A Collection of the Best Website and SEO Checker and Analyse Tools
Understanding why your website is not attracting enough visitors or how to increase the visitors you are getting is the key to making your business website a “revenue generating machine”. There are a plethora of free tools to analyse your website, check the optimisation (SEO) of your website or analyse your market and competitors. Digital NRG, the UK’s fastest growing digital marketing agency, has compiled a list of the best free tools for you to use. Below we list the tools, how to use them and why they will benefit your business.
Many of these analysis and checker tools are provided by Google. You may be asking yourself “why would Google provide these tools”? Google has become the search engine powerhouse of the digital world by focusing on one thing – user experience. Google wants every person using their search engine to find highly-relevant answers to the search query. This means that for every search entered into Google, they want to display a website with exactly the answer the user was looking for. What this means for you is that if you can make your website highly relevant for your market, you will rank above the competition. It also means that Google has a website it can display in front of users and you get the benefit of the traffic for that search or searches.
Free Tools to Analyse Your Website
Ensuring that the user experience on your own website is the best it can be is the first task. If a user chooses to click on your website and it is slow to load or is difficult to read on their device – they will click away from your website. This has a number of negative impacts. Firstly, you have lost a visitor and potential customer. Secondly, Google measures the percentage of people that visit your website and then leave again (called the “bounce rate). A high bounce rate is an indication that your website is not relevant to the user for that search, and your rankings will suffer for it.
We have compiled the 3 best free tools to analyse your websites user experience:
Free Website Tools – Page Speed Checker
Google’s PageSpeed Insights reports on the real-world performance of a page for mobile and desktop devices and provides suggestions on how that page may be improved. It measures the load speed of your website as if it were being used on a desktop/laptop and a mobile device, such as a smartphone, and gives you a score for each.
Page load speed has for a number of years been an important factor for users. In Spring 2018, Google has now made it an important factor for how your website ranks in search engines.
PageSpeed Insights evaluates how well a page follows common performance best practices and calculates a score from 0-100. It evaluates if a page can improve its performance in two areas:
- time to above-the-fold load: Elapsed time from the moment a user requests a new page to the moment the above-the-fold content is rendered by the browser. The “above the fold” term relates to what the user can see on their screen as a website loads, without having to scroll.
- time to full page load: Elapsed time from the moment a user requests a new page to the moment the page is fully rendered by the browser. This is the measure of the whole page loading. What the user sees above the fold and what they could then scroll down to view.
The score is categorised as being either “Good”, “Medium”, or “Low”.
- Good: The page applies most performance best practices and there is little need for further optimisation. The website or page scores 80 or above.
- Medium: The page is missing some common performance optimisations and there is some room for optimisation. The website page scores between 60 and 79.
- Low: The page is not optimised for speed and should look to improve the speed optimisation. The page scores between 0 and 59.
Page Speed Checker – Beware!
The Google Page Speed Checker is a good indication of the speed a website loads in however, it can be affected by the speed of the internet connection a user is using. Implementing the suggestions given by the tool should improve the relative performance of the page, but the overriding factor is the speed of your internet connection.
Since the performance of a network connection varies considerably, the website speed test tool addresses the network-independent aspects of page performance: the server configuration, the HTML structure of a page, and its use of external resources such as images, JavaScript, and CSS. However, the absolute performance of the page will still be dependent upon a user’s network connection.
Google Page Speed Checker – Using the Tool
The free tool could not be easier to use. Simply enter the address/URL of your website and press “Analyze”
Try Google’s Free Website Speed Test Tool Here
Try all the free website checker tools
Website Speed Test – What to do Next?
If your website scores low then you need to take action. You can implement the suggestions made by Google. however, the tool is really designed for “web developers” and some of the suggestions can be a little “techy”. If you are not 100% sure what to do consider asking a web developer or digital marketing agency to review the test results for you.
If your website scores medium then may wish to consider taking action. A little tip is to use the tool to measure the website of your competitors. If they score “high” you will want to take action to match them. If they score “medium” you may be happy to be on a comparable level or you may want to take action to rise above them and offer a faster user experience.
Free Website Tools – Mobile-Friendly Website Test
Mobile phones and especially smartphones such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy has changed the world. Today, everyone has smartphones with them, constantly communicating and looking for information. In many countries, including the UK, the number of smartphones has surpassed the number of personal computers; having a mobile-friendly website has become a critical part of having an online presence for your business. Digital NRG would go as far to say that of your website is not fully responsive (the size, shape, content and menu change depending on the size of the screen it is being viewed on) you would be better off not having a website at all. A non-responsive or website that is not mobile friendly is doing your business much more harm than any good.
