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Complete Guide to SEO Tools – Which tools are best? Which ones are optional? Learn all you need to know here.
This question gets asked a ton on this sub (think, every other day), so thought I’d create the **one post to end all SEO tools questions.**
Yes, there are hundreds of SEO tools out there. But at the end of the day, you just need 8 – 12 of them, most of which are free.
**Here’s literally all you need to know about SEO tools:**
*Reposted from* /r/seogrowth*, do check out the sub if you’re into quality SEO content <3 Active mod team, amazing SEO content, monthly SEO roast threads, and ****so. much. more.******
# 12 SEO Tools by Function:
1. **An SEO Suite (Paid).** Basically SEMrush or Ahrefs. Both of these tools offer an insane number of features – backlink analysis, keyword research, and a ton of other stuff. Yes, 99 USD a month is expensive for a tool. But then again, if you value your time 30 USD / hour, and this tool saves you 10 hours, it’s obviously worth it, right?
2. **On-Page SEO Tool (Free)**. RankMath or Yoast for WP. Basically a tool that’s going to help you optimize web pages or blog posts as per SEO best practices. *If your CMS of choice is Ghost, Shopify, or other CMS, you could use SurferSEO or do it manually with a checklist.*
3. **Technical SEO Tool (Freemium)**. You can use ScreamingFrog to crawl your entire website and find technical SEO problems. There are probably other tools that also do this, but ScreamingFrog is the most popular option. The freemium version of the tool only crawls a limited # of pages (500 URLs, to be exact), so if your website is relatively big, you’ll need to pay for the tool. It’s quite cheap compared to Semrush, and it’s super useful.
4. **Analytics (Free)**. Obviously, you’ll need Google Analytics (to track website traffic) and Google Search Console (to track organic traffic, specifically) set up on your website. Optionally, you can also use Google Tag Manager to better track how your website visitors interact with the site.
5. **MozBar (Free)**. Chrome toolbar that lets you simply track # of backlinks for competitors on SERPs, Domain Authority, and a bunch of other stuff.
6. **Website Speed Analysis (Free)**. You can use Google Page Speed Insights to track how fast your website loads, as well as how mobile-friendly it is.
7. **Outreach Tool (Paid)**. Tool for reaching out to prospects for link-building, guest posting, etc. There are about a dozen good options for this. Personally, I like to use Snov for this. You can start small (and free) by just using Gmail directly. Or if you are advanced at outreach, use Pitchbox.
8. **Optimized GMB Profile (Free).** Not a tool per se, but if you’re a local business, you need to have a well-optimized Google My Business profile.
9. **Google Keyword Planner (Free)**. This gives you the most reliable search volume data of all the tools. So, when doing keyword research, grab the search volume from here.
10. **Tool for Storing Keyword Research (Free)**. You can use Google Sheets or AirTable to store your keyword research and, at the same time, use it as a content calendar.
11. **Hemingway App (Free).** Helps keep your SEO content easy to read. Spots passive voice, complicated words, etc.
12. **Email Finder (Freemium)**. You can use a tool like Hunter or Snov to find email addresses of basically anyone on the internet (for link-building or guest posting purposes).**And then the rest is optional**.
Sure, you could use a 3rd party tool like UberSuggest or KWFinder, but SEMrush/Ahrefs can basically do the same thing. And since you’re paying for Semrush or Ahrefs, might as well just stick to it.
**Did I miss some super-essential tool? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the post!**
# FAQ
**#1. I really like tool X, why is it not in this post?**
Probably because the tool is not a must-have.
**#2. Can I use one of those AI content writing tools to write gazillions of words in days?**
No, AI content writing tools don’t work well. The content you’ll get as a result is going to be pretty bad. And will need hours of hardcore editing. Obviously, this is subject to change over the next few years.
**#3. Can you add my tool to this list?**
Yeah, if it’s 1) essential for SEO, 2) it’s on par with the tools we mentioned in this post.
**#4. I HATE Yoast/RankMath/Ahrefs/You, where do I send hate mail?**
That’s just like, your opinion, man.
**#5. Where can I find more of such amazing content?**
Glad you asked! I post a ton of quality content on my SEO sub, /r/seogrowth. Check it out!
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5 Replies
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>#1. I really like tool X, why is it not in this post?
Probably because the tool is not a must-have.so every tool you list is a must have, right …
>Yoast for WP
alrightttt
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far from being complete but then who am I to critic your spamming of r/seogrowth uh (:
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Thanks a ton for this. Will read this in free time.
Saved. ?
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tks dude… some I did forget and got up to-date now. My thing is around free tools as a freelance with a dozen clients. ?
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Ahrefs is the key tool I use. It is expensive though. When getting started I used Mangools for a bit to save some cash.
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Thanks
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