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CrawlReady AI
Outbound resources

Free SEO tools before you pay for Ahrefs

Ahrefs is powerful but expensive. For new sites like yours, start with these free or freemium tools — then use CrawlReady checkers for crawl, robots.txt, llms.txt, and indexability.

These are outbound links to third-party tools you use off-site. We do not sell Ahrefs or require paid SEO suites for new sites.

Search engines (start here)

  • Google Search Console

    Free indexing reports, sitemap submission, crawl errors, and search performance.

    Tip: Verify your domain, submit /sitemap.xml, inspect top URLs weekly.

  • Bing Webmaster Tools

    Free Bing indexing, keyword ideas, and crawl diagnostics.

    Tip: Verify site, submit sitemap, check IndexNow if you publish often.

  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

    Free site audit for your own verified properties — not the paid Ahrefs suite.

    Tip: Verify ownership; run free Site Audit monthly.

Analytics

  • Google Analytics (GA4)

    Free traffic, landing pages, and conversion tracking.

    Tip: Connect via Google Tag Manager or gtag; track signups and tool usage.

  • Google Tag Manager

    Manage GA4 and other tags without editing code each time.

    Tip: One container per site; publish only after testing in Preview mode.

Keyword research (free tiers)

  • Google Keyword Planner

    Free search volume ranges when you have a Google Ads account.

    Tip: Find question keywords for guides and comparison pages.

  • Ubersuggest

    Limited free keyword and content ideas per day.

    Tip: Use for quick UK/US keyword checks; export sparingly on free plan.

  • Semrush (free limits)

    Free account with capped queries for keywords and site audit.

    Tip: Run one site audit per month; focus on errors CrawlReady does not cover.

Technical crawl audit

  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider

    Desktop crawler — free up to 500 URLs per crawl.

    Tip: Crawl sitemap URLs; fix broken href links, missing titles, duplicate H1s.

  • CrawlReady AI (this site)

    Free robots.txt, llms.txt, AI bot access, metadata, and indexability checks.

    Tip: Run a full-site audit before paying for enterprise tools.

Browser extensions

  • SEO Minion

    On-page checks: title, meta, hreflang, and SERP preview in Chrome.

    Tip: Spot-check new pages after publish.

  • Detailed SEO Extension

    Headings, schema, canonical, and social tags in one click.

    Tip: Verify canonical href and JSON-LD on landing pages.

Quick setup checklist

  1. Verify Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools (meta tags in site <head>).
  2. Submit https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml in both consoles.
  3. Enable GA4 via GTM or gtag — track trials, signups, and top landing pages.
  4. Publish llms.txt and robots.txt at your domain root.
  5. Crawl with Screaming Frog (≤500 URLs) or CrawlReady /audit.

See also: Google generative AI search guide · Free site audit