Because of the many options marketers have, modern marketers often face far more issues than their predecessors. It is no longer enough to slap your logo or product on a billboard or newspaper and wait for customers to find you.
Now, more is expected from marketers and brands. From creating a website to launching ads and writing blogs to posting on social media, it is important to seize every opportunity to put yourself out there. This means a massive investment of time, money, energy, and resources to keep your business afloat. As more competition grows in what seems like every industry, having a strong online presence is beyond necessary.
This is where SEO comes into play. SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search results.
If your site isn’t ranking in search results or isn’t ranking as well as you’d like, it’s time to analyze your SEO strategy. How do you do that, you ask? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Below are several tools categorized based on the pillar of SEO they are most suited for.
The possibilities are vast, from keyword research and content creation to website audit and link building. You can use SEO tools to review the backlinks and oversee the results of your content placed in blogs. In the same way, you track the results of your ad campaigns, SEO programs equip you with the data to create a successful marketing strategy and an effective lead generation process.
Let’s get started.
SEO Tools for Keyword Research
1. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is an excellent tool for keyword research. The best part? It provides insights directly from Google’s search engine. It’s great for discovering search volume and competition levels. And there’s more – because it is designed for ad campaigns, it helps you understand the bid estimates for your selected keywords.
Pricing: Free
2. Moz Keyword Explorer
When it comes to the world of SEO, Moz knows what they’re doing! Thus, it’s no surprise that they’ve developed a tool that aids in keyword research.
Moz Keyword Explorer goes beyond just providing just search volume information; it also gives you a priority score to help you focus on the most promising keywords. Moz automatically calculates this score based on organic search volume, potential CTR, and difficulty score.
The platform comes in both the paid and free versions. However, the free version is limited to 10 queries per month.
Pricing: The starting point is at $99/month and allows up to 150 keyword queries/month.
3. Ahrefs SEO Tools
While you will need to pay monthly to access the plethora of services that Ahrefs offers, it does offer a free keyword research tool. The free service allows you to pick between the different search engines, Google, Amazon, YouTube and Bing, and the country as well.
The free version offers up to 100 keyword ideas, along with data on keyword difficulty, search volume, and when it was last updated.
Pricing: The starting point is at $99/month and allows you to track up to 750 keywords.
SEO Tools for Crawling and Indexing
4. Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog is a great tool to identify technical issues on your site. It provides data on 404 errors, 301 errors, duplicated content, missing alt tags and much more.
Screaming Frog also offers a free version, however there is a crawl limit of 500.
Pricing: $259/year
5. Redirect Path
Redirect Path is a chrome browser extension that visualizes the path your web browsers takes when you click on a link. Think of it as your digital navigation tool; it unveils the steps the browser had to take to reach the final destination URL.
Why is this important? Well, as a website owner, it reveals any detours that your users had to take before landing on the final URL. This information will allow you to remove any unnecessary redirects that exist on the site.
Pricing: Free
6. Lumar
Formerly known as DeepCrawl, Lumar provides the technical SEO metrics you need to optimize better. With capabilities to crawl over 400 URLs per second, you’ll have the data you need in no time.
Lumar makes it extremely easy for you to identify issues that are holding back your site. From broken links, page speed issues, to duplicate content, Lumar will help you find new opportunities for organic growth.
Pricing: You will need to request pricing
SEO Tools for Local SEO
7. Google Business Profile
Think of Google Business Profile as your online business card. If you want to rank locally, having a Google profile is a must. It provides your customers with basic information about your business i.e., address, phone number, opening hours, reviews, etc.
Whether you have a physical store or you offer services, having a Google Business Profile will make it easier for your customers to find you.
Pricing: Free
8. Local SERP Checker
Want to find out how you’re ranking in search results in other surrounding areas or states? Well, this is the tool for you. The Local SERP Checker provides insights on how you’re ranking for your priority keywords in local regions.
The free version allows up to 10 searches per day.
Pricing: Starting at $35/month
9. Moz Local
This is the second time Moz is appearing on our list. We, at Bottle Rocket Media, love Moz’s capabilities. Not only is it great for keyword research, but it also excels in Local SEO.
Moz Local lets you assess the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of your listings. It checks citations across Google, Facebook, Bing and other search engines. If any data is missing or inaccurate, it alerts you.
Pricing: Starting at $14/month
SEO Tools for Mobile SEO
10. PageSpeed Insights
PageSpeed Insights acts as your personal detective when it comes to your website performance. The tool assesses how fast your website loads and offers suggestions for improvements.
This tool is an absolute must for anyone wanting to improve their rankings in search results, as user experience and page load time play a major role in determining your website rank.
Pricing: Free
11. WebPageTest
Similar to PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest provides a detailed report on load time, speed, and overall user experience. It stimulates real-world scenarios based on the browser, speed connection, and location and offers potential areas of improvement.
It is a valuable asset for both website owners and developers as it helps identify problematic codes, resulting in faster load time for your visitors.
Pricing: Free, but if you want more out of the platform, plans start at $15/month
12. Mobile Friendly Test
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is a complementary service offered by Google which emphasizes the importance of online mobile experience. Although not very detailed, it’s a free tool and it helps you identify issues on the site.
Pricing: Free
SEO Tools for Content
13. Yoast Real-Time Content Analysis
Yoast Real-Time Content Analysis acts as your virtual writing coach. The tool offers instant feedback on your writing and gives you an SEO score. It takes into consideration word count, readability, metadata, keyword usage etc.
If you’re a content writer and are looking to create compelling and SEO-friendly content, look no further.
Pricing: Free
14. SEMrush Writing Assistant
Similar to Yoast, the Writing Assistant offers instant feedback on your content. The tool leverages real-time data by analyzing the content of your competitors and providing feedback on how you can better optimize your content.
Not only that, but it also checks your copy for originality, tone, readability, and engagement.
Pricing: Starting at 129.95/month
Conclusion
Finding the right SEO program from the many options available can be daunting. However, we did the digging for you and highlighted some of the best and the most highly rated tools by both large and small businesses. These tools are designed to simplify the complex elements of SEO, making it accessible to those without advanced optimization skills. Using the appropriate SEO tool can enhance your search rankings, increase website traffic, and save time and effort.
We’d love to help you develop the perfect video project for your brand and the video SEO strategy that increases its visibility. To learn more about Bottle Rocket Media’s video production services and other services like motion graphics services, connect with us to start your video project.