SEO Explained: What It Is, How It Works, and the Free Tools to Get Started

You can have the best-looking website in your industry, but if nobody can find it, it isn't doing its job. SEO is how you get found.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the work of improving your website so it ranks higher when people search for the products, services or information you offer. SEO traffic is "organic": you don't pay per click the way you do with ads, and the results build up over time.

In 2026 people find businesses through more than Google's ten blue links. They also use Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Bing and map results. The same fundamentals work for all of them: a fast, well-built website with clear, useful content that other sites trust.

The three pillars of SEO

1. Technical SEO

Can search engines find, crawl and understand your site?

• Page speed and Core Web Vitals. How quickly your page loads, becomes usable and stops shifting around.
• Mobile-friendliness. Google ranks the mobile version of your site first.
• HTTPS. A secure site is a basic ranking requirement.
• Crawlability. A clean XML sitemap, a sensible robots.txt, no broken links, and no important pages hidden behind JavaScript.
• Structured data (schema markup). Code that tells search engines what your content is, whether that's a business, a product, a review, an FAQ or an event.

2. On-page SEO

Does each page clearly answer what someone is searching for?

• Keyword targeting. Each important page focuses on one main topic and the phrases people actually type when they search for it.
• Title tags and meta descriptions. People see these in the search results, so they need to be clear and worth clicking.
• Headings and structure. One H1 per page, logical H2s and H3s, short paragraphs.
• Helpful content. Write for people first and show real experience and expertise. Google calls this E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
• Internal links. Links between related pages help users and search engines move through your site.
• Image optimisation. Compressed images, modern formats (WebP/AVIF) and descriptive alt text.

3. Off-page SEO

Does the rest of the web trust your site?

• Backlinks. A link from another reputable website counts as a vote of confidence. A few good links are worth far more than many poor ones.
• Google Business Profile. Local businesses need one. It powers your map listing and reviews.
• Reviews and mentions. Keep your business details consistent across directories and social platforms, and collect genuine reviews.

Free SEO tools worth using

Most small and medium businesses can get started with free tools. These cover nearly everything you need.

Google Search Console

Set this up first. Search Console is free and shows how Google itself sees your site: the searches you appear for, your click-through rates, which pages are indexed, Core Web Vitals, mobile problems and manual penalties. You also submit your sitemap here. If you only set up one tool, make it this one.

GTmetrix

GTmetrix tests your page speed and shows what's slowing the site down, such as oversized images, render-blocking scripts, too many third-party tags or a slow server. Its waterfall chart lists every file your page loads and how long each one takes. The free plan needs an account and limits the test locations and devices, but that's plenty for regular checks. Pair it with Google's PageSpeed Insights, which shows real-user Core Web Vitals data from Chrome.

Google Analytics (GA4)

Google Analytics tracks your traffic and what visitors do: how many people come, where they come from, which pages they view, how long they stay and whether they convert by submitting a form, buying something or calling you. It tells you which parts of the site work and where visitors drop off. Link it to Search Console to see search and behaviour data side by side. Analytics tracking generally has to be disclosed in your privacy policy, and depending on your audience you may need cookie consent.

Google Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner lives inside Google Ads. It suggests keywords related to your business and estimates how often people search for them. You need a Google Ads account, but you don't have to run ads to use it. Two caveats. Without active ad spend, search volumes show as broad ranges (like "1K–10K"). And its "competition" column measures competition among advertisers. It doesn't tell you how hard a term is to rank for organically. Use it to find and compare search terms, then judge organic difficulty by looking at who ranks for them now.

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic shows the questions, comparisons and phrases people search for around a topic, like "how much does a website cost", "WordPress vs Webflow" or "is SEO worth it for small businesses". It's very good for planning blog posts and FAQ sections around real searches, and AI search tools draw their answers from the same kind of question-style queries. The free plan allows a limited number of searches per day.

SEOptimer

SEOptimer runs a quick audit and produces a readable report on on-page SEO, technical issues, performance, mobile usability and social presence, with recommendations in priority order. It works as a health check and as a simple way to show a client or manager where a site stands. Free reports are limited. A paid plan adds white-label PDFs and ongoing monitoring.

Rank Math (WordPress)

Rank Math is a WordPress plugin for on-page SEO inside your editor. It scores each page against a focus keyword, manages titles and meta descriptions, generates XML sitemaps, sets up redirects and adds schema markup without code. The free version covers most small-business needs. Rank Math Pro adds more schema types, keyword rank tracking and extra analytics. On sites that don't run WordPress, the framework or CMS usually has most of these features built in.

Ahrefs Backlink Checker

The free Ahrefs Backlink Checker shows any website's backlink profile: how many sites link to it, its top linking pages and the anchor text. Use it to check your own links, see where competitors get theirs, and find directories, partners or publications that link to businesses like yours. The free checker shows a sample of results. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, also free, gives fuller data for sites you own and can verify.

Google Trends

Google Trends shows how interest in a search term rises and falls over time and across regions. Use it to spot seasonal peaks (searches for "school uniform" or "air conditioner", for example), compare two phrases, and catch new topics early. It shows relative interest, not exact search volumes, so use it alongside Keyword Planner.

