13 Best SEO Tools for Small Businesses (2025) – 99signals

Being a small business owner is not easy. It’s like David taking on Goliath every day. Imagine if you had a reliable SEO tool to help you compete with the big players.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
But here’s the catch: finding the right SEO tools can be a major challenge for small businesses. With limited resources and constantly changing search engine algorithms, it often feels like you’re always a step behind the big brands.
That’s why we’ve rounded up 13 of the best SEO tools tailored for small businesses. From keyword research to site optimization, these tools are designed to help you boost your online visibility without draining your budget.
In this post, we’ll break down each tool, explaining what it does best and how it can support your SEO strategy. Let’s dive in and find the perfect SEO toolkit for your small business.
Table of Contents
Semrush is a leading SEO and online marketing tool designed to meet the needs of small businesses and larger enterprises alike.
It offers a wide range of features that can help you with all aspects of your SEO strategy, from keyword research and technical SEO audit to competitor analysis.
If you opt for annual billing, you can get a discount of 17% on any of the above plans.
Click here to sign up for a free 14-day trial of Semrush Pro
Semrush is a top choice among a sea of SEO tools for small businesses. If you need an all-in-one solution that can grow with you, offer in-depth insights, and support your content and local SEO strategies, then Semrush could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Despite its premium price, its all-inclusive features and community support make it ideal for businesses that want a reliable, growth-oriented SEO solution.
Sign up for Semrush
[Exclusive Offer] Unlock a free 14-day trial of Semrush Pro and explore the full range of 50+ tools designed to supercharge your SEO and marketing efforts. Click below to activate your free Semrush Pro trial.
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This exclusive trial gives you complete access to Semrush’s SEO toolkit—click below to activate your free trial.
Recommended reading: Semrush Tutorial: The Ultimate Guide
SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO platform designed to meet the needs of small businesses and marketing agencies, offering a range of tools to help you improve your website’s search engine visibility.
With a user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, SE Ranking provides small businesses with all the SEO tools they need to succeed in a competitive digital landscape.
SE Ranking also offers discounts for annual subscriptions, allowing you to save on your SEO investment over time.
Click here to start your 2-week trial of SE Ranking
With features like keyword rank tracking, website audit, and competitor analysis, SE Ranking is an ideal budget-friendly alternative to Semrush.
While it may have some limitations in customization and data update frequency, its user-friendly interface and extensive feature set make it a solid choice for small businesses aiming to improve their search engine visibility.
Get 14-day free access to SE Ranking’s complete toolkit.
(No credit card required)
Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to track and analyze your website’s traffic and user behavior. It’s a must-have SEO tool for small businesses looking to gain a deeper understanding of their online audience.
Google Analytics is free to use, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Google Analytics is a powerful, free tool for tracking website traffic and understanding user behavior. It offers robust data analysis and customizable reports, making it ideal for small businesses.
However, it has a steep learning curve and lacks advanced SEO-specific features, so you may need additional tools for advanced SEO insights.
Sign up for Google Analytics
BuzzSumo is a content and social media analysis tool that helps you discover trending topics and analyze social media engagement. It’s a valuable tool for creating content strategies and understanding what resonates with your audience.
For any of these plans, you can pay annually and get a 20% discount.
Click here to start your BuzzSumo trial
BuzzSumo’s ability to identify popular topics and track social media engagement is particularly valuable for small businesses aiming to level up their content marketing game.
However, its pricing can be steep for businesses on a tight budget, and it lacks broader SEO features like traffic analysis and keyword research. While BuzzSumo is excellent for content insights, you may need additional tools for a complete SEO strategy.
Sign up for BuzzSumo
Ahrefs is a popular SEO toolset known for its excellent backlink analysis and competitive research capabilities. It’s widely used by SEO professionals and digital marketers to track website performance and analyze competitors.
By choosing an annual billing plan, you can get an extra two months of Ahrefs access for free.
Ahrefs is a top-notch SEO tool that stands out for its robust backlink analysis, keyword research, and competitive analysis capabilities. Its extensive feature set and user-friendly interface make it a strong choice for businesses looking to enhance their SEO strategies.
However, the pricing structure, especially with its usage-based model, can be a significant barrier for small businesses on a budget. The unpredictable costs might require careful monitoring to avoid overspending.
Sitechecker is an easy-to-use SEO tool designed to help you audit your website and identify areas for improvement. It’s a great option for small businesses that need a quick and easy way to check their site’s SEO health.
You can enjoy 2 months of free access to Sitechecker by choosing the yearly billing option.
Click here to start your 14-day trial of Sitechecker
Sitechecker is an accessible and user-friendly SEO tool designed to help small businesses quickly audit their websites and identify areas for improvement. Its competitive pricing and simple interface make it a solid choice for those new to SEO.
However, it lacks advanced features like in-depth backlink analysis and white-labeling, which may limit its appeal to businesses with more complex SEO needs.
Sign up for Sitechecker
Ubersuggest is a cost-effective SEO platform designed to help businesses with keyword research, backlink analysis, and site audit. It’s a good choice for small businesses that need essential SEO tools without a high price tag.
Pricing
Ubersuggest’s budget-friendly plans and easy-to-use interface make it ideal for small businesses with limited budgets or SEO experience.
However, it lacks some advanced features and has slower data updates, which may limit its appeal for businesses requiring more complex SEO insights.
Sign up for Ubersuggest
Google Search Console is a free web service from Google that helps website owners monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google Search results. It’s an essential tool for small businesses that want to understand how Google perceives their website and improve their SEO performance.
Google Search Console is entirely free to use, making it an accessible tool for small businesses of all sizes.
Google Search Console is a must-have for small businesses aiming to improve their website’s visibility in Google Search results. It offers valuable insights into search performance, indexing, and mobile usability, all for free.
Although there’s a learning curve, and it lacks the depth of dedicated analytics tools, its direct information from Google makes it indispensable for any SEO strategy.
Sign up for Google Search Console
WP Rocket is a premium caching plugin for WordPress that helps improve website performance and speed. It’s designed to be user-friendly and is compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins.
WP Rocket is a top-notch caching plugin for WordPress that can dramatically improve your website speed and performance. Its easy-to-use features like page caching and lazy loading can significantly boost site speed and SEO. However, the premium price might be a drawback for small businesses, and it’s exclusively for WordPress users.
Sign up for WP Rocket
Yoast SEO is a popular SEO plugin for WordPress that helps you optimize your content for search engines. It provides real-time feedback on your content and offers a range of tools to improve your site’s SEO.
Yoast SEO has both free and premium versions:
Yoast SEO is an excellent tool for WordPress users, offering a range of features to optimize content for search engines. Its on-page SEO analysis, XML sitemap generation, and readability checks make it easy to improve site visibility.
Try Yoast SEO for free
Mailshake is a sales engagement and email outreach platform that helps businesses automate their email campaigns and improve communication with prospects. It is especially useful for small businesses seeking to generate leads, build strong backlinks, and establish connections with potential clients.
You can opt for annual billing on any of these plans to enjoy cool discounts.
Mailshake is a valuable tool for SEO professionals looking to automate their outreach and link building efforts. Its robust email automation, personalization, and follow-up capabilities make it ideal for connecting with site owners and building backlinks.
However, limited CRM integration and email sending limits may pose challenges for larger campaigns. Overall, Mailshake is a practical choice for SEO-focused outreach and link building.
Sign up for Mailshake
Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink monitoring, and more. It is designed to help businesses improve their search engine visibility and optimize their SEO strategy.
Start your 7-day free trial of Serpstat
Serpstat is a versatile SEO platform offering a wide range of tools for keyword research, competitor analysis, and backlink monitoring, making it a solid choice for small businesses. Its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing plans make it accessible to those with varying levels of SEO experience.
However, data refresh rates might be slower than desired, and the cost of custom enterprise plans could be a barrier for smaller businesses seeking advanced features.
Try Serpstat for free
Mangools is an all-in-one SEO toolkit designed to be user-friendly and affordable. It provides a complete suite of SEO tools for keyword research, rank tracking, backlink analysis, and more.
Mangools is especially popular among small businesses due to its simplicity and cost-effective pricing.
Mangools offers several pricing plans:
Mangools also offers annual billing options with discounted rates for businesses willing to commit to a yearly subscription.
Try Mangools free for 10 days
Mangools is an all-in-one SEO toolkit known for its ease of use and affordability, making it a popular choice for small businesses. However, Mangools’ plans come with daily credit limits, which might restrict usage for businesses with high SEO activity.
Additionally, it may lack some advanced features offered by other platforms, such as in-depth competitor analysis and extensive site audits.
Sign up for Mangools
Choosing the right SEO tools can feel overwhelming, especially with so many options out there. This list of 13 SEO tools gives you a solid starting point, whether you’re looking for all-in-one platforms like Semrush or specialized tools for tasks like page caching and email outreach.
Think about your business’s specific needs and budget when deciding which tools to use. You might find that a combination of a few tools works best to cover all your SEO bases.
No matter which ones you choose, the goal is to give your small business a fighting chance to stand out in the crowded digital landscape. With the right tools, you’ll be better equipped to compete with larger businesses and grow your online presence.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published on May 7, 2024 and has been updated regularly since then for relevance and comprehensiveness. 
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I just finished reading this article. Honestly, a freelance SEO consultant already using half of these tools would do a great job for their clients. Tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Analytics offer a wide range of features for keyword research, competitor analysis, and website optimization. Great choice, keep it up Sandeep!
With small businesses facing budget constraints, which SEO tools combination should I prioritize for maximum impact—starting with free options like Google Analytics and Search Console, or investing in premium tools like Ahrefs and Semrush?
[…] your research and find the best fit for your budget. Some platforms, like the one mentioned in this resource, even offer basic plans for as little as $12 a month. Remember, consistency is key. Small, […]




