search Console dashboard, click on ‘Manage Site’, then click on ‘Verify this site’. If you’ve verified Google Analytics, you should see an option to verify the account using ‘Google Analytics Tracking Code’ under ‘Recommended Methods’, if you don’t see it under the ‘Recommended Methods’ tab, click on ‘Alternative Methods’ tab.
Click the red ‘Verify’ button to verify you Google Search Console account.
SEO Yoast
SEO Yoast is the best SEO software to control your on-page SEO. SEO Yoast allows you to do the following:
- Change your SEO title.
- Change your meta description.
- Check you keyword density to ensure it has the correct density.
- Check your heading tags.
- Check your website internal and outbound links.
- Check your images alt tags.
Click here to learn how to install and configure SEO Yoast plugin for your WordPress website.
Summary
The above-mentioned programs should be all you need to get start with your SEO strategy. We believe they are the best SEO software you can get for free. There will probably be a point where you want to purchase upgrades and new SEO software and we would recommend doing so when you feel ready. If you do decide to purchase SEO software be sure to do your research for the software that best suits your needs. There is a lot of debate about what is the best SEO software that you can purchase, so make sure the one you buy suits your needs.
