SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing.
This will greatly help drive the targeted traffic to any website, increase brand awareness, and hence result in better conversion rates. Using some of the SEM tools available for free in 2024 brings fairly great benefits to a business while economizing on campaign optimization. The following paper is now going to present the top ten SEM-free tools, which are the must-make things act for you in the new forthcoming year.
Google Ads Keyword Planner
Overview
One of the most valuable tools that Google offers to its marketers to choose from its inventory is Google Ads Keyword Planner. This one shows the keyword search volume, competition level, and cost-per-click estimates.
Key Features
Keyword search volume: Learn how many times certain keywords have been searched for.
Learn what kind of competitiveness there is against each keyword.
CPC Estimates: Note what you might pay for bringing the ad in front of customers who search for such terms.
Keyword Suggestions: Get new ideas of keywords relating to your business.
How to Use It Well
Add those keywords that are relevant for your business and get the most value out of Google Ads Keyword Planner. Observe the data on search volume and competition information, since those will let you know what proper ad campaign keywords look like. More keywords come through the suggestion facility, which again could be used to widen the reach.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest by Neil Patel—this may be coined the universal tool for keyword research that gives one access to a lot of valuable information to gather improvement needed for one’s SEM campaign. It is widely used because it offers users easy use and access to many features.
How it is useful in SEM
Search Volume: Get how many people are searching for the keywords on a monthly basis.
SEO Difficulty: How hard or easy it is to rank for specific keywords
Content Ideas: A trending content type targeting the target keywords.
Benefits: Ubersuggest does a really good job of finding long-tail keywords for you and driving targeted visitors to your website. It also gives you the difficulty score with regard to SEO and can make it quite easy to rank for targeting; hence, it goes without saying that it will be successful.
MozBar
Overview
Mozbar is a free SEO toolbar that gives instant metrics on any website or SERP. This tool will help greatly in finding out the competition and, at the same time, the strengths and weaknesses of a site.
Key Features
Page Authority and Domain Authority: It measures the authority score of any webpage/any domain.
Keyword analysis: Provides the knowledge of keywords used within the pages.
On-page SEO: insight into the elements of on-page SEO.
How it helps in SEM
Using MozBar, one can estimate the competitive landscape for targeted keywords at first glance. In that sense, see how much power is being posted by competing pages through which one can look and determine a strategy to better do in the keywords that are in the SERPs.
Keyword Tool
Overview
Such is the way the Keyword Tool can become an excellent alternative to Google Ads Keyword Planner, that is, when users need a no-nonsense, reliable keyword research tool. It presents you with keyword suggestions based on Google’s Autocomplete.
Among its main features include the following: It suggests hundreds of keyword ideas. It provides search volume estimates for keywords. Setting searches of keywords according to specific languages and locations is possible.
Advantages Over Other Tools
What truly lands Keyword Tool on the list of the top keyword research tools for time-poor marketers who need fast, accurate information—and helps focus on the keywords that will really matter in your SEM effort. That’s just excellent at long-tail keyword finding.
Google Trends
Overview
This free instrument of Google Trends could be quite helpful visualization with respect to which search phrases seem to have more popularity at different periods of time. It shall enable the marketing professional to get some knowledge with respect to trends and seasonality of the keyword search volume.
Key Features
- It shows the trend data.
- It gives data on the geographical localization of search queries.
- It gives data on the related search queries.
How to use for the SEM Specialist
With this information, you know Google Trends, which will enable you to realize the fastest-growing trends and seasonal tendencies in searches for certain keywords. You will be able to adjust your SEM campaigns around trendier themes and topics so that you zero in on your best target audience.
Free Plan of SEMrush
SEMrush is truly an all-in-one digital marketer tool with a free version that makes helpful features limited in their availability. There is extensive information on keywords, backlinks, and competitor analysis.
Key Features
Keyword Research: Get keyword data and suggestions.
Backlink Analysis: Get information about your backlink profile.
Competitor Analysis: Understand what your competitors do.
Limitations and Benefits
Knowing very well the limitations, the free version of SEMrush is still packed with useful, impactful insights that one can use to shape the strategies in making SEM campaigns better. This is especially useful for any small business or strapped for cash marketers.
AnswerThePublic
Overview
Answer The Public is an amazing way to illustrate precisely what types of questions people are typing into search engines. It’s really helpful for ideas on content and actually for doing keyword research.
Key Features
- Visualize questions and queries.
- Get a list of related keywords.
- Discover topics of interest to people.
- How to Do Keyword Research with It
AnswerThePublic points to questions, common concerns, or issues that your target audience may have surrounding the keywords. It tells you the type of content creation to come up with for your audience to bridge your knowledge gap, hence improving on SEM.
Google Search Console
Overview
Google Search Console is a free web-based tool that allows anyone to monitor and maintain their website presence in the Google search results page. It will enable people to know how your site does in search and pinpoint issues that may affect ranking.
Key Features
Performance Reports: Clicks, Impressions, Average Position
Index Coverage: Information about Indexing Issues
Submit Sitemap
Mobile Usability: Mobile Usability Issues
Relevance with SEM
Google Search Console is going to give you the ability to monitor the performance of your site within the search field and key in on the areas you need improvement. You should get it implemented in order to monitor for improvements to a site that is more search optimized.
SEOquake
Overview
SEOquake is a free plugin extension designed for the browser. It helps get a bulk of SEO data for any web page and provides an easy on-page SEO audit and competitor analysis.
Key Features
SEO Metrics: PageRank, AlexaRank, more.
On-Page SEO Audit: It checks the on-page SEO elements.
Keyword Density: Calculates the density of a keyword on a web page.
How It Helps in SEM
SEOquake will help you see your SEO health and that of the competitors at a glance. Use these to help you figure out what needs to be improved and in what plan you are going to take your SEM campaigns up a step.
Serpstat Free Version
Overview
Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO and SEM solution, with pretty limited functionality in the free version. It provides access to data regarding requests, backlinks, and site audits.
Key Features
Tracking data of the keyword, as well as suggestions
View the analysis of your backlink profile.
Technical SEO issue detection
Compare to other tools
While the free account with Serpstat is quite limited, the data it reveals has invaluable power in helping to boost any SEM effort. This could be a great choice if you need all the features in one tool that’s not going to be painfully expensive.
