SEO tools; Free and useful

In continuation to my earlier post, on “Free tools that may not be free anymore“, I have included in this post a few very useful free SEO tools that do not require you to register:-

Sitemap Generator:

As part of SEO implementation, each website needs to have Xml and ROR sitemaps in order for Search engines to index all those pages in their index. There are quite a few free sitemap generators that generate your sitemaps automatically. Some of them are:-

XML Sitemap Generator (http://www.xml-sitemaps.com):- This tool is very helpful in generating Xml, ROR, and text and html sitemaps. The only limiting factor is that it will generate a sitemap for a maximum of 500 pages. No need to register for up to 500 pages.It is simple and easy to use. Just type in your web site URL, options like frequency, last modification and priority can be selected from the drop down options. And you are good to go. Click on the “Start” button and you will get your sitemap generator.

Another sitemap generator free SEO tool that is helpful is:-

Free Sitemap Generator (http://www.freesitemapgenerator.com/):- this is a great tool to generate your sitemap for you but you will need to create an account in order to generate your sitemaps.

Back Link Check:

Incoming links to your site has been important and still plays an important role in SEO.These are links that are entry points for visitors to your site. It is good to know who and how many link to you. Some free tools that are very helpful are:-

Open Site Explorer (www.opensiteexplorer.org):- is one such SEO tool that you can’t really do without. You can generate up to three reports a day without an account.The free report will provide you with data on Domain Authority, Page Authority, Linking root domains, total links. There is a detailed report on inbound links, Top pages, Linking domains, Anchor texts…The data that this does not provide is the social media report. This is available to paid subscribers only. This screenshot will give you an idea:-

Ahref (ahrefs.com): Is another helpful new tool that provides you with a whole lot of very useful data. I love the overview report. And you do not have to register to get information on back links, domains, anchor texts…The screen shot below will provide you an insight.

Back Link Watch (http://www.backlinkwatch.com): Is another free tool you can use without registering, but because there are numerous pops ups and advertisements that kind of distracts you somewhat but it does provide you the incoming links. It is powered by Ahref.

Keyword research:

A very important aspect of SEO. We can’t do without keyword research.

Google AdWords Keyword tool– My favourite keyword research tool. It can still be accessed without registering but you will need to have an AdWords account in order to access this in the future. For now all you need to do is to type in the relevant keyword or key phrase and you will get information on the popularity of the keywords. Though for the unregistered viewing, it does not provide an exhaustive list, it is a good handy tool to have.

W3 markup validation tool (http://validator.w3.org):

A very useful and absolutely free tool. A must have to check your coding validity.
In my next post, I will take up some more free SEO tools, tools that provide you with a lot of information that will help you optimize your web site.