You do not need an expensive subscription to do good SEO. Some of the most useful SEO tools in the world are completely free, and several come straight from Google. The trouble is knowing which ones are worth your time, what each one is actually for, and how to use them without drowning in data.

This guide covers the best free SEO tools for UK small businesses: the ones our own team uses every day at Delivered Social, plus a handful of extras that fill the gaps. For each one you will find what it does, what it is best for and one practical job to do with it this week.

The free SEO tools we use every day

If you only set up four tools, make it these. They are what our SEO team opens first thing for almost every client.

• Google Search Console shows how Google sees your website: which searches you appear for, how often people click, and any technical problems stopping pages being found.
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) shows what visitors do once they arrive: where they came from, which pages they read and whether they get in touch or buy.
• Google Business Profile controls how you appear in Google Maps and the local map pack, and gives you insights on calls, direction requests and website clicks.
• Ubersuggest from Neil Patel gives you keyword ideas, search volumes and a basic site audit, with a limited number of free searches each day.

The free tool most small businesses ignore: Google Search Console

If we could get every small business owner to do one thing, it would be to log in to Google Search Console once a month. Most never look at it, and they are missing the most valuable free SEO data there is.

Search Console tells you, straight from Google, which searches you already appear for and where you rank. That means you can find quick wins: pages sitting on page two for a search that matters to your business, which often only need a better title, a few more paragraphs or an internal link to move up.

How to use it in 15 minutes a month:

1. Open Performance and set the date range to the last 3 months.
2. Tick Average position and sort the queries by impressions.
3. Look for searches with lots of impressions and an average position between 8 and 20. These are your quick wins.
4. Click a query, then the Pages tab, to see which page is ranking. Improve that page.
5. Check Indexing > Pages for any important pages that are not indexed, and fix the reason given.

Our step-by-step guide on how to use Google Search Console goes into more detail.

Related reading: how content marketing helps SEO

Google Analytics 4: what happens after the click

Rankings only matter if they bring the right people. GA4 shows you whether they do.

• Best for: seeing which pages bring enquiries and sales, and which channels (Google, social, email, ads) send your best visitors.
• Set up first: make sure your key actions (contact form submissions, phone clicks, purchases) are tracked as key events, otherwise you are only counting visits.
• Job for this week: open Reports > Engagement > Landing page, filter to organic search, and see which pages bring visitors in from Google. Are your most important service pages on that list?

Google Business Profile: free local SEO

For any business that serves a local area, Google Business Profile is the most powerful free SEO tool there is. It decides how you appear in Google Maps and the map pack at the top of local searches.

• Best for: local visibility, reviews and calls.
• Job for this week: check every field is complete, add five recent photos, and reply to any reviews you have not answered.

Our guide to Google Business Profile optimisation covers this in detail, and our guide to the best free UK citation sites shows where else to list your business for free.

Ubersuggest: keyword ideas on a budget

Search Console tells you what you already rank for. To find new topics, you need a keyword tool, and Ubersuggest is one we use regularly.

• Best for: keyword ideas, rough monthly search volumes, question-based searches and seeing which pages rank for a topic.
• Free limits: a small number of searches per day on the free plan, which is plenty for a small business doing a little research each week.
• Job for this week: type in your main service plus your town (for example “electrician Guildford”) and note the related searches and questions. Each one is a potential page or blog post.

More free SEO tools worth having

These fill in the gaps left by the core four. You do not need all of them, so pick the ones that match what you are working on.

Related reading: how to remove outdated content from Google

Technical checks

• PageSpeed Insights: Google’s free speed test, with mobile and desktop scores and a list of what is slowing your pages down.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free version): crawls up to 500 pages of your site and finds broken links, missing titles, duplicate descriptions and redirect chains.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing’s version of Search Console. Bing also feeds Microsoft Copilot and other AI tools, so it is worth adding. You can import your site straight from Search Console.
• Rich Results Test: checks whether your structured data (reviews, FAQs, products, local business details) is set up correctly.

Keywords and content ideas

• Google Keyword Planner: free inside a Google Ads account. Search volumes are shown as ranges unless you are spending on ads, but it is good for spotting new ideas.
• Google Trends: shows whether interest in a topic is rising or falling, and seasonal peaks, so you can publish at the right time.
• Google itself: the “People also ask” box and related searches at the bottom of the results page are a free list of the questions your customers are asking.
• AnswerThePublic: turns a keyword into a map of related questions, with a few free searches a day.

On your website

• Yoast SEO or Rank Math (free versions): WordPress plugins that help you set page titles and meta descriptions, create a sitemap and check basic on-page SEO. Both have paid upgrades you do not need to start with.
• Microsoft Clarity: free heatmaps and session recordings that show how people scroll and click, so you can see where they get stuck.
• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools: free for websites you own and verify, with a site audit and a view of the links pointing to your site.

Free SEO tools at a glance

A quick way to decide what to use for each job:

• What do I rank for? Google Search Console.
• Do visitors turn into customers? Google Analytics 4.
• Am I showing up locally? Google Business Profile.
• What should I write about? Ubersuggest, Google’s “People also ask”, AnswerThePublic.
• Is my site fast enough? PageSpeed Insights.
• Are there broken links or missing titles? Screaming Frog (free) or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.
• How do people use my pages? Microsoft Clarity.

A simple monthly SEO routine using only free tools

Tools are only useful if you use them. This one-hour routine, done once a month, will put you ahead of most of your competitors.

1. Search Console (15 minutes): find two quick-win pages ranking in positions 8 to 20 and improve them.
2. GA4 (10 minutes): check enquiries from organic search compared with last month.
3. Google Business Profile (10 minutes): reply to reviews, add photos, post an update.
4. Ubersuggest or “People also ask” (15 minutes): pick one new question to answer in a blog post.
5. PageSpeed Insights (10 minutes): test your home page and your most important service page.

When free tools are not enough

Free tools will take a small business a long way. You may want paid tools, or help, when:

• You want to track rankings daily across lots of keywords and locations.
• You need detailed data on competitors’ links and content.
• Your site has hundreds or thousands of pages to audit.
• You simply do not have the time to turn the data into action every month.

If you are thinking about getting help, our guide to how to choose an SEO agency explains what to look for.

Frequently asked questions about free SEO tools

What is the best free SEO tool?

Google Search Console. It is free, comes straight from Google and shows exactly which searches your site appears for and how it performs.

Can I do SEO with free tools only?

Yes. Most small businesses can cover the basics with Search Console, GA4, Google Business Profile, a free keyword tool and PageSpeed Insights.

Is Ubersuggest free?

It has a free plan with a limited number of searches per day, plus paid plans with more searches and features.

Do I need Bing Webmaster Tools?

It is worth the ten minutes it takes to set up. Bing has a smaller share of searches, but its data also feeds Microsoft Copilot and some other AI tools.

How often should I check my SEO tools?

Once a month is enough for most small businesses. Check sooner after big website changes, such as a redesign or moving to a new domain.

Start with one tool this week

You do not need to set up everything at once. Start with Google Search Console, spend 15 minutes finding your quick wins, and build from there. The businesses that do well in search are rarely the ones with the most expensive tools. They are the ones that look at the free data regularly and act on it.

If you would like a hand making sense of your data, our SEO team can help. Get in touch, or find more practical guides on the Delivered Social website.