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Different Types of SEO Tools

20 Apr 2021 Digital Marketing

If you have a website or are looking to have one built, you’ve likely heard about SEO. Also known as search engine optimization, SEO is a complex and deep topic that deals with many moving parts. SEO is so broad that it can be broken down into three main types: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. Each of these types focus on a different area of a website and have their own set of rules. Most importantly, each category uses their own types of SEO tools. Knowing which tools are available and how to effectively use them is crucial for optimizing SEO for any website.

Having a website is only one part of the equation. After all, a website doesn’t mean much if no one is visiting it or knows that it exists. A website needs to actually show up in search results first, and then it needs to provide the information or solution the user is looking for. If you’re not sure which types of SEO tools are right for your website needs, the SEO enthusiasts at FirstPage Marketing can help. They are highly experienced with all types of SEO tools and understand how they can be used to make your website stand out (in a good way).

Read about why SEO is important for your online success.

On-Page SEO Tools

To put it simply, on-page SEO relates to the content on your website. This area of SEO focuses on optimizing all written content on a page to rank for certain keywords, phrases, and questions. Effective content makes it easy for Google and other search engines to understand what the page is about and display it for relevant searches. On-page SEO tools focus on:

Keyword Research

Keyword research involves finding keywords with high search volume and relevancy. Some tools display how difficult it may be to rank for a certain keyword due to the number of other sites targeting it. This allows you to choose if it is worth targeting the keyword or choosing one that has a little less traffic and competition.

Content Creation

This area of SEO includes researching, writing, and optimizing high-quality SEO-focused content. These tools help to ensure that the content you are writing is informative and based on popular searches or questions asked by users.

Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is the practice of using the target keyword in effective locations such as meta titles, meta descriptions, headings, and within key areas of the content. These on-page SEO tools can also be used to track keyword density and help find duplicate content with other pages on your site.

The following tools are just some of the resources available for on-page SEO. Bear in mind that some require a paid subscription, but each tool offers unique insights into search trends, keyword difficulty, and other important elements that affect the content of a page.

Google Keyword Planner
Google Search Console
SEMrush Keyword Tool
Moz Keyword Research Tool
Soovle
Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Google Trends

Off-Page SEO Tools

While on-page SEO focuses on the actions you can take on your own site, off-page SEO is all about the actions that happen away from the site. Google uses a lot more than what is published on your site to determine rankings. A key indicator used by Google and other search engines is your relationships to other sites and backlinks.

To keep it simple, a backlink is a link that is created when one site links to another. For example, if another company links to a specific page on your site, that’s a backlink. Though important for ranking, not all backlinks are equal. For high-quality backlinks, they should come from reputable and relevant websites to show that the information on your site is valuable and can be trusted. Many factors contribute to the “value” of a backlink, such as:

The popularity, trustworthiness, and authority of the linking site
How relevant the linking site’s topic is to the page it is being linked to
The anchor text used on the linking site
The number of links on the linking page

In addition to backlinking, off-page SEO practices can take the form of social media marketing, guest blogging, linked or unlinked brand mentions, and bookmarking from users. Off-page SEO tools include:

Various forms of social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
Moz Link Explorer
SEMrush Link Building Tool
Ahrefs Link Building
Google Search Console
Backlinko

Technical SEO Tools

Don’t let the word “technical” scare you. This type of SEO directly influences the effectiveness of on-page SEO and off-page SEO, so it’s important to know what it refers to. Technical SEO is focused on various site elements including:

Site speed and loading times
Mobile-friendliness and responsiveness
Crawlability and indexing
Site structure
Site security
Redirects and canonical URLs

Technical SEO is often referred to as the foundation of a website as it helps search engines determine the overall quality of a website. Strong technical SEO is required for an optimal user experience, a factor that is crucial for continuing to rank well on Google and other search engines. As one of the most important elements of your site, technical SEO can be harmful if it is not performed properly. To ensure optimal technical SEO for your site, it is often best to leave it to an expert or team of experienced SEO enthusiasts. Technical SEO tools include but are not limited to:

Screaming Frog
SEMrush SEO Tool
Siteimprove SEO Tool
Google Search Console & Webmaster Tools
WebPageTest
Moz Bar
Google Page Speed Insights

Use These Tools Effectively

Unfortunately, the most expensive, high-performance tools in the world don’t mean a thing if you don’t know how to use them. In some cases, you may understand the basic operation of certain tools, but you aren’t sure how to tap into their full potential. If you want to make sure that you’re getting the most out of each type of SEO tool, reach out to the experienced team at FirstPage Marketing. Their experts understand the intricacies of leading SEO tools and how to use them to achieve the best possible results.