Tools That Make SEO Life Easier:
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is hands down the most important SEO tool for professionals and amateurs alike. It’s completely free to use and provides you with high quality traffic analysis on your website. This means that you have a full breakdown of how your visitors got to your site, what keyword they used if they came through the search engine, how long they stayed on the page, and even if they returned at a later time.
This information by itself isn’t that useful, but with a very creative mind, this information is pure gold. For example, if visitors aren’t staying on your site for very long, then you need to find out what’s wrong with your site. Your information might be boring visitors off your page, or you could just have an unattractive site that turns visitors off. It’s all about checking the metrics and seeing if they make sense.
2. Raven’s SEO Tools
Raven’s SEO Tools is a full line of tools that will all improve your SEO efficiency. In general, Raven’s tools are well regarded in the industry and integrate very well with other tools that you might already own. Raven’s SEO Tools set out to provide users with all the data they need in one central location by gathering data from places such as Google Analytics, SEMRush, MajesticSEO, SEOmoz and much more. Raven’s SEO Tools succeeds on all counts for being one of the easiest to use and most well put together SEO tools ever.
3. Open Site Explorer
Open Site Explorer is completely free to use, but there are features that require payment. This freemium model works well with the site since you are able to run 3 reports a day, which is enough for small time SEO work but not nearly enough for large SEO jobs. These reports tell you all about the backlinks pointing to a given site, or URL. With this information, you can see where your competitors are getting all their backlinks from, and steal them. Open Site Explorer doesn’t stop there; you also get additional information about these backlinks to help you decide which ones you want to obtain for yourself. This information includes anchor text, domain authority and page authority.
4. Link Diagnosis
Link Diagnosis is similar to Open Site Explorer, except it’s completely free. All you have to do is install the Firefox extension to see the full results of your search. Without the extension installed you are limited to only 250 backlinks at a time. With the extension installed there is no limit, and you are able to display information such as mozRank, domain authority, page authority, anchor text, outbound link count and link strength.
5. Copyscape
Copyscape is the go to tool when searching for plagiarized content. Copyscape is typically used for two reasons. First of all, it allows you to find out when someone copies the content on your site without your permission. Secondly, it allows you to find out if the content you purchased was copied or if it’s all original. Having your content stolen and receiving duplicate content can hurt your site, and Copyscape can help protect you from both.
6. Google AdWords Keyword Tool
Google’s very own Keyword Tool is one of the most popular free tools available online. You are able to input a list of keywords or a URL, and it will return a full list of extra related keywords along with their search volume. While this tool is easy to use, it does lack some features of its paid counterparts. For example, you are unable to research SEO competition, but you are able to view advertising competition. Overall, it’s a quick and easy to use while still being a very powerful tool.
7. SEMRush
SEMRush was specifically made to assist in keyword research. You can analyze all kinds of metrics for keywords, even from your competitors. You can find out what keywords your competitors are targeting, how competitive they are, and decide if they are worth stealing for your own site. With SEMRush, you are able to strategically decide which keywords are worth your time, and which ones aren’t worth the trouble. This tool can save you both money and time since it helps you find only profitable keywords.
OTHER TOOLS
Blogging is a full-time career for many freelance writers. However, it’s not something that happens overnight or is easy. Thankfully, there are many tools out there that can help make the dream a reality. Whether you’re interested in writing about food or film, you can make a living blogging. All it takes are the right tools. The following are just seven incredible selectively chosen tools that every blogger should be using or take into consideration in order to ease a bit of workload.
Rafflecopter
Giveaways
attract readers – plain and simple. While there are many pay-to-use
programs out there, Rafflecopter is actually free and simple to use. All
you do is decide on the item you want to give away, such as a gift
card, and choose ways for readers to enter. For example, you might offer
two entries into the giveaway for following you on Twitter and another
two for following your blog. Rafflecopter takes care of everything,
making it easy to host a giveaway.FotoFlexer
Not every photo you take will be perfect for your blog. However, that
doesn’t mean you need to invest hundreds of dollars in photo editing
software. FotoFlexer is not only free to use, but has many of the same
features as PhotoShop, making it a must-have tool for bloggers. If you
are wondering why edit photos, this is one ideal way to drive traffic.
You can edit the photos in a manner in which you can make it unique from
the rest, resulting in your photo being displayed on the top pages in
the image search. Another easy way to drive traffic.Google Adwords Keyword Tool
Blogger or WordPress App
HootSuite
Social
networking is another important aspect of blogging, but it can take up
too much of your valuable time. An account with HootSuite allows you to
post to many social networking sites without having to visit those
sites. You can even schedule posts to occur at a later date.Stock.xchng
Photos are essential for blog posts because they create more interest in the post. Of course, you can’t just use any photo you wish. You need to use photos that are available for such use. One great place to find photos is through Stock.xchng. These website offers thousands of photos on just about any subject imaginable. Just be sure to follow the guidelines for use. The images available here are of HQ.
Evernote
Last, but not least, Evernote is an amazing app for those that always have great ideas while away from the computer. Evernote allows you to organize your ideas, photos, and much more so that you can create wonderful posts when you’re able to sit down and work on them. Blogging tools can make it much easier to be successful as a professional blogger. Best of all, many of these tools are free to use. What are you waiting for? Get out there are turn your hobby into a career.
