Tools of the SEO Trade
I often get asked what software tools I use to do my day-to-day SEO work. Often it’s clients wanting to keep on top of their SEO, but sometimes it’s consultants or freelancers in other areas wanting tips on maximising their productivity.
So here are my top 6 tools for SEO and running an efficient one-person operation!
1) KWFinder
Keyword research is the starting point for optimising a website. You need to know what your target audience is searching for – what exact search terms do they use and in what volumes?
There are a number of software tools out there that help with this but I am a big fan of KWFinder – it’s fully featured, very easy to use and has a nice, clean interface.
2) Screaming Frog
Weird name, but Screaming Frog is a powerful tool for analysing websites. It ‘crawls’ sites in the same way search engines do, and displays all the key info so you can pick up issues quickly.
Broken links, duplicate content, titles and descriptions that are too long – these are some of the issues that hurt website rankings and Screaming Frog is a great tool to weed out these problems.
3) Yoast SEO
If you use WordPress, Yoast SEO is far and away the best SEO plugin. It simplifies the SEO basics for your site and is kept up to date to ensure that your site stays up to date with the latest changes in SEO too.
It also includes some helpful SEO benchmarks so you can tell at a glance how well each page or post is optimised for the relevant search terms.
4) Google Search Console
Previously known as Google Webmaster Tools, Search Console is a great way to stay on top of any major issues with your site (like being hacked or having broken links) and get insights into your search performance.
You can also use it to instruct Google to crawl any page of your site for super-fast indexing of new content.
5) Slack
Slack is a communication tool for teams that can make a serious dent in your email inbox, while upping your team’s productivity. It’s like a cross between instant messaging and email, and can be used on desktop or mobile wherever you are.
Whether you work in an office with your team or remotely (like I do) it’s a powerful tool for keeping connected and keeping control of your shared messages and files.
6) Spotify
Perhaps my top recommendation of all though is Spotify! I love my music, and as I work by myself in a home office, it keeps me sane while providing a soundtrack to my working day.
There are other streaming music platforms out there, and I’ve tried quite a few of them, but Spotify ticks all the boxes for me, and seems to nail the music recommendations every time.
