Getting Started with SEO for 2019: Essential Tools
2019 promises to become another big year in the world of SEO. With new updates and strategies on their way, the world of search looks to become bigger than ever before. With that in mind, it is never too late to get your start into SEO, as the number of resources available for you to learn more about it is plentiful across the internet.
(P.S.: You can take a look at our previous articles to learn about the basics)
One of the most important things that you need to get started in SEO is finding the best tools that would help you perform tasks with the best efficiency. Over the years, we have found some of the best tools available, with some of them becoming staples of our SEO Hacker toolbox. With all the tools that we have gathered, we would like to share our picks for essential SEO tools that you should have from the start.
Google Analytics/ Search Console
Google is the world’s largest search engine, with over billions of search queries being attended to on a regular basis. This large amount of traffic and Google’s goal of expanding their services also means that they also have two of the best and most important SEO tools around. Google Analytics is a comprehensive tool that allows you to track down website traffic from different perspectives.
From tracking down the traffic of individual web pages to looking at important statistics such as bounce rate and session duration, Google Analytics ensures that you would know how well your websites are performing and be able to track them in a single location. Learning how to use the tool is simple as well, and we have written a convenient guide for everyone to use. With the ability to track multiple websites and web pages, along with having data straight from Google itself, it is best to make sure that you have your Google Analytics account set up.
Google Search Console is another essential Google tool that you must have as well, as it is another effective tool that allows you to track clicks and impressions on your websites. You can also track pages with errors as well, making sure that you would be able to fix them accordingly. Like Google Analytics, you can use Search Console to track multiple web pages, allowing you to take a look at them in a single place. You can also view mobile traffic and pages as well, which has become increasingly important due to the emergence and growth of mobile search.
The best part about these two tools is that they are free to use, making sure that you would have a tool that would constantly work, and directly have access to data from Google.
SEMrush
SEMrush is an all-in-one SEO tool that lets every SEO specialist do what they do best – optimize. Optimizing your website takes a lot of in-depth analysis. You can’t just base all your improvements and strategies through what you physically see on your website. The most important improvements are the ones that only a few individuals see – including Google – and SEMrush is the tool that will assist you in finding these major areas of improvements.
SEMrush is one of the best tools out in the market and is trusted by most SEO specialists around the world. From finding the best keywords for your website to researching your competitor’s rankings and positions, SEMrush can do it all and the best thing about it is that it’s simple to use, even if you’re only a beginner, you can effortlessly use SEMrush for your site’s optimization and strategies. If you enjoy SEMrush as much as we do, be sure to read up on the things I love about it. You can also avail for their 7-day free trial by signing up here.
Ahrefs
Keyword research is one of the first steps that you have to execute when formulating your SEO strategy, as you would be able to find the best way for users to search your web pages. Finding a quality keyword research tool is essential, as having accurate data will allow you to find the best keywords that would generate a good amount of traffic. This is why Ahrefs is one of the best tools for the job. Thanks to a comprehensive amount of data, you would not only be able to look for the best keywords, but also perform content research. This ensures that you would be able to look for quality content that can inspire what you would want your users to see in your website.
Finding keywords using Ahrefs is simple, as you would only have to type them in, and take a look at their data. Along with data such as volume, keyword difficulty, and position, Ahrefs also provides keyword suggestions, related terms, and rankings from different parts of the world. Ahrefs is one of the tools that we have been using for quite a while now, and it has helped provide us with the best results. Like Google Analytics, we have a guide for Ahrefs, along with a review worth taking a look.
Screaming Frog
Website audit tools are important in the world of SEO, as this would help you give a full assessment of a website in just a short amount of time. This also works well for on-site optimization, as we would be able to find pages that need fixing and find the best solutions that would help drive more traffic and improve search rankings.
Unlike Google Analytics and Ahrefs, Screaming Frog works as a downloadable desktop tool. All you have to do to begin is to simply enter the URL of the website and begin the audit. Screaming Frog then separates each set of web pages based on certain categories. For example, you can track down all web pages that contain errors, or look for a list of pages that have proper header tags.
Screaming Frog is a simple but effective tool that enables you to track multiple web pages and perform on-site optimization. This is another tool that we have been using for a long time, which makes it one of our main tools used by our optimization team. With effective functionality and user-friendly interface, Screaming Frog is a tool worth investing in.
AccuRanker
The goal of our SEO strategies is to find the best keywords that would allow our web pages to reach the first page of Google Search results. This means tracking their rankings and gathering data real-time to ensure that we would be ready to report our results immediately. This makes AccuRanker the best rank tracking tool available, as we are able to track all of our keywords.
With accurate and constantly updated data, AccuRanker enables us to give real-time reports, which is essential in our operations. The interface is also very user-friendly, allowing members of our team to understand and easily analyze search rankings. The best part about this tool is the ability to publish the report in different file formats, allowing us to create comprehensive reports we can give to our clients.
BONUS: A friend of mine is cooking up something under the name SEOBUDDY and I’ll be getting a sneak peek at it within this year. Here’s the link so you’ll be able to check it out as soon as it’s up!
Key Takeaway
SEO has become more accessible over the past few years thanks to the tools that we have in our arsenal. With these four quality tools, you would be able to begin your wonderful and interesting journey into SEO.
If you have questions and inquiries about SEO tools and SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.