5 SEO Tools Every Digital Marketer Should Use
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a cornerstone of effective online strategies, and to navigate its complexities, digital marketers need the proper set of tools on hand. Without them, many will find themselves struggling to keep up with competitors who have deeper insights, are more efficient with their time, and always manage to focus on the areas that have the biggest impact.
So in today's post, we're going to look at the tools we most commonly use and which we believe every digital marketer should give strong consideration to when building out their toolkit.
1. Google Analytics (GA)
Top of the list has to be GA (now GA4). It’s a fundamental tool for any digital marketer, providing deep insights into website traffic, user behaviour, and the effectiveness of marketing efforts. It allows for the tracking of critical metrics, such as organic traffic, conversion rates, and user engagement, offering valuable data to refine not just SEO strategies but also any online campaign that drives traffic to your site.
And if that’s not enough of a reason to install it, then maybe the price tag will convince you…it’s free!
The list of reports and data you can pull from GA is almost endless, but here are some of the ones we find useful.
Audience Insights: Understanding Your Visitors
GA provides a robust set of audience insights, allowing you to dissect your website visitors with precision. Beyond simple visitor counts, you can analyse demographics, interests, and even the devices used to access your site. This information is invaluable for tailoring content, optimising user experience, and refining your marketing strategies to align with the preferences of your target audience.
Acquisition Channels: Unravelling the Journey to Your Website
The system categorises traffic sources into organic search, direct, referral, and social channels. So, armed with this segmentation, you get a better idea of where your visitors come from and pinpoint which one drives the most traffic.
When coupled with conversions, however, this report starts attaching real monetary values to each channel in terms of the sales, leads, sign ups, and other valuable actions visitors take. Once set up, you now know not only where the traffic is coming from, but the value of that traffic. Assigning future marketing budgets has just become a whole lot easier and far more data driven.
Behaviour Flow: Navigating User Journey
Understanding how users navigate your website is vital for optimising user experience and content. GA provides insights into the paths users take from one page to another, allowing you to identify potential bottlenecks and dropout points people struggle to get past. This information can be passed on to your web designer to undertake some conversion rate optimisation (CRO).
Conversion Tracking: Measuring Success
For businesses, conversions are the ultimate metric of success. GA facilitates detailed conversion tracking, whether it's a purchase, a form submission, or any other desired action. By setting up goals and e-commerce tracking, you can measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, identify high-performing channels, and refine strategies to maximise desired outcomes.
Custom Reports and Dashboards: Tailoring Insights to Your Needs
One of GA's strengths lies in its flexibility. It allows you to create custom reports and dashboards that focus on specific metrics aligning with your goals. Whether it's monitoring the performance of a specific marketing campaign or gaining insights into user behaviour on a particular landing page, customisation empowers you to extract the most relevant data for your objectives.
In our view, this is a key tool that is often overlooked. GA captures huge amounts of data. But very often, this means you go off on a tangent, looking at the wrong things. All of a sudden, you’re trying to justify bounce rates and device usage when all you really want to know is how many sales a recent campaign made.
Customised reports allow you to firstly ask what the important business questions you want to answer are, and then create a concise report that answers only those questions. That doesn’t mean you can’t do a deep dive into other areas, but at least you know you’ll always be reporting on the same figures every week as a minimum without getting distracted.
Real-Time Analytics: Monitoring Instantaneous Activity
Keeping a pulse on your website's real-time activity is crucial for timely decision-making. GA provides:
A real-time view
Visitor activity monitoring
Traffic sources
Geographic locations of users
This feature is particularly valuable during live campaigns or events, enabling you to make on-the-fly adjustments to optimise performance.
Advanced Segmentation: Precision in Analysis
GA allows for the creation of advanced segments, enabling you to isolate and analyse specific subsets of data. This segmentation can be based on various factors, such as demographics, behaviour, or technology used. By drilling down into particular audience segments, you can tailor your strategies to cater to different user groups' unique needs and preferences.
Custom Attribution Models: Uncovering the True Impact of Channels
Attribution modelling in GA goes beyond the standard last-click attribution. It allows you to create custom attribution models to better understand how various touchpoints contribute to conversions. This nuanced approach to attribution enables a more accurate assessment of the entire customer journey and assists in optimising marketing efforts across multiple channels.
