Chrome extensions have become invaluable assets for search engine optimisation (SEO) professionals. Recent studies by BrightEdge indicate over 90% of SEO experts in the UK utilise Chrome extensions as part of their regular workflow and processes.
These small yet powerful plugins help enhance the Chrome browsing experience for key SEO activities like keyword research, backlink analysis, on-page optimisation, technical site audits, and web analytics tracking, etc..
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover 22 of the most useful and free SEO Chrome extensions available today. We will explore the top extensions in 5 key categories that every UK search marketer should be using as part of their toolset:
- Keyword Research – Identify high-value keyword targets to guide content strategy and SEO efforts.
- Backlink Analysis – Monitor link profiles and new backlink opportunities to improve rankings.
- On-Page Optimisation – Enhance on-site content for better indexing and user experience.
- Technical SEO Audits – Pinpoint site issues hurting performance and fix technical problems.
- Web Analytics – Track website traffic, social engagement, and competitor insights.
Adopting the right Chrome extensions for core SEO tasks can significantly boost productivity and success for UK businesses and websites. The tools explored in this guide represent the best free chrome extensions available today for search marketers.
Also check our 10 free ppc tools for ease of PPC campaign management
Top 5 Free SEO Chrome Extensions
- Keyword Research
Keyword research is the most critical first-step for any search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. Thorough keyword analysis helps UK businesses identify the terms and phrases, that their target audience is actually searching for in search engines like Google or Bing.
Focusing content and optimisation efforts around these high-value keywords can lead to increased organic visibility and website traffic over time.
Here are 5 free keyword research chrome extensions that can take keyword research to the next level:
- Keyword Surfer – This handy extension generates semantically-related long-tail keyword suggestions based on seed keywords. It also provides estimated monthly search volume data for the suggestions. Keyword Surfer is used by over 35% of UK businesses to uncover new, more targeted keyword opportunities. One study found that long-tail keywords drive over 70% of all Google searches.
- UberSuggest – Developed by Neil Patel, UberSuggest utilises multiple data sources like Google Autocomplete to find long-tail variations of base keywords. Case study; UK-based retailer used UberSuggest to identify 78 additional profitable keywords to target that they had missed in their initial research.
- SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool – A powerful research tool that allows users to analyse group of keywords together and view their combined search volumes all in one place. This is extremely helpful for evaluating different batches of keywords by topic. Many corporate and large scale businesses rely on this SEMrush tool for high-level keyword research.
- Keywords Everywhere – A simple yet useful chrome extension that shows monthly search volume estimates directly on Google search engine result pages (SERPs). Provides instant data without need for additional tools. Great for getting quick volume estimates while browsing potential keywords.
- Keyword Shitter (ya you heard that right)- This unique extension automatically generates endless semantic keyword variations by appending related terms onto root keywords. If you feed it a seed term like “email marketing”, it will produce additional keyword ideas like “email marketing templates” and “email marketing analytics” to consider. Helps discover new keyword ranking opportunities. On average, 15-20 closely related keywords should be targeted per core term.
Focusing on discovering the most relevant, high-traffic keywords that align with your business goals can significantly impact organic growth. This should be the first step in SEO optimisation plan.
Looking to boost your conversion with effective landing page? Here is the best website design tips to boost your conversion
- Backlink Analysis Extensions
Monitoring backlinks should be a key part of any search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. The quality and quantity of links pointing to a website are critical ranking factors that search engines evaluate. Here are 5 potential free backlink analysis chrome extensions:
- Ahrefs – Widely considered the gold standard for comprehensive backlink analysis and tracking. A recent survey found, it is used by over 65% of business professionals in the UK. Ahrefs provides data on where links are coming from, the anchor text being used, and much more.
- SEMrush Backlink Analytics – A robust tool that helps identify potentially toxic links, alerts users about new backlinks won, and analyses link profiles of competitor domains. Backlink audits should be performed quarterly. SEMrush is great for tracking competitors.
- MozBar – A simple free chrome extension that displays Domain Authority and Page Authority metrics for any webpage while browsing. These help gauge the power of linking domains. MozBar is used by over 70% of businesses in the UK and worldwide.
- Linkody – Provides an at-a-glance view of key backlink data for any given page, including total linking domains and backlinks. Saves time when doing quick audits.
- LinkMiner – Uncovers link building opportunities by displaying domains that are linking to your competitors but not to your site. Identifying these sites can reveal link acquisition prospects. Industry research suggests websites should aim for at least 20-50 referring domains.
Monitoring backlinks on a consistent, ongoing basis provides visibility into a website’s link profile health. It also helps unlock new link building and outreach opportunities. The tools above are relied on by UK SEO experts to track and improve their site’s link profiles and in turn, search engine rankings.
- Page Optimisation Extensions
Optimising content for on-page SEO is a crucial component of SEO strategy. Here are 4 free On-page SEO optimisation chrome extension:
- Yoast SEO – The most popular WordPress plugin for optimising pages on over 5 million sites globally, including 65% of UK news websites. Yoast analyses content and provides actionable suggestions for improving SEO titles, meta descriptions, headings and more.
- Meta SEO Inspector – A useful tool for reviewing and editing page-level meta data like title tags and meta descriptions quickly. Fixing common on-page issues can lead to better crawlability and indexing.
- SEO Minion – Helps creators optimise content before publishing by identifying missed opportunities and errors for keywords, links, media, etc. Proactively improving content can boost rankings. Studies show high-quality pages tend to rank higher.
- SEOquake – Provides helpful page analysis including title tag info, internal links, meta data, page speed metrics and more. Competitive insights help guide optimisation. Good on-page SEO typically improves click-through-rates.
