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Writing great content on your blog or creating conversion-ready landing pages may not be enough to drive traffic to your site. You also need to make sure the content is search engine optimized (SEO) to ensure your pages are landing on the top of Google for the right keywords. But to do this, you need the right tools.

That’s why my team and I compiled this list of the best SEO Tools:

SurferSEO

SurferSEO tells you what keywords you need to use to rank higher than competitors

SE Ranking

With an intuitive dashboard, SE Ranking is one of the best tools for those new to SEO

SEMRush

SEMRush has a suite of keyword research tools to improve your rankings

Mangools

Mangools offers a variety of SEO apps for keyword research, backlinks, & more

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is the best place to check your backlink profile and domain rating

In today’s content-saturated world, search engine optimization (SEO) has become more crucial than ever before.

To succeed in this arena, you need the best tools designed to supercharge your search engine rankings and help you outrank your competitors. 

New trends are continually emerging, such as the rise in voice search and the AI (artificial intelligence) and machine-learning revolution – all of which are helping marketers up their SEO game and stay ahead of the pack.

With so many things to focus on, how do you know which SEO tools are right for your business? This article will help you answer that question. 

What are the Best SEO Tools?

1. SurferSEO

Best Overall SEO Tool ($59/month) 

Surfer SEO is a powerful rank tracker tool that is designed to help you take your content strategy to the next level. 

With this platform, you have all the tools you need to outrank your competitors.

It’s ideal for copywriters, content strategists, freelancers, bloggers, and SEO agencies. It has features like keyword research, SERP analyzer, and SEO audit to help you enhance your content at every level.

Key Features:

  • SEO Audit: Take over your niche with an SEO Audit report for SEO opportunities and quick wins.
  • Keyword Research: Discover new keywords for a noticeable boost in traffic to your important pages.
  • SERP Analyzer: The platform offers X-ray vision for the top-ranking pages in your SERPs.

Pros of SurferSEO

  • Actionable audit to help you overtake SERP competitors
  • One-click guidelines to optimize content 
  • Generate a customized content strategy for your domain

Pricing:

You can sign up for the “Basic” plan for $59/month and SurferSEO also offers a 7-day money-back guarantee.


2. SE Ranking

Best Search Engine Optimization Software for Beginners ($39/month)

SE Ranking’s purpose is to make things easier and less complicated SEO-wise. Rarely can you find an all-in-one tool that shows so much information on one viewing screen, and it’s clear enough for even a beginner to understand.

Their tools help with keyword research, generating new ideas, monitoring query dynamics, spying on competitors’ SEO approaches, calculating your own website health, checking backlink profiles, finding websites to pitch your content to, etc. The list goes on and on.

SE Ranking also saves you time and effort by grouping keywords so that you don’t have to. Ah, and there is a Marketing and SEO plan feature, how about that?

Basically, with this set of tools you can optimize your website by yourself, without professional help. All the features are easy to understand and utilize.

Key Features:

  • An impressive number of tools: everything to monitor and analyze your rankings, keywords, competitors, and backlinks.
  • B2B features: Benefit from additional B2B features such as White Label, Lead Generator, SEO Reporting, and API.
  • SMM software: Monitor your social media, schedule publications, and post on all channels without having to do it manually. There is even a free trial available! 

Pricing:

SE Ranking has 3 customizable pricing plans:

1. Essential Plan: $39/month

  • Great for one user
  • All essential features are available
  • Not for large agencies

2. Pro Plan: $89/month

  • An unlimited number of projects
  • Up to 3 users can benefit from the features
  • A comprehensive audit capacity

3. Business Plan: $189/month

  • All additional tools (API, White Label, etc.)
  • Great for large businesses or SEO agencies
  • An unlimited number of projects
  • Hundreds of thousands of audits for your pages, and more.

Keep in mind that you can create your own customized plan by contacting the company. And, just in case, there’s a price calculator on the website for your convenience.


3. SEMRush

Best Search Engine Optimization Software for Keyword Research ($119/month) 

SEMRush is an awesome keyword research tool and site audit tool favored by a lot of individuals and teams. 

It has features that make it easy to find the keywords that any page on the internet is ranking for. 

The software also provides detailed information pertaining to keywords, such as their position in the SERPs, the pages to which they are driving traffic, and each keyword’s traffic trends in the past 12 months. 

This is a feature-rich tool that will undoubtedly help you take your SEO strategy to the next level.

Key Features:

  • Competitor Analysis: SEMRush has tools to help you analyze competitors’ metrics to better inform your own strategies.
  • Robust Dashboard: The platform has a dashboard that is very informative yet simple to navigate.
  • Comprehensive Tools: From keyword research to domain analytics, backlink tracking, and more – the software offers an impressive range of tools to boost your SEO.

