Whether you’re an experienced SEO Specialist or a Digital Marketer just starting out, the right tools can help streamline your processes, provide valuable insights, and ultimately boost your rankings. To help you navigate the wide array of SEO tools available, I’ve compiled a comprehensive list of both free and premium SEO tools that cover everything from keyword research and site audits to backlink analysis, content optimization, and local SEO. Each tool offers unique functionalities that can cater to different needs, whether you’re focused on improving page speed, tracking your competitors, or ensuring your website is optimized for mobile users. While these tools are incredibly powerful and can significantly enhance productivity, it’s important to remember that no tool can fully replace the human skills, experience, and strategic thinking required to successfully manage an SEO project. These tools are designed to assist, providing data, technical insights, and automation, but it’s the marketer’s expertise that interprets the data, applies nuanced strategies, and adapts to the constantly evolving Search Engine algorithms. This list includes a variety of solutions, from powerful, all-in-one platforms to specialized tools designed for specific SEO tasks. The tools are listed in alphabetical order.
What is this tool used for? Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool primarily used for keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor analysis.
Pros: Ahrefs is widely recognized for its best-in-class backlink analysis. It boasts one of the largest backlink databases, offering precise data on incoming links, referring domains, and link quality.
Ahrefs provides extensive keyword research capabilities through its “Keywords Explorer.” It allows you to discover thousands of keyword suggestions, including metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty (KD), clicks, and global or country-specific data.
The site audit tool that crawls websites and detects SEO issues (e.g., broken links, slow loading times, duplicate content, etc.) provides a clear overview of on-page SEO health, making it easier to identify areas of improvement for clients’ websites.
One of the most appreciated functionalities of Ahrefs is its competitive analysis made through its “Site Explorer” tool, allowing you to analyze competitor websites by tracking their organic keywords, backlinks, and top-performing content.
I use the “Content Gap” feature when I need support to identify keywords that competitors rank for, but my client’s website does not. This is valuable for content strategy and planning.
Ahrefs offers accurate rank tracking for keywords, providing insights into how your client’s website is performing over time in search engine results.
I appreciate Ahrefs frequent updates of its database, providing real-time and accurate data, which is essential when tracking competitive movements, changes in SERPs, or backlink acquisition.
Cons: I’ve found a few limitations that affect my overall experience when using Ahrefs. First, I think that despite its comprehensive data, the learning curve is relatively high for those who are still beginners in the SEO industry; it takes time to fully understand and use its myriad of tools efficiently. Another downside is that Ahrefs doesn’t offer a free trial, which makes it harder to explore its features before committing. Additionally, while the tool is great for SEO analysis, it lacks some of the more user-friendly interface elements I’ve seen in other platforms, which can make navigating the dashboard a bit overwhelming at first.
AnswerThePublic
What is this tool used for? AnswerThePublic helps in generating content ideas and understanding what users are searching for by providing insights into common questions and phrases people use in search engines.
Pros: One of the first things I appreciate about AnswerThePublic is how straightforward it is. You simply enter a keyword, and within seconds, it generates a web of questions, prepositions, and related terms. For anyone just getting started in SEO, this is a very beginner-friendly tool, as it doesn’t require a steep learning curve or advanced technical knowledge.
It excels at providing content ideas. The tool visualizes what real users are searching for in the form of questions, comparisons, and related terms. For me, this can spark a whole content strategy based on the types of queries people are asking and I often use this tool when I am looking for ideas when providing a copywriting service to my clients. Whether you’re crafting blog posts, FAQs, or product pages, it’s a goldmine for understanding the “why” and “how” behind search terms.
By revealing the kinds of questions people are asking, AnswerThePublic gives a direct window into the mindset of your audience. I can see what pain points or curiosities they have, which helps in crafting content that speaks directly to their needs. It’s almost like having a focus group on tap.
If I’m working with clients or a non-SEO-savvy team, the visual nature of AnswerThePublic is incredibly helpful. It turns complex keyword data into a visually digestible format, which can make it easier to communicate insights and strategies in meetings or presentations.
Cons: One downside I’ve noticed is that the tool doesn’t provide detailed search volume data or keyword difficulty metrics. It’s great for generating ideas, but if I want to make data-driven decisions, I’ll still need to use other tools to verify the value and competitiveness of the terms. For junior SEOs, this might be misleading if they rely solely on it without cross-referencing other tools.
Sometimes, the questions and phrases generated are too broad or vague. For instance, some of the suggested queries might be irrelevant or not practical for targeting in a content strategy. I often have to sift through a large amount of data to find the nuggets that are genuinely useful. This can be time-consuming, especially for larger projects.
One thing I’ve found frustrating is that it’s not always clear how up-to-date the data is. In SEO, trends can change rapidly, and if the questions or search terms are outdated, it might lead you to create content that’s no longer as relevant as it should be. For any specialist who relies on the latest data trends, this could be a concern.
A screenshot of the SEO tool AnswerThePublic of what searches on “best suv 2024” topic are made using prepositions.
