Google gives a stable set of free Web optimization instruments. From easy key phrase analysis to efficiency monitoring, you possibly can sew collectively a full workflow with out spending a dime.

Each Web optimization—whether or not newbie or knowledgeable—makes use of Google’s free instruments in some capability. They’re broadly accessible, they provide a glimpse into how Google’s search and promoting techniques work, and so they’re typically the primary place we search for efficiency knowledge.

Right here’s what every of Google’s free Web optimization instruments does, when to make use of it, and a few Ahrefs options for if you outgrow the fundamentals.

Google Search Console (GSC) is your direct line to how Google sees your web site—and for a lot of SEOs, it’s their solely supply of first-party Web optimization knowledge.

At its core, GSC reveals which queries deliver site visitors to your pages, how these pages carry out in search, and whether or not Google is indexing them correctly.

The Efficiency report is the place most individuals begin: it permits you to analyze Web optimization metrics by web page, question, nation, machine, and date. You’ll be able to see which pages get probably the most natural search site visitors, and monitor how your efficiency adjustments over time.

Then there’s the Indexing report, which reveals which pages are in Google’s index and that are excluded—with particular the reason why. This needs to be your first port of name for any efficiency points. It saves you from the black field of questioning why content material isn’t exhibiting up.

The URL Inspection device permits for page-level diagnostics. You’ll be able to see whether or not a web page is listed, the final time it was crawled, if cellular usability handed, and whether or not enhancements like schema markup are detected.

And there’s the brand new Insights report, which goals to rapidly present key developments and efficiency knowledge on your web site:

GSC additionally contains Core Internet Vitals reporting—monitoring metrics like LCP and CLS that affect rankings—and a handbook actions part, the place you’ll be notified if Google penalizes your web site.

And submitting sitemaps by GSC continues to be probably the most dependable means to make sure new content material will get found rapidly.

Degree up with Ahrefs GSC integration

GSC is nice, however solely shops 16 months of historic knowledge. In case you join it to Ahrefs, we’ll retailer and backfill that knowledge indefinitely—so you possibly can monitor long-term developments, evaluate year-over-year efficiency, and construct extra strong Web optimization studies.

Google Analytics (GA4) helps you perceive what occurs after somebody lands in your web site. It’s the device for monitoring on-site habits—issues like how lengthy customers keep, what pages they go to, and whether or not they convert.

One of the vital helpful GA4 studies for SEOs is the Acquisition report. This reveals you what number of customers arrived by way of natural search and the way that site visitors compares to different sources, like paid search or direct visits. By analyzing these patterns, you possibly can see which pages are pulling in site visitors and which could want consideration.

You may also dig into engaged periods and conversion paths. These metrics present how lengthy customers stick round, which pages they work together with, and the way they in the end convert—supplying you with perception into which content material is driving outcomes.

Segmentation is one other GA4 superpower. You’ll be able to slice your knowledge by touchdown web page, machine kind, nation, site visitors channel, and extra. This makes it simpler to identify technical points (like poor cellular expertise) or content material gaps by area.

Degree up with Ahrefs Internet Analytics

GA4 could be overwhelming and surprisingly troublesome to make use of—particularly in case you’re simply making an attempt to know the place your web site site visitors comes from.

If you’d like one thing slightly simpler to make use of, you possibly can strive Ahrefs Internet Analytics. It’s a simple-to-use, privacy-focused GA4 various that filters out bots, makes it straightforward to identify site visitors from AI assistants, and is free as much as 1 million occasions per month.

Google Key phrase Planner was initially constructed for advertisers operating Google Adverts, however many SEOs use it for primary key phrase analysis as nicely.

You’ll be able to plug in a seed key phrase to generate a whole lot of associated key phrase concepts. The device additionally gives tough estimates of month-to-month search volumes and a competitiveness score—although this score displays advert competitors, not natural rating problem.

You’ll be able to group key phrase ideas into advert teams or thematic clusters, which could be useful for early-stage content material planning. However there are a number of necessary limitations:

• Search volumes are proven in broad ranges (like 1K–10K), which makes it troublesome to find out which key phrases are literally price focusing on.
• The competitors metric displays paid promoting competitors, not how laborious it’s to rank organically.
• You’ll be able to’t simply assess SERP options or perceive the consumer intent behind key phrases with out leaving the device.

These gaps make it tougher to construct a really efficient natural Web optimization technique utilizing Key phrase Planner alone.

Degree up with Ahrefs Key phrases Explorer

A greater choice for Web optimization-specific analysis is Ahrefs’ Key phrases Explorer. It offers you exact search volumes, Key phrase Problem scores, SERP options, site visitors potential, guardian matters, and now even pattern predictions—so you could find not simply fashionable key phrases, however the ones prone to develop in worth.

Google Traits permits you to see how curiosity in a subject adjustments over time, based mostly on search knowledge from throughout Google’s large consumer base. It’s a wonderful device for figuring out which matters are gaining recognition and which of them are falling off.

You should utilize Google Traits to determine rising queries earlier than they hit their peak, supplying you with an opportunity to publish content material forward of the curve. It additionally permits you to evaluate the relative recognition of two or extra search phrases, serving to you determine which key phrase is likely to be extra related or well timed on your viewers.

Past that, the device permits you to drill down by area, timeframe, and class, which is beneficial for understanding seasonal or regional variations in curiosity. For example, a key phrase is likely to be trending within the US however flat within the UK, or it would peak each December.

Degree up with Ahrefs Key phrases Explorer

Ahrefs’ Key phrases Explorer now contains progress predictions and built-in pattern filters, which makes this type of evaluation much more helpful. You’ll be able to simply spot key phrases which can be trending up, down, or have robust seasonal patterns—all throughout the similar dashboard.