Pros of SEMRush:

  • Desktop/mobile search breakdowns
  • Proactive SEO recommendations and keyword suggestions 
  • Uniquely useful project-based SEO campaign structures 

Pricing:

SEM – offers a free 7-day trial where you get full access to all toolkits. 

After that, you can upgrade to the “Pro” plan for $119.95/month.


4. Mangools

Best Suite of SEO Apps ($49/month)

Mangools is a set of tools that are designed for both beginners and experts alike. 

The platform is easy to use and has basic and advanced features for keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor analysis, SERP analysis, and rank tracking. 

The software is made up of the following tools or “apps”:

  • KWFinder
  • SERPChecker
  • SERPWatcher
  • LinkMiner
  • SiteProfiler

It’s ideal for individual bloggers, affiliate marketers, SEO agencies, and SMEs. If you don’t want to use the apps, you can simply use the Chrome or Firefox extension.

Key Features:

  • See SERPs for Any Location: Dive into search results in SERP features, click-through rates, and 45 other SEO metrics for countries, cities, and DMA regions.
  • Find the Best Keywords: Get valuable keywords with high search volume and achievable SEO difficulty.
  • Track Your Rankings: Share interactive reports and stay notified about major bumps in traffic. Alternatively, you can schedule your own reports.

Pros of Mangools: 

  • Great user interface that is easy to use
  • Check competitors website authority
  • See link previous day directly to find powerful backlinks

Pricing:

Mangools offers a free 10-day trial with no credit card needed to register. 

If you want to unlock more features, you can upgrade to the “Basic” plan for $49/month. Paid annually, you save up to 40% on each plan.


5. Ahrefs

Best Search Engine Optimization Software for Backlink Research ($99/month) 

Ahrefs provides all the tools required for you to grow your online presence. 

The platform has 5 core elements and a central dashboard that affords you an overview of all the important information, including backlinking, traffic, research, projects ranking, etc. 

The software’s features set it apart from its main competitors, and include a priority web crawler that is second only to Google in speed and size. This is its main differentiator. The backlink database that they have is massive and they’re able to give some interesting insights that some other tools cannot.

In short, this is one of the best options to help you understand and improve your domain’s online visibility.

Key Features:

  • Web Link Index: Ahrefs has the fastest and largest commercial web link index.
  • In-Depth Documentation: The website has free tutorials and a vast knowledge base, as well as a well-versed support team.
  • Advanced Filtering Tools: Power users have access to a wide range of advanced filtering tools on the platform.

Pros of Ahrefs:

  • Solid ad-hoc keyword research
  • In-depth SERP analysis
  • Exceptional internet-wide and site-specific crawling capability

Pricing:

Ahrefs plans start at $99/month. You can sign up for a trial for just $7/month to get access to all the features of the premium plans.


6. Google Analytics

Best Free Search Engine Optimization Software for On-Site Analytics (Free) 

Google Analytics is a powerful and free analytics tool that checks virtually every bit of traffic imaginable on your website. 

With this software, you’ll know where visits are coming from, which pages are receiving the traffic, and much more. 

Although it’s not purely for the purposes of SEO, this tool is still an invaluable resource and extremely helpful for tracking organic traffic. 

It will provide you with detailed information about your website and how you can improve your content strategy.

And, although Google Analytics is a powerful tool on its own, when combined with Google Search Console, it becomes even more powerful.


7. Google Search Console

A Powerful Tool for Constant Website Analysis (Free)

Google Search Console is yet another free service offered by the search giant. 

It allows you to monitor, troubleshoot, and maintain your domain’s presence in Google search results.

With the two accounts linked, you get additional information such as the keywords that people use to find your website and your organic click-through rate (CTR), as well as a bunch of other cool stuff.

The data from GSC is rich with insights, including:

  • Keyword and URL performance
  • Mobile usability
  • Indexation issues
  • Sitemap status

…and much more!

Pros of Google Analytics:

  • Ideal for beginners
  • Free technical support
  • Easy access to key metrics

Pricing:

Google Analytics is a freemium service, which means that anyone can use the service without having to pay a monthly charge.

However, if you want to unlock more advanced features so you can do a lot more with the service, there is a recurring fee.


8. Keyword Shitter

Best Search Engine Optimization Software for Discovering New Keywords (Variable Pricing) 

Keyword Shitter (yes, you read that correctly) is a superb keyword research tool (though keyword research services can help with this if need be) that is taking the market by storm. 

Despite its silly name, this SEO tool does offer a wealth of helpful features that will allow you to boost your content rankings. 

You can get keyword volume, competition data, cost-per-click, and a whole lot more. 

This is a straightforward tool that works by mining information from Google Autocomplete in order to present you with over 30,000 keyword options in just half an hour. 

There are no frills with this software. It won’t give you in-depth analysis, groupings, or trends – just a lot of immediate suggestions and very valuable keywords that you can use to optimize your content.