In conclusion, Google Analytics is not merely a tool for tracking website visits; it's a powerful instrument that empowers digital marketers to gain deep insights into user behaviour, optimise campaigns, and make informed decisions. By harnessing its advanced features, you can unlock a wealth of data that forms the bedrock of successful digital strategies in the ever-evolving landscape of online marketing.
2. Google Search Console (GSC)
Directly from Google, Search Console is indispensable for understanding how search engines view your website. It provides insights into search performance, indexation issues, and offers tools to submit sitemaps. It's vital for monitoring and optimising your site's presence in Google search results…
…And it’s free…And with GA installed, verification of Google Search Console (GSC) takes no more than 5 minutes. There’s really no downside to it, so if you don’t have it, add it to your to-do list straight away.
Here are some of the useful things you can expect from it.
Performance Report: Illuminating Search Visibility
The Performance report in GSC gives you an easy to understand snapshot for understanding your website's search visibility. It provides key metrics such as clicks, impressions, click-through rates, and average position for both organic search results and specific queries. It’s one of the best tools when it comes to understanding what questions bring users to your site, analysing page performance, and refining your content strategy based on actual search data.
Index Report: Navigating Indexation Challenges
The Index report is your compass for understanding how Googlebot interacts with your website. Detect and resolve issues that might hinder proper indexation, such as crawl errors, indexation errors, and excluded pages. Ensure your critical pages are indexed, identify and rectify crawl anomalies, and maintain a healthy website index.
URL Inspection Tool: Peering Into Google's View
The URL Inspection tool provides an intimate look into how Google perceives a specific URL on your website. From crawling status to indexation details, this tool offers a real-time examination of individual pages. With this you can troubleshoot issues, confirm indexation status, and debug potential problems affecting a particular URL.
Sitemaps: Guiding Google's Crawlers
Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console is akin to handing over a detailed map of your website to Google's crawlers. It helps search engines understand the structure of your site and ensures that all relevant pages are crawled and indexed. Regularly check the Sitemaps report to confirm successful submissions, identify errors, and provide comprehensive coverage.
Mobile Usability: Crafting a Seamless Mobile Experience
In an era where mobile friendliness is paramount, the Mobile Usability report is a compass for ensuring a seamless mobile experience. Identify and address mobile usability issues that might impact your site's smartphone performance. Google's emphasis on mobile-first indexing makes this report pivotal for maintaining search visibility.
Security Issues: Safeguarding Your Website
The Security Issues report acts as a vigilant guard, notifying you of any security threats or issues that might compromise the safety of your website visitors. Regularly monitor this report to address security concerns promptly, ensuring a secure and trustworthy online environment for your audience.
GSC isn't just a tool for monitoring your website's performance; it's a dynamic compass guiding you through the intricacies of search engine optimisation. By harnessing its features, digital marketers can gain unparalleled insights into how Google perceives their site, identify and rectify issues, and craft strategies that align with the ever-evolving search landscape.
3. Ahrefs, SEMRush, & Moz
These are the big three subscription services every digital marketer should consider. Any of them will undertake a range of SEO tasks that will save you days a month if you try to do it yourself.
Ahrefs: A comprehensive SEO toolkit, Ahrefs is a go-to for backlink analysis, keyword research, and competitor tracking. It allows digital marketers to effectively identify high-performing keywords, assess competitor strategies, and optimise their content and backlink profiles.
SEMrush: An all-in-one SEO tool that covers keyword research, competitor analysis, site audits, and more. It provides valuable data on organic search traffic, paid search, and can help digital marketers identify new growth opportunities.
Moz: Offering a suite of SEO tools, including Moz Pro and Moz Local, for comprehensive SEO insights. With features like keyword research, site audits, and rank tracking, Moz helps digital marketers optimise their websites for search engines and enhance their overall online visibility.
Common Features
These three tools understand the needs of any SEO practitioner, from junior to expert. So it's not surprising that each offers a range of standard features, including keyword research, backlink analysis, site auditing, competitive benchmarking, and rank tracking.
