Our top pick is Google Search Console: every blog that wants search traffic should set it up first, because it shows how Google sees your pages. The runner-up is Bing Webmaster Tools, a second free view with link and keyword reports. The other five free SEO tools each fix one job well.
The picks at a glance #
| Pick | Best for | Price | Why it made the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Every blog | Free | Google's own data on your pages |
| Bing Webmaster Tools | A second view | Free | Links, keywords and quick indexing |
| PageSpeed Insights | Checking one page's speed | Free | Lab and real-user speed data in one report |
| Rich Results Test | Google rich results | Free | Shows which rich results a page can get |
| Schema Markup Validator | Any schema.org markup | Free | Checks every schema.org type |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Crawling a small site | Free for small sites | Finds broken links and missing titles fast |
| Google Trends | Timing a topic | Free | Shows when interest in a topic rises |
Google Search Console #
Who it suits: every site owner, from the first post onwards.
What it does best: it shows the searches that bring people to your pages, with clicks, impressions and average position. Its page indexing report tells you which pages Google left out and why. Its URL inspection tool shows how Google sees one page.
Main limit: it covers Google only, and it gives no new keyword ideas. It only shows searches where your site already appears.
Price: free. Read Google's overview of Search Console, then follow our 15 minute setup guide.
Bing Webmaster Tools #
Who it suits: anyone who already has Search Console and wants a second view.
What it does best: it adds what Google's tool leaves out, which makes it one of the most useful free SEO tools after Search Console. You get a free report of sites that link to you, a keyword research tool with Bing's own search counts, and support for IndexNow, an open way to tell search engines about a new page at once.
Main limit: it reports on Bing's audience, which is smaller than Google's, so a small blog sees less data.
Price: free, and it can import your sites from Search Console. We weigh the two in our side-by-side look at both webmaster tools.
Bing Webmaster ToolsMicrosoft's free dashboard for site owners.www.bing.com
PageSpeed Insights #
Who it suits: a writer or owner who wants to know if one page is slow, and why.
What it does best: paste a URL and it gives two views. Lab data comes from a test run on the spot. Field data shows how the page loaded for real Chrome users, including how long the main content takes to appear. Under the scores it lists what to fix first.
Main limit: it checks one page at a time, and field data only appears when a page gets enough visits. A quiet post on a new blog shows lab data only.
Price: free. Our guide to the Core Web Vitals in plain words explains how to read the report.
PageSpeed InsightsGoogle's free speed report for any page.pagespeed.web.dev
Rich Results Test #
Who it suits: anyone who adds FAQ, review, recipe or article markup and wants it to show in Google.
What it does best: it tells you which Google rich results a page can show, such as review stars or recipe cards, and points to any error that blocks them. You can test a live URL or paste code.
Main limit: it only checks the types Google supports. Valid markup of another type gets no comment at all.
Price: free, at the Rich Results Test page.
Schema Markup Validator #
Who it suits: anyone who writes markup by hand or uses types that Google does not show as rich results.
What it does best: it checks markup against the whole schema.org vocabulary, not just Google's part of it. It shows each item it found in a tree, so you can see what a page says about itself.
Main limit: it tells you nothing about how Google will show the page. Use it beside the Rich Results Test, not instead of it: one checks the vocabulary, the other checks what Google will show.
Price: free, run by schema.org on the schema.org validator site.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider #
Who it suits: a blog with enough posts that you can no longer check every page by hand.
What it does best: the Screaming Frog crawler visits your site the way a search engine does and lists every page with its status, title, description, headings and links. In a few minutes you can find broken links, missing titles and pages that redirect.
Main limit: unlike most free SEO tools here, it is a desktop app with many settings, so it takes an hour to learn. Some features, such as saving a crawl, need the paid licence.
Price: the free version crawls up to 500 URLs, which Screaming Frog states on its own page. That covers most small blogs.
Google Trends #
Who it suits: a writer planning when to publish, or choosing between two ways to name a topic. Of all the free SEO tools here, it is the one to open before a post is written.
What it does best: it shows how interest in a search term rises and falls over time and by region. It is good for spotting a season, such as a topic that peaks every January, and for comparing two phrases.
Main limit: it shows interest relative to the busiest point, not the number of searches. Use it for timing and comparison, not for sizing a topic.
Price: free, at Google Trends.
How we chose these free SEO tools #
We picked free SEO tools that a small blog can use without paying and without a trial that ends. Every pick had to do one job better than the free part of any paid suite we know. Dalia Moreno, our tools and reviews editor, used each one on Larkspur's own site in September 2026, and Tomas Lindqvist checked the technical claims.
We left out tools that only show data after you sign up for a paid plan, and free SEO tools that do the same job as a pick above. Nobody paid to be on this list, as our policy on reviews and money explains. If you want a writing tool too, see our review of the Quillmeter readability checker, and for the bigger picture on free and paid SEO tools, read how we choose tools for a small team.
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