Key Features:

  • Competitor Source Code: The tool shows you high-level keywords your competition is using to rank organically.
  • Fast Keyword Research: The tool poops out a ton of the best and most lucrative keywords in just minutes. 
  • Free Backlink Explorer: The software gives you access to a free index of the common crawl and supports open data. 

Pros of Keyword Sheeter: 

  • The platform has a very active community of users 
  • Get keyword volume, CPC, and competitor data
  • Positive or negative filters for more usable data

Pricing:

Keyword Shitter offers a variety of packages, starting with the Keyword Shitter Silver for $900 per year. 

You can also conduct a keyword search for free and then subscribe for $9 to save your list of keywords to email.


9. Answer the Public

Best SEO Optimization Software for Understanding End-User Search Intent (Starts from Free)

Answer the Public is a handy tool that offers valuable data about the questions most commonly asked by people online. 

It’s ideal for use by content marketers who want to stay on top of trending topics and find interesting new ideas. 

All you have to do is input a keyword, and the tool will display popular queries based on the keyword. 

The software also generates a graphic like the one in the image below with the questions and phrases most commonly used when users search for that keyword.

Key Features:

  • “Vs” Keywords: The platform has a section of the keyword search results dedicated to “versus”, “like”, and “with” keywords. 
  • Find Popular Topics: The tool provides you with insight into the concerns and desires of potential customers from a single keyword search. 
  • Create Better Content: This is a great research tool that can help you produce better content that your target audience is more likely to enjoy. 

Pros of Answer the Public:

  • Unlimited searches and unlimited users
  • Easily compare data over time
  • Priority customer support

Pricing:

Answer the Public continues to provide free searches every month, but these are limited based on the site’s traffic. 

If you want unlimited searches with Pro features, you can upgrade to a premium plan for just $99/month.


10. Prepostseo

Best SEO Optimization Software for Content Optimization (Free)

Prepostseo provides more than 95 freemium online SEO and Writing tools to help webmasters, writers, and students.

It is one of the finest SEO solutions companies for those that are looking to save on services. The tools available on this platform are free to use and can be easily accessible on a smart device.

Their toolset includes a plagiarism checker that helps users to check the plagiarism of their work within seconds. This website also offers some amazing tools that can help bloggers and webmasters to optimize their content for the latest SEO practices.

Key Features:

  • Tools are Completely Free: All of the SEO and writing tools are free for everyone. You can use their basic functionality without purchasing its premium plans.
  • Supported by Different Languages: This platform provides SEO tools in different languages.
  • Developed With Mobile in Mind: · It was developed for iOS and Android applications to help users in accessing tools on their smartphones.
  • Wordpres Plugin Available: A WordPress plugin of PrepostSEO is also available for their plagiarism checker tool.

Pros of Prepostseo: 

  • Provides a wide range of SEO tools for free.
  • Mobile and language friendly
  • WordPress Plugin

Pricing:

All of the tools on this website are completely free to use. If you need to upgrade for more advanced features, you can do so with the plans below.


11. Google Trends 

Best SEO Optimization Software for Discovering Trends (Free)

Google Trends is a tool that shows you how popular search terms are over time. 

It’s useful for uncovering a lot of things, such as seasonal variations in the popularity of a specific keyword term. 

You can also compare multiple keywords in order to discover relative popularity. 

The platform allows you to sort by category, country, type of search, etc. You can see related topics, popularity by region, newest, and most frequently searched-for terms. 

This is an extremely useful tool, and it’s one that’s worth checking when you do your keyword research because the last thing you want is to optimize your content around a keyword that is losing popularity.

Key Features:

  • Enhance Paid Search: Use Google Trends data to inform seasonal campaigns and help with cost planning and inventory stocking. 
  • SEO and Content Marketing: This free tool can help you learn about the type of information and answers that your potential customers are searching for. 
  • Inspire Your Ad Creative: Use Google Trends to find out what topics are currently trending so you can better inform your marketing campaigns. 

Pros of Google Trends: 

  • Use the platform to find a skyrocketing new niche
  • Use Google Trends Compare to monitor your competitors’ positions
  • Get content ideas on current trends 

Pricing:

Google Trends is free to use.


12. Ubersuggest

Best SEO Optimization Software for Comparing Keywords (Starts from Free)

Ubersuggest is a popular keyword research tool that was created by internet marketing guru, Neil Patel. 

Based on a keyword you provide, the tool scrapes data from the Google Keyword Planner.

The tool also displays handy data for any keyword you input, including the search volume, level of competition, and CPC. 

You can easily filter out the keywords that you’re not interested in, and, with the recently updated version 3.0 of the software, you can now type in a URL to get domain metrics.

