In this blog post, we would like to introduce you to the top 5 SEO tools that we believe can be very helpful for the search engine optimization of your website or online shop . The aim here is for you to get a better understanding of some SEO tools and to be able to use their functions for the search engine optimization of your website or online shop.
SEO tools – the basics
Nowadays, thanks to digital progress, there are countless SEO tools that help websites and online shops to become more organically visible in the search engines . It is therefore not easy to keep an overview and to be able to decide which SEO tools are best suited for which purposes and goals. Basically, we differentiate between free and paid SEO tools . The question therefore arises as to which is better. We have a clear answer: it’s all in the mix. Therefore, in the following, we not only want to go into professional and paid SEO tools , but also present the free helpers . Here we go!
Paid SEO tools
Let’s start with the paid SEO tools for professional use. For each SEO tool, we also present the available packages and prices so that you can better decide which SEO tool would be suitable for you.
Top SEO Tool #1: SEMrush
SEMrush is a professional tool from America, has already received numerous awards as the best SEO suite and is known as a leading provider of online marketing solutions. SEMrush offers its current 6 million users comprehensive marketing analyzes for the following areas:
- SEO
- PPC
- content marketing
- social media
- competitive analysis
Accordingly, the tool is a real online marketing all-rounder and very popular with the following experts:
- SEO experts
- PPC experts
- Social Media Experts
- PR experts
- Content Marketing Experts
We can only highly recommend this tool for SEO experts, as we, as a full-service SEO agency, use this tool to process our customer projects and can thus identify and analyze the potential of search engine optimization . For the SEO area, SEMrush offers three main areas, which can be divided as follows:
1 – Analysis area
In this area , various analyzes for the search engine optimization of a website or an online shop can be carried out. From these analyses, the SEO experts can therefore define numerous SEO measures and milestones for the affected page. For example, the following analyzes can be carried out for the individual areas of search engine optimization:
Competitive Research:
In the domain overview and in the organic research , SEO experts can see how the actual analysis of the domain is in the organic search, which KPIs play a role for SEO and how the domain has performed for a certain period of time. Information on the current rankings and the development of individual keywords in the top 100 can be found here. In addition, SEO-relevant competitors can be identified and analyzed more precisely with a keyword gap or a backlink gap .
Keyword research:
Keyword research is all about the organic keywords. Various keyword searches with all the necessary KPIs can be carried out here using the Keyword Magic tool . Selected keywords from the Keyword Magic Tool can then be easily assigned to different keyword lists using the Keyword Manager .
Link building:
In this section, SEO experts get important insights into backlinks or get ideas for link building . In the backlink audit, the backlink profile of the affected domain is checked and potentially toxic backlinks can be sorted out in a disavow list for devaluation. The same applies to non-toxic backlinks, which can be whitelisted. With the link building tool, domains can be analyzed for potential backlinks and directly requested as possible candidates.
Rank Tracking:
SEO experts regularly monitor the keyword developments of the organic rankings. Position tracking can help here. The development of selected keywords can be monitored here at a glance. Information on won and lost keywords as well as position changes in the ranking is given.
OnPage & Technical SEO:
This is about the SEO hygiene of a website or an online shop . All on-page and technical problems of the domain are identified in the site audit . The problems are prioritized in errors, warnings and notes and can be exported as an Excel or CSV file. The SEO expert not only receives information about which SEO problems the domain has, but also which pages of the domain are affected. From this information, the SEO expert can then take the necessary measures or give it to web development for further correction.
2 – Projects
SEMrush offers the possibility to create individual projects for single domains . The analysis data can be continuously collected here and the development can be compared over different periods of time. In order to be able to use the Site Audit, Backlink Audit and Position Tracking tools, for example, such projects must be created for the domains. This format is very helpful for SEO agencies, since individual projects can be created here for different customers and a systematic analysis of these projects is possible.
3 – My Reports
Under “My Reports” SEO experts have the opportunity to create individual reports . These can either be created from various SEMrush templates or generated individually using drag and drop from various widgets (graphs, charts, tables, etc.). With the reports, for example, monthly SEO reports with the desired widgets and KPIs can be created quickly and easily. Automation is also available, which means that the SEO reports can always be sent automatically at the beginning of the month, for example.
SEMrush Pricing
SEMrush offers the possibility of a free SEMrush account , but not all functions are available here and some functions can only be used with restrictions. Therefore, we see this tool more as a paid SEO tool , since the full potential can only be exploited with a membership. The prices at SEMrush can be divided into three different packages (Pro / Guru / Business) with different volumes. Pricing starts with the Pro version for $99 per month and goes all the way up to the Business version for $399 per month. For larger companies, SEMrush also offers individual packages .
Top SEO Tool #2: Screaming Frog
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider is an SEO tool from England that SEO experts can use to crawl websites . The website crawler can be downloaded as an app on the desktop and crawls through all pages of a domain with its own bot. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider analyzes a domain for important SEO factors and can crawl the following formats with regard to search engine optimization:
- HTML
- JavaScript
- CSS
- Pictures
To analyze a domain, simply enter the URL in the start field and then start crawling. Depending on the size of the domain, this process can take several minutes. After crawling, the Screaming Frog SEO Spider provides important information about all URLs , such as information about the following SEO factors:
- status codes
- meta data
- H headings
- content
- Image sizes and alt texts
- Canonicals
- Hreflang
- structured data
- Sitemap
- PageSpeed
With this information , SEO measures can then be derived from the Screaming Frog . The individual analyzes can also be exported and edited as an Excel file.
