SEO Tools For Beginners
Are you new to SEO? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. This post is a beginner’s guide to some of the most useful SEO tools out there.
We’ll start with a few tools that help you do keyword research and then move on to tools that will help you optimize your content for search engines. We won’t be delving deep into any single tool, but we will give you an overview of each one so you can decide which ones are best for your needs.
SEO Tools For Keyword Research
You can find a lot of free keyword research tools online, but many of them are not very accurate or reliable in their results. The first thing I would recommend doing when starting out with SEO is finding a paid tool that gives accurate results and provides data that can be used for other purposes as well (such as content creation).
Here are two options:
Seo Tools For Beginners
You can never see too many lists of free tools if you’re just starting out in SEO. Tools are crucial to practicing SEO and grasping a better understanding of how the industry works, but many of them are very expensive. As a beginner, it is not necessary to start by buying a tool that costs a lot of money. Once you know what you’re looking for and know what you’re doing, then you can move on to something advanced. For now, the free SEO tools out there will absolutely get the job done. In fact, many are surprised at just how many quality tools SEO professionals give out for free. Below are some of the top choices for beginners:
- Google Analytics. A great tool to get you started. Even the most advanced professional who make SEO a full-time job are using Google Analytics. It might be confusing at first, but it will help any beginner get a sense of what is measured (website traffic, conversions, audience, etc.) and therefore what is important.
- AdWords Keyword Tool. Completing keyword research is an incredibly important aspect of SEO (you have to know what and where to optimize, after all). This tool will show you the competition, global monthly searches, and local monthly searches for every keyword you try. Even the most advanced SEO professionals turn to this tool for their research.
- Open Site Explorer. This tool will help you find link opportunities through competitor backlink research. The tool comes from SEOmoz and helps you determine if you can earn the same links that your competitors have earned (not to mention do a little bit of snooping).
- SEO by Yoast. This is my favorite SEO plugin to install on a website. It helps walk you through the different steps of SEO to make sure that you’re optimizing each and every webpage. This works best when you’re focusing on optimizing the content on your website.
- PageRank Status. You can download a free browser extension to help you see the PageRank of every webpage you visit. This will help beginners get a sense of where the website ranks on Google (it doesn’t always mean that one website is better quality than another, but it does mean it is more established). This is a great way to find authoritative link building opportunities. You can see SEO stats, site info, page info and page speed all by just clicking on the plugin.
- Google Webmaster Tools. Every SEO professional has a Google Webmaster Tools account, so the sooner beginners get on board, the better. The tool allows you to monitor the indexing of your website, keyword clicks, sitemaps, and lists of links (external as well as internal) to you site.
- Bing Webmaster Tools. You can’t forget that Bing is still the number three search engine out there, so optimizing for it is important even if you’re a beginner. Bing has a few different features than Google Webmaster Tools, but for the most part it serves the same purpose—giving you insight as to the number of clicks, links, indexing, etc.
I highly recommend clicking on the links to learn more about the free tools and what they can offer. The above just gives a quick overview, but each individual tool is chock-full of information to learn. If there is a free tool that has helped you learn SEO in past, let us know.
best paid seo tools
Excellent SEO is the cornerstone of any serious marketing strategy. You should be using it, too.
Why are your search rankings so important?
Try this number on for size: click-through rate (CTR) is more than 10 times higher for a result in position one than a result in position 10.
You need to be at the top of the page to reach your audience, and SEO is the best way to get you there.
Want some help? SEO tools can make life easier by doing the hard work for you – as long as they’re quality.
Why You Should Be Using SEO Tools
Everyone seems to agree that SEO is the most valuable asset you have as a business. Using SEO tools is a way to capitalize on that.
Don’t just go about it on your own. Research is necessary for SEO, as is an all-too-important organization.
Also, don’t try to guess at keywords – they’re not so simple anymore. Instead of one or two-word phrases, you’ll now want long-tail keywords four words or longer. It takes research to figure out what those key phrases are.
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There are many great ways SEO tools can help you run your business. Not only will they keep your workflow streamlined, but accurate and efficient as well.
The Best Paid SEO Tools In The Market
There are a good deal of free SEO tools out there, including some free versions of the ones on this list. However, these tools are relatively basic.
