27 Best SEO Tools of 2024 (Honest Reviews and Free Options)
Choosing the right SEO tools is vitally important to your business. From keyword tracking to backlink analysis, the best SEO tools can help you meet your goals. In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the 27 best SEO tools, along with my top 5 choices, so you can pick the best one.
Jasper
Jasper is an AI content and copywriting assistant that assists content makers in creating highly-optimized and engaging content in a fraction of the time. Use various templates to cut down on the time it takes to create content.
Surfer
SurferSEO provides a one-stop shop data experience for SEOs, making keyword research, website analysis, and competitor analysis easier and faster than ever. It also integrates with various software to provide deep insights into a website’s performance.
Ahrefs
Many SEOs rely on Ahrefs for their link building and keyword research needs. The toolset is comprehensive, yet easy to use, making it a great choice for both beginners and experienced SEOs.
We’re reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
SEO is a vast field. And a lot has changed over the last ten years.
It seems like Google changes its algorithm, and websites all scrambling to figure things out.
Luckily, with the rise of AI and SEO tools, it’s easier than ever to know how to do SEO right.
In this post, I ranked and reviewed the best SEO tools so that you can raise your SEO game this year.
Let’s get to the list.
What Are the Best SEO Tools?
Here are my picks for the best SEO tools to use this year.
1. Jasper.
Best Overall.
Jasper is an AI content platform that helps you create, promote and measure content that resonates with your audience.
It’s powered by natural language processing (NLP) and GPT-3 AI to generate custom-tailored content in seconds – be it for web copy, blog posts, or even full marketing campaigns.
Jasper makes it easy to create quality content that’s SEO-friendly, engaging, and data-driven.
With multiple language support, tons of templates, and even its renowned Boss Mode feature that lets you create content in bulk, Jasper is an excellent choice for marketers and content creators looking to automate their writing process.
KEY FEATURES:
- Jasper Chrome Extension allows you to create content directly from the browser.
- Starter mode uses templates to help you quickly generate SEO-friendly content.
- Boss Mode allows you to use commands to create content in bulk.
- Generate AI Art and visuals for your blog posts or web copy, or even customize existing ones.
- Create content in more than 20 languages to reach an international audience.
- Integrate with Surfer SEO to get the most out of your content.
PRICING:
Jasper offers these pricing plans:
- Starter: $42/month+
- Boss Mode: $82/month+
- Business: Custom plans are available
USED FOR:
- Content Creators – Create SEO-friendly web copy and blog posts with ease.
- Digital Marketers – Generate data-driven content to improve your campaigns.
- Social Media Managers – Automate the creation of engaging visuals for social media posts.
- Agencies – Streamline content production and optimize campaigns for multiple clients.
- SEO Professionals – Automatically generate content for ranking higher in SERPs.
- Enterprise Businesses – Get the most out of your content with advanced automation workflows.
CONS:
- Overly technical topics don’t always generate well
- Plagiarism detection isn’t part of the base package
2. Surfer SEO.
Best Overall SEO tool.
SurferSEO provides one of the most comprehensive data-gathering experiences for SEOs.
It makes keyword research more streamlined and gives users an excellent way to see the keywords competitors use to rank on Google.
The content planner allows users to map out an effective keyword strategy.
Then, its site audit feature ensures your website is free of any technical SEO issues.
SurferSEO is a well-rounded tool that will help you take your SEO game to the next level.
KEY FEATURES:
- The Content Planner gives you an effective way to map out a keyword strategy for your website.
- An AI outline builder makes creating high-quality content optimized for your target keywords easy.
- The Content Editor is a great way to write your articles directly on the platform and ensure you hit the proper keyword density.
- The Audit tool gives you a comprehensive overview of your website’s technical SEO health and highlights any areas to fix.
- The Surfer Academy is an excellent resource for those who want to learn more about SEO and how to use the tool to its full potential.
PRICING:
SurferSEO offers these pricing plans:
- Free: $0
- Basic: $49 per month
- Pro: $99 per month
- Business: $199 per month
USED FOR:
- SEOs that want to improve their productivity and focus on strategic tasks will find the Surfer SEO workflow helpful, as it automates time-consuming tasks like SERP analysis and site audit.
- Surfer SEO is an excellent fit for small businesses and agencies, offering an affordable solution with enterprise-level features.
- Content writers and bloggers can use Surfer SEO to help their content creation by identifying opportunities and understanding what type of content is performing well in their niche.
CONS:
- Understanding how each workflow component interacts can be confusing for new users.
- The free version is quite limited in the functionality it provides.
- You can reach the limits on the basic pricing plan quickly if you have a large website or many projects.
3. Ahrefs.
Ahrefs is one of my favorite SEO tools on the market. It is the second-fastest web crawler (only behind Google) and has the best user interface out of all tools on this list.
Users use it for backlink audits, competitive analysis, URL rankings, keyword research, and more. Like SEMrush, Ahrefs also offers organic search reports to analyze the traffic of your competitors’ sites.
Users then use that extracted data for link building, keyword research, SEO strategies, rank tracking, and content marketing.
I use Ahrefs every day to check on new backlinks, my keyword search positions, and check out competitor insights.
I especially love their keyword explorer tool, which allows you to see keyword difficulty and related keywords that “also rank” for target phrases.
All these impressive features make Ahrefs a highly competitive SEO tool used by numerous SEO professionals and entrepreneurs worldwide.
