A carpenter never blames his tools for a poorly done job, but good tools sure can make the task a lot easier. This stands true whether you are building a home or building strong search engine placement for your website. There are thousands of tools out there designed to help with search engine optimization, but not all are as beneficial as others. Figuring out the right tools for your website’s needs can boost your understanding of search engine optimization and enhance your SEO placement.
Tools cannot replace human effort. To get the greatest placement possible you will need to develop a strategy, plan ahead and work with these SEO tools to develop the greatest results. Some tools are free to try; others require an upfront cost or paid subscription. Most can help enhance your understanding of search engine optimization and improve your websites placement in search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Here is a brief list of some of the best tools for your online marketing plan:
- SEO for Chrome: Google is one of the premier go-to sources for all search engine optimization questions. After all, it is Google who controls the leading algorithms that determine the upcoming trends in SEO. SEO for Chrome is an add-on tool that makes it simple to see backlinks, traffic, page ranks and even keyword information. Google’s keyword tool is another popular and highly respected SEO tool.
- Open Site Explorer: This is a free link analysis tool that will perform basic SEO tasks like link counts of a designated URL as well as domain analysis. This is a great tool to perform research on competitors and do determine how your own website appears to others.
- Ahrefs: Another free online tool, Ahrefs is a constantly updated online database of link analysis. This crawler will analyze keywords and anchor text and detect internal issues within your website to improve your SEO. This tool also analyzes social media presence and other data generated from sources like Facebook and Twitter.
- Spyfu: Originally known by the name of Googspy, this is another free online tool that will search and analyze any domain name, providing you with valuable information about your own website as well as that of your competitors. This tool will outline every keyword the domain owns placement for, as well as their history with pay-per-click advertisements like adword.
Combining good strategy with the right tools can really enhance your web marketing efforts. These tools will not replace expertise, but with a solid marketing strategy these tools can propel your marketing program to the next level.