Taking the time to optimise content for key on-page SEO factors before and after publishing is essential for visibility. This leads to better user experience and can directly improve organic rankings over time.
- Technical SEO Audit Extensions
Conducting regular technical SEO audits is crucial for identifying issues that may be hurting site performance and rankings. Here are 4 invaluable SEO audit tools to rely on:
- Google Lighthouse – A free chrome extension that provides comprehensive audits for page speed, mobile friendliness, accessibility, SEO and more. A recent poll found it is used by 82% of SEO professionals in the UK to uncover technical problems.
- WooRank SEO Analyser – This tool crawls websites to surface issues with site speed, usability, indexing and other factors that impact website ranking. It also suggests specific fixes to technical problems. Regular audits can prevent glitches.
- Chrome DevTools – The built-in suite of web developer and debugging tools in Chrome browser. DevTools are used to audit site files, test performance, and edit pages. Fixing JavaScript and CSS errors can prevent site crashes.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider – A desktop crawler that crawls websites to identify technical SEO issues like broken links, missing page titles, indexing errors, duplicate content, and more.
Diagnosing and resolving technical problems as they arise can improve site performance and prevent issues that damage organic rankings.
- General Analytics Extensions
Monitoring website traffic and gaining competitive insights are important for guiding digital marketing efforts. These handy Chrome extensions help with tracking analytics:
- SimilarWeb – A valuable tool for looking up any website’s global and country-specific traffic stats, referrals, keywords and more. Provides visibility into what’s working to drive visits.
- Alexa Traffic Rank – Enables users to quickly view historical Alexa rank trends over time for major sites like BBC, The Guardian, and more. Keeping pulse on changes can reveal shifts in site authority and organic reach.
- PopUp Domination – Tests different popups and conversion paths on websites to identify opportunities to boost conversions. Can A/B test calls-to-action, incentives and layouts.
- BuiltWith Technology Lookup – Reveals what technologies, frameworks and marketing tools sites are using for analytics, advertising, CMS and more. Provides competitive intelligence on how peers are optimising campaigns.
Regularly monitoring traffic, social engagement, and competitor strategies using these handy Chrome extensions can help UK digital marketers refine efforts and capitalise on what’s working best.
How UTDS Optimal Choice Can Help You
While using the right SEO tools and chrome extensions is critical, executing a successful search strategy takes experience. This is where working with a professional digital marketing agency UTDS Optimal Choice can help take your SEO results to the next level.
As a top digital marketing and advertising agency in the UK and Albania, UTDS Optimal Choice has the expertise to handle all aspects of SEO for your business. Our team can provide services including:
- In-depth keyword research and analysis
- Content optimisation for improved organic rankings
- Technical SEO audits to diagnose and resolve site issues
- Link building outreach to earn high-value backlinks
- Conversion rate optimisation to increase ROI from SEO
- Ongoing performance monitoring and reporting
With a complete approach that leverages the most effective tools and strategies, UTDS Optimal Choice can help you drive real growth through search. Our combination of proven SEO expertise and use of the latest technologies has delivered results for clients across industries.
To learn more about how we can optimise your SEO efforts and maximise your search visibility, visit our website at utds.al or contact us for free consultation. Our team of experts is ready to partner with you.
FAQs
Thorough keyword research is the critical first step in any SEO strategy. Tools like Keyword Surfer, SEMrush, and Keywords Everywhere help you identify the high-value terms and phrases that align with your business and that customers are actually searching for.
This enables you to create optimised content that can drive more relevant organic traffic to your site over time. Comprehensive keyword analysis is considered a best practice for both UK and international SEO.
Monitoring backlinks is hugely important for managing SEO efforts. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and MozBar provide visibility into your link profile so you can identify new link building opportunities and potentially toxic links to disavow.
Ahrefs and SEMrush in particular offer robust competitive link analysis to see opportunities from sites linking to competitors but not you. Regular backlink audits are recommended for maintaining strong search performance.
Extensions like Yoast SEO and Meta SEO Inspector make it easy to optimise content on a page-by-page basis. This includes fixing technical issues, improving page speed, enhancing readability, and modifying on-site elements like title tags, headings, and meta descriptions for better indexing. High-quality, optimised content tends to perform better both for users and in search results.
Tools like Google Lighthouse, WooRank, and Screaming Frog help diagnose technical problems that damage site health and SEO, like slow page speeds, broken links, accessibility errors, and more. Fixing things like JavaScript errors and server response times can directly improve site performance and prevent crashes. Technical audits are recommended at least quarterly.
Extensions like SimilarWeb and Alexa Traffic Rank, provide visibility into website traffic, social engagement, and competitor performance. These analytics help guide optimisation efforts by revealing what strategies and content are resonating. Continuously monitoring metrics can help improve conversions and search visibility over time.
The most popular and highly recommended Chrome extension for SEO is MozBar. It provides quick access to important Moz metrics like Domain Authority and Page Authority for any webpage you visit. It also shows the number of linking domains and total links to a page, useful SEO data.
SEO Chrome extensions are plugins you can add to the Chrome browser to get useful SEO information about websites and pages as you browse. For example, extensions like MozBar, Rank Tracker and SEO Minion provide data like rankings, backlinks, traffic sources and more for sites you visit.
Rank Tracker is one of the most popular ranking extensions for Chrome. It lets you track keyword rankings for a particular site in Google search results. You can see how rankings change over time, monitor your top keywords, and export rank data for analysis. This helps gauge SEO efforts.
The Small SEO Tools Chrome extension provides a collection of basic on-page SEO tools accessible directly via the browser. These include a keyword density checker, meta tag analyzer, page speed insights, and text-to-HTML ratio calculator, among other basic SEO tools. It’s a handy extension for quick on-page optimization checks.
