They say WordPress is a very SEO friendly blogging software and indeed it is. But this doesn’t mean that it alone is all you need for good search engine optimization. Certain tools and apps can also further add to the many factors that add up to good SEO. And although there are a few paid tools on the web, we believe that the FREE tools available are just as good if not better than the more costly alternatives.
First let me begin by mentioning that Aaron Wall, of the popular SEO Book blog, has an excellent collection of SEO tools and apps on his website which can enhance your on page and off page SEO practices. But below we highlight four other excellent good options for you.

1. SEO Status Pagerank/Alexa Toolbar –

The SEO Status Pagerank/Alexa toolbar is perfect for keeping up with other sites and blogs in your niche, including competitors. With the toolbar installed you’re able to instantly get the Google PR and Alexa on any site or blog, without having to visit an external tool. This is good for speedy competitive intelligence and analysis on a new blog. The toolbar is a free add on that is available for all Firefox users, and you can find it directly via your browser or on the web.

2. Free Keywords Tool from Wordtracker –

What good is an SEO campaign, without the keywords. You need to know the specific phrases and keywords in your niche in order to learn where you stand within the Google search results. One such tool we use for this is the free keyword tool from Wordtracker. It’s fast, simple to use and gives you just enough information to know where you stand. In fact, when you enter in a term, you get the number of daily searches for that term, helping you determine if this is a phrase worth pursuing or not.

3. Open Site Explorer –

This is smart tool for website and blog owners who want more complete competitive information than what the SEO Google PR/Alexa toolbar above gives. With Open Site Explorer you get details on a website such as the number of links pointing back to it, the sites linking in, anchor text used and more. If you’re going after a specific keyword or phrase in the SERPS (search engine results), this site can aid in figuring out what you need to do to reach or beat the competition. A must have tool in your online marketing and SEO arsenal.

4. What Page of Search Am I On –

We discovered this tool last year and love it. It’s a simple and free SERP app that when you enter in a single term or phrase plus your website address, you get details on where you stand within Google. Position one or ten, What Page of Search Am I On, does exactly as its name suggests and tells you where your site is at in search – for any given term. Give it a whirl today and see if it doesn’t quickly become your favorite new site.

“SEO can be fun”. Who on Earth said this? We did, as we believe that search engine optimization can indeed be fun when the proper tools and processes are used. With that in mind, the tools mentioned above are all worthy of your perusal – give them a visit and let us know what you think?

Guest article comes courtesy of Missy Diaz who writes for Galorath.com, a specialty project planning software provider on the web.