Top 11 SEO Tools Every Marketer Should Use

To be successful with SEO, you must use the right SEO tools. Here is a list of top 11 SEO tools every SEO agency should use in 2020.

Modern Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practices dictate that a combination of tools must be used to ensure agency clients perform strongly across search engines. In Australia, the market is dominated by Google meaning the majority of efforts are around optimising for Google search. At Sharp Instincts the opening questions we often get asked when meeting new clients is “How important is rankings in driving business performance?” and “Do you really need SEO tools to measure performance?” The answer to the first question is that rankings are exceptionally important when looking at overall business performance. As a result of this, the need to use a variety of tools to measure performance is critical. Whether you are analysing traffic, searching for the optimal keywords, trying to curate excellent content, creating client reports, tracking keywords rankings or determining your website traffic funnels there are a variety of tools to help your SEO optimization effective, accurate & make us do it quickly. In this blog, we provide an overview of the 11 best SEO tools we recommend to use in your daily SEO practices:

1. MOZ:

Moz is the quintessential tool for SEO practices for an agency claiming to be an SEO led company. Depending on the level of product purchased there is a variety of modules including keyword tracking, keyword research tools, backlinks status checks, competitor’s analysis tools, keyword and page opportunities for optimizing web along with quite a few others. In our opinion if budgets are tight and you are trying to minimise monthly subscriptions this is one to go with. The subscription starts at $99 (USD) with monthly & annual subscription options that come with decent discounts.

2. Ahrefs:

Ahrefs is the #1 option if you are trying analyse backlinking tools. The primary use for these backlinks check will be to analyse your own website and your competitors website. Ahrefs also has a content explorer feature which helps to search the most popular content on the web. The subscription costs starts at $7 per a week trial with both monthly & annual subscription options.

3. SEMRush:

SEO research tool, SEMRush is an all-time favourite amongst the SEO community. The coolest feature on this tool is a domain vs. domain SERP competitor performance which is great if you are eyeing off one competitor in particular. In Australia which appears to be a low priority for SEMRush due to the lack of population, we found the numbers a little off. In particular any of the features around Google Ads seems to be coming from sticking a finger up in the air. In any respect, other than the domain comparison, there is a keywords analysis tool, traffic analysis, backlinks & few others. Its subscription starts at $99 and can be a good tool if you are looking for a suite of options to compare results and insights.

4. Ubersuggest:

A great little tool for keywords research called Ubersuggest. The best usage of this tool for marketers is to generate keywords ideas for content marketing & website SEO. The tool is also freeware which means it does not require money which is a win.

5. BuzzSumo:

BuzzSumo is becoming increasingly widely used tool for content research. The best feature of this tool is that it shows the number of shares on social media platforms for a particular blog on any topic you search. In other words it can help marketers to understand, what content their audience is looking for and how willing users are to share and comment on that content. Apart from content research, the tool also allows Facebook post analysis, question analysis, backlinks & few other un-noteworthy tools. If social and content creation is a critical part of your SEO Strategy then the subscription starts at $79 (USD) with monthly & annual subscription options.

6. Screaming Frog:

Most SEO marketers consider Screaming Frog, one of the best SEO tools in the tool kit. It promptly analyses your website, and breaks down all the key SEO factors such as titles, descriptions, heading tags, alt tags & other missing and duplicate elements. This tool also handily informs you about duplicate content problems, errors to fix, bad redirections and areas of improvement for link building. If your website is a long way off right now, this might be the tool to start with. The subscription can be started for free with the paid version costing a hefty £149.00/month.

7. AnswerThePublic:

This tool allows you to generate keywords ideas in seconds for particular terms. AnswerThePublic has become another very popular keyword research tools due to the array of terms it spits out. This tool helps you analyse keywords ideas, questions and propositions. It offers both a free option and a paid subscriptions starting at $49/month. There’s a few tools out there that do this so worth a look but probably see what your primary SEO tool does first before signing up for the paid verison.

8. Woorank’s SEO & Website Analysis Tool:

WooRank allows you to get a list of SEO improvements in a matter of seconds. It analyses a website on some pre-defined points which are considered critical elements for SERPs including website titles & description, social signals, mobile speed & friendliness & a lot more. Apart from a free trial of 14 days, its subscription starts at free to $ 59/month. Good little tool for pitching to new clients.

9. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test:

Google’s mobile friendly test is a powerful tool to help SEO marketers get their website ready for mobile devices. Google’s renewed focus on mobile friendly websites has led to the release of their algorithm called “Mobile-First Indexing.” It’s a completely free tool that demonstrates the scope of improvements as well.

10. Google Search Console:

Formally known as the Google Webmasters Tool, Google Search Console is a critical tool for any SEO agency or marketing expert. After implementing the tracking code to your website, the Google Console starts collecting important metrics about your website including linked websites, backlinks, visited pages & keywords (according to impressions, clicks & rankings) and website indexing issues. This is a no brainer for all businesses.

11. Yoast (WordPress) Plugin:

Yoast is a free plugin built for WordPress sites. Yoast will give you a break down of each page in terms of content, snippet, title and keyword focus for that page. This is an excellent plugin that if you have a WordPress site should be installed. Just bear in mind that the number of plugins you have on your site affects the speed and potentially security of your site. Yoast has both a free option or $89 USD for a single site.   That encompasses our most useful SEO tools which you can use for your agency or business. We suggest picking one or two to start and up-skilling yourself to learn how to get the most of out them and your money. Free free to leave a comment below & let us know which SEO tool is your favourite. Did we miss any other important tools that you love? Let us know!