Best Free SEO Tools to Audit Your Website SEO in 2025
For South African small businesses + digital agencies
Helping small business owners and marketers understand which free tools they can use to audit their website’s SEO, how to use them, and what they should check.
Introduction
In today’s competitive online landscape, even small businesses in South Africa need to ensure their website is optimised for search engines. A regular SEO audit helps you identify technical issues, on-page weaknesses, and optimisation opportunities. But you don’t need to splash out on expensive tools straight away.
In this article we’ll cover the best free tools you can use in 2025 to audit your website’s SEO — from indexing and performance to content and links — and show you how to use them effectively.
We’ll also include an interactive checklist at the end so you can audit your site step-by-step.
Why audit your website’s SEO?
Before diving into tools, it’s worth understanding why you should perform an SEO audit.
Ensure your site is indexable and visible in search results (if search engines can’t crawl or index your pages, they won’t rank).
Find technical issues (broken links, slow page speed, mobile-usability problems) that hurt your user experience and rankings.
Check on-page SEO (titles, meta descriptions, headings, keywords) to ensure content is optimised.
Assess content quality, keyword relevance, and internal linking to make sure you’re targeting the right terms.
Detect backlink and external link issues, which can both help and harm your SEO.
Stay ahead of the competition by improving site health regularly.
According to recent audits, even small sites benefit massively from using free tools to catch the low-hanging problems. Blogging Wizard+2seo.ai+2
Top Free SEO Audit Tools for 2025
Here are some of the best free tools you can use — each with a description, best-use scenario, and how to apply for your website.
1. Google Search Console
What it does: A free tool from Google that shows how Google views your website: indexing status, search performance, mobile-usability, Core Web Vitals, etc. flow.ninja+1
Why use it: It’s essential. Because it comes direct from Google, the data is accurate and you’re playing by the search engine’s own rules.
How to apply:
Sign in at: https://search.google.com/search-console
Verify your website property.
Check the “Coverage” report to spot pages that aren’t indexed.
Go to “Core Web Vitals” to review desktop + mobile performance.
Pro tip for small businesses in South Africa: Monitor the “Performance” report and filter by “Country → South Africa” to see how your local-market traffic is doing.
2. SEOptimer
What it does: A free (and paid) audit tool that runs a quick check across many SEO data-points (over 100) and gives you a detailed report with actionable recommendations. seoptimer.com+1
Why use it: Great for getting a quick snapshot of your website’s health without diving into deep technical knowledge.
How to apply:
Visit: https://www.seoptimer.com/
Enter your URL and run the free audit.
Review sections like on-page, speed, usability, security and get a PDF/report you can download.
Tip: Use this as a baseline once, then compare again in 3–6 months to track improvement.
3. Screaming Frog SEO Spider (Free version)
What it does: A desktop-crawler that simulates how search engines crawl your site; detects broken links, duplicate content, missing tags, redirect chains, etc. storifyagency.com+1
Why use it: When your site grows beyond a handful of pages, this kind of tool gives you the “deep crawl” insight free of charge (up to 500 URLs in the free version).
How to apply:
Download at: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
Install and scrape your site (URL → ‘Crawl’)
Export the report and look for key errors (404s, missing meta tags, pages blocked by robots.txt)
Tip: If your site is fewer than 500 pages, the free version will suffice for a full site audit.
4. Nightwatch Free Research Tool + Google Keyword/Trends Tools
What they do: These are free tools for keyword research and trend-spotting (essential for content optimisation). For example:
Nightwatch Free Research Tool Nightwatch: AI-Ready SEO Monitoring Tool+1
Google Trends
Google Keyword Planner
Why use them: Even when you’ve fixed technical issues, SEO success depends on targeting the right keywords. These tools help you find what people are actually searching for — locally and globally.
How to apply:Use Nightwatch or Google Keyword Planner to enter seed keywords related to your business (e.g., “digital marketing agency Cape Town”, “small business SEO South Africa”)
Use Google Trends to check if those keywords are rising or falling in interest in South Africa
Tip: Look for keywords with reasonable search volume, low competition, and local intent — great for small-business leads.
5. Optional Free Tools Worth Mentioning
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools — Free version lets you audit backlinks and site health. femaleswitch.com
SE Ranking — Free tier available; good for audit + rank tracking. morningscore.io+1
How to Build Your Own SEO Audit Workflow
Here’s a simple step-by-step audit that you (or your team) can run using the free tools above.
| Step | Tool | What to Check | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Search Console | Coverage / Indexing | Fix any “Excluded” pages you want indexed. |
| 2 | Screaming Frog | Crawl URLs, check broken links (404), redirect chains, missing meta titles/descriptions | Export CSV, prioritise fixes. |
| 3 | SEOptimer | Run full quick audit | Download report, highlight the “Critical” items. |
| 4 | Keyword / Trend Tools | Identify target keywords for your business and market (e.g., South Africa) | Build/update content map around keywords. |
| 5 | Google Search Console | Performance report (Clicks, Impressions, CTR, Avg Position) filtered by South Africa | Set baseline metrics for future comparison. |
| 6 | Schedule review (every 3-6 months) | Run the same audits, compare results | Track improvements and adjust strategy. |
Interactive Checklist: Free SEO Audit for Your Website
✔ I have a free account set up for Google Search Console and my website is verified.
✔ I have run the “Coverage” report and resolved any pages that should be indexed but are not.
✔ I have run a crawl with Screaming Frog (or similar) and addressed broken links, missing tags, redirect loops.