KEY FEATURES:
- Excellent Keyword Tools – Ahrefs generates millions of keywords on a single research query.
- Ranking History – You can see the ranking history of any keyword used on any page of your website.
- Content Explorer – You can do a content search within the Ahrefs database that contains more than 1 billion web pages.
- Monitor Outbound Links – Ahrefs shows outgoing links report in the site explorer. This report helps you track where your guest posts are linking.
- Site Audit – You can check your website’s health with Ahrefs. It will analyze your site and provide a report with errors, warnings, and suggestions.
PRICING:
You can test the product by opting for the 7-day trial. After that, you can upgrade to the subscription plans starting from $99 and ranging up to $999.
USED FOR:
- Getting website improvement tips for increased visibility and ranking.
- To get a clear backlinks analysis report.
- To know the URL rating.
- To get historical backlink data analysis.
- To build a content strategy.
CONS:
- Lack of automated client-facing reports if you’re running an agency
4. Scalenut.
Best SEO workflows.
Scalenut’s SEO Hub helps you create the first draft of your blog post in just five minutes—leaving you more time to edit and optimize for SEO.
Plus, the guidelines make it easy to ensure that your final product is readable and searchable.
To get started, enter a keyword and location into the tool.
The guided workflow will then prompt you with questions related to your topic and help you create the first draft of your post in just five minutes.
You can then edit and optimize the content for SEO using the provided guidelines.
In addition to being faster, this approach also helps ensure that your final product is high quality and relevant to your target audience.
KEY FEATURES:
- I like that Scalenut helps users identify target keywords and understand user intent. I think this is important because it can help improve the quality of your content.
- Additionally, I appreciate that Scalenut offers a quality grading system to give users feedback on their content.
- If you want to wreck writer’s block, Scalenut also has robots that can help you write your content from start to finish.
- You can also improve your content while writing with Scalenut’s real-time content suggestions.
- Scalenut helps users find more relevant topics to write about, identify influencers and potential customers, and track the performance of their content over time.
PRICING:
Scalenut offers these pricing plans:
- Individual: $12/mo
- Growth: $32/mo
- Pro: $60/mo
USED FOR:
- SEO writers looking to find topic clusters to write about and improve their content quality.
- Content strategists that want to improve their content quality.
- Founders who want to understand what users are looking for and optimize their website content.
CONS:
- The AI within the tool can sometimes produce repetitive results.
5. GrowthBar.
GrowthBar is one of the easiest-to-use SEO tools on the market. They enable users to see millions of keyword results, your competition’s backlinks, and Google Ads data.
You can use this information to generate blog content in one click.
GrowthBar is a tool built using Open AI — the most sophisticated language model ever made. That means the results and recommendations are as good as it gets. It’s slick, sleek, and 100% intuitive.
Because of the simple user interface and robust data sets, it’s becoming a favorite choice for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and freelancers. But GrowthBar counts more prominent companies like Minted, MagicJack, Square, Spekit, and Teepublic among its customers.
GrowthBar also has a free Chrome Extension to get SEO insights while surfing the web.
KEY FEATURES:
- Organic Research — See millions of keyword suggestions along with their competitiveness score.
- Competitiveness Metrics — See your competitors’ top organic keywords and top backlinks, and export any of the metrics into an Excel-friendly CSV.
- Content Generation — Generate blog post outlines with proper keywords, headlines, word count, links, tone, and more — all with one button click.
- Keyword Tracker — Track your keywords’ positions in the SERPs and receive notifications when they change.
- Link Analysis — Receive link alerts for changes to your competitor’s backlinks, including new and lost links.
PRICING:
You can free test out GrowthBar for five days before upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s an all-in-one super powerful SEO tool for $29/mo, making GrowthBar significantly cheaper than most other quality tools.
USED FOR:
- Content generation for bloggers.
- Competitive research: understand your competition’s top organic keywords, Google Ads keywords, backlinks, and Facebook Ads.
- Get word counts, difficulty scores, keyword suggestions, backlinks, and much more to build your content strategy.
CONS:
- Lacks technical SEO metrics
- Lacks historical tracking data
- Lacks SEO audit feature
6. SEMrush.
SEMrush is a top competitor analysis tool that helps users evaluate their competitors and content. It provides robust metrics and lets users get top-performing pages, content, and keywords.
SEMrush has been helping many website owners and ecommerce entrepreneurs understand their competitors’ SEO strategies.
This ability makes it one of the most popular SEO tools among small and medium-sized enterprises.
The SEO tool offers the best help for SEO, PPC, ad campaigns, backlinks, keyword research, search engine results pages (SERP), and much more.
KEY FEATURES:
- Organic Research – This feature allows the users to see the top keywords used by their competitors.
- Advertising Research – It helps you run better ad campaigns by analyzing the ad budgets of the competitors. You can also localize your ad campaigns.
- Product Listing Ads – SEMrush allows the users to see competitors’ Product Listing Ads and product feeds.
- Traffic Analytics – SEMrush accurately tells about a website’s online performance and traffic. It also helps you understand the behavior and media consumption of potential customers.
- Local SEO – This feature helps you know the local SEO rankings of your competitors.
PRICING:
SEMrush offers three paid plans. The Pro plan is $99.95, the Guru plan is $199.95, and the Business plan is $399.95. There is also a quote-based Enterprise plan that you can customize according to the specific needs of the entrepreneurs.