A desktop version of a website might be difficult to view and use on a mobile device or phone. A website that is not mobile-friendly requires the user to pinch or zoom in order to read the content. Users find this a frustrating experience and are much more likely to abandon the site. Alternatively, the mobile-friendly version is readable and immediately usable. In 2016, Google created to versions of the search results. One for desktop computers and one for mobile users. This means that your website could be ranking well when you look on your computer but is not ranking at all for mobile users. “Oh well”, I hear you say, that isn’t so bad. Oh yes, it is! A report issued by Ofcom, which measured people’s use of the internet during 2017 found that, in the UK, 75% of the population used their smartphone to access the internet, compared to 39% of the UK population using a desktop or laptop.
There are two ways to measure the responsiveness of your website or if it is mobile friendly mobile friendly. The first is to visit the website on your own phone. If you have to “pinch” or “zoom” in any way to read the text or to view an image or the menu/navigation is not easy to see and use – your website is not responsive and is not considered mobile friendly.
The second and far easier way is to use the “Google Mobile-Friendly Tool”. Simply, add the address of your website and press “Run Test”
Try Google’s Mobile Friendly Website Test Here
Find more helpful website tools
My Website is Responsive – is that all I have to do?
Yes, and no. Google reads your website as being responsive, which is a very good start. Consider though the mobile users’ experience. Does the website have an easy to read, simplified version of the content? Do the images align and flow in a way that makes sense? Are the all-important “contact us” and “buy now” buttons aligned in the correct places and easy to see and use? If all of that seems okay, then you will be benefiting from having a well-designed and easy to use responsive website. If any of those factors are not great for the user – consider having a mobile version of your website created. This can be a relatively low-cost alternative to building a new website or spending hours developing the main website to work on mobile devices.
My Website is Not Responsive – What Should I Do?
If your website is deemed to be non-responsive or is not mobile friendly, it is costing you money and, as mentioned earlier, doing more harm to your business than good. You need a new website. This doesn’t have to be a huge expense, and it will likely pay for itself in terms of revenue generated, in no time at all. At some point, you will come to the conclusion your website needs updating – so why not make the decision today and get the benefit of a new mobile-friendly website sooner rather than later.
Note: Digital NRG build fully responsive and mobile friendly websites – call us today and get a free, no obligation quote
Free Website Tools – Website Translator / Google Translate
In our multi-cultural society “restricting” your website to the just the English language is missing a trick, especially when it is so simple and free, to make your website automatically translate to the users’ language.
If your website offers services outside of the UK, or you have an e-Commerce website and ship outside of the United Kingdom, then the free website translator is a must.
Google’s website translator couldn’t be easier to set-up on your website. Visit the page (link below) add your website address / URL. Then simply decide on the style of button you would like to display. Google will create code for you to drop into your website where you would like the button.
There are further options available, such as selecting which of the 100+ languages to allow.
One option, that you should select, is the “
There are a number of benefits in having a multilingual website:
- The international or recognised language of the internet is English. Yet, the growth of the internet in the last few years has been in emerging countries and international powerhouses, such as China. In having more languages available you are making your website open to the “low-hanging fruit” of foreign countries, where your competition will be considerably less.
- With each language added to your web, there is the potential for an increase of 100% in sales. If your website is only translated into a few of the major world languages, i.e. Spanish, French, German and Italian there is potentially a 400% increase in sales. Using a free tool to increase sales seems sensible to us.
- For many cultures, there are trust issues with using the internet, especially when the website is not in a language they completely and fully understand. Offering your product or services in their language allows you to build trust and allows them to better understand what they are buying, and from whom.
- If you offer your services or products abroad, a multilingual website demonstrates you think, work and sell internationally.
- To get a competitive advantage you need to match or better the offerings of your competition. Many businesses try to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Look at your competitors’ website – if they have multilingual option websites then you should as well. If they don’t, then get ahead of the competition and establish your company or services abroad before they do.
- Local businesses can benefit as well. Think about the city, town or community where your business is located. Although many, if not all, local people will have English as their second language how many have a different language as their first language or native tongue? We have offices in Bristol where more than 91 languages are spoken. Hardly surprising when there are over 35,000 students living in the city and makeup 8.3% of the total population of Bristol. In London, there are over 250 languages spoken. Build trust with your local community and offer your website in their language.
Add Google Translator to Your Website Here
All the Free Website Analysis Tools Here
Free Advertising Tools – Google Webmaster Central
Do not be put off by the “techy” title. The Webmaster forum is full of 1000’s (probably millions) of users only too happy to help and answer any questions. Searching the forum for any question will likely provide a host of previous answers.