Hi there, I’m Sandeep Mallya!
I’m an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant from Bangalore, India. I founded my own digital agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015 to help SMBs leverage SEO, social media, and content marketing to grow their traffic and generate qualified leads for their business.
I launched 99signals in 2016 as a side project to document all the strategies, tools, and tactics that I was using to grow my small agency. The goal was simple: to arm other entrepreneurs and bloggers with all the right information and tools they needed to launch a successful online business.
Since then, 99signals has grown significantly and generates over $10,000 in side income each month. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”

Hi there, I’m Sandeep Mallya!
I’m an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant from Bangalore, India. I founded my own digital agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015 to help SMBs leverage SEO, social media, and content marketing to grow their traffic and generate qualified leads for their business.
I launched 99signals in 2016 as a side project to document all the strategies, tools, and tactics that I was using to grow my small agency. The goal was simple: to arm other entrepreneurs and bloggers with all the right information and tools they needed to launch a successful online business.
Since then, 99signals has grown significantly and generates over $10,000 in side income each month. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”
A few links on this blog are affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service through one of these affiliate links, I’ll receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
Rest assured, I recommend only those tools that I personally use and genuinely trust. In most cases, you’ll find in-depth reviews, tutorials, and how-to guides of these tools on my blog to help you make informed decisions.

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