If you want a high-caliber website, you’ll need to invest in its success.
You have some options, however. In fact, a great many of them. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Semrush
Do you have tons of data to process? Semrush could be perfect for you as an all-in-one tool. It can track keyword rankings, organic traffic, and backlinks.
Their Keyword Magic tool, in particular, is terrific at uncovering phrases you may not have known you could even rank for.
Keyword tool from Semrush.Screenshot from Keyword Magic Tool, August 2021
To figure out how to do better yourself, you can also get information on your competitors’ data –comparing data helps to see what competitors are doing well and what potential pitfalls to avoid.
Follow the right footsteps, and you’ll be on the path to success.
Additionally, there’s the ability to do SEO site audits to ensure your website is running optimally. Optimizing your website’s SEO is a magnificent way to get you closer to that front page.
Cost: Their Pro plan starts at $119.95/month – other options are available.
- Ahrefs
If you’re looking for a comprehensive SEO toolkit, Ahrefs is the way to go.
If you’re looking to improve your site’s SEO performance with backlinks, Ahrefs has a backlinks index that’s updated every 15 minutes, plus a web crawler that processes up to 8 billion pages a day.
Ahrefs also has an SEO analyzer tool to ensure your site is running optimally. The insights they give you on your domain are phenomenally detailed.
Ahrefs overview of domain analytics.Screenshot from Ahrefs.com, August 2021
Ahrefs is also useful because of the other powerful tools in its suite.
Some of these include:
Site Explorer: This will help analyze you and your competitor’s backlinks.
Content Explorer: Helps to take a topic and find its most shared content.
Keywords Explorer: Assists you in finding relevant keyword ideas and traffic estimates.
There’s even more to it. If you’re not ready to pay real money quite yet, but are still keen on learning, the company offers free educational videos online that anyone can watch.
Ahrefs also has a blog with many useful how-to’s, plus tips and tricks.
Cost: Their Lite plan costs $99/month – they also offer a seven-day trial for $7.
- Moz Pro
Moz Pro isn’t just an SEO tool. It’s a suite of SEO tools. An excellent solution for those who require a wide range of capabilities, you could potentially save a great deal.
By only needing to purchase one all-inclusive system, you’re avoiding spending money elsewhere.
Offering keyword suggestions, links, site audits, rank tracking, and on-page optimization, Moz Pro does just about it all. Their keyword research tool can help you determine what keywords and keyword combinations to use.
As well, its backlink analysis tool combines metrics in links, including anchor text. Backlinks are necessary for SEO, so this feature is critical.
Cost: Their Standard plan is $99/month.
- Majestic
Need not just some, but a lot, of high-quality links? Majestic is here for you – they boast having the greatest link index database. Ever.
Screenshot of Majestic tool.Screenshot from Majestic, August 2021
You’ll be able to see where your links are from, as well as the anchor text other sites use to link to you. Also, you can see the total weight each backlink has.
Lastly, it’s easy to compare links. Using the tool, you can compare up to five sites at a single time.
Cost: Their Lite plan starts at $49.99/month.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Here’s another helpful way to check on your links.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a web crawler able to perform fast searches of URLs. It can also check your site for broken pages.
You can check for missing title tags, duplicate meta tags, and tags of the wrong length. You can also see the number of links on each page, so you can know if you’re providing enough links in your content.
Cost: Their paid version is £149.00/year (can be bought in the U.S. at the exchange rate.)
- Spyfu
If you need an impressive search analysis tool for SEO keyword research, Spyfu may be for you. You can search for any domain while using it and see every place the domain has shown up on Google.
There are a couple of valuable types of research Spyfu can complete including SEO, PPC, and keyword.
Spyfu also has a SERP checker and domain overviews.
Essentially, it’s a massive amount of possibility packed into one system.
Cost: Their plans start at $33/month.
- Serpstat
Trying to grow your business? Serpstat is a digital growth tool made to assist you in optimizing your SEO and PPC. It can also assist with your marketing campaigns.
Serpstat overview.Screenshot from Serpstat, August 2021
Overall, Serpstat is an SEO tool that comes with many essential features.
Some of these can:
Determine keyword value.
