It seems like there are unlimited SEO tools available today to help you stay on top of an SEO strategy and your overall Internet marketing plan. If you’re new to Internet marketing or a business owner trying to reach your customers, then you should check out my Top 5 Best SEO tools that will help you optimize your website. Each tool can provide great analytical insight to help you compete online within your industry. Below is a brief overview of my favorite SEO tools.
The Best SEO Tools
Google Keyword Planner
Since most SEO efforts start with keyword research, our first SEO tool has to be the Google Keyword Planner tool. This free AdWords tool provides an abundance of knowledge and analytics beyond helping you choose viable keywords for Google AdWords Campaigns. The keyword planner is great for organic SEO strategies as well. Enter a keyword (or a group of keywords) related to your industry and this tool will return analytics on those keywords as well as related keywords. One of the most telling statistics you will receive is the “Average Monthly Searches” for each keyword.
This will give you insight on whether your customers are using the keywords you think they’re searching for or you may find they are using different keywords in their search. There is also a category labeled “Competition” that will give you an idea how many businesses are competing on a keyword for an AdWords campaign. Even though it’s a metric for PPC (paid per click) it will also give you an idea of the value of those keywords. So if a lot of advertisers are bidding on a specific keyword, then most likely there is organic SEO value there as well. There are lots of filters to sort your searches by location, languages or network settings. So get to know the ins and outs of this tool, as you will spend many hours using it to perfect your SEO strategy.
Yoast SEO
This is a popular free WordPress plugin that can help you carryout your on-page SEO strategy. Since WordPress has a large part of the CMS (content management system) website market, I have to include this invaluable plugin. After you have researched your keywords, implemented them into your website copy and optimized your images, Yoast SEO will make it easier for you to create your Titles and Descriptions that will appear in a search engine result.
There is much more to Yoast then just Meta descriptions. You can enter other Meta data about your company that will add to how Google displays your info in their knowledge graph. There is an XML sitemap creator that will help you create a sitemap that you can submit to search engines to instruct them on how to crawl your website. Use the page analysis tab on each page or post as a checklist for your on-page optimization efforts.
So if you have a WordPress website, which most small to medium size businesses do these days, then Yoast SEO is a must have SEO tool!
Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool
Here is another great free SEO tool that helps you quickly analyze a website from an on-page optimization standpoint. Instead of checking each page of a website manually, the Screaming Frog tool can provide you information about page URLs, titles, meta descriptions, page headings, and more at a click of a button. Promptly find broken link errors, duplicated pages and other on-page issues so you know what to address to improve your overall SEO efforts.
If your website consists of many pages or you are managing multiple sites then I highly recommend you get familiar with this SEO tool.
Google Search Console
Here is another free web based tool that promotes a healthy website. Formerly known as Webmasters, Google Search Console helps you to gather data and provide diagnostics on your site to help you constantly make improvements. One of the most important features with the Search Console are the display of errors notices that Google will provide to help you understand how the search engine is indexing your site. Use the Search Console to fix any page with errors to help your website perform better in search results. You can also setup email alerts so you can take care of any indexing issues right away. Features like “search traffic” can provide valuable information about links to your website, which keywords prompt your website to show up in a search result and info on mobile usability. Also if there are any security issues with your website, you can find that info in the Search Console dashboard as well. If you haven’t connected your website to Search Console, then make sure to put that on your To Do list today.
Ahrefs SEO Analysis
This is a comprehensive tool for discovering backlinks, optimizing content and more advance keyword research. Links still play a major role in SEO today, so make sure you have a link earning strategy. Ahrefs has the largest database of live backlinks and is regularly updated approximately every 15 minutes. You can also compare the backlinks of your competitors. Knowing your competitors backlinks can help you to explore new link building opportunities for your website.
While Ahrefs is well known for their backlink library they are also known for bulk keyword research. There are other keyword research tools that examine multiple keywords at once. For example SEMRush will analyze the top 20 keyword positions whereas Ahrefs has the top 100. One thing to note is Ahrefs only focuses on the US and UK at the moment but plans to roll out more countries for keyword analysis in the near future.
There are hundreds of SEO tools available today. The best way to decide which tool is right for you will depend on your needs as a business owner or Internet marketing specialist. If you have a question about how to use any of the best SEO tools mentioned above or would like to know about other web-based applications that can help you with your SEO strategy, then send us a message or call us at 202-683-6881. We look forward to talking strategy and providing you with information that will help you succeed in the world of Internet marketing.