USED FOR:
- Creating guest blogging strategies.
- Analyzing the strategies of the competitors.
- Tracking past and current website ranking.
- Performing technical SEO audits and gauging user experience.
- Finding good advertising opportunities for CPC.
- Doing robust keyword research to make your content rank higher.
CONS:
- Newbies might find it a bit complicated.
- You have to pay a hefty tag for more advanced features.
- Instances of inaccurate data regarding advertisements and backlinks.
7. Advanced Web Ranking.
Advanced Web Ranking is a great SEO tool for teams tracking many keywords.
Its ability to track keywords on a hyper-specific level (including search engine results features) and white-label reporting make it ideal for agencies and in-house teams.
This tool can also track 3,000 search engines and more than 170 countries, supporting not just Google but also Baidu, Yandex, Amazon, YouTube, etc. Advanced Web Ranking also performs a deep competitor analysis that includes metrics like market share, estimated visits, and new competitor discovery.
KEY FEATURES:
- It’s a long-standing tool and has existed since 2002.
- Provides hyper-specific local SEO results on desktop and mobile (country, city-level, or GPS coordinates).
- 3.000 search engines and more than 170 countries (also offers support for SEs such as Baidu, Yandex or Amazon & Youtube)
- You can white-label reporting, export them via PDF, or CSV, create permalinks, integrate with Data Studio, etc.
- It can accommodate large volumes of keywords (which is great for agencies and large in-house teams).
- The tool supports unlimited users with different rights (admin, team member) at no additional cost.
PRICING:
Advanced Web Ranking has four paid plans, with a 30-day free trial. Plans increase in price by providing more “units,” which allow you access to a higher volume of keywords to track.
- Starter: $49 per month.
- Pro: $99 per month.
- Agency: $199 per month.
- Enterprise: $499 per month.
USED FOR:
- Performing keyword research.
- Tracking large volumes of keywords.
- Finding specific keyword rankings at the local level.
- Competitor insights and understanding of SERP features.
CONS:
- Updates might take a long time if you track a considerable volume of keywords since the platform collects rankings in real time.
- There is no link-building module.
8. SERanking.
Best For Agencies.
SERanking is a great SEO tool that provides an all-in-one SEO platform for agencies and businesses.
Users can perform various SEO analysis and research processes.
These processes include keyword research, competitor analysis, site audit, and more.
SERanking also offers features like rank tracking and backlink analysis.
Use the Website Audit tool to check your website for errors affecting your SEO performance.
You can also use their SEO management tool to track your keyword rankings, backlinks, etc.
With marketing features included in their plans, SERanking is one of the market’s most used and popular SEO tools.
KEY FEATURES:
- An in-depth website audit ensures that your website stays ahead of the competition by spotting errors that could be affecting your SEO performance.
- Perform backlink monitoring checks for those links that may have been lost or damaged, and monitors your website for new backlinks gained.
- On-Page SEO checker analyzes your website’s code and structure to ensure correct optimization for search engines.
- White Labelling features allow you to brand SERanking reports with your logo and company name.
- The marketing plan tool helps you create a customized marketing plan for your business.
- Keyword research allows you to find the right keywords to target for your SEO campaigns.
- API Access gives you programmatic access to SERanking data and features.
PRICING:
There are three pricing plans when it comes to SERanking:
- Essential: $39.20/month
- Pro: $87.20/month
- Business: $191.20/month
USED FOR:
- Business owners who want to improve their website ranking will find SERanking valuable.
- SEO pros can use SERanking to help them with keyword research, competitor analysis, and website audits.
- Digital agencies can use SERanking to pitch SEO services to their clients and deliver detailed reports.
CONS:
- Some more detail regarding competitors could provide more insights.
- Simple tips for using the quotas available would be helpful when getting started.
- Sometimes, SERanking cannot find any backlinks, keywords & traffic data for small, less-established websites, which can be frustrating in that market.
9. Sitechecker.
Sitechecker.pro is a great website checker that provides a deep SEO analysis so that you can make SEO improvements. You input your website URL and click Analyze. Once Sitechecker scans your website, you get insights into traffic, backlinks, rankings, and more.
KEY FEATURES:
- Website Change Monitoring – Their ongoing website scans audit your website and provides information on changes you have made and how they impact your SEO scores.
- On-Page SEO Audits – Sitechecker scans your web pages and provides insights into issues to fix.
- Website Traffic Check – You can view competitor site traffic without any limits.
- Daily Backlink Tracking – Get notified whenever any new links point to your site (or disappear), so you can take action.
- Rankings Check – View your keyword rankings (including local and mobile rankings).
PRICING:
Sitechecker has three main pricing plans starting at $29 per month. Their $29/month Startup Plan allows you to use their website checker on five websites, 5,000 URLs, 500 keywords, and 5,000 backlinks. Pricing plans scale up with the number of websites, URLs, keywords, and backlinks you want to track.
USED FOR:
- People that need a website checker for site audits.
- Competitor tracking.
- Keyword position tracking and monitoring.
- New and lost backlink tracking.
10. Authority Labs.
Authority Labs is another handy SEO tool with a super-easy user-friendly interface. You can easily set up multiple sites with Authority Labs and optimize your SEO campaigns. It also helps you acquire location-specific rank tracking to laser-target your audience.
