SEO Software As the song goes, you get by with a little help from your friends. In search engine optimization (SEO), that means some excellent platforms will expedite your efforts to improve your SEO.
We’ve rounded up the best SEO software to help you with everything from keyword research to analytics.
Seven SEO Platforms to Help You Rank Higher
Of the hundreds of apps that promise to help you rank well, we consider these the best:
1. Google Search Console
Cost: Free
Google Search Console is a free service that helps website owners monitor and improve their site’s visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
With it, you can submit sitemaps, view search traffic data, and test the mobile-friendliness of your site. You can also manage your website’s structured data and rich cards, which can enhance your SERP listings with additional information and visuals.
Why You Need It: Google Search Console is an incredibly useful tool, but it does not guarantee improved SERP rankings. Rather, it gives you the resources to better understand how the search engine crawls and indexes your site. This way, you can make informed decisions about how to improve site visibility.
2. Google Analytics
Cost: Free
Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks traffic, reports website traffic, and gives insights on user behavior. It is the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet.
Some of the best Google Analytics features include its ability to track real-time data, its robust reporting capabilities, and its user-friendly interface. Google Analytics also offers several handy tools for analyzing website traffic and user behavior. These include:
- Segmentation: Breaks down your website traffic by various criteria such as geographical location, traffic source, and device type.
- Customization: Creates custom reports and dashboards tailored to your specific needs.
- Conversion tracking: Sets up goals and conversions to track how well your website is meeting your business objectives.
Why You Need It: You have to measure your SEO efforts to know if they’re working. Google Analytics gives you the numbers that create a clear picture of your campaign’s progress.
3. PageSpeed Insights
Cost: Free
PageSpeed Insights is a tool that measures the speed of your website and provides suggestions on how to improve it. It is easy to use. Simply enter your website’s URL and choose from one of two options:
- Field data: It presents historical data on how the URL has performed in the real world based on various network conditions and devices.
- Lab data: It generates results from a simulated page load using fixed network conditions and a single device.
PageSpeed Insights also has other features like the ability to test your website on different devices and browsers and see how your website loads over time.
Why You Need It: Speed matters. A slow website can frustrate users and cause them to leave without taking action. If you want your website to rank higher in SERPs, you need to make sure your website loads quickly.
4. SEMrush
Cost: Pro ($119.95/month), Guru ($229.95/month), Business ($449.95/month)
Marina Turea with Digital Authority Partners counts SEMrush a must-have for any website owner or marketer. It is a powerful online visibility management and content marketing tool. It provides users detailed data on their website’s SEO, social media, and paid search performance. It also offers analysis and recommendations on how to improve traffic and visibility.
SEMrush’s best features include its keyword research tool that finds high-value terms for the website and competitor analysis tool that assesses your website’s strengths and weaknesses with your competitors.
Why You Need It: SEMrush’s greatest strength is in keyword research. The right keywords are one of the foundations for any successful SEO campaign. Its keyword research tool will help you find terms most likely to increase web traffic and visibility.
5. SEOQuake
Cost: Free
SEOQuake is a free Google Chrome extension that obtains information about websites with a simple click of the mouse. It gathers website traffic, metadata, backlinks, and other key metrics. Then it displays all these in an easy-to-read format.
Other tools include:
- Keyword density checker: Checks how often a particular keyword is used on a webpage.
- Backlink checker: Analyzes the quality and quantity of a website’s backlinks.
- Competitor analysis: Compares your website’s metrics to that of your competitors.
- SEO showdown: Compares multiple domains against several SEO parameters.
Why You Need It: SEOQuake is a handy tool for quick SEO audits. An audit can be very time-consuming, but SEOQuake can give you a general idea of how well your website is optimized with just a few clicks.
6. Ahrefs
Cost: Lite ($99/month), Standard ($199/month), Advanced ($399/month), Enterprise ($999/month)
Ahrefs is a close competitor of SEMrush and another well-known SEO software. Although it performs functions similar to its rival, such as competitor and backlink analysis, it seems to win in one area.
Ahrefs pulls data from around ten search engines, including YouTube, while Semrush seems to get the information from Google only. As a result, Ahrefs provides a more comprehensive view of a website’s SEO performance.
Other features of Ahrefs include:
- Keyword research: Finds the best keywords to target for your SEO campaign.
- Content explorer: Knows the most popular content in your niche.
- Rank tracker: Monitors your website’s progress in the SERPs over time.
- History tracker: Keeps track of your overall performance for at least six months (depending on the plan).
Why You Need It: Ahrefs provides in-depth insight into the overall health of your website. With the information, you can fine-tune your SEO strategy and take your website to the next level.
7. Ubersuggest
Cost: Free
Ubersuggest is a free online keyword research tool that generates hundreds of relevant keywords for any given topic.
Simply enter a seed keyword, and it will return a huge list of related terms. Ubersuggest is especially useful for finding long-tail keywords, which are less competitive and easier to rank for.
It also gives extra information, such as search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), and competition level. These can help you determine which keywords are worth targeting. You can then use this information to prioritize your keyword list and choose the most effective keywords for your SEO or PPC campaigns.
Why You Need It: Keyword research is vital but time-consuming and confusing. Ubersuggest simplifies it by giving you a huge list of relevant keywords for any topic and all the information you need to prioritize them.
Final Words
These seven best SEO software programs take much of the guesswork out of website optimization. Using them lets you quickly and easily assess your website’s strengths and weaknesses, find the best keywords to target, monitor your progress, and much more.
Keep in mind, however, that these are only tools. They can give you information and help you automate certain tasks, but they can’t do everything. Ultimately, it’s still up to you to make the necessary changes to your website.
Don’t hesitate to get help from a trusted digital marketing agencies for a more comprehensive SEO strategy. It can help you create, implement, and track a campaign tailored to your unique needs and goals.
