Solo-e.com Resources Search Engine Optimization

7 Free SEO Tools -- Courtesy of MarketingSherpa

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:23AM ET

MarketingSherpa published a wonderful list of seven free (and one paid) search engine optimization tools, most of them user-friendly and valuable for the solo entrepreneur as well as small businesses! I love this list not just because it's a great collection of tools, but because of the ideas they share for HOW to use the tools, too. For instance I've had SEOQuake for months and didn't know you could use it to sort your search results!

Great tools and great tips -- if search engine optimization is one of your marketing strategies (or even if you just want to do some competitive research), I highly recommend this article!

Keyword Research Tool -- Google Keyword Tool

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:05PM ET

Formerly only available if you already had an AdWords account, this version doesn't require a login! It offers a number of great features helpful in finding the words *real* customers use when they are searching for your products and services.

SEO Guide for Beginners

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:23PM ET

A fabulous guide for those planning their first website, or getting started optimizing an existing site. It's not too long, easy to read, and includes great examples. It's not a replacement for hiring an SEO expert, but it gives you the basics and helps understand how SEO works, the lingo, etc.

Google Analytics

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:41AM ET

Web traffic statistics on steroids! Dozens of reports on where your traffic is coming from, new vs. repeat visitors, top keywords, organic vs. paid search campaigns, and an overlay of what buttons/links on your page get the most clicks! You could spend hours perusing and analyzing the data. PLUS: set up a goal page (newsletter signup thank-you page; shopping cart receipt, etc.) and/or a visitor funnel and Google will track your conversion rates!

Google Webmaster Help Center

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:39AM ET

Find out what "crawling", "bots", and "PageRank" are all about; get help with common questions; and learn Google's Guidelines for Webmasters.

Google Webmaster Tools

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:35AM ET

Learn how Google views your site; find errors Google is encountering when crawling your site; see what search queries produce the most clicks; and much more.

Keyword Suggestion Tool -- WordTracker

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 22:35PM ET

Want to quickly and easily figure out the best keywords for us in search engine optimization, article and press release writing, etc.? This is a handy little tool will show you how many times per day your keyword/phrase is searched for from both Wordtracker and Overture.