BrightLocal
What is this tool used for? BrightLocal is a tool for local SEO tasks. Its strengths lie in rank tracking, citation management, and reputation monitoring, making it perfect for businesses focused on their local presence.
Pros: One of the biggest advantages for me is that BrightLocal covers almost everything I need for local SEO: rank tracking, citation management, and review monitoring. Having all these tools in one place makes it much easier to manage campaigns for clients who rely on local search traffic.
I particularly appreciate how BrightLocal lets me track local keyword rankings, something that’s crucial for clients targeting specific cities or regions. I can see how they rank in local packs and organic results, which helps me make more informed adjustments to their SEO strategies.
Another standout feature for me is the review aggregation tool. It pulls in reviews from various platforms, allowing me to track what customers are saying about my clients and manage their online reputation more effectively. This is especially useful for local businesses where reviews can make or break their online presence.
Compared to some other tools I’ve used, BrightLocal is quite affordable. It fits within the budget for many small-to-medium businesses, and it doesn’t skimp on essential features (like for example white-label reports) despite its reasonable pricing.
Cons: While it’s excellent for local SEO, I’ve noticed that BrightLocal doesn’t offer much for broader, national, or global SEO campaigns. When I’m working with larger clients who need more extensive keyword research or technical SEO, I find myself turning to tools like SEMrush, Sistrix or Ahrefs for those aspects.
Although BrightLocal helps with citation management, it still requires a lot of manual input from me to update or correct listings. Fixing inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details across multiple directories can be time-consuming, and I wish the tool automated more of this process.
When I first started using BrightLocal, I found it a bit overwhelming. It has a wide range of features, and while that’s great for experienced users, I think beginners or smaller businesses might struggle to navigate and fully utilize all its tools without a learning period.
Backlink analysis is crucial for any SEO strategy, but BrightLocal’s capabilities in this area are pretty limited. I often have to rely on additional tools to get a complete picture of my clients’ backlink profiles, which adds extra steps to my workflow.
One thing I wish BrightLocal did better is integration with other SEO tools. Unlike some platforms that allow seamless connections with various tools, BrightLocal operates more as a standalone solution. This means I often have to jump between different tools to get all the data I need, which can slow down my process.
How the reputation manager report looks like in the tool BrightLocal
BuzzSumo
What is this tool used for? BuzzSumo is a powerful tool for content marketers and digital strategists, offering strong capabilities in content discovery, competitor analysis, and influencer marketing. However, its pricing and lack of comprehensive SEO features mean that I often have to supplement it with other tools. For brands heavily focused on social engagement and content marketing, BuzzSumo is a worthwhile investment, but for an all-in-one solution, it has its limitations.
Pros: One of the key advantages of BuzzSumo is its ability to surface high-performing content in any niche. I can easily discover which pieces of content are trending across various platforms by entering a keyword or topic. This helps me understand what resonates with audiences and inspires ideas for my own content strategy.
BuzzSumo allows me to keep an eye on my competitors by analyzing their top-performing content. I can see what types of posts are receiving the most engagement and social shares, giving me valuable insights into how to improve my own approach.
Another strength of BuzzSumo is its influencer discovery tool. I can quickly identify and reach out to influencers relevant to my niche, based on their reach, engagement, and activity. This has proven highly useful for influencer marketing campaigns.
I appreciate the feature that lets me set up alerts for specific keywords, brands, or competitor mentions. This allows me to stay informed about new trends, articles, or even negative press, which can be crucial for reactive marketing and reputation management.
The tool also tracks backlinks, showing me which sites are linking to my competitors and what content is driving those links. This is invaluable for identifying link-building opportunities and boosting my SEO strategy.
Cons: One of the major drawbacks is the cost. BuzzSumo can be quite expensive, especially for smaller businesses or solo marketers. The free version offers very limited features, and the full potential of the tool is locked behind higher-tier plans, which may not be justifiable unless used extensively.
While BuzzSumo is excellent for content discovery and social metrics, it lacks robust SEO features like in-depth keyword analysis or comprehensive site audits. I often find myself using complementary tools like Sistrix, Ahrefs or SEMrush for a more complete SEO picture.
The tool is heavily focused on social sharing data, which can be limiting if I’m looking for performance metrics from other channels, like organic search or email marketing. BuzzSumo doesn’t provide insights into search rankings or organic traffic, which are crucial to many digital marketing strategies.
In the lower pricing tiers, BuzzSumo only offers limited access to historical data. If I want to conduct a deep dive into older content performance or long-term trends, I would need to upgrade to a more expensive plan, which can be frustrating.
The content ideas generator of BuzzSumo for the topic “AI classes”
Chrome DevTools (Free)
What is this tool used for? Chrome DevTools is an indispensable tool in my SEO toolkit, providing deep, granular insights into a website’s structure and performance. Due to its limited cross-browser compatibility I recommend to use it in conjunction with other specialized SEO tools to ensure comprehensive analysis.
