Using dedicated tools is now essential in web marketing for attracting online visitors. However, many people are unsure which tools to use.

Therefore, this time we have selected ten recommended web marketing tools, both free and paid. Each one is highly useful, so consider exploring them.

Top 5 Free Web Marketing Tools

First, let’s introduce five representative web marketing tools that are available for free. All the tools introduced here are provided by Google and offer exceptional features that are hard to believe are free.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tool that can analyze all sorts of data related to website management. It allows you to analyze essential metrics for web marketing, such as ‘number of site visitors,’ ‘users browsing in real-time,’ ‘conversion rate (CVR),’ and more.

<Metrics measurable by Google Analytics>

• -Number of sessions
• -Number of page views (PV)
• -Pages per session
• -Traffic sources
• -Bounce rate
• -Conversion rate, etc.

Due to the wide range of data available for analysis, it is not a tool that beginners can immediately master. However, becoming proficient in Google Analytics can significantly enhance your ability to test hypotheses and increase web traffic.

Therefore, it is recommended for web managers to regularly use and familiarize themselves with Google Analytics.

Related Article: What is Google Analytics? Introduction, Usage, and Explanation of Terms

Benefits of Implementing Tools

Implementing Google Analytics allows you to analyze your site’s traffic and makes it easier to design pathways that lead to conversions.

For example, one of the metrics in Google Analytics is the ‘bounce rate,’ which indicates the percentage of users who leave the site after viewing only the first page. A high bounce rate could mean that your content is not providing enough value to the users.

This insight allows you to consider strategies such as ‘creating content that matches search intent’ and ‘setting up internal links to increase site navigability.’ By identifying weaknesses within the site, you can create an optimal pathway design that leads to conversions.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is primarily a tool for checking your site’s search ranking. While Google Analytics has some limitations, such as weak keyword analysis capabilities, using it in conjunction with Google Search Console can enhance the accuracy of your site analysis.

The main functionalities of Google Search Console are as follows.

<The main functionalities of Google Search Console>

• Checking your display ranking
• Identifying issues on your site and applying for reindexing
• Checking the number of times your site appears for specific keywords
• Requesting faster indexing for newly created content, etc.

Besides measuring search rankings, it also has features to identify site issues, add sitemaps, and more. With these convenient features, Google Search Console is an indispensable tool for SEO.

Related Article: What is Google Search Console? Introduction and How to Use

Benefits of Implementing This Tool

Using Google Search Console allows you to easily decide when to rewrite by checking the search rankings of your site. Rewriting articles to update them with the latest information or improve their quality is essential for current SEO.

By utilizing Google Search Console, you can understand metrics like ‘click-through rate relative to the number of impressions.’ For example, if you rewrite articles that rank high and consistently maintain high rankings, you can ensure a stable influx of traffic to your site.

In addition to checking search rankings, it provides essential functionalities for site management, such as viewing sites that link back to yours, denying malicious backlinks, and checking whether pages are indexed.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a tool that allows you to research search trends for various keywords. It lets you discover when and in which regions certain keywords are most searched.

For example, if you search for ‘study desks,’ you’ll find that they were most searched between February 21 and 27, 2021. As study desks are often purchased before the new school term starts, using Google Trends can help you precisely time your campaigns and content distribution.

Benefits of Implementing Tools

The advantage of using Google Trends is that it allows for deeper analysis of keywords, which can be highly useful for content creation. For example, it has been found that the keyword ‘study desk’ was most searched between January and April 2021.

By understanding search trends with Google Trends, you can strategically plan your content in advance, ensuring it is ready for when searches peak. This makes Google Trends an essential tool for content planning.

Mobile-Friendly Test

The Mobile-Friendly Test is a tool provided by Google that measures whether a website is mobile-friendly.

Current SEO emphasizes not only desktop compatibility but also mobile-friendliness. Websites that are easy to view on mobile devices are more likely to receive positive evaluations from Google and positively influence SEO ratings.

The ‘Mobile-Friendly Test’ allows you to verify if your site is mobile-friendly.

Benefits of Implementing the Tool

The benefit of the Mobile-Friendly Test is that Google officially measures whether your site is truly mobile-compatible. Even if you have implemented mobile-friendly measures, you might still feel unsure if they are fully effective.

By entering your site’s URL into the Mobile-Friendly Test, you can confirm whether it is mobile-friendly.

If it is not mobile-friendly, the test will display ‘This page is not mobile-friendly,’ and it will also show the reasons why, allowing you to take specific corrective actions.

PageSpeed Insights

PageSpeed Insights is a Google tool that evaluates the speed of your website’s loading time.

Current SEO prioritizes how quickly a site loads, and page loading speed impacts search rankings. Slow page loading speeds can frustrate users and potentially lower your site’s rating by Google.

This is where PageSpeed Insights comes in to help you check your page’s loading speed.

Benefits of Implementing the Tool

The advantage of using PageSpeed Insights is that Google officially assesses whether your site loads quickly. Even if you have implemented measures to improve page loading speed, you might still wonder if they are effective.

As shown in the image above, by entering your URL into PageSpeed Insights, it rates your loading speed on a scale of up to 100 points. It also suggests ‘areas for improvement,’ allowing you to devise concrete strategies for enhancement.

Top 5 Recommended Paid Tools for Web Marketing

Alongside free tools, here are five recommended paid tools you might want to consider using.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a highly popular traffic analysis tool among SEO analysis tools. It is used globally and is extensively utilized by companies in Japan for SEO.

With Ahrefs, you can analyze the following data.

