Effective search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for driving traffic and revenue to your website. There are a variety of SEO tools available to help you improve your website's ranking on search engines like Google.
In this article, we'll introduce you to the top 10 SEO tools that experts like myself actually use to drive growth. These tools include Google Search Console, which allows you to monitor your website's performance on Google, and Google PageSpeed Insights, which analyzes the speed and performance of your website. SEMRush is a comprehensive platform for keyword research and online ranking data, including metrics like search volume and cost per click. Answer The Public is a tool that provides insights into the questions and phrases people are searching for, while Screaming Frog SEO Spider Website Crawler is a powerful tool for identifying common SEO issues and analyzing page titles and meta data. SpyFu is a competitor keyword research tool that exposes the search marketing strategies of your competitors, while Keywords Everywhere is a browser add-on that provides search volume, CPC, and competition data for keywords. Rank Math is a popular SEO plugin for WordPress, and YoastSEO is a well-known plugin for optimizing your website's content for search engines. Combined, these top SEO tools can help you improve your website's search engine optimization and drive traffic and revenue.
Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that allows website owners to monitor, maintain, and improve their website's presence in Google search results. It provides a variety of features, including the ability to submit sitemaps and individual URLs for crawling, view search traffic and performance data, and receive alerts when there are issues with your website. Google Search Console also provides insights on how Google crawls and indexes your website, as well as any security issues that may have been detected. By using Google Search Console, website owners can ensure that their website is optimized for search engines and provides a good user experience for visitors.
Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool used to measure the performance and user experience of a website. It uses lab data, which is determined in a controlled environment with predetermined network and device conditions, and field data, which is based on real user visits and reflects the actual devices, network conditions, and locations of users. Lab data is useful for debugging and testing features before deployment, but field data provides a more accurate representation of a website's performance in the real world. The tool uses Lighthouse to report lab data. Understanding both types of data is important for improving a page's performance and user experience.
SEMRush is a software platform that provides a range of tools and resources for search engine optimization professionals. It is considered one of the best tools for SEO because it offers a wide range of features that help users improve the ranking of their websites on search engines such as Google. These features include keyword research, online ranking data, and metrics such as search volume and cost per click. In addition to these core features, SEMRush also offers tools for social media marketing, content marketing, and website traffic analysis. Overall, SEMRush is a comprehensive platform that can help businesses and individuals improve their search engine ranking and drive more traffic to their websites.
Personally, I use it almost every day for my own websites and client websites alike to help gain organic growth, conduct competitor research, track positions, and post social media content on all my channels without having to pay for a service like Hootsuite or some other boring social media management software. I've even used it in the past to create a Looker Studio Dashboard (formerly Google Data Studio) to share near real-time information on their marketing campaign with a client.
Answer The Public is a SEO tool that helps businesses understand the search queries and questions that their potential customers are asking. It provides instant, raw search insights directly from the minds of the customer by collecting autocomplete data from search engines like Google. With over 3 billion Google searches happening every day, 20% of which are unique, Answer The Public allows businesses to tap into this vast pool of data and discover the specific needs and wants of their target audience. This can help businesses craft content and marketing strategies that more effectively address the needs of their customers and improve their ranking on search engines.
Screaming Frog is a tool that helps website owners improve their on-site SEO. It does this by crawling the website and extracting data that can be used to identify common SEO issues. It has features like finding broken links, analyzing page titles and meta data, discovering duplicate content, reviewing robots and directives, and integrating with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights. It can also visualize the site's architecture, compare crawls and staging, schedule audits, crawl JavaScript websites, generate XML sitemaps, and more. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and users can crawl 500 URLs for free or buy a license to access advanced features and remove the crawl limit.
Personally, I use this to audit websites ahead of a redesign, and to visually map out a current state sitemap, as I plan for a future state sitemap. It is super helpful with uncovering undiscovered pages and has assisted with tremendous SEO growth for both my websites and for my clients. It costs $209 per year for a license. But don't worry, they have a free version as well!