Our recommendation for a paid tool: Semrush

The free tools above cover a lot, but each one does a single job, and you end up stitching their data together yourself. When SEO becomes a regular part of how you win work, we recommend Semrush. It puts keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, backlink analysis and competitor research in one place. You can see what your competitors rank for, track your own positions week to week, and rerun a full technical audit (like the sample at the end of this article) after you change the site.

It's a paid subscription, so it earns its cost once you publish and optimise regularly. For a one-off fix, the free tools are enough. Move to Semrush when you find yourself switching between five of them to answer one question.

We're not affiliated with Semrush and don't earn anything if you sign up.

A simple SEO workflow using these tools

1. Set up tracking. Connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics, and submit your sitemap.
2. Fix the foundations. Run GTmetrix and SEOptimer, then fix speed, mobile and technical issues first. Great content won't rank on a broken site.
3. Research keywords. Use Keyword Planner for volume, AnswerThePublic for questions and Google Trends for timing.
4. Optimise your main pages. Use Rank Math (or your CMS) to tighten the titles, descriptions, headings and schema on your most important service and product pages.
5. Publish helpful content. Answer the questions your customers actually ask, and answer them better than the pages that rank for them now.
6. Build authority. Use the Ahrefs Backlink Checker to find link opportunities, and keep your Google Business Profile and reviews up to date.
7. Measure and repeat. Check Search Console and Analytics every month, see which pages are gaining or slipping, and adjust.

Common SEO mistakes

• Chasing rankings instead of customers. Traffic that doesn't convert isn't worth much. Target searches where people are ready to buy.
• Keyword stuffing. Repeating a phrase unnaturally makes the page harder to read and hurts rankings.
• Ignoring speed. A slow site loses visitors and rankings, and speed is often the quickest thing to fix.
• Thin or duplicated pages. Ten near-identical "service in [suburb]" pages usually do more harm than good.
• Buying backlinks. Cheap link packages can get your site penalised.
• Expecting instant results. SEO usually takes three to six months to show meaningful movement, so treat it as a long-term investment.

Conclusion

SEO comes down to three questions. Can search engines access your site? Does your content answer what people search for? Does the rest of the web trust you? The free tools above cover all three, from speed tests and keyword research to on-page optimisation and backlink analysis. Start with Search Console and Analytics, fix the technical basics, then publish content that answers real questions, and keep doing it. That's how organic traffic builds.

A sample site audit report

What does an audit from a tool like SEOptimer actually tell you? Below is an illustrative report for a small five-page site. The domain and figures are placeholders, but the issues are the ones small-business sites run into most often. The figure's views step through the crawl, where the issues sit, and what the fixes change.

Overview

The site is technically sound. Pages load correctly, HTTPS is set up properly, the robots.txt and sitemap.xml files are valid, and nothing is broken. All the issues are on-page content problems, and they're concentrated on the homepage, which carries the most weight in search.

Crawled URLs

The www homepage has three issues rather than four because the internal-link notice was only reported on one of the two homepage versions.

Issues found

Warning: Missing H1 heading

Affected pages: 2 (both homepage versions)

The homepage has no <h1> tag. The H1 is the page's main heading. Search engines use it to work out what the page is about, and screen readers use it to help visitors navigate.

Fix: Add one H1 near the top of the page that states the page's main topic. For example: "Project Management Software for Small Teams."

Warning: Low text-to-HTML ratio

Affected pages: 2

Less than 10% of the page's code is visible text. This is typical of sites that rely heavily on JavaScript frameworks, animations or page builders. A low ratio doesn't hurt rankings directly, but it often means there's too little readable content, too much code, or both.

Fix: Add meaningful text and remove unused scripts, inline styles and wrapper elements.

Warning: Low word count

Affected pages: 2

The homepage has fewer than 200 words of visible text. Thin pages give search engines few signals to rank on and give visitors little reason to stay.

Fix: Expand the page with useful content: what you offer, who it's for, key benefits, FAQs and customer proof. Aim for at least 300 to 500 words.

Notice: Page has only one internal link

Affected pages: 1

Only one other page on the site links to this page. Internal links show search engines which pages matter and help crawlers find content.

Fix: Link to the page from the navigation, footer and related content.

Additional observation: www and non-www duplicates

Both example.com and www.example.com returned a 200 status instead of one redirecting to the other. That splits ranking signals between two copies of the same page.

Fix: Choose one preferred version, 301-redirect the other to it, and add a <link rel="canonical"> tag that points to the preferred URL.

What passed

• No 4xx or 5xx errors
• No broken internal or external links
• Valid SSL certificate, no mixed content
• Valid robots.txt and sitemap.xml
• Viewport configured for mobile
• Title tags and meta descriptions present
• No redirect chains or loops
• No duplicate content (apart from the www issue above)

Priority action plan

Summary

The site has no critical errors and a solid technical foundation. The main opportunity is on the homepage: add a clear H1, write more substantial copy and consolidate the duplicate www version. Together these should improve how search engines understand and rank the site. All of them can be done in a day or two.

Sources

• AnswerThePublic Free Plan: Features, Limits & Upgrade Guide
• AnswerThePublic Pricing & Free Searches Limit (2026 Update)
• Best AnswerThePublic Alternatives in 2026 | Zutrix
• SEO Explained Simply: What It Is and How It Works | Medium
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide | Google Search Central