Screaming Frog – Crawling controls
As already mentioned, Screaming Frog can crawl the entire domain. If this is not desired, various crawler configuration settings can be made. For example, there are the “includes” and “excludes” functions with which you can specifically include or exclude certain URLs from crawling. In the case of pages with many parameters that could falsify the status quo of website hygiene, there is the option of excluding these parameters from the crawl . In addition to excluding URLs or parameters, entire categories or folders can also be excluded. If, for example, images do not have to be crawled, this can be set under “Configuration”.
Screaming Frog prices
There are 2 versions of the Screaming Frog, the free version and the paid version. With the free version, users can make good use of this SEO tool, but of course have limitations that do not exist with the paid version. For example, the free version can only crawl a maximum of 500 URLs at once, so there is a crawl limit . On the other hand, various functions are not available, such as crawl configuration, content check for duplicate content or spelling, individual exports, etc. We would also classify this SEO tool as a paid SEO toolrate, because in our opinion the option of unlimited crawling is very important. The free version is sufficient for a quick check, we need the paid version for a comprehensive analysis.
Top SEO Tool #3: XOVI
XOVI is an all-in-one SEO software from Germany and offers various analysis options for search engine optimization . In addition to SEO, XOVI also offers an online marketing suite and also covers the areas of content and ads. However, the primary focus is on search engine optimization, which makes it our #3 top SEO tool. XOVI is also one of the best-known SEO tools in German-speaking countries and is particularly suitable for website/webshop operators, SEO experts and online marketing agencies.
This SEO tool supports you in defining and implementing an SEO strategy for your website or online shop using various analyses, and in measuring the success of this SEO strategy. XOVI offers the following functions as an SEO tool:
- Creation of any number of projects
- Conduct any number of analyses
- Individual design of the dashboard
- Integration of web analysis tools such as Google Analytics
- Individual and automated SEO reporting
- Extensive competitor analysis
XOVI offers its users the following SEO tools :
- keywords
- monitoring
- OnPage
- Left
- Disavow analysis
- Search Analytics
- reporting
With these tools, SEO experts can carry out extensive SEO analyzes and define SEO measures according to the SEO strategy.
XOVI prices
XOVI offers its users three different packages , each with different analysis volumes and available accounts . The packages Pro, Business and Enterprise are available and with the Pro version the user starts with 99€ per month and goes up to the Enterprise version for 499€ per month. Thus, XOVI is a paid SEO tool with different price and performance models. If the analysis volumes of the largest package are not sufficient, users have the option of booking additional packages and, for example, receiving additional keyword queries.
Free SEO tools
Now we would like to introduce you to two more SEO tools that can be used free of charge . These SEO tools do not represent a tool landscape like the paid SEO tools already presented, but can be used for specific SEO factors . We can highly recommend these SEO tools in combination with one or more professional SEO tools.
Top SEO Tool #4: PageSpeed Insights
A very popular and free SEO tool is PageSpeed Insights . Since the loading speed of a website or an online shop is an important Google ranking factor , page speed performance tests and loading time optimization should be given high priority. The free tool “Google PageSpeed Insights” helps you to analyze the performance of your website or online shop (desktop & mobile) in terms of loading time and to optimize it with specific recommendations.
In order to be able to analyze a domain, you only have to enter the URL. The user then receives a detailed evaluation of the performance in the form of an analysis report. The optimization recommendations are prioritized according to the scheme High/Medium/Low/Experimental and help the user to recognize which measures should be started and which can be ignored for the time being (Pareto principle).
This page speed test should ideally be carried out regularly , on the one hand to be able to measure success and on the other hand to be able to meet the continuous changes in the Google algorithm and the requirements for the loading times of a domain.
Top SEO Tool #5: Mobile Optimization Test
Nowadays we all know it, almost everyone has a smartphone or a tablet and surfs on mobile devices. It is therefore an absolute must for every website or online shop operator to optimize their site for mobile devices . In addition, the mobile-friendliness of a page is a Google ranking factor due to its influence on user satisfaction and should be given high priority.
This mobile-friendly test provides important information after entering the URL. The user sees directly whether his site is optimized for mobile devices or not. In addition to the preview, users can also open a report on the site-wide user experience on mobile devices or get more information about pages that are optimized for mobile devices. For some pages that are optimized for mobile devices, the search engine still cannot load all page resources. Here it is necessary to fix the availability problems, so that Google can correctly record and evaluate the page. A precise excerpt of the analysis with the affected resources is also available to the user. If the page is not mobile-friendly, the user will receive recommendations on how to fix the problem.
Conclusion on the subject of SEO tools
In this blog post we presented our top 5 SEO tools . Of course, there are many other SEO tools on the market that can be very helpful for the search engine optimization of your website or online shop . It is therefore important to compare the individual tools and decide according to your own goals and needs. Because as we can see, the professional SEO tools cost a lot and should be chosen with care. You can of course let off steam with the free SEO tools, there are no limits or costs. However, if you are looking for a full-service SEO agency that is very familiar with SEO tools, then please do not hesitate to contact us. We stand asPartners for the search engine optimization of your website are at your disposal. Contact now!