✔ I have run a SEOptimer audit and exported the PDF/report.
✔ I have identified my top 5 target keywords for my business (specific to South Africa).
✔ I have checked Google Trends and ensured these keywords have search interest locally.
✔ I have reviewed my Performance report in Search Console filtered for South Africa and recorded baseline metrics (Clicks, Impressions, Avg Position).
✔ I have created a plan to fix the “Critical” issues from the audits with deadlines assigned.
✔ I will repeat this audit in 3 months to measure progress.
(Tip: You can embed this checklist as a downloadable PDF or interactive checkbox on your website.)
Local South Africa Considerations for Small Businesses
Many global SEO tools and tutorials assume U.S. or UK search behaviour — but local search behaviour in South Africa can differ (e.g., search queries may include regional terms like “Cape Town”, “Johannesburg”, “South Africa”).
Ensure your Google Search Console Performance report filters include Country = South Africa so you target the correct audience.
Mobile use in South Africa is very high — make sure you check mobile-usability in Search Console and page-speed for mobile devices (via e.g., Google PageSpeed Insights).
Local SEO elements matter: ensure your business has an up-to-date listing on Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) and you’re optimising for local keywords (e.g., “digital agency Durban”, “web design Cape Town”).
Use content that speaks to South African small-business owners (budget-conscious, growth-driven) and local case-studies if possible — helps build trust.
When a Free Tool May Not Be Enough
Free tools are fantastic — especially for small-business websites — but they have limitations. For example:
You may have page-/crawl-limits (500 pages, limited queries) with the free version of Screaming Frog.
Backlink databases in free versions are often smaller and less up-to-date.
Advanced features (log file analysis, integrated rank-tracking, competitor comparison) usually require paid tools.
If your website is large, or you operate in a very competitive niche, you may eventually upgrade to paid solutions (e.g., full versions of Semrush, Ahrefs) — but as a small business, you’ll be surprised how far you can go with free tools. learn.g2.com+1
How ArcAxis Digital Can Help
If you’d rather focus on your business and let someone else handle your SEO audit and optimisation, ArcAxis Digital offers full-service digital marketing, web design and SEO for South African businesses. We can –
Perform a comprehensive SEO audit using both free and enterprise tools.
Provide a clear report with prioritized recommendations (technical fixes, content optimisation, keyword strategy).
Implement the fixes (site speed, mobile usability, on-page SEO, local SEO) on your behalf.
Provide ongoing monitoring and quarterly reviews of your performance.
Get in touch for a complimentary initial review: https://arcaxisdigital.com → Contact.
Conclusion | Best Free SEO Tools
Running an SEO audit using free tools doesn’t require a big budget or complex setup — it requires consistency, the right tools and a plan. By using tools like Google Search Console, SEOptimer, Screaming Frog and keyword-research tools, you’ll uncover the issues holding back your rankings and create a path to improvement.
Start your audit today. Check off the interactive list above. And when you’re ready, upgrade your strategy or engage an agency like ArcAxis Digital to accelerate your progress.
Ready to take your website’s SEO to the next level? Reach out to ArcAxis Digital for a free 30-minute consultation and personalised audit of your website. https://arcaxisdigital.com/contact
FAQs
What is an SEO audit and why is it important?
An SEO audit is a full review of a website’s technical setup, content, on-page SEO, and links to find issues that hurt rankings. It’s important because it reveals problems you can fix to improve visibility and traffic.Which free tool should I start with?
Start with Google Search Console — it shows indexing, search performance, Core Web Vitals and errors directly from Google.Can free tools give accurate results?
Yes. Free tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog (free tier) and SEOptimer provide reliable, actionable data for most small websites.How often should I run an SEO audit?
For small businesses, run a basic audit every 3 months and a deep audit (or after major site changes) whenever you redesign or add large amounts of content.Will these tools fix issues automatically?
No — they identify issues and provide recommendations. You or your developer must implement fixes (titles, redirects, speed improvements, etc.).Is Screaming Frog free to use?
Yes — Screaming Frog offers a free version that crawls up to 500 URLs, which is enough for many small sites.How do I check page speed for mobile?
Use Google PageSpeed Insights or the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console to check and prioritise mobile performance issues.Do I need paid tools eventually?
Possibly. Paid tools (Ahrefs, Semrush) offer deeper backlink data, competitor research and scale. Many small sites succeed long-term on free tools first.Can I audit my website myself or should I hire an agency?
You can do a DIY audit using free tools, but agencies add value by prioritising, implementing fixes and tracking results if you lack time or technical skills.How do I prioritise SEO fixes from audit reports?
Fix issues that cause crawl/indexing problems, site speed and mobile usability first. Next, resolve duplicate/missing meta tags and optimize high-value pages.Will fixing technical SEO guarantee higher rankings?
No guarantee. Fixing technical and on-page issues removes barriers so your content can compete — rankings also depend on content quality and backlinks.How do I use keyword tools for local SEO in South Africa?
Use Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends with a South Africa filter. Target city or region keywords (e.g., “digital agency Cape Town”) for local intent.How do I track improvements after an audit?
Record baseline metrics in Google Search Console (clicks, impressions, avg position) and compare them monthly or quarterly after fixes.Are free backlink checkers trustworthy?
Free backlink tools (Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console links report) are useful but may not show the full backlink graph paid tools provide.Can small businesses see quick wins from free audits?
Yes — fixing obvious issues (broken links, missing meta tags, slow pages) often leads to measurable traffic and ranking improvements within weeks to months.