Users can also track the SEO campaigns and strategies their competitors use.
KEY FEATURES:
- Global Tracking – You can easily track local and international for different countries and cities.
- Keyword Targeting – Effective keyword targeting with keyword research tools.
- Free Trial – Authority Labs also offers 30 days free trial.
- Daily Reporting – Receive in-depth reports with daily rank checking that help you analyze where you are standing.
- White-label keyword solutions – Get white-label keyword tracking solutions to help you gain more traction.
PRICING:
Authority Labs offers four different pricing plans. The Plus plans costs $49, and the Pro plan is $99. Other more advanced plans include Pro Plus at $225 and Enterprise at $450. Apart from this, you also get a 30-day free trial; no credit card is needed.
USED FOR:
- Tracking competitor domains
- Tracking product ranking on various sites
- Comparing mobile ranking to desktop results
- Offers in-depth analytical reports and automated reports into the reporting process
CONS:
- Sorts keywords in alphabetic order, and there is no option to change this filter setting
11. Serpstat.
When it comes to SEO and digital marketing solutions, Serpstat is a one-stop shop. From optimizing your SEO to running your ad and content marketing campaigns, it helps you with just about everything.
The Serpstat tool does keyword research, competitor research, PPC analysis, and so forth. The dashboard is smooth and easy to use to avoid complexity. Plus, it also helps website owners keep track of their competitors’ backlinks.
KEY FEATURES:
- Website Analysis – Serpstat runs an analysis by monitoring the domain and URL of the website. The analysis includes in-depth SEO and PPC research.
- Keyword Research includes cluster research, search suggestions, search volume, content marketing, and SERP analysis.
- Backlink Analysis – Collects complete backlink data over the last two years and keeps track of your competitors’ backlink strategies.
- Site Audit – Cleans up your website, HTML, and page speed and never lets you miss any potential error.
- Competitive Analysis – This allows you to monitor your competitors’ keyword strategies and recommend the best tactics for you to use.
PRICING:
Serpstat offers four different pricing plans that include monthly and yearly subscriptions. The Lite plan costs $69 per month, the Standard plan is $149, the Advanced plan is $299, and the Enterprise is $499. You also get a 30-day free trial.
USED FOR:
- Searching keyword variations and collecting international data
- Checking the relevance of different webpages
- Tracking universal search results
- Finding ad strategies and budgets of your competitors
CONS:
- Site auditing is relatively slow for heavy websites
- It shows inaccurate keywords sometimes
12. Long Tail Pro.
Long Tail Pro is a keyword research tool that helps you explore less competitive keywords. These keywords can allow you to acquire conversions through online traffic, whatever your niche.
It offers excellent keyword suggestions in bulk, along with the keyword competitiveness score. This SEO tool is perfect for beginners and startups.
KEY FEATURES:
- Create Multiple Projects – keep your all campaigns for different sites perfectly organized
- Import and Export – Quick export of the best keywords into Excel and import into the Long-Tail Pro dashboard
- Keyword research – Get access to all the keyword ideas you need to rank higher and faster.
- SERP Analysis – Analyze your competitors’ websites and find out why they are ranking so well. Get a detailed look at the top pages for any keyword and use the data to create the most effective SEO strategy for your website.
- Rank Tracker – Monitor your keyword rankings on multiple search engines all from one place. See how your keywords are performing on Google, Bing, Yahoo, YouTube and more with Long-Tail Pro’s real-time ranking feature.
Here’s how the Long Tail Pro works:
PRICING:
Long Tail Pro offers three different pricing plans and ten days of a money-back guarantee. The Agency plan costs $98 per month, the Pro plan is $45, and the Starter plan is $25.
USED FOR:
- Finding competitive keywords
- Generating long-tail keywords
CONS:
- Limited manual keywords
- Limited seed keywords
- It does not help in analyzing backlinks.
13. SEObility.
SEObility is a powerful all-in-one SEO software that helps you monitor your website, which is handy in SEO optimization. With its daily updates and link-building tools, SEObility helps entrepreneurs quickly improve their search engine rankings.
On top of that, it crawls all the linked pages of a website efficiently and finds issues, such as duplicate content and broken links.
KEY FEATURES:
- Rank Tracking – This helps you track daily keyword rankings based on different demographics and search engines.
- Keyword Monitoring and On-page Analysis – On-page crawling and keyword monitoring give proper improvement suggestions to the users.
- Google’s Search Results When It Comes To Local Keywords– Users can also evaluate and monitor the local search results, which will help them rank higher for a specified targeted group.
- Competitors Comparison – Quickly explores and compare the content of your competitor’s website so that you can optimize your process.
- PDF Export and E-Mail Reporting – Generate regular reports to show a change in the rankings of the websites.
PRICING:
The Basic plan, designed for beginners, is available free of cost. The Premier plan designed for professional websites is open for 30 days of a free trial. After the trial, the program costs $50 every month. The final Agency plan is $200 and is perfect for prominent websites and agencies.
USED FOR:
- Website crawling and site auditing
- Checking daily updated Google rank tracker
- Link building and backlink checking
- Whitelabel reporting and regular monitoring
- Runs a Metadata and on-page check
- Blacklist and safe browsing check
- Monitors your page response time
- Exports in-depth reports in CSV and PDF format
14. SEOquake.
SEOquake is one of the most powerful SEO tools and browser plugins that offers numerous SEO metrics. It is beneficial when it comes to content marketing as it quickly gives detailed information on any website.