Keyword Research
All three tools offer a keyword research tool. SEMRush, renowned for its robust suite, provides an array of tools, including the Keyword Magic Tool, allowing for meticulous keyword analysis. Ahrefs, with its extensive keyword explorer, provides insights into search volume, difficulty, and related keyword suggestions. And Moz's Keyword Explorer stands out by offering comprehensive metrics and insightful SERP analysis.
Effective keyword research is the bedrock of any successful SEO strategy, ensuring you target the right terms to enhance visibility and capture the desired target audience. All three of these tools provide a solid solution for KWR with deeper insights than what you might find in the Google Keyword Tool.
Backlink Analysis
Backlink analysis is critical to understanding a website's authority and influence. Mastering it is pivotal for businesses aiming to strengthen their online presence and outperform competitors.
SEMrush supports marketers in this area with its backlink analytics, offering a deep dive into backlink profiles, anchor text distribution, and competitor link strategies. Ahrefs, known for its prowess in backlink analysis, provides valuable insights into referring domains, anchor text, and historical data. Moz's Link Explorer excels in offering a comprehensive view of a website's backlink profile, featuring metrics like Domain Authority and Page Authority.
Site Audit and Technical SEO
Ensuring the technical health of a website is paramount for search engine optimisation. A robust site audit is essential for creating a solid foundation, enhancing user experience, and boosting search engine rankings.
SEMrush's Site Audit tool identifies technical SEO issues, contributing to overall website health. Ahrefs complements this with its Site Audit feature, conducting thorough website crawling to detect SEO performance problems. Moz's Site Crawl stands out for its ability to diagnose technical SEO problems and optimise on-page elements.
Competitive Analysis
Understanding the competitive landscape is crucial for informed decision-making. SEMrush offers a Domain Overview, enabling competitor benchmarking, advertising research, and insights into traffic patterns. Ahrefs, through its Site Explorer, provides a comprehensive analysis of competitor websites, organic search traffic, and backlink strategies. Moz's metrics, including Domain Authority and Page Authority, play a key role in gauging a website's strength compared to competitors.
Rank Tracking
Monitoring keyword positions in search engine results is fundamental for assessing the effectiveness of SEO efforts.
SEMrush introduces its Rank Tracking feature, offering real-time insights into keyword positions. Ahrefs' Rank Tracker monitors keyword rankings and provides a comprehensive view of search performance. Moz contributes its Rank Tracking tool, which allows businesses to monitor the positions of targeted keywords over time.
In summary, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz share standard functionalities such as keyword research, backlink analysis, and site auditing. However, they each bring unique strengths, with SEMrush excelling in advertising and content marketing, Ahrefs standing out in backlink analysis, and Moz emphasising local SEO and user-friendly interfaces. The choice among these tools depends on specific business needs and preferences regarding features, interface, and pricing.
However, digital marketers should seriously consider investing in at least one of these tools. For us, SEMRush edges it as the best all-rounder that is still competitively priced. Personal preference plays a big part in it though, and each offers a free trial that would be worth utilising before deciding.
4. Yoast SEO & RankMath
For those leveraging WordPress, Yoast SEO or RankMath are must-have plugins (although only one should be installed and activated on a site, so you do need to decide!). They both allow for the management of crucial SEO tags across a site, provide advice on how to improve performance, automatically generate an XML sitemap for your site, and come with a free basic version.
For us, however, RankMath is the better of the two systems, so we'll focus on some of its features here.
Rich Snippets and Schema Markup
RankMath excels in implementing rich snippets and schema markup. It provides an intuitive interface for adding structured data to enhance the appearance of search results. This capability improves click-through rates and provides search engines with context about the content, contributing to better rankings.
The value of schema markup has declined in recent years, but many marketers still find it difficult to implement without the support of a developer. This can make the cost of actioning schema markup prohibitive when compared to the benefits it brings. RankMath helps put the control back in the hands of marketers, meaning schema markup can now be far easier to add. And in a world of small margins like SEO, any advantage you can get is worth considering!
Content Analysis and SEO Suggestions
One of RankMath's strengths lies in its content analysis tools. It offers real-time SEO suggestions as you create content, guiding you on optimising for target keywords, readability, and overall SEO best practices. This proactive approach ensures that your content is both user and search-engine-friendly.
