the only seo tools you really need
TRANSCRIPT
The Only SEO Tools You Really
Need
We invent tools to do things we want. It’s a question of how those tools are used by people.
– Margaret Atwood
“ ”
It’s tough to decide which tools to use and
buy when there are so many out there.
Remain Calm
We’ve narrowed it down and the following
tools are the ones you really need.
Tools for…
Traffic, Engagement & Competitive
Analysis
Google Analytics
• Description: Google’s web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic and engagement.
• Pros: Great for monitoring traffic, measuring engagement, understanding visitor flow, and discovering revenue-generating pages.
• Cons: Interface can be very overwhelming. Training is definitely required in order to benefit from all the features and capabilities.
• Price: FREE
Moz
• Description: A marketing analytics software, providing tools for SEO, social and brand tactics.
• Pros: Offers the best keyword, trend and social tools out there in an easy-to-understand interface. Resources section also offers loads of articles, blog posts and videos on industry trends and insights.
• Cons: Limited to the number of campaigns you can track, unless you’re willing to spend more. Also limited to the number of keywords you can track.
• Price: Subscription based – $99 to $599 per month
SEMrush
• Description: One of the best tools out there for
competitive analysis and keyword research and
rankings.
• Pros: Not only is it easy to discover what keywords a
site is ranking for, but it’s also easy to continue to
monitor keyword rankings (for your site or a competitor).
• Cons: The keyword rankings are updated and refreshed
live, however, there can be a few bugs when you're
trying to filter out particular keywords.
• Price: Subscription based – $69.95 to $549.95 per
month
Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.
– Wendy Piersall, Online Media Entrepreneur
“ ”
Tools for…
Backlink Analysis & Keyword Research
Ahrefs
• Description: A data index tool providing information for backlink research, keyword research and content marketing tactics.
• Pros: A powerful tool for checking your backlink profile, as it will give you a detailed and accurate picture.
• Cons: Not a strong tool for competitive analysis, data visualizations or creating a backlink outreach strategy.
• Price: Monthly billing – $82 to $832 per month
Screaming Frog
• Description: A desktop program that crawls website’s links, images, CSS and even apps. The data is analyzed for SEO audits and optimizations.
• Pros: Really good for getting detailed information about the infrastructure of your site or a competitor’s.
• Cons: Some of the terms used to describe metrics and elements are different than what they are most commonly called in other tools, which can be confusing. Also, scheduling an automatic crawl isn’t a feature.
• Price: Annual license – FREE to $189 a year per license
My rule of thumb is build a site for a user, not a spider.
– Dave Naylor, CEO, Bronco
“ ”
Tools for…
Content Brainstorming & Production
Buzzsumo
• Description: An online tool that helps you discover which
content is working on websites, and what topics are trending.
The tool also helps you find influencers to promote your content.
• Pros: A great tool to use for brainstorming new content ideas and
topics so you perfect your content strategy. The tool will also help
you target key influencers for the outreach process.
• Cons: Really helpful if you already know the keywords you want
to target, but not as helpful for figuring out the words searchers
are using. The free version is also limited and the paid plans are
expensive.
• Price: Monthly or annual subscription – FREE to $699 per month
Google Trends
• Description: A great tool for discovering which search terms are
popular (and where) over the course of time. The data is based
off of Google search queries and displayed with interactive
graphics and charts.
• Pros: A great tool for planning content production and promotion
around optimal seasonal peaks. The tool also offers great insight
into which search terms will gain the best traction for keyword
research.
• Cons: Google Trends offers a great estimation of traffic over a
specific time period, but the traffic data is not as accurate as
Google Analytics.
• Price: FREE
Übersuggest
• Description: A simple keyword tool that suggests the best
keyword phrases based on search volume. Displays monthly
search volume, cost per click and a competitive score.
• Pros: An extremely easy tool to use. All you need to do is type in
a search term and it returns the best keyword combination based
on search volume. Great for generating content topics or writing
title tags and headlines.
• Cons: Not designed for advanced keyword research.
• Price: FREE
Better content is outweighing more content.
– Rand Fishkin, Founder, Moz
“ ”
Review
What gets measured gets improved.
– Peter Drucker
“ ”
The tools you use to monitor traffic, engagement and the competition should tick the following boxes:
Help you understand who your visitors are and how they
are interacting with your website.
Tell you which pages are popular and which pages are
converting.
Monitor competitor activity so you can make sure you’re
ahead of the game.
The tools you use for link building & keyword research should tick the following boxes:
Give you a clear picture of your backlink profile.
Highlight any questionable backlinks you should
remove.
Paint a clear picture of the keywords you are
performing well for and the keywords you can
improve on.
The tools you use to create your content marketing strategy should tick the following boxes:
Tell you which existing content pages are working well
on your site.
Recommend content types that would perform well with
your audience and in your industry.
Explain how to optimize your content for more traffic and
better engagement.
Recommend when and how to promote your content.
The key is to present the right content to the users at the time they need it in an engaging manner, across all channels they visit.
– Jim Yu, CEO, BrightEdge
Next…
Creating a Content Strategy for Beginners