SpyFu is a competitor keyword research tool for Google Ads and SEO professionals. It allows users to spot new SEO and PPC opportunities, find the search marketing strategies of competitors, and boost SEO and PPC profits. It offers features such as keyword and domain research, competitor analysis, backlink building, rank tracking, and SERP analysis. SpyFu also provides data on over 109 million domains and 7 billion results, allowing users to see the top strategies used by industry leaders and smaller competitors. It helps users increase website traffic and track keyword rankings, and provides reliable contact information for building partnerships or generating leads.
Personally, I use it for keyword research on top of SEMRush as a secondary tool. It's more affordable than most other tools — starting at $8 per month for the limited time offers they usually run, all the way up to $58/mo if paid annyally for the Professional plan.
Keywords Everywhere is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that provides keyword research tools for SEO and Google Ads professionals. It shows monthly search volume, cost per click, and competition data for keywords on multiple websites, as well as trend data and "people also search for" suggestions. It also allows users to view traffic metrics and keywords for specific web pages or websites, and download lists of keywords in various file formats. Keywords Everywhere works by appending search volume, cost per click, and competition data to the interface of popular keyword research tools, allowing users to see relevant data in real time while using Google Search, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Answer The Public, and more. In addition, users can download lists of keywords and their metrics in Excel, CSV, or PDF formats. Keywords Everywhere aims to streamline the keyword research process by providing accurate data directly on the user's browser, saving time and effort.
Personally, I use this regularly in my day-to-day browsing and work alike. It's intriguing and super helpful for me to see all the metrics right there, and I use it at the start of keyword research, and for monitoring specific targeted, high-value keywords. It costs $10 to fill up credits, which I use up approximately every 6 months.
Rank Math is a WordPress plugin that helps users optimize their website for search engines through built-in suggestions based on best practices. It offers various tools including keyword tracking, SEO analysis, and support for various schema types to help users improve their search engine rankings. It also integrates with platforms such as Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Rank Math has both a free and paid version available.
Personally, I switched from YoastSEO to Rank Math due to pricing only. They featured more bang for the buck and often run promotions, such as $159 or $199 for the first year, and I am locked in at $239/yr now for up to 200 websites. While they are based in India, they do have good support.
YoastSEO is a popular WordPress plugin that helps users optimize their website for search engines. It provides a range of features to improve the SEO of a website, including tools for analyzing and improving the readability of content, managing and generating meta titles and descriptions, and creating and managing XML sitemaps. YoastSEO also includes a feature called Focus Keyword, which helps users identify the primary keyword they want to rank for in search results and ensures that this keyword is properly incorporated into the content of the page. In addition, YoastSEO offers integration with social media platforms, allowing users to easily add social media tags to their website to improve its visibility on these platforms. Overall, YoastSEO is a powerful tool for improving the SEO of a WordPress website and increasing its visibility in search results. While they are a Netherlands-based company, I have never had an issue with their support.
Personally, I used to use the free and premium version on over a dozen websites. I still use the free version on just a few websites. It's a great tool for beginners and SEO gurus alike who are looking to optimize SEO for their WordPress website. If you want premium functionality, like redirection and more, it costs $99/yr for just 1 website.
In conclusion, the Top 10 SEO tools experts use for growth are Google Search Console, Google PageSpeed Insights, SEMRush, Answer The Public, Screaming Frog SEO Spider Website Crawler, SpyFu, Keywords Everywhere, Rank Math, and YoastSEO. These SEO tools offer a variety of features and benefits for SEO professionals, including keyword research, website crawling, competitor analysis, traffic tracking, and structured data integration. If you are looking to improve your website's SEO and grow your online presence, it is essential to utilize these tools in your strategy. However, implementing and maintaining an effective SEO strategy can be overwhelming, especially if you are new to the field. If you need expert help, be sure to connect with Key Medium for a free website consultation. Our team of SEO and digital marketing experts can guide you through the process and help you achieve your online growth goals.
