5 Best SEO Tools Every Blogger Must Use

Here are the top 5 SEO tools every blogger needs. Even the greatest search marketers in the world rely on great tools to do their work. The fact is, if you aren’t using these SEO tools your competitors will.

In this post, I will discuss 5 of my favorite tools and why YOU should be using them. These tools are not in any specific order, but are certainly what I would consider “must-haves” in my SEO arsenal.

1. Market Samurai

Market Samurai is one of the best tools I have found for market research. It helps you identify large lists of potentially profitable keywords with low competition. Here’s how it works:

You connect the application to your Google AdWords account so that it can pull in traffic and CPC data. Then, you use it to develop a large list of keywords related to one “root” keyword that you enter.

Once you have this large list generated, you can sift the list down in terms of competition. The tool will check to see if there is competition for this keyword on the web by checking for how many times the keyword appears in titles, URLS, etc. After the sifting is done, you will be left with a list of potentially great keywords to begin your campaign.

At roughly $100.00, this tool is certainly a must have SEO Tools for your SEO arsenal.

2. Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog is an SEO crawler. This means you can use it to find out how many pages a particular URL has, where it links to, whether or not it has broken links, etc.

I use this for various reasons. Mainly, I use it to crawl my websites and make sure there are no technical problems. Check out Screaming Frog’s website to see other ways to use the tool and sign up for a free trial.

3. Google Keyword Tool

If you don’t use this, what is going on? The Google Keyword Tool is a free way to get a look into a keywords search traffic numbers and potential value. This is one of the best ways on the web to figure out how much a particular keyword might be worth.

Use this SEO tool with Market Samurai and quickly find out what the most profitable keywords are that you could be ranking for. This is one of my favorite SEO Tools.

4. Microsoft Excel

You probably wouldn’t expect Microsoft Excel to be on the list, but it is a GREAT tool for any SEO. By developing a skill in Excel you will be able to find new and interesting ways to manipulate and record data.

I use Excel for everything from tracking my outreach to seeing what impact new links might have on my website. Excel is crucial for any aspiring or even seasoned SEO. In fact, I would say that I use Microsoft Excel more than any of the other tools on this list.

5. Open Site Explorer

Open Site Explorer (OSE) is a tool from SEOMoz that allows you to explore the backlinks to your site or your competitor’s sites. There are TONS of uses for this.

As you know, links will continue to be the heart of any successful SEO campaign. You simply can’t be successful in search without links. Yahoo used to provide a great link explorer tool but that was shut down in recent months. Now, OSE and Majestic SEO are the two leaders in link analysis and exploration. I personally enjoy OSE more than Majestic, which is why I added it to the list.

You can take a free trial for a spin and see how you like it. Regardless, a link exploration tool is absolutely necessary for a successful SEO.

SEO tools : A Few Last Words

There you have it, 5 SEO tools that you NEED to have. As I said, an SEO is only as good as his/her tools, so if you don’t have these tools or similar functioning tools, you should get on it as soon as possible!