Pros: the biggest advantages is the ability to inspect live web pages in real-time. I can view the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without having to rely on a third-party tool or wait for updates to propagate. This makes debugging much faster and more efficient. The device toolbar lets me quickly test how a site looks and behaves on various mobile devices and screen sizes. This is essential for SEO, as mobile usability directly affects rankings after Google’s mobile-first indexing.
By using the “Performance” tab, I can analyze page load times, break down individual resource timings, and pinpoint bottlenecks. This is critical for improving page speed, another major SEO ranking factor like usability.
With Chrome DevTools, I can also see how JavaScript is impacting a page’s renderability. Google struggles with poorly implemented JavaScript, so being able to inspect and troubleshoot how Google might see it is very useful.
Cons: Although DevTools is powerful, it has a steep learning curve for beginners. Many features are tucked away, and it takes time to fully grasp how to use it efficiently.
While it’s highly optimized for Chrome, testing only in this environment doesn’t provide a full cross-browser experience. To cover all bases, I need to use other tools for Safari, Firefox, or Edge, which means extra steps in the workflow.
Google Analytics 4 (Free)
What is this tool used for? Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a web analytics platform designed to track and measure user interactions on websites and apps. GA4 is used for gathering data that helps businesses understand user behavior, track conversions, and improve overall site performance, specifically in the context of evolving privacy regulations and multi-device user journeys.
Pros: GA4 provides a unified tracking system across both websites and mobile apps, offering a comprehensive view of the user journey. Its event-based tracking model is more flexible than the session-based model of Universal Analytics, allowing for more granular insights into user behavior. GA4 also integrates machine learning to surface predictive insights, which is helpful for anticipating user actions and trends. Moreover, it’s designed with a privacy-first approach, reducing reliance on cookies and adapting better to modern privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
Cons: On the downside, GA4 has a steep learning curve, especially for users familiar with Universal Analytics. Its interface is less intuitive, and many users find it harder to navigate and set up custom reports. While powerful, the event-based model can feel overwhelming due to the amount of data it generates, and the bugs in the system can cause frustration. Finally, historical data isn’t carried over from Universal Analytics, making it harder to compare past performance without exporting and managing older data manually. Some digital marketers have abandoned this system in favor of other solutions such as “Matomo” or “Piwik”.
How the engagement overview dashboard looks like in GA4
Google PageSpeed Insights (Free)
What is this tool used for? Google PageSpeed Insights is used to analyze the performance of a website in terms of speed and user experience. It provides a detailed report on how quickly a webpage loads, both on desktop and mobile devices, and offers specific recommendations to improve performance. It also measures Core Web Vitals, which are key factors for SEO, and helps identify issues that may slow down a site, such as large images, render-blocking resources, or unoptimized JavaScript. Ultimately, it’s used to enhance website speed and overall user experience, which are important for both rankings and user engagement.
Pros: One of the biggest advantages is that it gives me actionable insights directly from Google, which is crucial since Google’s algorithm prioritizes site speed and user experience. It provides a clear breakdown of performance metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which helps me identify what’s slowing down a site. Another great feature is that it evaluates both mobile and desktop performance, giving a comprehensive view of how a site behaves across devices. Plus, the Core Web Vitals scores are very helpful for optimizing for Google’s ranking factors.
Cons: One downside is that the tool sometimes gives generic recommendations that aren’t always easy to implement or prioritize. For example, suggestions to reduce third-party scripts can be difficult to address without affecting functionality. Additionally, PageSpeed Insights focuses mostly on technical factors and doesn’t always reflect real-world user experience perfectly, especially in cases where a site is highly optimized for content delivery. Also, the scores can fluctuate, making it tricky to track improvements consistently over time.
Google Search Console (Free)
What is this tool used for? Google Search Console is a free SEO tool used to monitor and optimize a website’s performance in Google Search results. I use it to track organic search traffic, analyze which queries bring users to the site, check indexing issues, and fix errors like broken links or crawl problems. It helps ensure my site is mobile-friendly, track Core Web Vitals (like page speed), and identify potential penalties or security issues. Overall, it’s essential for improving SEO and understanding how Google views and ranks my site.
Pros: Google Search Console provides direct data from Google, including information on search queries, clicks, impressions, and ranking positions. It’s incredibly valuable for tracking organic search performance and understanding how users find my site. I also use it to identify and fix indexing issues, as the tool alerts me to problems like crawl errors, manual penalties, or pages not being indexed.
Cons: The main downside of this tool is that he data it provides is often delayed by a couple of days, so it’s not ideal for real-time performance tracking. Additionally, the query data is often limited and anonymized, meaning I can’t see all the search terms users are typing in.
GTmetrix
What is this tool used for? GTMetrix is particularly useful for optimizing websites to meet Google’s Core Web Vitals and ensuring a better user experience by reducing load times, which positively impacts organic rankings in Search Engines results. You can schedule GTmetrix to analyze a certain page for free on a routine basis (daily, weekly or monthly) and get a weekly summary of the monitored page by email.
