As Google’s algorithm continues to evolve, having the best SEO tools at your fingertips is essential if you want to remain competitive online.
But with so many tools out there, where do you begin? To help boost your SEO and content marketing efforts, here are some of the best free and paid SEO tools we recommend:
Best Free SEO Tools in 2018
Google’s Search Console
Novice-friendly and straight from the highest search engine authority, Google’s Search Console is too wide-ranging to go into here, but two highlights are:
- Fetch as Google, which helps you see a particular URL as Google sees it.
- PageSpeed Insights, which measures the performance of your website on desktop and mobile.
HubSpot’s Website Grader
This online tool generates personalized reports based on website performance, security, mobile readiness, on-page SEO, and more. To get started, you just need your website URL and an email address.
Found’s SEO Audit Tool
This is another tool that helps you identify common SEO errors on your site. Simply enter your URL and receive an instant SEO report, which evaluates your technical SEO, content, and external links.
Structured Data Markup Helper
Structured data markup is a universal language format that Google uses to improve their search results. With the growth of rich snippets, applying structured data on your site matters more than ever before. This tool from Google shows where you can add markup and how to do it.
Seobility
This user-friendly tool is a good place to start if you want to perform a quick SEO audit of your website. You’ll get tips on improving your on-site SEO, keyword strategy, page rankings, and more.
SEM Rush
Want to check out the competition? Here, you can enter any URL and view every keyword the page ranks for, how high the page ranks, the keyword monthly search volume, the top backlinks, and more. You can also track keywords from any geographical location to help you discover local competition.
Check My Links
This Chrome extension quickly finds all the links on a web page, highlighting which ones are valid in green, and which ones are broken in red. It works for internal and external links, making it easy for any publisher to fix web pages before they go live.
Google Correlate
Find out which keywords tend to get searched for together, and discover real-world search patterns. For example, if you input “Halloween shops,” the tool tells you that people searching for this term also search for “Halloween party treats” and “funny Halloween costumes.”
Best Paid SEO Tools in 2018
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Many content marketers use Ahrefs for checking backlinks, but it’s capable of so much more. As well as domain analytics and keyword planning tools, it will also identify the top performing content of your competitors.
Long Tail Pro
This powerful, cloud-based keyword research tool will calculate keyword competitiveness for any niche. Use it to find thousands of low competition, long tail keywords in a matter of minutes.
HitTail
HitTail is one of the only keyword tools that generates keyword suggestions by analyzing your existing website traffic. It’s useful for finding relevant long tail keywords that other tools often overlook.
This tool helps you track keyword rankings by country, city, or even postal code. It also allows you to track your competitors’ highest ranking search terms, helping you compete more effectively.
Bright Local
If you want to make sure your business listings and citations are consistent across the internet, this tool is for you. It can help you clean up incorrect, duplicate, or missing NAP details online, and will also monitor your online reviews.
Raven Tools
Raven tools is one of the best site auditor tools around. Unlike some other tools, it shows you exactly how to fix any SEO issues it finds. It will scan your site for thin or duplicate content, and it can also report on your marketing campaigns in terms of SEO, PPC, and social media effectiveness.
BuzzSumo
Primarily a keyword research and social monitoring tool, BuzzSumo shows you which content is being shared most online, and who shared it.
It will also send you alerts based on your chosen keywords or brand names, so it’s great for competitor analysis and finding key influencers in your industry.
Choose the Best SEO Tools for You
Using a range of SEO tools is crucial to improving your organic search visibility and attracting customers to your business.
Of course, there are hundreds of other tools with different functions and varying price points, but this list is a good place to start. You’ll find some more useful than others, so give them a try and find out which ones work best for you and your business.
Do you need unique, quality content to support your SEO goals? Constant Content connects you with thousands of professional writers able to create articles, ebooks, product descriptions and other assets that engage readers while increasing search rank.