It provides essential metrics, such as:
- Number of external links
- Alexa rank
- Google rank
- Domain age
- SEMrush rank
KEY FEATURES:
- SEO Bar – You need to browse the web pages with SEO Bar, which will provide you with quick information.
- SERP Overlay – It helps you view a complete analysis of the SERP, and you can export results in CSV format.
- Keyword Analysis – Provides detailed and structured reports on keywords with proper keyword analysis.
- Print and Export – You can save data from any file in CSV format.
- Perform in-depth SERP analysis – It provides an in-depth analysis of the SERP and allows you to compare your results against the competition.
PRICING:
Entirely free of cost.
USED FOR:
- Conducting an on-page SEO audit
- Examining internal and external links
- Comparing URLs and domains in real-time
- Exporting data into CSV file format
CONS:
- High-level parameters are pretty confusing for the new users
15. SEOptimer.
SEOptimer is an easy-to-use and straightforward SEO audit tool that helps you improve your page ranking. It excellently performs on-page optimization and off-page link building.
KEY FEATURES:
- White Label SEO Audit – Gives websites their own branded reports by running a check for multiple factors.
- Embeddable Audit – Helps you generate more leads and sales for the websites.
- SEO Crawler – Helps detect technical SEO problems by scanning every website page.
- SEO Audit API – Used for trend analysis, tracking problems, and bulk reporting.
- Unlimited PDF Report Downloads – Gives website owners more control over the reports they produce.
PRICING:
The pricing plans include one plan for the websites and two programs for digital marketers. The DIY SEO plan for sites costs $19 per month. On the other hand, the White Label plan and the White Label and Embedding plan for digital marketers cost $29 per month and $59 per month, respectively. You also get a 14-day free trial.
USED FOR:
- Content marketing
- On-Page Optimization that includes improving various elements of the actual site
- Off-Page Optimization that includes building quality links
- Ad campaign management for a quick traffic
- Social campaigns to improve social presence
CONS:
- No mobile app
16. LinkMiner.
LinkMiner by Mangools is a highly effective backlink checker tool that helps you identify broken links. On top of that, it provides you with information.
This information includes DA, Facebook likes, and backlinks from Ahrefs and Moz.
KEY FEATURES:
- Powerful Backlinks – LinkMiner helps you identify Do-follow or No-follow backlinks by applying quick and advanced filters.
- Link Strength – Evaluates the strength of the backlinks based on Citation Flow, Trust Flow, and Alexa Rank.
- Advanced Backlink Analysis – Provides link-building opportunities by finding new backlinks.
- Citation Flow – Measures the popularity of a website based on how many websites are linking to it.
- Link Strength Optimizer – Optimizes the strength of your backlinks and ensures you get maximum link juice.
PRICING:
Initially, you get a 10-day free trial. After that, the paid plans start at $29 per month and range up to $79 per month.
USED FOR:
- Mining the backlinks of your competitor’s website
- Finding specific types of backlinks
- Evaluating the strength of the links
CONS:
- It does not always accurately assess the power of the backlinks
17. Pitchbox.
Pitchbox is an all-in-one solution that streamlines and automates the influencer outreach and content marketing process. It helps you connect with influencers and bloggers, providing substantial link-building opportunities.
KEY FEATURES:
- Campaigns – Pitchbox helps you run campaigns to get in touch with publishers, bloggers, and influencers.
- Product Review – The product review feature quickly finds websites that do product reviews.
- Email Templates – Offers preset email templates to engage prospective leads.
- Opportunity Detail Screen – Shows each prospect’s info and adds tags to the opportunities.
- Workflow – allows users to search and filter the results.
PRICING:
Pitchbox takes a fully-customized approach to its pricing. You schedule a demo, and their team provides you with a custom monthly price.
USED FOR:
- Finding influencers, bloggers, and publishers
- Customizing outreach emails with automatic follow up
- Making data-driven decisions to bring maximum results
18. Google Search Console.
If you want to elevate your website’s Google ranking, then what’s better than leveraging Google’s SEO tool itself?
Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) helps you understand Google’s perspective of your website, measure the site’s search traffic, and fix issues related to your sitemap and indexing. By providing multiple data points and suggestions, Google Search Console is the backbone of your SEO. Note: Bing Webmaster Tools should be used in unison with this tool.
In addition to the Google Keyword Planner, which runs through Google AdWords, Search Console is a must for every website. You can easily install this tool on WordPress with the Yoast SEO plugin.
KEY FEATURES:
- Communication Channel – Acts as a communication channel that sends information about errors in your websites.
- Control Center – Allows users to monitor the XML sitemaps that help them reevaluate and fix their errors.
- Data Source – Allows users to extract data into Google Analytics or other analytical tools.
- Keyword Research Tool – Offers keyword research to help optimize content for higher search rankings.
- Diagnostics & Crawl Stats – This allows users to perform diagnostics and crawl statistics to see what needs improvement on their website.
PRICING:
Free of cost.
USED FOR:
- Search engine optimization and data analysis
- Audience targeting and organic performance monitoring
- Metadata testing and security monitoring
CONS:
- Sometimes warnings and suggestions come with a wrong explanation
- Doesn’t provide any information on your competitors
- The new version is missing some vital SEO functionalities
19. Moz.
Moz is, without any doubt, one of the best SEO Tools in the market. From site auditing to rank tracking and backlink analysis to keyword research, there’s not much that Moz cannot do. It provides you with industry-standard metrics and various page optimization suggestions.
