The 7 Most Important Google SEO Tools at a Glance
Learn all about Google's free tools that will take your search engine optimization to the next level!
- These are the tools we'll be looking at
- 1. Google Analytics
- 2. Google Search Console
- 3. Google Keyword Planner
- 4. Google Tag Manager
- 5. Google Trends
- 6. Google PageSpeed Insights
- 7. Google Mobile-Friendly Test
- 5 Alternatives to Google SEO Tools
From the Search Console to PageSpeed Insights to Analytics: Google Tools that assist you with search engine optimization are seemingly as plentiful as sand in the sea. Do you also sometimes lose track of all these softwares and which little helper is good for which task? Then you've come to the right place! Below, we'll show you the 7 most important Google SEO tools and how best you can use them.
These are the tools we'll be looking at
The world of Google services is vast and it seems like the tech giant has a suitable tool ready for every possible application. To not overshoot the scope of this article, we will therefore concentrate on what we consider to be the most important SEO tools from Google. These include:
Google Analytics
Google Search Console
Google Keyword Planner
Google Tag Manager
Google Trends
Google PageSpeed Insights
Google Mobile-Friendly Test
Let's take a closer look at these tools:
1. Google Analytics
What the tool helps with: Google Analytics provides you with insights into visitor analysis and performance of your website.
Google Analytics is one of the most important SEO tools when it comes to gaining insights about your website's visitors and performance. With Google Analytics, you can collect and evaluate a wide range of data that helps you improve your website and better understand your target audience.
The SEO tool is primarily meant for analyzing your website's traffic. You can see where your visitors come from, which pages they visit, how long they stay on your website, and much more. These insights are priceless when it comes to tailoring your website to the needs of your visitors and creating a better user experience.
But Google Analytics offers even more. For example, you can also analyze your website's performance by monitoring load times, bounce rates, and conversion rates. This data helps you identify and solve weaknesses in order to sustainably improve your rankings in the search engines.
Requirements for usage
In order to use Google Analytics, you first need to create an account and integrate the tracking code into your website. You should also familiarize yourself with the various functions and settings of Google Analytics in order to fully exploit the tool's potential.
2. Google Search Console
What the tool helps with: Monitoring and optimizing your website for Google search results.
The Google Search Console is a free tool that assists you in optimizing and monitoring your website for Google search results. The Search Console provides you with detailed insights into the performance of your website in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and helps you identify and solve technical issues.
One important purpose of the Google Search Console is to ensure that your website is correctly crawled and indexed by Google. The Search Console shows you which pages have been indexed by Google and which have not. It also provides information on issues related to crawling and indexing, such as crawling errors or duplicate meta tags.
Another beneficial aspect of the Search Console is the monitoring of your website's performance in the search results. You can see which keywords your visitors are using to find your website, how often your pages are displayed and how often they get clicked. With this information, you can adapt your SEO strategy and align your content with your target audience's needs.
Requirements for usage
To use the Google Search Console, you first need to verify your website. After verification, you can access a wealth of data and utilize various features of the Search Console to optimize your website.
3. Google Keyword Planner
What the tool helps with: Research of relevant keywords for your website or advertising campaign.
With the Google Keyword Planner you can search for keywords and determine their monthly search volume, competition, and estimated cost per click (CPC).
The tool therefore plays a critical role in any SEO or PPC campaign, as it helps you identify relevant terms that your target audience is searching for. If your website revolves around the theme of "vegan diet" for instance, the Keyword Planner allows you to search for phrases like "vegan recipes", "vegan food", or "becoming vegan". It then provides information on how often these keywords are searched for monthly and how competitive they are.
Another useful feature of the tool is the ability to generate keyword ideas based on a website or landing page. This enables you to find keywords relevant to your website or campaign that your competition may not be using.
Requirements for usage
To use the Google Keyword Planner, you need to have a Google Ads account. Once logged in, you can access the tool and start your keyword research.
4. Google Tag Manager
What the tool helps with: Implementation and management of tracking tags on your website.
The Tag Manager is a free SEO tool from Google that assists website owners in managing and implementing tracking tags on their websites. With the Tag Manager, you can implement tracking tags from various analytics tools like Google Analytics, Google Ads or other services on your website without needing to make changes to the source code.
Tag Manager thus allows you to easily organize and manage your website data. You can use it to track objectives (conversions), monitor events like the submission of a contact form, or implement e-commerce tracking.
Requirements for usage
To use Google Tag Manager, you need to first create an account and set up the tag management system on your website. Once set up, you can add, edit, or remove tags and events by just integrating them into the Google Tag Manager.
5. Google Trends
What the tool helps with: Analysis and comparison of different, currently demanded search terms.
With Google Trends you can compare the popularity of search terms over time and find out which keywords are most commonly used by users. By analysing these search trends, you get an idea of how the demand for certain products or services has changed over time.
Google Trends also allows for the comparison of different search terms against each other. This way, you can determine which terms are more popular or which keywords are often combined by users. This could help you identify the search terms that best match your company or can generate the most traffic on your website.
Another benefit of Google Trends is the ability to analyze regional differences in search queries. This way, you can see which terms are searched most often in certain countries or regions, and identify regional trends.
Requirements for usage
Exceptionally, to use Google Trends, no Google account needs to be opened. You can simply visit the Google Trends website and search the desired search terms. You then get detailed information on the search trends and regional differences.
6. Google PageSpeed Insights
What the tool helps with: Analysis of your website's load time.
Short load times are more critical than ever for your website's success. Google's PageSpeed Insights allows you to measure this speed and provides detailed information on what elements influence the load time.
The tool analyses your website and spits out a score between 0 and 100 where 100 is the best possible score. Furthermore, PageSpeed Insights provides detailed information on what elements of your website could be optimized to achieve a faster load time. This could include anything from images, JavaScript files, to HTML and CSS codes. The results are divided into mobile and desktop load times, thus allowing you to separately consider results for different devices.
A faster load time can improve user experience and thus increase visitor satisfaction. Moreover, a faster website could also improve rankings in search engine results as Google uses load time as a ranking signal.
Requirements for usage
To use Google PageSpeed Insights, all you have to do is enter the URL of your website into the tool's website and click on "Analyze". You will then receive a detailed analysis of your website's load time and recommendations for optimization.
7. Google Mobile-Friendly Test
What the tool helps with: Checking your website's mobile optimization.
With this free Mobile-Friendly Test from Google, you can easily determine whether your website displays correctly on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets.
The tool analyzes your website and gives you a rating that can range from "mobile-friendly" to "not mobile-friendly". If your website is not optimized for mobile, you'll receive information on what aspects of your website could be improved to guarantee a better user experience.
A mobile-optimized website is indispensable nowadays as more and more users surf the internet on mobile devices. A website that does not display properly on such devices can lead to a poor user experience and thereby deter users.
Requirements for usage
By using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test, you can ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices and thus offers a better user experience. To carry out the test, all you need to do is enter the URL of your website and click on "Start Test".
5 Alternatives to Google SEO Tools
Although Google SEO tools are incredibly helpful, there may be arguments for using a paid alternative. Other tools might offer more specific features or greater flexibility in adjusting to your individual needs and some providers might furnish multiple sources of data and analysis options. If you're interested in alternatives, you can find numerous other providers in the category for SEO software on OMR Reviews. We've already brought along five of the most popular tools for you:
Recommended SEO Tools
You can find more recommended tools SEO-Tools on OMR Reviews and compare them. In total, we have listed over 150 SEO tools (as of December 2023) that can help you increase your organic traffic in the long term. So take a look and compare the software with the help of the verified user reviews: