I have more than 10 years of experience in digital marketing and I use all kinds of SEO software. SEO is a process of research, decision making, and implementation. SEO processes are keyword research, site audit, backlink audit, backlink research and you need to check keyword performance in search engine. There is no end to the SEO process, the ones mentioned above are the basic process. This article is about the best SEO software I have used so far to perform all SEO tasks.
Google Keyword Planner is the only tool I use for keyword research. I think the AdWords app can only collect accurate data from the same company search engine. I don’t blame other keyword research tools, but the data of how many people search on Google search engine only Google can accurately provide. I know nowadays the keyword planner only shows accurate search volume for accounts with an active paid campaign. My suggestion is to run some paid campaign and get accurate data as this will help both ways. There are no free keyword research tools, only paid tools that you have on the market. Instead of just paying for keyword research, run AdWords and get the right data.
Semrush is my favorite SEO software when working with any SEO task as it is capable of performing all the tasks that SEO requires. Although it can perform all the tasks, I suggest it mainly for SEO audit. Basically, I do the audit at three levels. The first level is the site audit to find the general technical errors of the site. The second level is auditing an individual page and its content to optimize for a keyword. The third level is the accessibility audit to check the page loading speed and the user experience. I always use Semrush for site auditing as it perfectly covers my first and second level of audits. In the overall site audit, it checks over 200 checklists and categorizes them into errors, warnings, and notes. This gives an idea that makes the most of the effects in SEO. The individual page audit is the most powerful tool to use as it collects the data from our competitors and suggests us to optimize a page to target a keyword.
Lighthouse is a Chrome developer tool for SEO auditing. You can get it when you click inspect by right clicking on your page. My third level of SEO audit can be done with this free tool. Check over 200 checklists in categories like Performance, Progressive Web App, Best Practices, Accessibility, and SEO. You will be surprised at the results it gives you even if it is free. The page speed check is included in Performance and checks how you have used colors on your website. Also, it provides a checklist to manually verify. This will help people who are new to SEO as they can learn from it.
Backlink research and backlink auditing are very important SEO tasks. Although it can be easily done using Semrush, Ahref has more new data. I heard that most SEO people recommend Ahref as it is dedicated software for backlink research with fresh and accurate data.
Rank tracking is a very important task to know how our targeted keywords rank in search engines. Google Webmaster Central and Analytics provide search analytics data, but it is not live or accurate data. Using paid keyword ranking tracking software is the best idea. Paid software like Ahref and Semrush give you an accurate keyword position report with historical data. Semrush and Ahref will cost you a minimum of 100 USD per month on average if you are able to buy just one software for all tasks. I suggest Semrush as it has all the tools for complete SEO of a site.
There may be more advanced SEO software like Majestic for backlink research, but I decided to write which one I like and use the most. Finally, there is another software that I have used for keyword position tracking: Rank Tank. These are the best SEO software I have used so far. I hope this article is useful for SEO beginners.