You can also install MozPro for advanced features and the MozBar browser extension, which allows SEO analysis, Moz scores, and Google SERP info in your browser.
KEY FEATURES:
- Rank Tracking – Tracks organic rank and performance of thousands of traffic-driving keywords.
- Keyword Analysis – This helps you find new keywords with competitor research and SERP analysis.
- Backlink Analysis – Provides metrics like Domain Authority and helps you build additional backlinks.
- Site Audits – Crawls all your web pages to find any issues or errors.
- Compare, and prioritize keywords – Track keyword rankings across multiple search engines and compare to competitors.
PRICING:
Moz offers a 30-day free trial. The paid plans start from $99 to $599 per month.
USED FOR:
- Boosting website traffic and ranking
- Keyword research and on-page optimization
- Link profile analysis
CONS:
- It does not explore many keywords
- Database and metrics are available for the US only
20. Ubersuggest.
Ubersuggest needs no introduction. Created by the marketing guru Neil Patel, this SEO tool holds a stellar reputation in the industry.
It is one of the best free SEO tools for keyword research and can help you find either information about a particular keyword or numerous long-tail keywords to increase your content’s outreach.
KEY FEATURES:
- Content Optimization – Helps you optimize content for blogs or websites by providing niche keywords.
- Competition Analysis – This helps you analyze what your website competitors are doing or which keywords are helping them rank better.
- Keyword Analysis & Suggestion – Discover keywords your target audience is using.
- Keyword Rank Tracking – Monitor your keyword rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Keyword Research Tools – Discover a comprehensive list of related keywords relevant to your target audience and industry.
PRICING:
Free of cost.
USED FOR:
- Identifying keywords to elevate your search engine ranking
- Information on the competitive analysis
CONS:
- Nothing to complain about; pretty good for a free tool.
21. SpyFu.
SpyFu allows users to find the most profitable keywords used by their competitors. It also shows competitors’ ad campaigns and their organic searches.
KEY FEATURES:
- PPC Ad Rank Tracking – Helps you track the ads properly and suggests expansion keywords.
- Monitor PPC Competitors – Keeps track of emerging competitors and their PPC strategies.
- Keyword Grouping – Shows keyword groups of competitors’ AdWords so you can incorporate them into your SEO strategy.
- AdWord Advisor – Suggests beneficial keywords by analyzing the campaigns run by your competitors.
- Keyword Spy Tool – Search for keywords used by your competitors and the number of clicks they get from them.
PRICING:
SpyFu offers three different pricing plans with unlimited access to search results. The pricing plans start from $33 per month and range to $199 per month if billed annually.
USED FOR:
- Spying on your competitor’s keyword strategy
- Keyword group analysis
- Influencer marketing
- Track ranking of SEO keywords
CONS:
- It does not always show the accurate data
- The user interface is quite complicated for beginners
22. WooRank.
WooRank is an automatic website review tool and SEO strategy checker. It provides you with tons of valuable data that helps you boost your website traffic, leads, and sales.
This SEO tool is perfect for everyone, be it digital marketers, webmasters, and agencies.
KEY FEATURES:
- Keyword Tool – The keyword tool is used for tracking keywords and the change in ranking, along with exploring competitors’ keywords.
- Site Crawl – This helps you fix site errors, track security issues, quickly find indexing errors, and eliminate duplicate content issues.
- SEO Monitoring – Monitor landing page traffic, quick insight on keywords, website’s uptime, and overall functionality.
- Sales Tools – This comes with a suite of tools that help you create highly converting sales pitches, white-label reports, custom PDF report templates, and more.
- WooRank Extension – A free tool that runs a detailed analysis of websites.
PRICING:
WooRank offers three different plans and a 14-day free trial. The Pro plan costs $59.99 per month, the Premium plan is $179.99 per month, and the Enterprise plan is $249.99 per month.
USED FOR:
- Mobile Rendering
- Social media data
- SERP ranking and backlinks
- Website analysis of your competitors
- Marketing checklist and site crawl analysis
CONS:
- It is a bit expensive
23. Fat Rank.
Fat Rank is a great Google Chrome extension that helps you find out where your site ranks on Google. Moreover, it allows users to quickly download the CSV reports from the Fat Rank mobile app and Chrome extension.
KEY FEATURES:
- Unlimited Keywords and Domains – Fat Rank provides unlimited keywords for any website that helps users outrank their competitors.
- Graph Feature – The graph feature demonstrates the change in the ranking of the web pages over time.
- CSV and PDF Reporting – It mails in-depth and robust analytical reports to the user in both CSV and PDF formats.
- Unlimited keywords and domains – Monitor an unlimited number of keywords and track rankings across multiple domains.
- CSV and PDF reporting – Export reports in CSV and PDF formats for further analysis or sharing with colleagues.
PRICING:
Free of cost.
USED FOR:
- Competitors’ keyword research
- Quick ranking reports
- Multiple keyword checks
CONS:
- You can check only one keyword at a time
- It does not allow you to save previous keyword data
24. Siteliner.
Unlike other SEO Tools on this list, Siteliner does not come with additional bells and whistles. That said, it is still a powerful tool that allows website owners to check their websites thoroughly. It helps you find issues, such as broken links, duplicate content, and more. This helps them improve the quality of their website(s), ultimately boosting their search engine rankings.
