SEO Tools
SEO tools are programs that support website operators and SEOs in search engine optimization. Among other things, they are used to analyze content, keywords, backlinks or an entire website in terms of its current ranking and ranking potential in search engines.
SEO tools are used to examine websites in terms of good placement in search engine rankings. In addition to software that analyzes a variety of important SEO factors of a domain, there are programs that provide information about individual sub-areas such as backlinks or keywords. Often, SEO agencies also offer the customer a toolbox in which he either selects the required programs himself or receives a ready-made compilation of various analysis programs. Based on the data provided by the SEO tools, website operators and SEOs can optimize content and thus influence the ranking of a page on Google and Co.
What do SEO tools analyze
For SEO experts and webmasters, monitoring a domain is the basis on which they build their optimization. Different parts of a website can be examined and optimized.
Keywords
Keyword research includes, on the one hand, determining the appropriate keywords, in terms of the number of search queries they generate as well as the competition they face. On the other hand, SEO tools can determine where in the HTML code of the website the keywords are or should be present, what ranking they achieve and how much traffic they generate.
Content
Content analysis is used to examine whether the page content complies with search engine guidelines. Page operators can see from the results, for example, whether titles and descriptions are present or whether the corresponding keywords in the content have been marked with the appropriate HTML tags. It can also be determined whether texts are of the right length or whether the format and size of the images on the page are correct. The examination of texts according to WDF*IDF aspects is now widespread and many providers have developed functions specifically for this type of text optimization. There are also many tools that check texts for duplicates and are thus intended to counteract punishment due to duplicate content. The analyzed content includes images and videos as well as the own blog or simple website texts.
Backlinks
High-quality backlinks are important for a good ranking. Therefore, many SEO tools check the web for links. In doing so, the programs analyze where the link comes from and how “valuable” it is – the more trustworthy the linking site is, the more valuable the link is. The tools also recognize where links are coming from, whether to the blog, to the start page or to a sub-page. Website operators can thus deduce which content is well received and which may still need to be optimized.
Website
Similar to the content, an entire website can be checked to see whether it meets the requirements of Google and Co. SEO tools analyze not only the meta tags, titles, descriptions, etc., but also the internal linking of the page, outgoing links or redirects. In addition, load times and the availability of individual subpages for Google can be tested through Noindex, robots.txt or canonical markings. Also the domain name and the individual URLs can be crucial for the ranking of a website and thus become part of the check. Often SEO tools create a kind of overall result of a domain based on the various factors and thus show its value or ranking potential.
Ranking
Many SEO tools not only indicate the ranking of individual sub-pages such as the blog or the homepage, but also show, for example, on which place a certain keyword (in connection with a website) ranks or how large the current market share of the website is. Comparative information about the competition is often included.
Traffic
In order to be able to precisely track the flow of visitors from external sources and within one’s own website, some tools record the traffic of visitors. Not only can it be measured how many users come to the site from which sources and how they navigate through the site. Good monitoring also shows which keywords the users searched for to subsequently land on the domain.
Social media
Some SEO tools evaluate data from social networks such as Facebook, Google+ or Twitter. They measure, for example, how many users access the blog or other subpages of a domain from there or how often a certain blog article etc. is linked via social media. In addition, many tools help to identify trends in social networks by searching for frequently used keywords, for example. This allows website operators to produce content on current topics, for example, and thus increase traffic to the site.
Provider
For many application areas of SEO analysis, free tools can be found that can cover the basic needs of a webmaster. However, for really comfortable and more in-depth investigations, paid professional tools are often irreplaceable. The best-known providers of the programs and associated services include Sistrix, Searchmetrics, Xovi, Ryte and Dinorank.
Costs and payment models for SEO tools
Five basic payment models for search engine optimization tools are widely used:
- Freeware: many tools can be used for free – some as full versions, some as (performance-limited) trial versions.
- One-time payment: Some providers require a one-time payment to use their tool.
- Regular payment: Most professional tools are financed by a regular payment, usually per month or per year.
- Per-volume payment: occasionally, tool vendors require payment for certain volumes, such as a certain number of searches.
SEO tools are an important tool for search engine optimization of websites. Many tools differ not only in the scope of functions, but also serve to analyze different SEO factors. The most important areas to be analyzed include keywords, content, backlinks, the interaction of the entire website, ranking (potential), traffic or social media use.