Pros: GTMetrix provides detailed insights into page speed and performance of a website. It provides a breakdown of key metrics like load time, total page size, and requests, which are essential for improving website speed, a critical ranking factor. I also appreciate the Waterfall Chart, which helps me identify bottlenecks in page loading, such as large images or scripts causing delays. GTMetrix integrates Google’s Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals, which are crucial for meeting Google’s standards for SEO. The ability to test from different locations and devices gives me a more accurate idea of how users experience the website globally.
Cons: The free version offers limited features, including a restricted number of tests and locations, which can make it less ideal for regular use or when optimizing large websites.
This is how the performance analysis looks like in GTMetrix (parameters refer to the Microsoft website)
Keywords Everywhere
What is this tool used for? Keywords Everywhere is a browser extension (supported by Chrome, Firefox and Edge) used for keyword research. It provides key metrics such as search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), and competition data directly within Search Engine results pages (SERPs). It’s primarily used to identify and evaluate keyword opportunities, helping SEO specialists and marketers understand what people are searching for, how competitive those terms are, and how valuable they could be for paid advertising or organic SEO strategies. The data sources for Keywords Everywhere come mainly from Google Ads (Google Keyword Planner).
Pros: Since it’s a browser extension, I can access keyword data directly on Google search pages, without needing to switch between tools. It gives me key metrics like search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), and competition data in real-time, which helps me quickly evaluate keyword opportunities. The tool is also affordable, operating on a credit-based system, which makes it cost-effective for both beginners and advanced SEOs who need quick insights. The tool integrates with Google, Bing and platforms like YouTube, Amazon, and eBay, allowing me to analyze search trends across multiple channels.
Cons: Keywords Everywhere lacks advanced features like deep competitor analysis or technical SEO audits, so I just use other tools for such tasks. The data accuracy can also sometimes be inconsistent, especially when compared to SEO tools like SEMrush, Sistrix or Ahrefs. It’s great for a quick overview, but not for in-depth analysis.
Keyword Planner (Google Ads) (Free)
What is this tool used for? Google Ads Keyword Planner is one of the most useful tools for paid earch executives and SEO specialists. I primarily use it for keyword research, helping me identify keywords and phrases relevant to my content or campaigns. I also use it to gauge search volumes, competition levels, and estimated costs for running paid campaigns based on those keywords.
Pros: This tool gives me access to real search volume data directly from Google. Since this data comes from Google Ads, I know I’m getting highly accurate figures that help me better understand the potential traffic a keyword could bring. I appreciate a lot the ability to filter results based on location. This is especially useful when I’m working on local SEO or trying to reach a specific audience in a particular region. The tool provides competition data, which helps me assess how tough it might be to rank for certain keywords. I can see whether a keyword has high or low competition, which is particularly helpful when planning organic or paid strategies. Since it’s integrated with Google Ads, Keyword Planner gives me estimated bid ranges for ads. This helps me if I’m running both SEO and PPC campaigns, as I can balance my organic efforts with paid strategies and budget efficiently.
Cons: One major drawback is that the search volume data is often aggregated across similar keywords. This means that different variations of a phrase might be lumped together, making it hard to pinpoint the exact search volume for each variation. For SEO, where nuances between phrases can matter, this can be frustrating. Moreover, I can only get search volume data for the past 12 months. This short timeframe doesn’t provide a full picture of long-term trends, which is often essential for planning sustained SEO efforts over multiple years. Since the tool is built for advertisers, the data is often skewed toward paid campaigns rather than organic traffic.
KWFinder
What is this tool used for? KWFinder is a keyword research tool primarily used to discover profitable keywords with low SEO difficulty and high search volume. It helps marketers, SEO specialists, and content creators optimize their strategies by identifying the right keywords to target for organic traffic.
Pros: KWFinder provides essential metrics like search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), SEO difficulty, and trends over time. This helps me prioritize keywords that not only have high traffic potential but also align with specific business goals. The SEO difficulty score is especially valuable for assessing competition. When working with clients from different regions, KWFinder’s ability to provide localized keyword data is a huge advantage. It allows me to find keywords specific to a particular country, language, or even city. This level of granularity makes it ideal for local SEO strategies. One of the most appealing aspects of KWFinder is its clean, intuitive design. Even for beginners, the interface makes it easy to navigate through keyword suggestions, analyze SEO difficulty, and gather insights. I can quickly generate keyword ideas and filter results based on different metrics. The tool includes a built-in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) analysis feature that displays the top-ranking pages for any keyword. By evaluating competitors’ performance, domain authority, backlinks, and content, I can better understand the competitive landscape and develop a more informed strategy.
Cons: The tool has limited functionality beyond keyword research and discovery. Moreover, depending on the subscription plan, KWFinder has caps on the number of keyword searches per day. If I’m working on multiple campaigns or need to conduct extensive research, I can quickly hit these limits, which can be frustrating and slow down my progress. While the SERP analysis includes some backlink data, the tool’s backlink analysis capabilities are somewhat limited compared to competitors like Ahrefs. As backlinks are a crucial part of SEO, it’s recommended to use another tool to get a deeper understanding of a site’s backlink profile.