Google Alerts displays the online for mentions of a model, competitor, or key phrase. It’s a easy device that permits you to arrange alerts for particular phrases and obtain e mail notifications each time new content material matches your standards.

You’ll be able to customise alerts by language, area, and content material kind (reminiscent of blogs, information, or boards), which makes it pretty versatile for Web optimization and PR use circumstances. This device is particularly helpful for monitoring press mentions, discovering unlinked model citations you could need to reclaim, or maintaining tabs on what opponents are saying or doing.

Degree up with Ahrefs’ Content material Explorer

Ahrefs’ Content material Explorer takes this to the subsequent degree by monitoring mentions throughout billions of pages and letting you filter outcomes by area authority, estimated site visitors, backlink profile, and publication date. It’s a strong choice for digital PR, hyperlink constructing, and broader content material monitoring methods.

In case you function a neighborhood enterprise, your Google Enterprise Profile (GBP) is likely one of the most necessary belongings in your Web optimization toolkit. It determines how your enterprise seems in Google Maps and native search outcomes, together with the coveted native pack—the highest three map listings that present up for location-based queries.

Your GBP permits you to show important info like opening hours, enterprise classes, providers supplied, and get in touch with particulars. You may also add pictures, publish updates, reply questions, and interact with prospects by way of messaging or evaluate responses. All of those interactions affect how your itemizing performs and the way reliable it seems to potential prospects.

Importantly, Google will mechanically change components of your GBP itemizing (just like the providers you provide) based mostly on critiques, so it’s necessary to watch which adjustments Google has made.

Google can change

Degree up with Ahrefs Enterprise Profile Monitor

Managing your Google Enterprise Profile manually could be tedious—particularly in case you’re overseeing a number of areas.

That’s the place Ahrefs’ Google Enterprise Profile Monitor is available in. It helps you catch unauthorized adjustments, reject malicious edits, and handle a number of profiles effectively from a single dashboard. You’ll obtain real-time e mail alerts for any change, whether or not it’s made by you, your workforce, or Google, and you’ll bulk edit fields like enterprise hours, classes, and get in touch with particulars.

PageSpeed Insights assesses your web site’s loading efficiency and gives an in depth evaluation of what’s slowing it down.

It focuses on Core Internet Vitals—particularly Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Structure Shift (CLS), and First Contentful Paint (FCP)—that are key efficiency metrics that affect each consumer expertise and search rankings.

PageSpeed Insights suggests helpful actions to hurry up web page efficiency, like compressing massive photographs, minimizing JavaScript and CSS, leveraging browser caching, or decreasing server response instances. This makes it a sensible useful resource for bettering web site velocity even in case you’re not a developer.

What units PageSpeed Insights aside is that it pulls in real-world area knowledge from the Chrome UX Report (CrUX), exhibiting how your web site performs for precise customers on completely different units and community situations—not simply lab simulations.

Degree up with Ahrefs Website Audit

For a extra streamlined workflow, you possibly can allow PageSpeed Insights straight inside Ahrefs’ Website Audit. This integration permits you to audit and resolve web page velocity points alongside different technical Web optimization issues like crawl errors, damaged hyperlinks, and duplicate content material—all in a single dashboard.

In case you’re utilizing structured knowledge in your web site, the Wealthy Outcomes Take a look at is your go-to device for validating that markup.

Structured knowledge helps Google perceive your content material higher and permits enhanced search options like wealthy snippets—these attention-grabbing listings with stars, photographs, or FAQs. Structured knowledge might also enhance how your content material is surfaced and interpreted by massive language fashions (LLMs), rising the probabilities of your content material being referenced in AI-generated solutions and instruments like Google’s AI Overviews or Bing Copilot

With the Wealthy Outcomes Take a look at, you possibly can enter any dwell URL or paste in a code snippet to see in case your markup is eligible for wealthy outcomes. The device will examine for varied enhancements reminiscent of evaluate scores, recipe info, product particulars, FAQs, and extra.

It additionally highlights whether or not your structured knowledge is appropriately applied, flagging any warnings or errors that will forestall your content material from showing in enhanced codecs.

Degree up with Ahrefs Website Audit

To transcend particular person URL checks, Ahrefs’ Website Audit permits you to flag any pages with structured knowledge points. This function crawls your total web site and flags issues at scale—like lacking fields, invalid schema varieties, or unsupported wealthy outcome varieties. 

However what about AI Web optimization?

Google gives a spread of free instruments for conventional Web optimization, but it surely hasn’t but launched something that helps SEOs measure or handle their visibility in AI-powered search experiences—like AI Overviews or AI Mode.

This creates a blind spot. If extra persons are turning to AI to purchase merchandise and reply questions, how do you reply, and get your model featured?

That’s why we’ve constructed Ahrefs’ Model Radar, our new AI search device constructed to trace how your model reveals up in AI-driven search—and assist you flip it right into a progress channel.

Model Radar permits you to see how massive language fashions (LLMs) point out your model, merchandise, and opponents throughout main AI search platforms, together with ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and AI Overviews.

You’ll be able to benchmark your visibility towards opponents, determine key matters and prompts driving AI site visitors to your web site, and monitor the amount and sentiment of AI mentions over time.

AI-powered assistants are altering how individuals search. Model Radar helps guarantee your model is the one they discover first.

Last ideas

Google gives a stable (and free) basis of Web optimization instruments. You should utilize them to trace web site efficiency, brainstorm easy key phrase concepts, and even get notified when your model or opponents are talked about on-line.

However in case you’re utilizing Google’s free Web optimization instruments and operating into a few of their limitations, it is likely to be price testing Ahrefs. You’ll discover extra knowledge, deeper insights, less complicated workflows, and instruments that will help you enhance your visibility in AI search.

Bought questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.