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Must Have SEO Tools

Posted on 25. Aug, 2009 by Pete Hollier in Search Optimization

SEO Tools

Even with tools Organic Search Engine Optimization is a time consuming project, due to the numerous tasks and sub-tasks required:

• Keyword Research
• Content Development
• Link Building Programs

To build a successful SEO project will require tasks that can and should be completed using SEO Software, and other tasks requiring a Hands On approach.

There are times when the value of your analytic ability to review information groupings cannot be surpassed or completed by a computer. Sometimes it pays just to have a look

I use a variety of free and paid Search Optimizaiton Software applications and on-line subscription services. Included here are some of the free SEO tools I can just can’t do without.

Web Browsers: There are numerous elements which can affect how a web page looks when viewed by the visitor. Sure some are beyond our control, so we have to do the best we can and the first stop has to be the web browser. It pays to view your web site in the various browsers to ensure all is well:

Firefox is my primary SEO browser, this is due to the abundant supply of SEO and Web Development Plug-ins used to evaluate web sites and information.

Top 2 SEO Firefox Plug-ins

SeoQuake is my number one tool to quicky evaluate Web Site performance. SeoQuake enables you to estimate web site traffic, how strong the Domain is through instant Backlink Analysis and on top of this, you are able to drill down to view competitors keyword and phrase usage.

SeoQuake is the ideal SEO research tool and does a great job of gaining an overview of your web site as well as competitor’s web sites.

Web Developer allows me to quickly determine how Search Engine friendly the target web site is. A disable Javascript feature allows me to quickly block all Javascript enabling me to crawl the web site from a Search Engine perspective.

Web Developer provides the insight to web site structure providing the information required to improve the web site’s Search Engine friendliness and performance.

Analyzing the Data

When reviewing competitor’s web sites to determine what work is required to take their place in the Search Results you gather information which needs to be analyzed.

Since virtually every computer has a  Spreadsheet program such as MS Excel or Open Office The use of Spreadsheets to store and review your information is ideal.

The filtering and mathematical functions are useful for reviewing statistics and reviewing information from different views. The spreadsheet information is often the final analysis, where the decisions are made.

The Spreadsheet data can be utilized in a Mail Merge program which is particularly helpful when requesting links as part of your Link Building Program.

Content Development and Correspondence

Well here it is again “Content is King”. A large part of SEO is the content, so even though not a strictly a SEO tool I would be lost without my Word Processing software. The spell checks and word count and find functions are all a great help for editing SEO content.

Communication is assisted through Mail Merge integration of Spreadsheets and Word Documents to create personal emails for link requests etc.

Ok time to plug a product: Open Office is a free suite of Office Software, it is powerful well integrated and all documents can be saved in MS Office format if required.

I used MS Office for years and will be using Open Office into the future

Keyword Research

Keyword research is fundamental to SEO.

Even though I use subscription services for some Keyword Research, I do have a tendency to use the various Free Keyword Search tools provided by Google Adwords. A well rounded Keyword Research Program requires information from various sources. I tend to use Adwords Tools in the final stages of a keyword research process..

• Google Adwords Tool
• Search-based Keyword Tool
• Insights for Search

Both WordTracker and Keyword Discovery from Trellian.com provide a Free Keyword Service, I do find the results are different from those provided by Google in many cases and do recommend subscribing to their services if you are serous about your Keyword Research.

Keyword Research is another area where your Spreadsheet software is useful for filtering and viewing data for further analysis.

Link Building Programs

There are so many different facets to a Link Building Program but primarily SEO Tools are used are used in link request programs.

Yahoo LinkDomain has to be the place for your initial Link Program investigation. At Yahoo search “linkdomain:www.mysite.com”. When using Firefox with SeoQuake the information available about potential link partners is hard to beat, and provides the best possible overview at a glance.

Some of the more comprehensive SEO Software offerings include link building as part of the software’s functionality.

As for a stand alone Free Link Building software package Link Assistant has excellent Search and Email integration to find and contact potential Link Partners. The free version does not enable saving of projects so the minimal cost of this software is a small price to pay for the convenience and extra features.

Manage your Link Building Program Get your free Link Building Management Spreadsheet Template

SEO Software

I find it necessary to use a variety of SEO Software programs because all the programs have strengths and weaknesses.

I use the following Software Suppliers, in many cases the free versions will meet your needs however considering the costs of SEO Consultancy, even completing some of the work yourself using Software products offers substantial savings on your Search Engine Optimization Program.

WebCeo

I found WebCeo to be one of the better free offerings and one of the software programs well worth having as it assists you with many of the required SEO Tasks. A feature which I particularly like in WebCeo is the Web Site Error Reports which provide a list of errors in HTML and CSS code plus Meta tags plus an array of other web development elements. WebCeo find the errors and improves Search Engine crawling and indexing..

Internet Business Promoter IBP

I find the Web Site and Competitor Analysis facilities of iBusiness Promoter superb. However I do have to admit that so many features have been disabled from the free version that in Free Mode this software is of little use. However, the full version is well presented and does have the power to assist in you to complete your own Search Engine Optimization Program.

The Last Word

These are not all the tools I use to complete a Search Engine Optimization Program. The Number One SEO tool is your Analytical Skills – Your Brain. However, you do have to obtain information and the wealth of information provided by these tools will go a long way to assisting you to understand the environment you are competing in and developing the information needed to build and improve your Web Site’s visibility and increased traffic.

Written by: pete@seowizardry.ca a Search Engine Optimization Consultant

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