It is said to be more challenging when it comes to SEO in 2014.
While SEO services could easily cost few hundred to thousands monthly, here are the top 10 SEO tools you can use for your blogs and websites (minus the hefty cost).
Read more: http://www.reginaldchan.net/best-seo-tools-for-2014/
1. Top 10 SEO Tools And Plugins You Will Ever Need
In 2014
reginaldchan.net /best-seo-tools-f or-2014/
There are a lot of tools in the SEO industry and over the years, we had learned that these SEO
tools are used more than just increase website ranking; majority of us use these SEO tools f or
analytics and data collection.
Last year itself , we seen the departure of specif ic data which we use dearly f or ranking a website
and this made us extremely vulnerable when it comes to planning our godly SEO strategies.
SEO in 2014 would be slightly dif f erent f rom previous years as we will be f acing extra challenges
… which is collecting the right data. This is why it is important use the best search engine
optimization tools to get the job done.
A quick rundown on Google and you may f ind dozens of tools out there but just like a majority of
us, you will most likely puzzled and wondering which is best and of course, save you the most
money (a.k.a. easy on your wallet).
This post is long and thus, bookmark this f or f uture ref erence. By the way, have you checked
out 2014 SEO tips f rom 21 industry experts?
You could easy get your hands on f ree SEO tools (and plugins) like Yoast SEO f or f ree or
premium ones that could easily cost hundreds of dollars monthly.
Either way, you need to f ind the best combination f or all your SEO needs and honestly speaking,
f ree online tools doesn’t always make the cut.
There is nothing called as the best SEO tools. The best are always the tools which
best fit into your SEO strategy.
In this article, I will be sharing my search engine optimization strategy using various f ree and paid
SEO tools which are divided into several categories:
1. General research
2. Competitor research
3. Keyword research
4. On-page SEO
5. Rank tracking
I got to admit that the above might sound a little challenging especially if you are just a novice
blogger. As much as I recommend you to have a list of tools at your own disposal, make sure you
are f inancially ready as some of these tools are really costly.
Top 10 SEO tools for 2014
2. 1. General research tools
Google Webmaster Tool
Google Analytics
These are tools which gives you the f irst sugar coating f or your SEO strategy. Consider it as the
base of your project.
Google Webmaster Tool
Powered by Google, you must be out of your mind if this is not one of your SEO tools f or 2014!
Google Webmaster Tool gives you an idea on:
HTML improvements
3. Search queries
External backlinks
Manual spam action
Crawl error
Under 30 minutes, you would be able to determine f actors af f ecting your website ranking and
possibly keywords which your website are ranking on search engine.
One of the best SEO tips is to ensure your website is SEO-ready even before you
start engaging in any projects.
A huge part of Google Webmaster Tools are f ocused on on-page SEO and thus, it is always
good to ensure your site is physically ready f or any SEO plans.
Read more about On-Page and Of f -Page SEO
Google Analytics
Another power SEO tool which is powered by Google and is in f act, one of the best tools out
there when it comes to providing analytics data.
Google Analytics (some call it GA) of f ers truck load of stats and data f or your ‘digestion’. GA f it
nicely into my best SEO tools 2014 with the Search Engine Optimization f eature (Acquisition >
Search Engine Optimization).
In this category, you will be spoilt with not one but three important stats which are Queries,
Landing Pages and Geographical Summary.
Geographical Summary is only useful if you are running SEO campaigns based on
locations.
While Google is f ond of removing even more data f rom various tools, both Google Analytics and
Webmaster Tools are still able to provide suf f icient inf ormation which will af f ect your overall SEO
4. strategy.
2. Competitor research tools
Ahref s
Majestic SEO
If you are thinking of ranking your website, it is a no brainer that you need to know who are your
competitors. A f riend of mine did told me that ranking the website is easy; All you need is to do
‘that’ slightly better than your competitor and you have the edge already.
Competitor research tools are used to understand how your competitors get their ranking and
reverse engineer it until certain extend. This means that f orget about copying exactly but instead,
f ocus in building something better or more explosive than theirs.
Ahrefs
My personal f avorite due to looks and user
interf ace. Seriously.
Ahref s provides better analytics data especially
when it comes to f inding external and internal
backlinks. As much as Ahref s is great f or
checking on your own site, I uses it to check on
my competitor.
My overused f eatures would be anchor text,
domains and top pages.
With just the above 3 inf ormation, I could easily
determine (roughly) what are my competitor’s
SEO strategy and how it is working out f or
them.
The only issue with Ahref s is that the f ree
account comes with limited SEO requests and
reports. To solve this, you may opt f or the premium plan which starts at $79 per month.
If you are running an SEO agency, Ahref s is one SEO tool you must have in your arsenal.
Try Ahref s f or f ree today.