LinkMiner
What is this tool used for? LinkMiner is an SEO tool primarily used for analyzing backlinks. It’s designed to help marketers and website owners examine the quality and potential of backlinks pointing to a domain. It provides detailed information on the backlinks, such as the referring domain, anchor text, and the strength of the link. By analyzing these factors, you can understand which backlinks are driving traffic and boosting search engine rankings, and which might need attention.
Pros: One of the main strengths of LinkMiner is the amount of data it provides. I can quickly see the strength of a backlink, including metrics like Citation Flow and Trust Flow, which helps me evaluate the quality of the link rather than just the quantity. What I particularly appreciate is the ability to preview the exact location of a backlink on the referring page. This feature saves time, as I don’t need to manually visit each page to see how my link is placed or used. Another benefit is the feature that allows me to track new and lost backlinks over time. This is great for monitoring ongoing link-building efforts or detecting if a significant link has dropped, allowing me to take quick action.
Cons: One of the drawbacks I’ve noticed is that LinkMiner’s database isn’t as large as some other major competitors like Ahrefs or SEMrush. I often find fewer backlinks reported for a domain, which could mean missing out on key opportunities for analysis. The tool doesn’t always provide real-time backlink updates. While it’s sufficient for many SEO tasks, there can be a delay in seeing newly acquired links, which is a downside if I’m working on time-sensitive campaigns.
Lumar (formerly Deepcrawl)
What is this tool used for? Lumar, formerly known as DeepCrawl, is a comprehensive SEO auditing tool designed to help businesses maintain and improve the health of their websites. It’s particularly useful for technical SEO, offering detailed insights into website performance, structure, and crawlability. With Lumar, I can identify and resolve issues that could hinder Search Engine visibility, such as broken links, duplicate content, or slow loading times.
Pros: The main benefit of Lumar is its thorough crawling abilities. It can scan vast websites quickly and deliver detailed reports on a wide range of SEO metrics. This is incredibly useful when managing large-scale sites where pinpointing issues manually would be time-consuming. Moreover, the ability to tailor reports is another strength. I can set up crawls to focus on specific areas, like checking for 404 errors, or examining JavaScript rendering issues. This customisation allows me to prioritise tasks that align with my current SEO strategy. As a SEO tool built for larger sites, it scales well, meaning I can continue to use it as a business grows, without worrying about limitations on the number of URLs or data points it can handle.
Cons: To truly get the most out of Lumar, you need a good grasp of technical SEO. Without that knowledge, it’s possible to miss key insights or waste time focusing on less critical issues. Unfortunately, its pricing structure can be prohibitive for smaller businesses or solo marketers. The full range of features tends to suit larger organisations with dedicated SEO teams and budgets. Lumar may not be the best fit for businesses just starting their SEO journey or those who prioritise content-focused optimisation (area where tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush might be more beneficial).
Majestic
What is this tool used for? Majestic is a powerful SEO tool primarily focused on link intelligence and backlink analysis. It helps digital marketers and SEO specialists gain insight into the link profiles of websites, making it useful for understanding the quality and quantity of inbound links, which play a significant role in search engine rankings. The tool offers various metrics like Trust Flow and Citation Flow, helping users assess the credibility and influence of backlinks, which can be invaluable for improving a website’s SEO performance.
Pros: Majestic’s greatest strength is its massive database of backlinks. It provides access to historical and fresh index data, giving me a clear understanding of how my backlink profile has evolved over time or how my competitors are building theirs. Majestic’s proprietary metrics Trust Flow and Citation Flow are incredibly useful for evaluating the quality of backlinks. Trust Flow helps me focus on links from trustworthy, authoritative sources, while Citation Flow gives a snapshot of the overall link volume. Together, they paint a nuanced picture of the site’s backlink quality. Moreover the tool doesn’t just tell me who’s linking to a site, it also gives insight into the anchor text used, the domain’s authority, and whether the links are follow or nofollow. This is vital for optimizing link-building strategies. I can also compare my site’s link profile to those of competitors, spotting gaps or opportunities. This competitive analysis can give me a real edge when developing strategies to overtake rivals in search rankings.
Cons: The user interface can feel a bit outdated and clunky. It’s not as intuitive or modern as some other SEO tools I’ve used, so it takes time to get used to. Navigating through reports and data can feel cumbersome, especially for new users. While Majestic excels in backlink analysis, it’s not a comprehensive all-in-one SEO tool, so I would recommend to consider other platforms if you’re looking for a general purpose SEO solution.
You can test for free the Site Explorer of Majestic SEO tool: here it’s the result for the BBC website.
Moz Pro
What is this tool used for? Moz Pro is an all-in-one SEO toolset designed to help digital marketers improve their search engine rankings, monitor website performance, and understand how to enhance their online visibility. It offers features for keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlink analysis, and competitor research, all aimed at streamlining the SEO process.