KEY FEATURES:
- Duplicate Content – Siteliner evaluates the same content on the website. Instead of scanning every single page simultaneously, it scans 500 pages at once.
- Page Power – Analyses the power of pages based on the number of backlinks.
- Broken Links – Ensures that every link on the website works correctly by thoroughly scanning the website for broken links.
- Reports – Shows a detailed report of each page with a standard XML sitemap.
- Download Accurate Reports – Download an accurate report of the website’s performance based on the analysis performed by Siteliner.
PRICING:
Siteliner offers two different pricing plans. The “Siteliner Free” allows you to analyze up to 250 pages per month. The paid version, the Siteliner Premium, costs 1c per page and can scan up to 25,000 pages monthly.
USED FOR:
- Finding duplicate content
- Finding broken links
- Boosting the power of your webpage(s)
CONS:
- Limited to internal analysis only
25. Screaming Frog SEO Spider.
Screaming Frog is one of the best SEO Tools that help you perform fast website audits. You have to enter the URL of your website, and it will start crawling to find any broken links, missing tags, duplicate content, and so forth. Hardly any error goes unnoticed by Screaming Frog.
KEY FEATURES:
- Audit Redirects – Helps in identifying both temporary and permanent redirect chains.
- Duplicate Content – Finds the same content, URLs, and other exact elements.
- XML Sitemaps – Quickly generate XML sitemaps by doing proper advanced configuration over the URLs.
- Analyze Metadata – Properly analyze your metadata and page titles to ensure they have an appropriate length.
- Robots.txt – Helps in auditing the robots.txt file & gives a clear indication of any issues.
PRICING:
Screaming Frog is available free of cost, but only if you want to crawl up to 500 URLs. Otherwise, you can upgrade to the paid version, which costs £149 annually.
USED FOR:
- Extracting data with XPath
- Crawling JavaScript websites
- Finding duplicate content
CONS:
- Lacks an API
- The free version comes with limited options
26. Seed Keywords.
Seed Keywords allows website owners, bloggers, and influencers to find the most valuable keywords to increase their search engine rankings. Users can find the most suitable keywords for their websites by creating a search scenario for a particular query.
Here’s how it works:
First, create a scenario that is nothing but asking a question.
Example: “if you have a faulty PC and need to fix it. What would you search for?”
After that, the tool will provide you with a unique URL that you need to share it as many people in your vertical as you can.
Next, you will have people answering your query, which means you now have a vast list of search terms from real-life users.
KEY FEATURES:
- Create a Scenario – Helps generate unique URLs by creating a unique scenario according to the need of your website.
- Seed Keywords – Provides different seed keywords to the users free of cost.
PRICING:
You don’t have to pay a single dime. No hidden cost.
USED FOR:
- Gathering data by creating scenarios
- Discovering keyword ideas from real-life internet users
CONS:
- Keywords can be inaccurate at times
27. Mangools.
If you want an all-in-one SEO tool within a small budget, then Mangools has you covered. It has five different SEO tools that can help you with keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking, and link tracking.
Mangools doesn’t offer extra features you’ll probably never use, unlike most SEO tools.
KEY FEATURES:
- KWFinder is a keyword research tool that allows website owners to find the right keywords for their website content.
- SERPChecker – It allows the users to check the websites ranking high for particular keywords in different places of the world. Users can also check the mobile ranking of the keywords.
- SERPWatcher – It helps users track the changes in the rankings of the keywords.
- LinkMiner helps users analyze the competitors’ backlinks and discover more opportunities.
- SiteProfiler – Gives users a good view of their competitors’ websites so that they can analyze their process carefully.
PRICING:
Mangools offers three different pricing plans for businesses of different levels. It also provides a 48-hour money-back guarantee and a 10-days free trial. The Basic plan costs $29.90 per month, the Premium plan is $39.90, and the Agency plan is $79.90.
USED FOR:
- Keyword tracking and competitor analysis
- Link management and localization
- Rank tracking based on relevant keywords
CONS:
- It does not provide a dashboard for clients
- The database is not as vast as other leading SEO tools
What Are SEO Tools?
SEO tools are search engine optimization software that helps website owners improve their visibility on Google. SEO tools are primarily used to help website owners with keyword research, link building, on-page SEO, keyword rank tracking, technical SEO, and more.
These tools are typically software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications that can be used online for a monthly fee. With Google’s ever-changing algorithm, having a few different SEO tools in your arsenal is essential as they are used for various things.
For example, if you’re starting with a new website, you could use Ahrefs for keyword research, SurferSEO for semantic keywords and on-page SEO, and SEMrush for technical SEO analysis.
Top On-Page SEO Factors
The following are some of the most crucial on-page SEO factors you should consider and optimize for:
- Title Tag – The title tag is one of the essential elements when optimizing your web page for search engines. It should include relevant keywords related to your domain and be descriptive and concise.
- Meta Description – A meta description is a summary that appears beneath the title tag and URL in search engine results pages (SERPs). It helps users decide which link to click on before visiting the webpage. Your meta description should contain relevant keywords that accurately describe what people will see on your website and be interesting enough to persuade users to stay.
