Why do you need SEO tools?
SEO tools are essential for optimizing your website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results. SEO tools can be categorized based on seven key purposes. Some tools are used for multiple purposes, especially integrated SEO platforms like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz, which cover most of the key features required for SEO.
1. For Traffic and SERP Monitoring
First, you may want to know how much traffic your website receives and how it ranks on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
If your website has many pages, tracking rankings for all pages and ranked keywords may be very time-consuming. In that case, you should consider using paid tools to capture your page rankings and keywords ranked on SERPs efficiently.
2. For SEO Audit
A website audit is a time-consuming task. With proper SEO tools, comprehensive website audits become much more manageable, such as checking for broken links, ensuring mobile-friendliness, evaluating page loading speeds, and identifying crawl errors.
Many tools are available for website and web page audits. Paid tools usually provide more comprehensive features as a one-stop solution, but you can also conduct site audits using a combination of free tools.
To learn more about website audits, go to Chapter 5. Website Audit.
3. For Keyword Planning
The first step of on-page SEO is researching and identifying the best keywords for your content. You can check monthly search volume and keyword difficulty (or competition) level using keyword planning tools. If you use paid tools, you can also get keyword recommendations for your content writing.
To learn more about keyword planning, go to Chapter 8. Mastering Keyword Research.
4. For Content Writing
When creating content, you may need some support to understand best practices, such as optimal keyword density, appropriate meta tags, and structuring content for better readability and engagement.
To learn more about content writing, go to Chapter 9. SEO Content Writing.
5. For Backlink Analysis
Backlinks are a significant factor in SEO. Tools for backlink analysis provide insights into your site’s backlink profile, helping you understand who is linking to you, the quality of these links, and how they impact your SEO.
To learn more about backlinks, go to Chapter 14. Building Backlinks.
6. For Schema Markup
Implementing schema markups properly requires experience. Tools that assist with schema markup enable you to structure your website’s data in a way that is easily understood by search engines.
To learn more about schema markup, go to Chapter 12. Implementing Schema Markup.
7. For Competitor Analysis
Understanding your competitors is essential in SEO. There are different types of competitor analysis. The main ones are:
- Target keyword and rankings analysis
- Backlink profiling
- Traffic analysis
You need the right tools to do competitor analysis.