• The number of backlinks acquired
• Analyzing competitors’ backlinks and organic search keywords
• Checking the unique ranking ‘Ahrefs Rank’
• The total number of keywords appearing within the top 100 search results

Ahrefs allows for detailed SEO analysis that isn’t possible with free tools. It is available starting from $99 per month (approximately 11,223 yen).

Recommended for the Following companies

Ahrefs is capable of detailed SEO analysis, making it suitable for the following types of companies.

• Companies that want to check the number of backlinks and strengthen their external strategies
• Companies experiencing an increase in traffic from SEO and want to conduct more precise A/B testing
• Companies that want to analyze competitors’ sites to differentiate their own site

Like Google Analytics, Ahrefs allows for specialized analysis but is not a tool for beginners. It is also a paid tool, so companies with a certain level of SEO understanding should consider using it.

SimilarWeb

SimilarWeb is an access analysis tool that can perform SEO analysis just by entering a website’s URL. SimilarWeb can analyze the following data.

<What you can analyze with SimilarWeb>

• Top search keywords
• Traffic from social media
• Devices used by users
• Competitors’ site traffic and inflow paths
• Number of app downloads and usage scenarios

Similar to Ahrefs, SimilarWeb enables detailed SEO analysis, including competitors’ sites. Companies focused on SEO strategies should consider adopting this tool.

Recommended for the Following companies

Similar to Ahrefs, but with unique app analysis features, SimilarWeb is recommended for companies that have released iOS or Android apps. Therefore, it is more suitable than Ahrefs for these companies.

<Companies recommended to use SimilarWeb>

• Companies that want to analyze the number of downloads and usage times of their released apps
• Companies experiencing an increase in traffic from SEO and want to conduct more precise A/B testing
• Companies that want to analyze competitors’ sites to differentiate their own site

SimilarWeb is also a paid tool that shines when the user has a certain level of SEO understanding. Using it without sufficient SEO knowledge might not yield the best results.

Contentsquare

Contentsquare is a highly popular heatmap tool used globally. Among the many heatmap tools, Contentsquare boasts numerous implementation achievements.

A heatmap tool visually represents how users interact with a website using color. It shows where users click or tap, allowing analysis of user behavior and content engagement.

In addition to being a heatmap tool, Contentsquare can also analyze metrics such as sessions and conversion rates.

Recommended for the Following companies

Contentsquare is recommended for companies that want to design their site’s user flow. For example, if the content you want users to click on is not highlighted, it could indicate issues with the title, design, or user interest level.

By identifying these issues, forming hypotheses, and making improvements, you can enhance the precision of your user flow design and ultimately increase your conversion rate (CVR).

Additionally, since Contentsquare can analyze sessions and conversion rates, it is not just a heatmap tool but also useful for comprehensive SEO analysis.

SEMRUSH

Semrush is a multifunctional SEO tool used by over 7 million people worldwide.

It allows for various investigations and analyses related to the SEO of both your site and competitors’ sites.

In addition to SEO, it offers functions for ad analysis, social media analysis, traffic analysis, and more, making it a valuable tool for web marketers.

When formulating keyword strategies, Semrush helps compare the search queries targeted by competitors with those targeted by your own company. It identifies missing search queries and suggests keywords not shown by Google Adwords.

Recommended for the Following companies

Semrush is ideal for web marketers who handle not only SEO but also web advertising and social media marketing. It includes features from both Ahrefs and SimilarWeb.

Moreover, ORO Corporation and the Semrush team provide usage support via ZOOM and email.

It is a highly recommended web marketing tool for modern web marketers.

Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner is a tool for analyzing the volume and competition of search keywords. Although it is primarily for Google Ads, it is widely used by companies involved in SEO.

Search volume represents the number of times a keyword is searched monthly. The higher the search volume of a keyword, the more significant traffic you can expect if your site ranks high in search results.

However, keywords with high search volumes often face strong competition, while those with lower volumes are easier to rank higher for.

While Keyword Planner can be used for free, it only shows vague numbers like ‘100-1,000’ for search volume. To obtain precise search volumes, you need to pay for Google Ads monthly.

Recommended for the Following companies

Keyword Planner is highly useful for companies implementing content SEO. It can extract related keywords. For example, entering ‘law’ will display a list of related keywords and their search volumes.

Therefore, Keyword Planner is invaluable when determining keywords for content SEO.

Bonus: GRC

GRC is a tool that can measure the search rankings of multiple sites. By entering your site’s URL and keywords, you can measure the search rankings on three sites: ‘Google’, ‘Yahoo!’, and ‘Bing’.

You can measure rankings once per day and register multiple URLs, making it a recommended tool for companies that want to collectively manage the ranking measurements of all pages of their site.

Recommended for the Following companies

GRC is recommended for companies that want to understand the trends in their site’s search rankings and determine the timing for rewriting content. By grasping the trends in search rankings, companies can form hypotheses about ‘what kind of content is being read’ and reflect these insights in future content creation.

Additionally, since you can measure rankings once a day, you can identify the timing of ‘rising search rankings’ and ‘falling search rankings’ and use this information to decide when to update articles. Therefore, it is an essential tool for companies implementing content SEO.

Summary

To increase traffic from the web through web marketing, tools are indispensable. The free tools provided by Google are all highly functional, so it is recommended to try them all. On the other hand, if you are seriously focusing on SEO strategies, consider using paid tools as well. The paid tools introduced in this article are all convenient for SEO strategies.

Author Profile

International Web Consultant Paveena Suphawet

A trilingual professional in English, Thai, and Japanese, she has numerous achievements in international SEO. She studied the latest IT technologies at Assumption International University, Thailand, and majored in International Business at the University of Greenwich, UK. Following her tenure at ExxonMobil’s Thai branch, she became a key member of Admano from its establishment.

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