Pros: One of the standout aspects of Moz Pro is its user-friendly interface. Even though it’s feature-packed, the dashboard is intuitive, so it won’t take a long time to learn to use it even if you’re new to SEO tools. The keyword research feature is useful, providing insights like provides insights into search volume, difficulty, and potential organic traffic. Moz Pro’s rank tracking feature lets me monitor my site’s rankings over time for specific keywords. What I appreciate is that it includes local rankings, making it a solid choice for businesses targeting specific regions or areas. You can also track competitors, which is invaluable for staying ahead in competitive markets. The site audit function and the backlink analysis help me to identify and fix on-site SEO issues and understand my site’s link profile, respectively.
Cons: While Moz Pro covers the basics well, it’s not as robust as other tools when it comes to more advanced technical SEO features, such as log file analysis or detailed crawl reports, which some SEO professionals may miss. Although Moz Pro provides a lot of useful data, I’ve found that its keyword database and backlink index are sometimes not as extensive as other tools likeAhrefs or SEMrush. This can limit your ability to dig deep into certain keywords or competitors, particularly in highly competitive niches. Last, but not least, rank tracking and link data updates are not always as fast as I’d like.
Pingdom
What is this tool used for? Pingdom is a website performance and uptime monitoring tool, primarily used to track website speed, availability, and user experience from different global locations. It alerts me to downtime and performance issues, providing real-time data on how my site behaves for users worldwide. It’s particularly helpful for ensuring a smooth user experience and for optimizing site performance.
Pros: Pingdom provides detailed reports on page load times, performance bottlenecks, and historical uptime statistics. This helps me to identify patterns or recurring issues and provides a clear, data-backed view of where improvements are needed. One of the key advantages is its real-time monitoring capabilities. I can check my website’s uptime and performance from various locations globally. This is invaluable when managing sites with international audiences because I can see how different regions are experiencing the site.
I have to say that my favourite feature of this tool is probably the downtime alert system. It’s highly customizable, meaning I get instant alerts via email, SMS, or app notifications when my site goes down. This gives me peace of mind knowing I can address issues promptly before they affect too many users.
Cons: The free version is quite limited, offering basic monitoring for a single site. To really make use of Pingdom’s full potential, I need to invest in a paid plan, which could be a downside for those who don’t want to commit to a subscription.
While basic monitoring is simple to set up, some of the more advanced features, like synthetic transaction monitoring, can be a bit complex.
Rank Math
What is this tool used for? Rank Math is a WordPress SEO plugin designed to help website owners optimise their content for Search Engines. It offers a suite of tools for on-page SEO, such as keyword optimisation, content analysis, and XML sitemaps, with the goal of improving Search Engine rankings.
Pros: In terms of pros, I find Rank Math incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. The interface is clean, and it’s packed with features that are well-organised, allowing me to manage SEO settings without needing to juggle multiple plugins. Its advanced features, such as schema markup, rich snippets, and 404 error monitoring, are particularly impressive. Additionally, Rank Math’s integration with Google Analytics and Google Search Console gives me valuable insights directly within my WordPress dashboard, simplifying analytics tracking.
Cons: As much as I like the depth of Rank Math’s features, I find some functions may occasionally conflict with other plugins, especially caching plugins, which can impact site performance. Lastly, while the free version is very robust, some of the premium tools that could enhance results, like AI-based content analysis, are only available in the paid version.
These are the modules available in the Rank Math SEO plugin for WordPress.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
What is this tool used for? Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a versatile website crawling tool that I use to analyze and audit a website’s SEO structure. It scans through URLs, gathering data on elements like metadata, headings, internal links, and response codes, allowing me to identify technical SEO issues like broken links, duplicate content, and missing tags.
Pros: One of the key advantages of Screaming Frog is its efficiency in handling large websites. It can crawl thousands of pages relatively quickly, saving me hours compared to manually auditing each page. Additionally, it allows for customized filters, so I can focus on specific areas, like URL structure or mobile usability. The tool integrates well with Google Analytics and Search Console, so I can cross-reference data and have a broader picture of how technical elements might be impacting site performance.
Cons: You should keep on mind that while it’s excellent for technical SEO, it doesn’t cover broader SEO elements, like keyword tracking or competitor analysis, which means you need to supplement it with other tools for a complete SEO strategy. Also, the data can be overwhelming if you’re a beginner; interpreting it effectively requires a strong foundation in SEO principles.
One of the numerous data views you will find in Screaming Frog after crawling a small sized website.
SE Ranking
What is this tool used for? SE Ranking is a versatile SEO tool designed for managing and optimising various aspects of Search Engine Optimisation. It offers functionalities like keyword rank tracking, website audits, competitor analysis, keyword research, and backlink monitoring, making it popular among both beginners and more seasoned professionals.