- Headings – These are essential for breaking up your content and making it easier to scan and read. Ensure to include relevant keywords in heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) but only use them if they make sense in the context of the content.
Other Important On-Page Factors
Here are a few more to consider.
- Image Alt Text – Search engines can also index images, so don’t forget to add an appropriate alt tag that accurately describes what the image is about. This will help with SEO and provide a better user experience on your website since users who cannot view pictures due to browser settings, or other reasons will still know what the image is about.
- Internal Linking – Linking to other pages on your website is a great way to spread link equity throughout your domain and improve user experience by keeping visitors engaged. It’s essential to ensure you’re linking to relevant content with appropriate anchor text (not just “click here”).
- Page Speed – Page speed has become a critical factor in how long people stay on your site and how likely they are to return. Optimize the size of images, reduce plugins & ads, use caching technology, integrate a CDN, and consider using Google AMP or Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) if applicable.
- Mobile Optimization – With mobile traffic surpassing desktop devices, ensure your website looks good and functions properly across all device sizes. Mobile optimization should involve making the site responsive, providing larger touch targets for buttons & links, and ensuring images resize correctly.
By working on the above SEO factors, you can ensure that your website is optimized for search engine success.
Content and Links In The Game of SEO
Content is the bread and butter of SEO. You won’t rank high in search results if you don’t have great content. This is because your website needs to be relevant to what people are searching for.
You can have the best website in the world, but if no one is searching for what you offer, you’re not going to rank. This is why keyword research is so important. You need to find out what people are searching for and create relevant content for those keywords.
In addition to great content, you also need high-quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Google uses these backlinks as a signal of the quality of your website.
The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your ranking in search results. This is why link building is such an essential part of SEO. You need to seek out high-quality websites to link to your website actively.
There are many different ways to do this, but some of the most common methods include guest blogging, broken link building, and the skyscraper technique.
The right SEO tools can help you with all of these tasks. They can help you with keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking, and link tracking.
SEO Tools FAQ.
It typically takes 3-6 months to see results from your SEO efforts. If you just started a blog and your website is brand new, it will take longer to index than a reputable, high Domain Authority (DA) site. For example, it took me about eight months to get my first 100,000 monthly visitors.
Now that I have a higher DA, I can write a new page and index it, and it can appear on pages 2-3 of Google on the same day. Overall, the key is to treat every blog post like a long-term investment and make regular updates to improve your search rankings.
There are a lot of free SEO tools out there, but they don’t have as many helpful features as paid alternatives. However, if you want to monitor your SEO and do keyword research for free, you can try one of these tools:
1. Google Keyword Planner.
2. Moz Link Explorer.
3. Google Trends.
4. Google Analytics.
5. Google Search Console.
6. Keyword Hero.
7. Screaming Frog.
You can manage your SEO if you are well-versed in SEO strategies. I do all of my SEO for this blog – I launched last year and now write to 300,000 monthly visitors, so it’s doable.
Here are the steps to do your SEO:
1. Read SEO blogs and take courses to improve your skills.
2. Know your target readers.
3. Do keyword research to find valuable keywords to write about.
4. Write your pages and blog posts with SEO in mind.
5. Build Domain Authority (DA) with backlinks from guest posts and link-building outreach.
6. Understand how to use Google Analytics to monitor your traffic.
If you want to hire someone to help you with SEO, the price can range from $75-150 per hour for an SEO expert ($750-$1,500 per month). High-end digital marketing agencies may charge up to $20,000 per month for complex jobs for large websites. SEO tools are also free or cost around $99 per month. The first step to knowing what to spend on SEO is calculating your return on investment (ROI) based on your website and niche.
Yes, SEO is challenging because it requires knowledge across multiple disciplines and search engines are constantly changing and updating their algorithms. To be successful at SEO, you need to build Domain Authority (DA) for your website with link-building efforts. You also need to understand how to write SEO content that ranks and be an expert in keyword research, writing, content marketing, WordPress, and more.
Conclusion.
Using the top SEO tools can quickly improve your keyword research and search engine rankings.
When choosing a tool, consider the exact features you need (and the cost) before making a final decision.
Whether you’re a blogger, a SaaS company, or a local business, SEO tools are 100% necessary to compete on search engines.
Most of these tools come with a free trial, so you can test them before making your final decision.
Which SEO tools do you use? Let me know in the comments below.
Further Reading on AdamEnfroy.com: If you’re beginning, check out my guide on starting a blog this year. And if you’re ready to monetize your traffic, you can read my reviews of the top 105 affiliate programs to join.
Finally, if you’d like to take your SEO efforts to the next level, here’s my post on using AI in SEO tools to help you get an edge on the competition.
Last Updated on May 14, 2024 by Adam Enfroy
Great article! Getting a SEO tool is a must when doing SEO. Personally I just use Screaming Frog and Ahrefs. For me, these two are the most important tools to have.
If you’d have to choose only one tool, which one it would be?
Thank you for your advice 🙂
I found ubbersuggest LTD before
what u think about ubbersuggest bro?
That’s a good tool too.
Really useful tools. I agree to share though. I have gained more information on your blog. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for sharing these tools
I am using Google Keyword Planner for keyword research. What u think about it…
It can work for certain basic things like understanding search volume, but it is very limited in other areas (competitor research, link building, keyword difficulty, SERP analysis, current rankings, etc.) I recommend something like Ahrefs and you can get a 7-day trial for $7.