In the world of SEO, you’re really only as good as the tools you use.
Those who take on DIY SEO with a firm intuitive stance do so at their
own risk. For most of us, what we assume folks will do to search and
find our business on the web doesn’t come close to hitting the mark. We
should never bank the success of our business on the instincts we have
about our customers – especially when there are plenty of tools to
validate and guide us.
The good news is, there are oodles of tools out there built to help
the DIY SEO marketer. The bad news is, it’s incredibly tough to filter
out the good from the bad. Let this article do the interviewing process –
these tools and services are tried, tested, and approved to actually
help you achieve and maintain ranking improvements.
Tools for Keyword Research
All SEO is built on a foundation of strategically selected keywords.
While your keywords may change over time, they truly do create the
structure from which all content, copy, and marketing directions are
based on. Therefore, it’s advisable to use a couple of different free or
paid tools to help you target the ideal keywords for your business.
Google AdWords
Google’s suite of products vary in efficiency and usefulness, but AdWords
is a slam dunk. This tool is beneficial not so much for actual hard
numbers, but as an analysis for how popular a given search term is in
the current market. Use it as a means of comparison for your top keyword
selections. AdWords is excellent at visually displaying what terms work
best. It’s also aces at inspiring you to branch out, and generating
additional keyword ideas you may not have yet considered.
SEO Book
Completely free and highly useful, SEO Book
has a slew of offerings to enjoy while you hunt for the perfect
keywords. Check out the keyword density analyzer, a PPC keyword wrapper,
page comparison tool – even a typo generator that displays the common
misspellings for selected keywords. Don’t move forward with your
keywords without first consulting this site for validation and
assistance.
Tools for Paid Search and Keyword Ranking
While organic tactics are absolutely necessary for long-term success,
some businesses choose to use paid search for a quick shot of ranking
adrenaline. Here are some tools and services that can aid in this
process.
SEMRush
SEMRush offers a few free tools
for the SEO practitioner, but their monthly subscription product is
really where the meat of their service lies. Use SEMRush to discover
what keywords your competitors are using for both organic and paid
search results (free accounts only see the top 10, whereas paid accounts
get the whole enchilada.) Paid accounts also have access to organic
rankings for any domain, search volume for keywords, total number of
search results, and many more informative parameters.
PPC Partners
Paid search is a challenging space to take on as a DIY-er, so this is
one area where you’re best served to enlist an expert. There are a lot
of pay-per-click (PPC) firms out there, and who you choose should be a
direct reflection of your business. For most small business owners,
hiring a reasonably priced, mid-sized firm is ideal. You’ll get personal
attention from experts who have bona fide experience. Since you’re
looking to invest real cash in this paid search, make sure to find one
that has testimonials to back up their claims.
Two examples of reputable, results-orientated PPC providers are Webrageous and JumpFly.
Both get high reviews for things like customer service, response,
innovation, and fair pricing structures, so they both represent a good
place to start your quest for stellar paid search results.
Tools to Monitor SEO Results
All the SEO efforts in the world are meaningless if you’re not
tracking the actual success or failure rates. It’s not always easy to
decipher the story that analytics are actually attempting to tell, so
it’s important to choose tools that help demystify the process, and
provide how-to guidance in reading each segment.
Authority Labs
Authority Labs keeps it
simple – enter a domain into their main interface, and you’re able to
track keyword rankings effortlessly. That’s the free portion of the
site. If you’re willing to pay for a Pro plan (or just enjoy the free 30
day trial), you can watch up to 50 domains and 1,000 keywords
(unlimited for higher subscriptions.) This is powerful stuff to gauge
how your keywords are truly performing.
Raven Tools
If you’re opting for a paid tool across the board, Raven Tools
is a sure bet. Built by an SEO agency for SEO experts, Raven covers
just about every aspect of SEO planning and tracking. Their metrics
tracking is absolutely stellar. It’s powerful in part because Raven
Tools draws data from a bevy of sources, including SEMoz, Google
Analytics and Webmaster Tools, and of course, Google AdWords. It’s a bit
like one-stop-shopping in the world of SEO. The interface is intuitive,
how-to guides are easy to read and very effective, and you’ll be
thrilled with the level of detail and variety of available tools and
assistance.
Via SPN
The Best Tools for Do-It-Yourself SEO