Free SEO Tools for Small Businesses in 2026

You can do useful SEO work without a software subscription. The catch is that these tools answer different questions, and you'll need to put the answers together. Here are ten places to start, with a first task for each.

1. Google and Bing

Before choosing a keyword, search for it. Suppose you repair washing machines: results for “washing machine won't drain” may be repair instructions, while “washing machine repair near me” may show local businesses. Those searches call for different pages. Look at what the results help the customer do before deciding what to publish.

Check the results in the location you serve and note the date and device. Your own search is a snapshot; it won't show what every customer sees. Save useful observations, such as whether competing service pages explain call-out fees or service areas. Copying their headings won't give your page those missing details.

2. ChatGPT and Claude

An AI assistant is useful when you already have something to work on. Give it a page and the Search Console queries for that page, then ask which customer questions the copy leaves unanswered. That's a more useful starting point than asking it for “the best keywords” with only your business name.

You can also check how an assistant answers questions about your market. Keep the prompt, answer, date, and source links if you want to compare runs. One mention of your business says little about how often other people see it. For a repeatable way to work with your own data, see our Claude for SEO guide.

3. Google Search Console (GSC)

After verifying your site in Search Console, open the performance report and choose a page that matters to the business. Read its queries. Are people looking for the service you sell, a price you haven't explained, or instructions your page doesn't provide? The answer gives you something specific to improve.

Compare clicks and impressions over equal periods. A drop in clicks needs investigation, but it doesn't automatically call for a rewrite: demand, rankings, and the search results themselves can change. Google's traffic-drop guide walks through those checks. If an important page isn't appearing at all, use URL Inspection to investigate its indexing status first.

For AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google also provides a Generative AI performance report. It shows impressions and which pages appear in those features. That visibility is already included in the overall performance report; adding the two totals would double-count it.

4. Bing Webmaster Tools

Set up Bing Webmaster Tools to check Bing's view of your site. You can import a verified Search Console site, submit its sitemap, and inspect important URLs. Check the query report once data arrives; don't assume the searches bringing visitors from Bing will match Google's.

Its AI Performance report also shows citations in supported Microsoft AI experiences. Use it to see which pages are cited. A citation count doesn't tell you how many people clicked through or became customers.

5. Google Analytics (GA4)

Set up a meaningful action in GA4 before spending much time on traffic charts. For a service business, that might be a completed enquiry form; for a shop, a purchase. Test the action yourself so you know the event fires when it should and isn't being counted twice.

Then look at the landing-page report for Organic Search visits. A page receiving more visitors but few enquiries deserves a closer look: the offer may be unclear, the visitors may want something else, or the form may be broken. GA4 helps you find the page to investigate. You'll still need to inspect the page to work out why.

Read that alongside Search Console's page and query data. Compare patterns rather than expecting clicks and sessions to match: the tools measure different things. If a small site has only a handful of enquiries, look at a longer period before treating a percentage change as a trend.

6. Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity provides heatmaps and session replays. When GA4 points to a page with few completed enquiries, watch several visits to it. Look for a button that doesn't respond, a form error that stays off-screen, or information people keep scrolling back to find.

A replay shows recorded interactions, not the visitor's thoughts. Reproduce a suspected bug on your own device before fixing it, and check several sessions before drawing conclusions about the page. Microsoft's recordings overview explains what the tool captures.

7. Google Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner suggests related searches and estimates demand. It lives inside Google Ads, and Google requires account setup, including billing information, to access it. Set the location to the area you serve before using its numbers to choose topics.

Try a few service terms customers actually use, then inspect the search results for the promising ones. The “competition” column measures competition among advertisers. A low rating there doesn't mean your page will be easy to rank in organic search.

8. Google Trends

Use Google Trends when timing might explain a change in traffic. An air-conditioning installer could compare this summer with previous summers to see whether a seasonal rise in interest is typical. That is a better comparison than judging June's traffic against January's.

Trends reports relative interest on a 0–100 scale, not the number of monthly searches. Keep the location and time range consistent when comparing terms. Very specific local queries may have too little data to be useful here.

9. PageSpeed Insights

Run an important landing page through PageSpeed Insights. The report separates measurements from real Chrome users, when enough data is available, from a Lighthouse test under simulated conditions. Check whether the real-user section describes that URL or the wider site before treating it as a diagnosis of one page.

Use the test's findings to investigate a slow-loading image, a shifting layout, or scripts that delay interaction. Test the affected page again after the change. A better lab score can help confirm a fix, but it isn't a forecast of better rankings. Google's PageSpeed documentation explains the two kinds of measurement.

10. Google Business Profile

If customers visit your premises or you travel to serve them, check whether you qualify for a free Google Business Profile. Keep the phone number, opening hours, services, and location or service area accurate. Outdated holiday hours can lose a customer even when the rest of your search presence is doing its job.

Online-only businesses generally aren't eligible. Read Google's eligibility guidelines before creating a profile.

The work between the reports

For a first pass, pick one service or product page. Check the searches it appears for, whether visitors take the intended action, and whether anything on the page prevents them from doing so. Make one justified change and record the date. You can add more tools when that process leaves a question unanswered.

If you need help interpreting the reports, oohoom lets you work with connected Search Console, GA4, and Bing data in a chat and invite a human SEO expert to review the work. Get started with oohoom, or use the SEO budget guide to work out what help you can afford.

Related reading

• How much SEO costs, from tools to agencies
• Use Claude for SEO with connected data