Top Free SEO Tools to Monitor Website Performance

Keeping your website in top shape is essential for strong SEO. Whether you’re running a small business, managing an eCommerce site, or just getting started with content marketing, tracking performance with the right tools can help you improve visibility, drive traffic, and boost conversions.

Fortunately, you don’t need a massive SEO budget to get started. These are the top free SEO tools to help you get started and improve website performance.

At CertiPro, we’re experts in all things related to eCommerce, including SEO. Ave conversions and sales not where you want them to be? Or did your website suffer a sudden drop in performance? Contact us to receive a custom SEO plan perfectly tailored to meet the needs of your business.

Table of Contents

1. Why Website Performance Monitoring Matters for SEO
2. Best Free Tools to Track and Improve Website Performance
3. Bonus Tools for Specialized SEO Monitoring
4. How to Choose the Right SEO Tools for Your Needs
5. Next Steps
6. How We Can Help
7. Top Free SEO Tools FAQs

Why Website Performance Monitoring Matters for SEO

Website performance monitoring is the process of tracking, analyzing, and optimizing how well your website functions both technically and from the user’s perspective. It tracks whether your site loads quickly, remains accessible, and functions without errors, thereby delivering a good user experience.

Key Areas of Website Performance Monitoring

Website performance monitoring involves six key areas of website performance, including:

• Page Load Speed
• Uptime and Downtime Monitoring
• Core Web Vitals
• Mobile Responsiveness
• Broken Links and Errors
• Server & Hosting Performance

Monitoring all six areas and fixing any issues or problems that reduce website performance is a key part of maintaining good SEO.

How SEO Tools Help Improve Visibility

SEO tools help you monitor website performance and identify the reasons behind the problem. Knowing you have a sudden dip in traffic or that your bounce rates have shot up doesn’t help you as much as diagnosing the cause behind the issue as well as how to fix it.

That’s exactly what SEO tools help you do. They diagnose website performance problems and make suggestions for how to fix them.

Fixing performance problems in the key areas identified above boosts SEO optimization and helps improve your search engine rankings. This increases visibility and leads to higher traffic and conversions.

Best Free SEO Tools to Track and Improve Website Performance

These are the top eight free SEO tools to track and improve website performance.

1. Google Search Console – Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool provided by Google that shows you how your site performs in search, including how Google sees, crawls, and indexes it.

It’s a great tool for monitoring site visibility, indexing, and search performance. With it, you can track keyword performance, identify crawling issues, check backlinks, and submit sitemaps directly to Google.

2. Google Analytics 4 – Google Analytics 4 is another free tool provided by Google. It’s the latest version of Google’s popular web analytics platform. Google Analytics helps you track and understand user behavior across your website and apps.

It gives you greater insight into your traffic and user behavior. When combined with GSC, it helps you understand both who is visiting your site and what they do while on it.

3. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) is a free SEO tool from Ahrefs. You can use it to monitor and improve your site’s SEO performance. While Ahref’s more powerful features are part of its paid platform, you can use the free version to check backlinks and on-site SEO issues.

It offers limited but powerful features from Ahrefs’ paid platform, specifically for those who verify ownership of their website.

4. Bing Webmaster Tools – Bing Webmaster Tools is a free SEO and website management tool provided by Microsoft. It’s similar to GSC, except for Bing. You can use it to understand how your site performs on Bing, spot technical SEO issues, monitor keyword rankings, and submit URLs and sitemaps for indexing.

While Google accounts for about 87%-90% of search engine traffic, Bing accounts for 10%-15% of traffic in the U.S. It’s the second most popular search engine and between the two of them, they represent 95%-98% of all US search traffic. This means that you’ve essentially covered the market by optimizing for both.

5. PageSpeed Insights – PageSpeed Insights (PSI) is another free tool provided by Google. You can use it to analyze the performance and speed of your web pages on both mobile and desktop devices. PSI provides detailed scores and recommendations to improve the user experience.

It’s a great tool you can use to check Core Web Vitals scores, view real-user and lab performance data, and access suggestions to optimize your website.  

6. Screaming Frog (Free Version) – Screaming Frog SEO Spider (the Free Version) is a desktop-based site crawler you can use to do technical audits and site diagnostics. It can crawl up to 500 URLs per session, which is usually more than enough for a small to medium-sized site. It’s great for finding broken links and duplicate content.

7. Ubersuggest – Ubersuggest is an SEO and content-marketing tool owned by Neil Patel. The free version of this tool provides limited access to keyword and domain data, making it ideal for basic research and audits. You can use it to monitor keyword performance, analyze traffic trends, and explore backlink data.

8. GTmetrix – GTmetrix is a free website performance testing tool that helps you analyze how fast your site loads and what might be slowing it down. It combines performance reports from Google Lighthouse and Web Vitals to give you a clear picture of your website’s speed, usability, and optimization health.

