A dream comes true for many SEO newbies. All the Firefox extensions for SEO make expensive SEO software history. I use a few of the extensions listed below. I hope you’ll find my list useful too. Because, take it from me: they will make your job easier.

1.SeoQuake

With a mascot that brings a smile on your face, but also raises some questions like “what exactly was in the mind of the designer” SeoQuake offers probably the most complete Firefox extension to help you with your SEO endeavors. I do not use it because the amount of SE parameters provided by this program is too high for what I really need. Besides, the extension creators have a big warning for any SEO enthusiast who uses the tool carelessly: “ATTENTION! Frequent use of big amount of parameters may lead to the ban from SE.” Yet, if you know your job and you just want to use the tool sporadically, SeoQuake has almost all the answers.

2.SearchStatus

SearchStatus is an extension for both Firefox and Mozilla and, although at the first sight it is not the most extraordinary tool on the block, it does provide really useful information that could be used if you visit a site in a rush and all you want to collect is information on its Google PageRank, category, Alexa rankings and incoming links and Compete ranks. SearchStatus works on the Mac, contains no spyware and it’s already popular among Firefox users (including yours truly).

3.SEO for Firefox

What I use on daily basis is a plugin released by Aaron Wall. Because I have this wonderful free tool and Aaron Wall’s SEO book, there is not more I need to be able to serve my clients properly. Well… I have to include my own skills at the list, but I’ll do that in a future entry. Anyway, Aaron’s Firefox plugin is the best proof that the most effective SEO tools are free. Aaron gives a very comprehensive tutorial on how to use this SEO tool on the download page on his site. The plugin is called: SEO for Firefox.

4.SEO Hand

This is a great tool. Probably the best of the ones already enumerated, but I do not plan to make a top. SEO Hand tracks Google placement for any keyword. So if you want to know where your website ranks in Google, use this Firefox extension. Do you need me to say more? OK. Let’s just say that without this tool you’d need to pay an SEO expert to do some reports for you (most often software generated) or to perform manual searched. The tool is still in beta and it requires registration (I wonder why they need to collect private information like Name, Country, Zip, Email Address…)

5.Firebug

I bet this one makes you wonder: what is a Firebug? A bug on fire? A bug of fire? No! Firebug is a webcoder’s dream come true: it integrates with the Firefox browser allowing you to edit, debug and monitor HTML and CSS codes in any web page you visit. Why is this an SEO tool? Good question. Well, because HTML is what bots read. And HTML is what you need to optimize to get good SE rankings.

6.HTML Validator

You already know that HTML is what bots are interested in and it is pretty safe to assume that the bots prefer correct HTML. Valid HTML. As a Firefox user you are fortunate enough not to have to type into your browser http://validator.w3.org/ each time you need to check the HTML validity of a site. Use this tool and you’ll get the results revealed in a flash.

7.Total Validator

If the HTML validator has some limitations, the Total Validator is probably the best validation tool provided for Firefox. It nor only checks to see your website’s compliance with the W3C standards, but it also includes a spell checker, a section 508 accessibility validation and it even takes a screenshot of the site you analyze.

8. RankQuest SEO Toolbar

More than 30 SEO tools just a few clicks away. Some are already included by the already listed Firefox plugins plus a few extras. RankQuest is useful if you are really lazy…

9. Niche Watch

Would you like to know how your competitors are ranking without having to work hours and hours to get their stats for the keywords you believe they target? Niche Watch is your answer…

10. KGen

A keyword generator. Free tool, perfect when you need to know what to target and perfect to generate unique keyword combinations (for the long tail SEO). Now, it doesn’t do the same thing as Ouverture or Wordtraker. Use it to analyze competitor websites and learn what onsite SEO element makes them successful. It’s not the easiest tool to use, because some of the terms it returns make no sense for the SEO newbies. But even so, it is great to see the keyword density on a high ranking site. Just remember: don’t copy what they do. Their rankings might be a strike of luck. If a keyword density is too high, Google and the other search engines will penalize them.

Well, that’s my top 10 Firefox Extensions List. If there is something else you’d like to know, leave a comment and I will answer.