The Best Search Engine Tools In 2013
Published on by: James H. Hobson
SEO discussions seem to always include mentions of "the best SEO tools". I think it is safe to say that people tend to assign "best" to whatever works for them. Accordingly, the term best is very ambiguous thus it would be a mistake to immediately embrace such casual proclamations. This article is intended to provide some insight on how to find good, useful SEO tools.
Trust Only The REAL SEO Experts
My personal belief is that less than 25% of online SEO tips are original and of high value. Anyone trying to learn about SEO should be skeptical when watching SEO videos on Youtube, reading forum posts and spun articles, and being hit with SEO software ads. Regular contributors such as Rand Fishkin and his Whiteboard Friday are the types of people and SEO resources to follow.
The best SEO tool is a mind that has a well developed understanding of SEO. Simply knowing what to do is dangerous. You need to know what to do, when to do it, and why it is so. This means taking time to understand search engines, algorithms, coding, content development, and commit to continued education.
Local SEO Tools
Due to the importance of local search listings to many businesses we need to include some information on local SEO tools. A good free local SEO tool is Brandify. With Brandify you get a decent evaluation of your local search presence, tips on improving local search, and a progressive scoring to evaluate your work.
Signing up for paid services such as Whitespark or BrightLocal can be useful. These services can help you to evaluate local ranking for specific keywords, find quality citations, and conduct local search competitor information. A lesser known but respectable tool is DIYSEO which offers a free trial and paid subscription services.
Organic SEO Tools
SEO Keyword Research Tools
All good SEO programs include front-end keyword research efforts. If you fail to identify the exact and relevant terms, and then determine which have the higher search volumes your SEO work is doomed to mediocrity or failure.
A list of the best SEO tools includes SEOmoz and Open Site Explorer, Majestic SEO, SEMRush, SpyFu, and Market Samurai. Google Keyword Tool and the Microsoft SEO Toolkit are other SEO tools to consider. For links to these sites you can check the footer of our main SEO information page. If you are serious about doing quality SEO work, you should be prepared to invest at least $300 a month for paid services.
Creative SEO Tools
If you are a creative person with good instinctive skills, observation skills and can read trends there are some other tools to consider. Google Analytics can provide interesting information on how users find your site, thus "showing" how they are not finding your site. Sites which provide search trend information can provide you with timely information on how to reach qualified traffic.
Evaluating SEO Tools
The first tip here is to ignore any "Fast and Easy SEO Results" software, programs or services. There are no shortcuts in proper and ethical SEO work. Services that are recommended by SEO experts such as Jill Whalen, Rand Fishkin Wil Reynolds, Bruce Clay and other top tier practitioners will lead you in the right direction. When you develop a shortlist of services, begin to evaluate the breadth of the services, compare the volume of accounts and information you can manage, and compare service fees. Don't be discouraged by rates of $1000-$3000 a month because a quality service will truly enable you to be very successful.
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