Majestic SEO
The direct competitor to Ahref s and I had used
Majestic SEO f or over 2 years now.
Data f rom Ahref s itself is not enough and thus,
I merge them (on Excel) with the data collected
f rom Majestic SEO.
Basically, Majestic SEO of f ers pretty much as
what Ahref s (and a dozen more SEO tools out
there) in terms of f eatures. However, since
Majestic SEO and Ahref s use dif f erent methods
5. to measure the data, it is a great move to have
a wider data.
Just like its competitor, Majestic SEO of f ers
f ree accounts and premium ones would start
f rom $42 per month.
Create a f ree account with Majestic SEO.
3. Keyword research tools
Google Keyword Planner
Long Tail Pro
Debate all you want; keyword research is still important when it comes to SEO.
My keyword research strategy lies in several phrases and tools such as general keywords and
specif ic, long tail keywords.
While choosing the right keyword is one thing, using the keyword(s) is another important task as
well. This is probably why I uses not one but two SEO tools just f or keyword research.
Google Keyword Planner
Every keyword research strategy starts f rom
here. Google Keyword Planner or GKP in short
provides a list of keywords which we can use to
rank our website.
Not only that, you can also use GKP to search
f or keywords your competitors are trying to
rank as well. You may ref er to this article which I
wrote about Google Keyword Tool but the
concept is very similar to the current Google
Keyword Planner.
All you need is Excel and copy-pasting all the
inf ormation into the list and sort them out. Af ter
sorting, you would have around 500 relevant
keywords to kick start your SEO campaign.
For bloggers or content writers who are tight in
budget, GKP is f ree and thus, is def initely the
top 5 SEO tool f or majority of us.
Related article: Step by step guide to use Google Keyword Planner
Long Tail Pro
Personally, I consider Long Tail Pro or LTP as an
advance version of Google Keyword Planner. You can
search up to 10 keywords at one time and check f or the
competition level.
Long Tail Pro is a great SEO tool as you can easily save
6. hours in keyword research. With data collected f rom
Google Keyword Planner, you can easily minimize the
list into several high value keyword groups to increase
the chances of ranking.
This is easily done by Long Tail Pro as it provides
competition analysis and keyword ranking as well. With
a one time f ee of $97, this is an absolute must f or
bloggers and niche writers.
You may ref er to my Long Tail Pro review or jump directly into the of f icial website f or more
inf ormation.
4. On-page SEO tools
Scribe SEO
SEOPressor
One of the SEO best practices is to ensure your website is optimized f or SEO.
Ring any bells? This is what we call on-page SEO, f olks.
While having SEO agencies or consultants might be not an advisable plan f or startups and small
time bloggers, there are two tools which I would highly recommend when it comes to on-page
SEO.
So, what is on-page SEO means?
Basically, it means using the right keyword density, utilizing the correct markup and to get some
serious love f rom search engine bots.
Scribe SEO
If you think that my keyword research stops af ter using
Long Tail Pro, you are absolutely wrong.
Scribe SEO is my next go-to SEO tool f or composing
blog posts. Basically, Scribe SEO provides a
comprehensive research and analytics f or you.
It works in a 4- steps procedure:
1. Checking the chance of ranking f or that specif ic
keyword (competition analysis)
2. Upon completion of blog post, it will analyze the
keyword density by comparing not only that blog
post but as well as the whole website to determine
the chance of ranking on search engine
3. Provide a list of recommended tags to use
4. Recommending a list of external and internal links to build backlinks
Once you have completed the steps above, your blog post would be nearly to perf ect in terms of
keyword density and indirectly, improving the chance to rank on search engine.
Scribe SEO (some call it Scribe Content) price starts at $88 per month and this is a must-have
7. SEO tool in 2014 if you are serious in dominating the SERPs.
Did I mentioned that this is managed by the guys f rom StudioPress?
Take Scribe SEO f or a 30-days trial run or grab your f ree SEO report here.
SEOPressor
One of the biggest issue with keyword research tools
like Scribe Content is that they are pricey. Theref ore,
say hello to SEOPressor.
SEOPressor is one of the most popular SEO plugin
f or WordPress users simply because it provides
f eatures such as:
On-page SEO analysis
Keyword suggestions
Over optimization check
Rich snippet
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) suggestions
Social SEO
Automatic internal linking
Video embedded suggestion
With pricing starts f rom $47, there is absolutely no reason f or you to complaint that it is
expensive or you are not af f ordable f or it.
Personally, SEOPressor is a great alternative to Scribe SEO as it provides great value and SEO
f eatures with a one-time payment.
Double your traf f ic under 14 days using SEOPressor or money back guarantee!
5. Rank Tracking tool
SEMrush
When it comes to SEO planning and strategy, tracking and monitoring keywords play vital roles.
Blogging is always a business and you need to think like an SEO strategist to compete with your
competitors. This means that you need to plan not one but multiple SEO marketing strategies to
achieve results.
