FIND THE BEST SEO TOOLS THAT ANYONE CAN USE HERE.
I’VE DONE THE WORK FOR YOU AND VETTED A LIST OF SEO TOOLS FOR ANY WEBSITE OR BUSINESS.
Without SEO tools, how can you efficiently and effectively conduct research, website diagnostics and identify search opportunities? The answer is: very difficult.
Well, you’re in luck. Here’s a very carefully crafted list of some of my favorite, go-to SEO tools for keyword research, competitive insights and site diagnostics that anyone can use. These tools will save you time and make your SEO updates a lot more effective!
There are so many resources for tools out there but which ones do you actually need? Below provides some of my favorite SEO research and diagnostic tools that small businesses, bloggers, and any website owner can benefit from using.
Psst, stay tuned for detailed breakouts for each tool and step-by-step instructions on how to use them. (The goal here isn’t to evaluate every SEO tool on the market but only provide my favorites for performing key SEO use-cases.)
SEMrush
Top Use Cases: Keyword research, competitive insight, keyword ranking, and site auditing
What I Like About It
SEMrush is my go-to tool for evaluating everything related to SEO. They are constantly adding new features to better research and track organic search data. There is a free option with a decent amount of data available but there is also a paid subscription that allows for regular site tracking and more research data.
How I Use It
I use SEMrush on a daily basis for different use cases:
- Keyword research: checking search volume and related keywords as well as their keyword magic tool for brainstorming new keyword opportunities
- Competitive insights: seeing what keywords competitors are ranking for and what’s driving the most traffic to competitive sites
- Content gaps and opportunities: SEMrush allows you to check overlapping keywords and gaps compared to competitive sites
- Backlink monitoring and auditing: the paid subscription performs weekly backlink audits to make sure your backlink profile is healthy
- Site audits: the paid subscription performs weekly audits with SEO diagnostics so you can track and trend site health
- Strategic ranking insights: SEMrush provides content optimization and backlink opportunities for targeted keyword ranking campaigns
Other Cool Features
The SEO Content Template provides a targeted outline and guide to creating new content for specific keywords, providing competitive insights and must-have semantics (in order to rank well). You can export this information to easily provide to copywriters and content creators.
MozPro
Top Use Cases: Keyword research, backlink opportunities, keyword ranking, and reporting
What I Like About It
Moz has an easy-to-use user interface and SEO research tools that cover the full spectrum of on-site and off-site SEO opportunities. Open Site Explorer also provides a helpful competitive comparison with Domain and Page Authority metrics (allowing you to compare your site’s backlinks to competitors). Some of the research tools, such as the Keyword Explorer and Open Site Explorer, are free with added data and tracking in the paid subscription.
How I Use It
- Regular SEO reporting: Moz provides capability to do branded reports for small agencies and small businesses looking to track specific metrics
- Keyword ranking insights: you can track keywords on a national and local level to get a better picture of how local users find your site
- Keyword research: the Keyword Explorer provides a helpful list of related topics to brainstorm content creation opportunities
- Backlink opportunities: Moz provides instances of branded mentions online so you can reach out to ask for links back to your site
Other Cool Features
The Keyword Explorer can be helpful to brainstorm new opportunities for content topics, particularly for targeting rich answers (segment by questions to get queries likely showing rich answers).
Ahrefs
Top Use Cases: Backlink research, competitive insights, and content opportunities
What I Like About It
Ahrefs has a much more comprehensive backlink database than SEMrush or Moz, so I use Ahrefs as the “source of truth” for incoming backlinks (links from other domains). They also have their proprietary Domain and Page Rating score, which rates the general competitiveness of a website as determined by backlinks.
How I Use It
- Backlink monitoring: Ahrefs has a comprehensive link database so it’s easy to track success of link building initiatives
- Broken and lost backlink tracking: regular monitoring for lost backlinks and backlinks into broken pages can help spot easy-wins to recapture external links
- Competitive analysis: research top linked and shared pages of competitors to spot content and backlink opportunities
- Anchor text monitoring: see how most sites are linking to yours and what anchor text they are using (what text is most commonly linked)
- Keyword ranking: track your ranking keywords and see what terms are driving the most traffic
Other Cool Features
Ahrefs’ content gap analysis provides a comprehensive look into new content opportunities compared to competitors. The paid subscription also allows you to track projects, keyword ranking progress and regularly audit your site.
BuzzSumo
Top Use Cases: Content opportunities, competitive research, and social media insights
What I Like About It
BuzzSumo is a super useful content discovery and competitive analysis tool. It uncovers the most popular content for a given keyword or category as well as related influencers.
How I Use It
- Most popular content: search by keyword or phrase to discover the most shared content for that topic
- Content research: review different types of content mediums (infographic, article, video, etc.) to see what performs the best for your target phrase
- Competitive research: see what competitors are up to and their most shared content
- Influencer research: find the top influencers in your target market to create relationships with for outreach and link building efforts
Other Cool Features
BuzzSumo’s Question Analyzer can be helpful in identifying content opportunities targeting rich answers. You can also set up content alerts for specific topics and keywords.
Disclaimer: some of these links are affiliate links, which means I may get a small commission if you purchase. I would never recommend a tool that I haven’t used first and don’t personally recommend!