Key Features:

  • “Comparisons” Feature: This shows you “X vs. Y” keywords to make it easier for you to make a comparison. 
  • Site Audit: In addition to keyword discovery, Ubersuggest also checks your website for SEO issues and offers instructions for fixing them. 
  • Daily Rank Tracking: Find out what changes occur daily in your rankings on desktop and mobile. 

Pros of Ubersuggest:

  • Easily find profitable keywords to rank for
  • See what your competitors are ranking for
  • Get in-depth backlink data for new opportunities

Pricing:

You can use Ubersuggest for free, and if you want to upgrade for more features, plans start at $29/month. 

Right now, you can get a lifetime deal for 90% savings.


What Types of SEO Tools Are There?

There are dozens of different SEO tools on the market. Each has its own set of features and functionalities, and the one you choose will depend on your specific needs. 

Here are some of the most commonly used types of SEO tools:

  • Technical SEO tools
  • Keyword research tools 
  • On-page SEO tools
  • Rank tracking tools
  • Content research tools
  • Content optimization tools
  • Backlink analysis tools 
  • Video SEO tools 
  • Link building tools 
  • SEO analytics tools
  • Local SEO tools
  • Mobile SEO Tools
  • Site speed tools 
  • All-in-One SEO tools

Of course, just because there are so many tools on offer, doesn’t mean you need to use them all. 

Simply choose the ones you need to help you improve and optimize your website and content so you can achieve better rankings.

What Features to Look For in SEO Tools

As you’ve seen, there are many SEO tools, and for you to know which ones are right for your business, you need to understand the important features of each SEO tool. 

Here are some of the top features to look for in the best SEO tools.

1. SEO Grade: It’s an SEO tool, so the list it should do is be able to show you at a glance where your SEO stands now. This is especially important in a beginner’s SEO tool.

2. Functionalities: What does the tool do? As your software should help to streamline your research process for trying to understand how visitors discover your website online, discovering lucrative keywords to target, analyzing your competitors, tracking backlinks, or finding ways to improve your rankings.

3. Technical SEO Crawler: This is a crucial feature to your website’s success. It allows Google to find, crawl, and index all your website content. The good news is, virtually all SEO tools currently on the market can detect the presence of a sitemap and robots.txt files. 

However, the very best SEO tools go beyond that by crawling your website in much the same way Google does in order to find the same issues that the search giant looks for whenever it crawls your website, such as duplicate content, broken links, HTTP/HTTPS conflicts, etc.

4. Mobile Optimization: Mobile traffic accounts for more and more organic visitors, which is why Google now goes mobile-first when indexing pages. This means the SCO tool you choose should at least be able to determine the mobile-friendliness of a site and what changes must be implemented to improve it.

5. Keyword Ranking: This is the meaning of SEO and beginners need a tool that will find, track, and compare keyword rankings. Your chosen keyword research tool should also include 

  • Search Volume 
  • Competitor Rankings
  • On-page Auditing
  • Backlink Analysis

Ideally, it should also have metrics like Domain Authority (DA), and Page Authority (PA). 

6. User-Friendly Interface: As you well know, SEO can be quite complex and intimidating – particularly for those who are new to it. So, the tool you choose should be easy to figure out and provide you with a clear layout and logical navigation.

7. Pricing: How much does the tool cost? Depending on how many features on offer, you’ll find tools that cost anywhere from zero dollars to $500 or more per month. Make sure you choose a tool that fits your budget but also has all the features you need to take care of your search engine optimization needs.

How Can SEO Tools Help You?

Different SEO tools have different roles, and they can help your business in a variety of ways, including:

  • Analytics
  • Keyword Research
  • Content Research
  • Backlinks
  • Site speed
  • Local SEO
  • On-page SEO
  • Technical SEO
  • Mobile SEO
  • YouTube SEO
  • Rank Checking
  • WordPress SEO

As you can see, there are a ton of ways these tools can be useful to you. But, it’s more important to understand how to choose the right tools for you so you can get the most out of them.

Best SEO Tools — Summary and Top Picks

Getting SEO right has never been as important. Google is often the first place people when they have a question, want to find information, or even discover something new to purchase. Fortunately, there are many great SEO tools on the market to help you drive more traffic to your site.

When selecting an SEO tool, there are a few things to consider: capacity for keyword research and comparisons, backlink data available, competitor analysis features, mobile optimization functionality, other functionality included, ease of use, and the overall costs of the software.

The Best SEO Tools Currently Available Are: number one recommendation is the Mangools suite of tools.

SurferSEO

SurferSEO tells you what keywords you need to use to rank higher than competitors

SE Ranking

With an intuitive dashboard, SE Ranking is one of the best tools for those new to SEO

SEMRush

SEMRush has a suite of keyword research tools to improve your rankings

Mangools

Mangools offers a variety of SEO apps for keyword research, backlinks, & more

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is the best place to check your backlink profile and domain rating

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