Tracking tools are extremely important when it comes to SEO keyword strategy. Looking at the
above, you will notice that a huge chunk of your time are used to f ind quality keywords f or your
site.
And the next step is to ensure your hardwork pays of f .
So, if you are not tracking your keywords now, you better do it right now!
SEMrush
I got to admit; SEMrush isn’t the best tool f or
8. tracking keywords. The main purpose of SEMrush
is to track Google Adwords keywords.
However, you can actually use this to your
advantage … yes, by tracking related keywords on
your blog.
On a f ree account, you can create up to 10
keywords f or tracking. I usually set up long tail
keywords. Choice of keywords can be taken f rom
Google Analytics, Google Keyword Planner, Google
Webmaster Tools or any research tools of your
choice.
SEMrush will then populate the keywords which you
are planning to rank and the stats will be updated once every day.
And you might be wondering, “Okay, I am lost. How can SEMrush possibly be one of
the best SEO tools available to mankind?”
Allow me explain a little more in detail.
SEMrush is one of the SEO tools f or 2014 as I consider it as an all-in-one SEO sof tware that
monitors nearly everything. For example, it of f ers:
Organic research
Backlink checker
Keyword research
Position tracking
Domain vs domain
Rankings
I do know a f ew serious (and experienced) bloggers who use SEMrush to cater f or all their SEO
needs but personally, I use it f or organic research and position tracking only.
You can sign up f or a f ree SEMrush account here. Paid accounts start f rom $69.95 per month.
All in one SEO tool – SEO PowerSuite
When it comes to search engine optimization, it is really
hard to f ind a good SEO tool that does everything f or
you. As a matter of f act, I used to think that it never
exist.
With so many SEO tools out there f or us to choose, we
are of ten wondering which is the best and worth our
money.
Sounds f amiliar?
9. I bet it does.Okay, I admit it. Call me a plugin or
SEO tool freak. My love for them will never fade.
Introducing the almighty, SEO PowerSuite.
SEO PowerSuite (some call it SEO PS) is probably the most expensive single piece of SEO tool I
ever bought in my lif e.
So, is SEO PowerSuite worth it?
While SEO PowerSuite is just one piece of SEO tool, it actually consists of several parts (or
f eatures):
1. Rank Tracker
2. Website Auditor
3. SEO Spyglass
4. Link Assistant
Yes, 4 f eatures which can skyrocket your SEO campaigns in 2014.
Rank Tracker
One of the top 3 ranking tools I ever use. Extremely usef ul (and f ast) when it comes to f ollowing
up on your keywords rankings. If you are planning to do mass keyword ranking check or multiple
domains, it is best to use private proxies to avoid temporary ban f rom Google.
While it of f ers a whopping keyword ranking check on over 346 search engines, I only check on
Google, Bing and Yahoo f or obvious reasons.
Website Auditor
When a client of mine ask f or SEO services, this is the number one tool I use to check f or on-
page SEO. If you want to check ever corner, worm hole and tiny 404 errors, this is one tool you
need to use.
Trust me when I tell you this is one of the best website auditing tool I ever … ever used!
Want to check if your robot.txt is working? Done!
Want to build robot.text but no idea how? Do it with Website Auditor!
Want to check if your website have crawl issues? Done!
Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to hard sell Website Auditor (okay, maybe a little) but
seriously, this is seriously one bad-a*s tool to use.
The only issue you may f ace is that when you are generating a report f or every tiny bit of
problem with your site, it could take hours. My longest experience was 18 hours.
Go f igure!
SEO Spyglass
If you want to know what your competitor is doing, what keywords are they trying to rank f or or
10. even, anchor texts they are using, this tool will tell you everything you need to know.
SEO Spyglass = Backlink checker. Period!
Link Assistant
Link Assistant is a powerf ul … and not so powerf ul tool.
If you are using it correctly, you can easily turn Link Assistant into a Virtual Assistant that does all
your link building works, emailing etc.
And of course, if you have no idea what it is all about, then you are probably not going f ar with
this tool.
In short, Link Assistant is a management tool that helps you to:
1. Store data (all your links) in a bullet proof , nuclear resistance ‘space’
2. Tool to verif y backlinks
3. Reach out to webmasters f or link building opportunities
SEO PowerSuite comes in three plans:
Free
Prof essional
Enterprise
For me, I am using Enterprise version as I need to export data f or f urther usage.
Free SEO PowerSuite trial download | Buy SEO PowerSuite
What is your favorite tool when it comes to search engine optimization?
Always remember that one of the best SEO tips f or 2014 is to use the right tool f or the right job.
There is absolutely no point using a specif ic tool if you have no idea how to utilize it.
So, what is your go-to SEO tools that you must use in 2014? Tell me using the comment f orm
below!