Want to know why your website is not listed on Google Maps? Why your competitors’ website has a star-rating beneath it? A sudden drop in Google ranking – where did you go wrong? All of these questions and millions more are answered.
Note: If any of these questions relate to you – give us a call. We can resolve them.
Google Webmaster Central HERE
All the Free Website SEO Checker Tools Here
Free Tools to Analyse Your Market
Expanding your market or identifying new trends in your industry can be a lucrative way of getting ahead of the competition. Google offers a number of free tools to analyse your market or industry. Here are the best of the free tools:
Free Marketing Tools – Google’s Market Finder
Ever wondered if you could expand the markets in which you sell your products or services? How about selling overseas, is there a market for your products? The Google Market Finder analysis your website and then using their internal data displays how big the market is in different countries. It also shows how easy it is to do business in that market and the average income of a household in that country. This helps you identify which countries to go after first and whether the average income fits the demographics of your market. It also indicates the average cost per click (CPC) of Google Adwords if you are looking to launch your website with paid advertising.
How To Use Google Market Finder
Go to Google Market Finder (the links is below) and add the address or URL of your website. Confirm the terms and conditions. Google will now analyse your website for the category of markets that your business could work in. You can add or remove categories that you consider irrelevant. Google takes a few seconds and then returns the information.
As an example, we entered our website. We have customers throughout the UK and internationally in the USA and UAE. The services we offer can be successful in any Country. A natural expansion for us would be the huge market in the USA. However, using this tool shows that the US is only the 3rd best country for us to expand our services. There are 33 million searches a month on Google related to our services and if we wanted to advertise on Google Adwords we would have to budget for a cost per click of $1.15. Compare this to the number 1 opportunity which is in Brazil. Brazilians make 105 million searches related to our services (over 3 times more than the US) and we would need to budget for a cost per click of $0.09 (12 times cheaper than the US). A much larger market and considerably less to advertise to.
Google Market Finder Here
A Full List of the Best Free Website Tools
Free Marketing Tools – Google’s Consumer Barometer
Google’s consumer barometer is a Swiss Army knife of tools which measures how people use the internet. Many of the statistics on this page have come from this source.
Google Consumer Barometer – Data Graph Builder
This tool simply has too much data to capture in one post. Want to know where and how people are first aware of products? Where and how people research products before buying? How people buy products, when ready to buy? This is just one set of data, amongst 1000’s of pieces of data available in the graph builder. The clue is in the name I suppose, but the tool then builds clear and colourful graphs around the data you have researched.
Data Graph Builder – How To Use the Information
There is any combination of data that can be applied to your business. I will use the example of a shoe shop. Here is some relevant data:
- What motivated people’s product purchase? the top two motivations are a “discount or promotion” (24%) and a “gift for one’s self” (21%)
- When did people start researching their product purchase? The top answer is “moments before purchase” (34%)
- Where did people make their purchase? The most popular places to buy the shoes was “Online” (49%) and “in a store” (44%)
- Which devices do people use? Overwhelmingly, “mobile phone” (92%)
How can you use this in your marketing? If a shoe shop or footwear store was our client we would make the following suggestions to make the most of where and how people buy footwear.
- Make sure that your products are online as well as in store – that will almost double your potential market. Build an e-Commerce website. Consider utilising Google Shopping, display advertising and Facebook remarketing.
- Ensure that your website is fully responsive and the products are easy to buy online using a mobile phone.
- Have a brand or shoe type on offer with a discount or promotion and ensure that this promotion is advertised heavily on the website generally, the specific product page and in store – including the shop window. The advertising message (online and instore) would show an image of the product with a message of something like “Go on, you know you deserve them – treat yourself. 20% sale now on”. Bring the top two buying motives together.
Consumer Barometer Graph Builder Here
All the Best Website Analysis Tools
Google Consumer Barometer – Trend Data
Although this tool gives more generic data around internet usage and is not industry-specific, it can help to identify trends. It allows you to search by country, sex and age to understand how your target market uses the internet.
For example, if your target market is under 25 the 2017 data shows that 97% of your target audience is connected to the internet, and use it on a daily basis (52%) and do this on their smartphone (97%). Only 51% use a tablet and that usage is declining from its peak in 2015 (51%) as is the use of a computer (91%) up 3% from last year, but still not at the dizzy heights of 2012 (92%).
Compare this to the statistics if your target market is over 55-years old where 2017 data shows that 66% of your target audience is connected to the internet, and use it on a daily basis (93%) and do this on their smartphone (52%). 43% use a tablet and that usage is increasing year-on-year by about 6%. Use of a computer remains static at 57%.
Access Google Trend Data Here
All the Google Website Checking and Analysis Tools
Free Marketing Tools – Google Correlate
Google Correlate is a fantastic tool for identifying long-term trends for search terms or keywords.