Pros: SE Ranking offers a comprehensive set of features that cover the entire SEO spectrum. From keyword research and position tracking to website audits and competitor analysis, the tool provides a holistic solution for managing your online presence.
I’ve been positively impressed by the tool’s reporting capabilities, providing detailed insights into a website’s performance, including traffic, rankings, and backlink profiles.
SE Ranking’s competitor tracking features allow you to monitor the performance of your rivals, including their keyword rankings, backlink profiles, and content strategies.
The Payg plan (Pay As You Go) offered by SE Ranking is definitely one of the best options in the market for those who are on a low budget or freelancers who don’t use the tool regularly.
Cons: Although SE Ranking generally provides reliable data, there have been some reports of discrepancies or inaccuracies in certain metrics, such as keyword rankings or backlink profiles. This can potentially lead to flawed decision-making if not verified, so I recommend using a second tool to check the reliability of the data before making decisions based on those metrics. To remedy this, SE Ranking recently announced that they have updated their backlink databases, informing users that the new version of the database is more accurate and reliable.
Another flaw I would like to highlight is its limited customisation: the level of personalisation available may not be enough for some SEO specialists if compared to some other SEO software solutions on the market.
An example of the output data provided by SE Ranking backlink checker.
SEMrush
What is this tool used for? SEMrush is a comprehensive tool I use for SEO and Digital Marketing, designed to support research, keyword analysis, competitor insights, and performance tracking.
Pros: When I use SEMrush, I find that its strengths lie in its sheer depth of data and the variety of features it offers. The keyword research tool alone provides a wealth of insights, from search volume and difficulty to SERP features and trends over time. This allows me to strategize effectively, targeting keywords that are realistic for ranking but also have good potential.
The competitive analysis is another huge plus: I’m able to keep a close eye on competitors’ performance, understand what’s working for them, and identify content gaps I can capitalize on.
There’s also the backlink analysis, which is crucial for tracking the quality and volume of backlinks, something that’s become so critical for domain authority and SEO success.
Cons: One challenge a new user of SEMrush might face is the learning curve; with so many features packed in, it takes time to get comfortable with everything. It’s a bit daunting at first, especially if you just want to find something simple, like keyword difficulty, without navigating through multiple sections.
The cost can also be a sticking point, being on the higher end of the pricing scale, so I suggest to weigh whether every feature justifies the expense.
Lastly, while the data quality is typically strong, it’s not always precise, especially for very niche industries or small-scale sites. Sometimes, I’ll need to double-check data with other sources to get a fuller picture.
Seobility
What is this tool used for? Seobility is a comprehensive SEO tool designed to help monitor and improve website performance in Search Engines. It provides in-depth analyses covering everything from keyword tracking to on-page optimization, backlink evaluation, and even technical SEO checks. The tool is especially useful for conducting thorough site audits and ensuring that web pages meet the technical requirements and quality standards that Search Engines favor.
Pros: From my experience, one of the standout advantages of Seobility is its straightforward interface. I find it extremely intuitive, especially for site audits. It highlights issues like broken links, duplicate content, and metadata problems in a clear, actionable way, which makes it easy to address these issues quickly. The keyword monitoring feature is also reliable, providing insights into rankings over time, which is useful for measuring the success of an SEO strategy.
Finally, I think the entry price of the ‘Premium’ plan is a good compromise for a freelance SEO specialist who is just starting out or cannot afford to spend more.
Cons: Seobility’s keyword database isn’t as extensive as some other platforms, so when working on a large-scale campaign or in niche markets, I sometimes need to supplement my research with other tools to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Another downside is the limited depth of competitor analysis. While it does provide some competitor insights, it lacks the robust benchmarking capabilities that other tools offer, which means I can’t always get as granular with competitive data as I’d like.
Onsite analysis for the seobility.net domain
Serpstat
What is this tool used for? Serpstat is a comprehensive SEO and digital marketing tool used primarily for keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink analysis, and site audits. It’s aimed at helping SEO specialists, marketers, and agencies improve Search Engine rankings and visibility. It provides tools for tracking search performance, monitoring website health, and analyzing competitor strategies, making it versatile for various SEO tasks.
Pros: One of Serpstat’s standout strengths is its keyword research feature. It’s detailed and provides a broad list of keyword suggestions, often with insightful metrics like search volume, competition, and CPC. This depth makes it particularly useful when building targeted content strategies.
The competitor analysis is also valuable, as it gives me a clear view of who my primary competitors are, their keyword rankings, and even their PPC campaigns. It’s an excellent feature for tracking shifts in the competitive landscape, and the backlink analysis provides useful information on inbound links.
Cons: Nevertheless, I see room for enhancement. In some cases, the interface may seem cluttered, despite having many features, especially for users who are not very familiar with the platform. Fully utilizing all its features may require some time to learn and adapt to.
Moreover, although the tool addresses various SEO tasks, it may not delve as deeply as certain other tools do in particular areas, such as content analysis or technical SEO.