You can use it to measure page speed, Core Web Vitals, and other technical metrics. It also provides actionable fixes for issues that may be harming SEO and website performance.

We recommend that our clients use these tools when optimizing their websites.

Bonus Tools for Specialized SEO Monitoring

For clients with more specialized needs or in niche industries, we also recommend a few additional tools to help them take their website to the next level.

1. MozBar – MozBar is a free Chrome extension that provides SEO insights about any web page you visit. You can use it for competitive analysis, link evaluation, and on-page optimization.

It shows metrics including:

• Domain Authority
• Page Authority
• Link Metrics
• On-Page Elements
• Keyword Analysis
• SERP Overlay

2. SEO Minion – SEO Minion is a free browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It streamlines a variety of on-page SEO tasks, including on-page SEO analysis, checking broken links, SERP previews, schema markups, and more.

It’s a great all-in-one tool you can use for quick page audits.

3. AnswerThePublic – AnswerThePublic is a keyword research and content ideation tool you can use to research what people are searching for online. It visualizes questions, comparisons, and related phrases that users type into search engines like Google, based on keywords you provide.

You can use it to create content that people are actively searching for.

How to Choose the Right SEO Tools for Your Needs

It’s important to choose the right SEO tools for your business. Simple or free tools may be the perfect fit for a smaller business, while large corporations may require more comprehensive SEO solutions.

It’s important to choose the right SEO tools for your business. Simple or free tools may be the perfect fit for a smaller business, while large corporations may require more comprehensive SEO solutions.

Technical SEO vs. Content SEO Needs

We always advise our clients to keep the difference between technical SEO and content SEO in mind and to make sure that they have solutions for each. Early SEO strategies focused exclusively on what we today call “content SEO,” including things like keyword research and on-page optimization. Some SEO specialists still only target keywords and neglect the technical aspects of SEO.

Technical SEO

As we’ve previously covered, technical SEO refers to the technical side of SEO optimization, including issues like site loading speed, proper paragraph and title headings, mobile responsiveness, and more. This is important because you may need a developer to handle some of the tasks associated with technical SEO.

It’s important to have an overall SEO strategy that addresses both the technical and content needs of your website.

Next Steps

Now that we’ve covered some of the best SEO tools you can use to improve your website performance, let’s look at what the next steps are for boosting your website performance.

Monitor Regularly, Adjust Strategically

Free SEO tools offer a powerful starting point, but they work best when used consistently. Set a regular schedule to monitor your website’s performance metrics. Watch for sudden drops in traffic, changes in page speed, or indexing issues. Use what you find to make small, strategic adjustments that support long-term SEO growth.

Combine Tools for Better Insights

No single tool gives you the full picture. Google Search Console might highlight crawling errors, while PageSpeed Insights flags performance issues, and SEO Minion helps you check on-page tags in real time. By combining data from multiple sources, you’ll get a clearer, more complete understanding of your website’s strengths and weaknesses.

When to Consider Paid SEO Tools

If you’re managing multiple sites, scaling content production, or competing in a highly competitive industry, free tools may have limitations. That’s when it might make sense to invest in paid SEO platforms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz Pro. These tools provide deeper keyword data, backlink analysis, historical trends, and competitive benchmarking that free tools can’t match.

How We Can Help

Ready to take control of your SEO performance?

Start by putting these free tools to work, and if you need expert help interpreting the data or building a strategy that drives results, CertiPro is here to help.

Contact us today for a free SEO consultation and see how we can boost your website’s visibility, speed, and search rankings.

Top Free SEO Tools FAQs

What are the best free tools to monitor my website’s SEO performance?

Some of the most popular free tools include Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, PageSpeed Insights, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, Bing Webmaster Tools, SEO Minion, MozBar, GTmetrix, and AnswerThePublic.

Do I need to use all of these tools?

While we recommend that clients track all six of the key areas of website performance monitoring we outlined above, it’s not necessary to use every SEO tool included in this article. We usually advise our clients to start with two to three core tools like Search Console, GA4, and PageSpeed Insights, and then add additional tools as your needs grow. Combining multiple tools provides a more complete picture of performance.

How often should I check my website’s SEO health?

It’s good practice to check key metrics at least once a month, and weekly if you’re actively publishing content or running campaigns.

Can free SEO tools replace paid tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs?

Free tools are great for monitoring basics, but they often have limitations. If you need advanced keyword research, backlink analysis, or competitive tracking, a paid tool might be worth the investment.

What’s the difference between technical SEO tools and content SEO tools?

Technical SEO tools help you optimize site performance like speed, crawlability, and indexing, while content SEO tools help with keyword research, content planning, and on-page optimization.

Are these tools beginner-friendly?

Many SEO tools are designed to be beginner-friendly and have clear dashboards and guidance. This makes them accessible even if you’re just getting started with SEO.