Let’s see what SEO tools do, and why you should use them. After that, we will discuss what are the must-have SEO tools.
The interesting part is that most of the must-tools are free.
Before we discuss anything let me clear two misconceptions about SEO Tools.
- Beginners think SEO tools must be expensive.
- Beginners think SEO tools do magical things to rank your site.
Both are false.
When I was a beginner I use to believe that SEO experts have great tools that’s why I can’t compete with them. Once I shall get that magic lamp, I shall, too, do magical things.
When I got enough money to buy the tools, frankly speaking, nothing changed.
Let me explain, why?
Using SEO tools doesn’t mean you get an SEO strategy, your strategy remains the same. SEO tools don’t change or influence the way you do SEO for your business or clients.
But they assist you in what you are already doing.
For instance, you are trying to compete with a website. You are exploring the website by all means. It will take years to fully analyze your competitors without using any tools.
On the other hand, if you use an SEO tool, the tool might take a few minutes to share everything about your competitor’s website.
It means SEO tools are essential to do things quickly and effectively that you are already doing.
If you don’t have a strategy, you can’t win with resources. That’s what happened to me.
Take a look at another example.
You are trying to build backlinks for your website. You are not sure what the best opportunities to reach out and get backlinks from.
If you use any tool, you can see from where your competitors are getting backlinks and you can too reach the exact websites to get links.
In short, you should use SEO tools because they provide you with the best data that assists you in running your website effectively and easily.
If you don’t use any tool, you can’t find great resources to run faster in your industry. For instance, you can definitely build a blog without using a tool but it will be time-consuming and take more effort.
Here is another example.
If you are in keyword research, you can surely find keywords with “Google autocomplete strategy” but any tool can do the same thing and save tons of your time.
Makes sense?
Secondly, not all great tools cost money. Some companies like Google are offering many free alternatives to most of the best SEO tools.
Why not use those free resources?
Now let’s try to understand which SEO tools you need.
It totally depends on what you are doing in SEO. If you have a specific task in SEO then you actually need tools of your field.
Say you are an outreach expert.
You need some tools to extract emails, send emails in bulk and keep details of responses.
That’s why I can’t exactly tell you which tools you exactly need for your SEO. Although, there are some must-have SEO tools that even beginners need.
Here are the best must-have SEO tools for any expert or a beginner.
On this page
Google Search Console (GSC)
GSC is one of the best free SEO tools. It’s a blessing for all business owners. That’s why we have already shared all benefits of using the google search console.
Definitely, the primary goal for any expert is to rank on Google. GSC helps you rank on Google by all means.
You not only track how your website is performing on Google, but you also get suggestions to improve your web experience.
If you keep digging, you can also use it for keyword research.
I often use GSC to track my rankings, check out the latest backlinks, get my posts indexed, and stay in touch with Google about my website.
In short, Google Search Console is a must-have tool for all website owners.
Google Analytics
It’s another must-have free tool.
Google Analytics provides real-time data about the website’s analytics. You see how people are interacting with your website, from where the traffic is coming, and which pages are performing pretty well.
If you keep exploring it has a lot to more for all businesses. You can set goals, track the goals, and much other cool stuff is out there.
The free data also helps you decide which pages need more attention and if you are not being attacked by spambots.
I don’t want to discuss but even after using premium plugins, I still get spam attacks, and thanks to GA I notice the attack and take action against it.
Although, it’s not 100% data.
I usually notice that the bounce rate and average duration of the website aren’t accurate. GA has its own way to calculate user time duration and bounce rate.
Ahref
Let’s move forward to the best-paid SEO tool.
As I am in many bloggers’ communities on social media, I can say it’s one of the highly in-demand SEO tools.
It’s true that Ahref makes the journey easier for all bloggers. If you are not using Ahref, you are missing many great opportunities.
I have been an Ahref user for years. Although I couldn’t fully utilize its all features still it’s one of the most impressive tools I have ever used.
You can use it to find LSI keywords, find out backlinks opportunities, analyze your competitors, check broken links, and much more.
Its data is up to date so it has no comparison with other tools like Moz and Ubersuggest.
I have used Moz and Ubersuggest too but as their data is usually outdated for many websites, that’s why you can’t rely on them. (I haven’t used Moz and Ubersuggest for months, so I don’t have the latest information).
The only problem with Ahref is that it’s expensive.
If you can’t afford it, then you can find alternatives.
Keyword Surfer
Bloggers usually use Ahref for keyword research and to check out backlinks. As it’s expensive, that’s why they need the best alternatives.
Keyword Surfer is one of the best (limited free) keyword research alternatives to any keyword research tool.
It has a huge database and it provides you with extensive details of the keyword.
Google Adwords Planner:
Keyword Surfer is a great tool, but it’s not totally free.
Google Keywords Planner is a free keyword research tool from where all the tools take data.
It has the latest data, and it has many advanced features to use.
You can set even cities for local keyword research.
Here is a sad thing about the tool.
Premium tools have done so such a great job in their marketing that people have more faith in them. Otherwise, Google’s keywords planner is matchless.
Mozbar
Mozbar is a free chrome bar that I use to analyze websites on SERPs.
The bar provides you with domain authority, page authority, backlinks, spam score, etc.
With all that data, you get an idea of how powerful the website might be.
If you are analyzing your competitors and doing keyword research, it’s good for the first impression of the website.
Extra:
Well, you can’t rely completely on Moz because many people have manipulated Moz bot and they can get fake authorities. When it comes to checking domain authority, the same can happen with Ahref too. That’s why while analyzing the authority, also check the traffic value, and keywords, the site is ranking for.
Nofollow check
Experts understand that nofollow links have no value in SEO. Only dofollow links play the real game.
So in link analysis, it’s essential to see if you or your competitor is getting dofollow links or nofollow links.
SEO tools like Moz and Ahref also provide you with data of dofollow and nofollow links. But if you want to manually check them, the best free method is to install a nofollow check extension.
Once you install the extension, every nofollow link will be highlighted.
The red links are nofollow, and also with no value. Still, it’s important to build some nofollow links too to look your dofollow links natural.
It’s essential to use the extension if you purchase links. At least, you should never purchase nofollow links for SEO.
Hunter
I use the Hunter chrome extension to extract the email addresses of editors and business owners.
If you are a beginner, you might not know the value of contact addresses. Once you want to expand your business, you realize the power of networking.
You realize that you should reach out to people in your industry, and tell them what you are doing, and how it’s useful for their audiences.
That time the Hunter extension plays its role.
This (limited free) tool provides you with real website contact details.
LSIGraph
Last but not the least, LSIGraph is one of the best (limited free) SEO tools.
If you use it wisely it can help you improve your rankings and hence increase organic traffic. The exact strategy uses the Content AI tool.
If you are new, you might not know how important it is to use LSI keywords to improve rankings. I have already discussed many times that LSI keywords help Google understand the page.
So it’s also a must-have SEO tool for all bloggers, and business owners.