Understanding the long-term trend of searches related to our clients business gives us powerful information on what search terms to use, what products are rising in search popularity and those that may need extra help as searches are declining. As an example, a search on the Google Trends Tool for “SEO Checker” shows that the peak time for this search was mid-2015. Before that, there was little search for the term, and since then it has held a high trend, but not as high as in 2015. This trend could be read a number of ways, however, before 2015 search engine optimisation was a fairly unknown service in the UK. In late 2014 and going into 2015, SEO as a service was widely promoted on shows such as the BBC’s “The Apprentice”, bring the benefits of the service to the masses. Since then, more businesses have realised that SEO is not something that can be carried out “in-house” and the search for “SEO checker” and such tools as declined from the 2015 peak.
A search on Google Correlate for Digital Marketing shows that the search term climbs in use and popularity every month and is still growing. This could also be aligned with more businesses being aware that SEO (and PPC for that matter) return better results when outsourced to a professional agency.
As a business owner, you can use this tool to enter search terms related to your business, services and products. A really smart business will also search for the services and products of competitors.
What are the search terms that are rising in popularity in your market? Does your search engine optimisation and paid advertising reflect the rising popularity? Do these products feature heavily on your website? Are they the first image in a banner carousel on your homepage? Small changes on your website, for searches rising in popularity, can have a big impact on website visitors becoming paying customers.
Google Correlate Tool Here
All the best free tools for analysing advertising HERE
Free Marketing Tools – Google Trends
Imagine the power of knowing the latest searches on Google. The latest searches within the last 24-hours and what is trending. The Google Trend Tool gives you this information.
As a digital marketing agency, we use the tool in two ways.
How to use the Google Trend Tool
Firstly, a little like Google Correlate, use the tool to find the trends relating to your industry. You can filter these by Country, time (last hour to last 12 years). Within the results, you can click on the “country” which will take the trend down to a city or town level. Remember this is “trend data” and not actual usage. By that, I mean that the searches shown are the ones with the largest increase in trend. As an example, searching for “SEO” and then filtering by “England” shows that hottest trend, up 100%, is searches related to SEO in Winterton-on-Sea (a coastal village in Norfolk – we had to look it up). While SEO London is only trending up 8%. Now, it may be possible that the beautiful, yet small village outside of Great Yarmouth, has ditched the traditional activities of fishing and farming to concentrate on digital marketing and more specifically search engine optimisation, it is more likely that the number of searches for SEO in Winterton-on-Sea has doubled from 1 search to 2, (up 100%) in the last year.
Look for trends in your market and again ensure that rising trend predominately features on your website, paid advertising and are part of your search engine optimisation strategy.
Google Trends has a very useful “comparison” section which allows you to add numerous searches and cross-reference the results. This can be very useful to see which product or service is trending best. As an example “Search Engine Optimisation” versus “Digital Marketing” shows the trend for SEO is up slightly (up 3%), whereas digital marketing is up 77%.
Lastly, look in the results box named “related queries” in there are the actual search terms that are related to your search and rising in trend the most. Especially look for any search terms that are marked as “Breakout” as these are terms that have only recently started to trend, and are likely trending upwards at a great rate. Imagine discovering and owning gold mines, before people understood how valuable gold is? Google Trends “Breakouts” are the digital equivalent.
The second way to use Google Trends is to get relevant and popular topics to post on your social media platforms. Use Google Trend to find general topics to post, comment, provide your view on. At the time of writing, the UK is on the second day of Lent. Could you post a funny, moving, serious or informative post about giving something up for Lent, related to your industry? There is also a trend in the UK around the use of plastic bottles and their disposal. Do you have a product, solution, idea, comment, or question that you could pose on social media? Could this be developed into a press release? Blog post? Google Trends will also show you the websites that are trending for a particular topic – could you add some relevant comment on that website to add to the debate?
Using Google Trends gives you ideas, related to your marketplace for many forms of digital marketing.
Google Trends Here
The Best Free Google Tools For Your Marketing
About Digital NRG – Our team of specialists consistently delivers outstanding results combining creative ideas with our vast experience. We can help you build a sustainable, meaningful relationship with your clients by engaging them with your brand using social media.
Still need help? Let us enhance your digital landscape
As a leading digital marketing agency in Bristol, we are proud to serve businesses of all sizes in getting them converting online. We are one of few Google Premier Partners and Facebook Partners in the UK, with numerous industry partnerships that can help enhance your performance across a range of channels, including SEO, PPC, Paid Social and Web Development to name but a few. If you’d like to know more about what we can do to help you simply get in touch today.