Backlink dashboard data displayed for serpstat.com domain
SISTRIX
What is this tool used for? Sistrix is an SEO tool primarily designed for tracking and analyzing search visibility. Its core strength is in providing deep insights into a website’s visibility trends, helping me understand how well a site is ranking across different keywords and how it compares to competitors over time. I particularly like Sistrix for monitoring long-term SEO performance, as it offers an easy-to-navigate dashboard with historical data, which is very helpful in tracking progress or identifying any sudden drops that might need attention.
Pros: Sistrix’s Visibility Index is a standout feature. It’s one of the most accurate ways I’ve found to measure a site’s overall visibility in Google, making it simple to monitor and benchmark performance.
Sistrix allows for detailed competitor insights, so I can quickly see who’s ranking for similar keywords, what content they’re excelling with, and identify potential gaps in my strategy.
In general, I think the way the data is presented (both in tabular and graphical form) makes the tool’s interface among the most intuitive and easy to read in the SEO tools market.
Cons: Sistrix is fantastic for visibility tracking but lacks the in-depth keyword tracking that I’d get from other tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush. I often find myself supplementing it with another tool when I need more granular keyword insights.
Sistrix has a modular pricing structure, which can get very expensive if I need multiple features, as each module (like visibility, links, or ads) comes at an additional cost.
Sitebulb
What is this tool used for? Sitebulb is a desktop-based technical SEO audit tool that crawls websites to identify technical issues, opportunities, and structural problems affecting SEO performance. There is also a browser-based version of the tool which is functionally the same as the desktop version but runs crawls on cloud servers, so there are no limits based on local resources. Allowing users to schedule crawls, access reports from any device, and share results more easily with team members and clients.
Pros: I find the data presentation visual, outstanding, especially site architecture diagrams, which help explain complex issues to clients. I also appreciate the speed of the crawler and intuitive user interface. Explanations for each technical issue are given in detail and really educative, which saves me time when sharing this information with my clients.
The possibility of integrating Sitebulb with data provided by Google Analytics and Google Search Console allows me to deepen my SEO analysis and have additional insights to provide to the client.
Cons: I have noticed that Sitebulb (I use the desktop version) can be very heavy for my computer when doing larger crawls.
Sometimes, the reporting features feel a little rigid, and I’d love to see more flexibility in that area.
Pricing is a bit higher compared to some competitors like Screaming Frog. Keep on mind that the most affordable version of Sitebulb is desktop only, which makes working remotely a little difficult at times; the Cloud option allows crawling at scale, and it’s recommended especially for agencies willing to get their entire team working from the same crawl data.
User interface for the On Page dashboard of Sitebulb
Siteliner
What is this tool used for? Siteliner is an online tool used in the analysis of websites for duplicate content, broken links, and other SEO-related issues; it scans a website and gives comprehensive insights on how to improve its performance and its ranking in Search Engines. The free version scans up to 250 web pages, while if you want to scan larger sites you have to use the paid version of Siteliner.
Pros: Having used Siteliner for a couple of years, I am sure that this is one of the simplest and most effective solutions one could get to do any light analysis of content. Among major advantages is simplicity: no need to spend hours browsing through complicated functionalities and thick manuals, Siteliner does exactly what it’s promised with no fuss and really fast. It analyzes the website very quickly, showing you a comprehensive report. That being said, as a digital marketer, it is a win to identify duplicate content or broken links in minutes instead of wasting a lot of time doing it.
Duplicate content will significantly hurt SEO performance, and too many people do not even bother because they don’t understand how widespread it could be. Siteliner not only highlights duplicate content but also gives you the percentage of your site that’s affected. I also find its visual reporting very clear: issues appearing neatly in charts and summaries make my job so much easier, especially when explaining to clients who aren’t initiated in technical SEO.
The tool will also help me find broken links and page loading times, which are as important for user experience as they are for SEO. One broken link is never a big deal, but if left unnoticed, it could hurt your website’s authority and user trust in a big way. Siteliner finds them effortlessly, saving me hours of manual checks.
Cons: Of course, Siteliner is not perfect. Whereas this is an excellent tool for fast and high-level audits, there are some limitations: with the free version, I can scan no more than 250 pages per month, which is enough for small websites but insufficient for large ones. So if I need to deeply analyze a big site, either I purchase the premium version or I look for other alternative tools. Also, its reports are clear but not as in-depth as those provided by more advanced tools like Screaming Frog or Semrush. I also wish Siteliner provided more actionable suggestions rather than just flagging the problems.
The free version of Siteliner scans up to 250 URLs.
SpyFu (Coming soon)
Surfer SEO (Coming soon)
Ubersuggest (Coming soon)
Web Developer (Coming soon – Free)
Woorank (Coming soon)
XML-Sitemaps (Coming soon)
Yoast SEO (Coming soon)
Giorgio Montaldo / About Author
Graduated from "Politecnico di Torino", passionate about new technologies and challenges. Never tired of learning. SEO Specialist, PPC Specialist, AI for Business, Startup Consultant.
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