Discover international data.
Collect keywords for campaigns.
Analyze keyword trends.
Ready to start organizing your next campaign? Try getting a little help from Serpstat.
Cost: Their starter Lite plan is $69/month.
- CognitiveSEO
Here’s another suite of tools, not just one singularity on its own. CognitiveSEO has all the essentials you need to research, plan, and execute your SEO strategy.
You’ll be able to research keywords, audit your site for SEO no-go’s, analyze backlinks, and look at mobile rank tracking.
There are many more options, as well. You can increase your social visibility as well as prevent Google Penalties – or, if necessary, cognitiveSEO will help you recover from them.
Cost: Their Starter plan costs $129.99/month.
- Advanced Web Ranking
A fantastic way to get comprehensive position tracking and rank monitoring, Advanced Web Ranking gives you daily local tracking results. By monitoring what is happening on your site, you can figure out what’s working and what’s not.
Easy on the eyes, their data layout is fully customizable. With easy link sharing and integration with third-party reporting, Advanced Web Ranking is great for those seeking a tool that’s simple yet powerful.
Cost: Their Starter plan costs $49/month.
- ContentKing
Another site auditing tool that will show you any SEO issues popping up on your website, ContentKing has one extra advantage: it proactively crawls your site 24/7.
It will alert you immediately when new problems occur. A.K.A., no more having to remember to check your website for SEO errors constantly.
Because ContentKing is cloud-based, there’s no need to install any software or extensions.
It also provides valuable insights into how your site is doing and how to implement proposed tasks to improve SEO compatibility.
Cost: Their Basic plan is $139/month.
- Mangools
Perfect if you need a complete set of basic tools, Mangools is known for its ease of use and sleek design. It also happens to have highly accurate keyword data through its tool KWFinder.
Keyword finder tool by Mangools.Screenshot from Mangools Keyword Finder, August 2021
Mangools may not be ideal for larger companies or anyone who needs more from their SEO tool suite.
However, it will work wonderfully for beginners just setting out.
Cost: Their Basic plan costs $49/month.
- Searchmetrics
Are you struggling to develop your content strategy? Searchmetrics may be worth a shot.
Not only a fantastic SEO tool but a valuable strategic assistant, Searchmetrics offers many ways to help you create a great content marketing strategy.
It has:
ROI reporting.
Competitive analysis.
Site audits.
Site optimization.
Content optimization.
Not to mention, it has many more features as well – too many to list.
Talk about an all-in-one SEO tool.
Cost: New customers who want to upgrade must contact them for pricing or schedule a free demo.
- Yoast SEO for WordPress
If you’re a blogger who’s like everyone else, your website is likely on WordPress. WordPress also lets you install various valuable plugins, including Yoast SEO, one of the most popular content management systems out there.
Their software is committed to making your website better, SEO-wise. Yoast SEO takes care of most of the backend technical coding, leaving you more free time.
It also makes your site easier to find in searches. Yoast SEO helps keep your content easy to read, and the plugin comes with tons of educational material as well to help you develop your SEO skills.
Cost: Their premium version is available for a one-time payment of $89.
- Woorank
Have you been wondering how your competitors are doing? Using Woorank, you can plug in their information to find out what keywords competitors are targeting.
Knowing what works for others is the first step towards figuring out what keywords will work for you.
Woorank can also help you to find duplicate content in yourself and looks for security issues. If it finds any problems, you’ll receive guidelines on how to fix them.
Cost: Their Pro plan is $79.99/month.
- Ubersuggest
Last but certainly not least, Ubersuggest doesn’t just identify keywords for you. It also looks for the search intent behind those keywords.
Ubersuggest keyword finding tool.Screenshot from Ubersuggest.com, August 2021
Metrics Ubersuggets show include keyword volume, competition, CPC, and seasonal trends. Overall, this tool is excellent for growing your organic SEO optimization.
Cost: Their Business plan is $40/month or is available for a one-time payment of $400.
Choosing the Right SEO Tools
If you want to generate traffic, get a quality SEO tool.
There are many excellent SEO tools out there, making it hard to choose one.
Sit down and think about what you want for your business, look at the list above, and start comparing features to see which one(s) will best meet your business needs.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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