XML Sitemap Functionality
It also streamlines the process of creating XML sitemaps, aiding search engines in indexing your content efficiently. The plugin allows the customisation of sitemaps to include or exclude specific content types, providing flexibility based on your site's structure and content strategy.
404 Monitor and Redirections
The plugin includes a 404 monitor that helps identify broken links on your site. Additionally, it offers a redirection manager, allowing you to set up redirects easily. This feature is crucial for maintaining a smooth user experience and preserving link equity for SEO.
Integration with Google Analytics and Search Console
Lastly, RankMath seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. This integration provides comprehensive insights into your website's performance, user behaviour, and search queries directly within the WordPress dashboard.
5. Screaming Frog
A powerful website crawler, ScreamingFrog helps you identify and fix on-page SEO issues. It crawls websites, analyses metadata, identifies broken links, and provides a comprehensive overview of a site's SEO health.
There’s also a free version of the tool that allows for a limited number of URLs to be crawled on a single domain (at the time of writing, the limit was 500). For larger sites, you’ll want the Pro version, but that’s only £200 for 12 months unlimited usage – a bargain for what you’ll get from it, trust us!
Crawling and Indexation Analysis
At its core, ScreamingFrog excels in crawling websites with remarkable speed and precision. It meticulously crawls websites, providing a detailed breakdown of URLs, their status codes, and indexation status. It will provide you with insights into how search engines view your site, identify any crawl issues, and ensure optimal indexation.
On-Page SEO Elements
However, it goes beyond simply crawling a site by extracting various on-page SEO elements for you to integrate. It provides a comprehensive view of title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and other critical on-page factors. This feature allows you to assess the optimisation status of individual pages and make data-driven decisions to enhance your SEO.
Site Architecture Analysis
Understanding site architecture is crucial for both user experience and search engine optimisation. ScreamingFrog visualises site architecture, showcasing how pages are interconnected. This insight aids in identifying potential issues with site structure, optimising internal linking, and ensuring a logical flow of information.
Link Analysis and Visualisation
ScreamingFrog provides detailed link analysis, including both internal and external links. The tool visualises the link structure, helping you comprehend the website's hierarchy and flow of link equity. This information is invaluable for optimising link distribution and identifying opportunities for internal linking.
Audit for Redirects and Canonicalization
The tool offers a robust audit for redirects and canonicalisation. It identifies redirect chains, loops, and canonicalisation issues, ensuring website URLs are streamlined for optimal SEO performance. You can manage and optimise redirects efficiently, contributing to a clean and SEO-friendly URL structure.
Custom Extraction and Data Integration
The software also allows you to perform custom data extraction from web pages. This feature is handy for gathering specific data points, such as product prices or metadata, from large numbers of pages. The extracted data can then be integrated into other tools for further analysis or reporting.
Structured Data and Schema Markup Analysis
For websites utilising structured data and schema markup, ScreamingFrog provides dedicated features to analyse and validate this markup. It ensures that websites leverage structured data to enhance rich snippets in search results, contributing to a more visually appealing and informative search presence.
Integration with External Tools
ScreamingFrog seamlessly integrates with various external tools, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other SEO platforms. This integration allows users to enrich their analysis with data from multiple sources, providing a holistic view of website performance and opportunities for improvement.
In conclusion, ScreamingFrog is a Swiss Army knife for website analysis and optimisation. Its capabilities extend far beyond basic crawling, offering a detailed and granular view of on-page elements, site architecture, links, and more. SEO professionals like you can leverage ScreamingFrog to uncover actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making, ultimately leading to improved search engine visibility and enhanced user experience.
Summary
So there you have it. Five tools to consider if you want to enhance your SEO game. And even better, four are free (GA4, GSC, RankMath, and ScreamingFrog Basic).
Like with any trade, you’ve got to have the right tools if you’re going to do a good job. SEO is no different. So whether you’re optimising for search engines, conducting competitor analysis, or refining content strategies, these tools empower you to make informed decisions and drive measurable results. Most of all though, they ensure you spend your time effectively.
