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Online discoverability is one of the most important marketing requirements in 2020. Not only does it help build goodwill of the firm, but maintaining an online presence has become a survival necessity for any business in 2020. Search Engine Optimization is one of the most popular marketing strategies for generating organic audience for your online content, but it is useless unless done correctly with the right tools.

Content:

  1. The basics and importance of Search Engine Optimization in 2020.
  2. Best Free SEO tools worth your time in 2020.
  3. Best Paid SEO tools worth the cost in 2020.
  4. Conclusion

The basics and importance of Search Engine Optimization in 2020

Search Engine Optimization increases search rankings. When a user does a search on any online search engine like Google or Bing, search rankings dictate which website’s content will be shown first (relevant to the search keywords). Search Engine Optimization helps increase such ranking with methods such as backlinking and Keyword Optimization so that content from your website is placed before your competitors.

The importance of SEO can be determined in terms of discoverability and Best Practices. Given the cut-throat competition these days, it has become a necessity to stay current and competitive in every aspect of business to increase your brand’s goodwill and gain a competitive advantage over other businesses in the industry.

For more about types of SEO strategies (Black Hat vs White Hat and On-page vs Off-Page, SEO tips, and other fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization) click here

15 Free SEO tools 2020

While paid options are often superior, for anyone starting out with Search Engine Optimization or working on a low budget, free SEO tools can be a very effective route for improving discoverability and increasing impressions. Here are our picks for the best Free SEO tools worth your time:

1. Answer the Public.

Answer the Public used for generating questions people are asking for blog writing
SEO by way of blogs and articles, answer the public allows you to find out what people are looking for so you can answer their questions

One of the most popular SEO tools in 2020, Answer the Public is a great tool for commercial blogging and generating traffic towards your blog via keywords optimization. It can be described as a 100 times more efficient version of Google suggestions. It lists the most popular searches about a particular topic and is a great tool for blog keyword optimization.

Check it out here

2. Moz Local Listing Score

Moz local listing store for SEO
Use Moz local listing store for SEO

Forget about international competition, small and medium businesses often require a locality-based search ranking check among its competitors. Moz Local Listing Score does so by checking your businesses’ search ranking in comparison to other businesses in a particular area. It searches sites like Foursquare, Facebook, and Google. It also shows actionable fixes for issues and problems regarding your listing.

Check it out here

3. Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights also known as Lighthouse can be used to grade your pages SEO
Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool used to optimize your speed and search engine visibility

Google claims page loading speeds are one of the biggest factors in its search rankings. They have claimed to use mobile version of the website to determine its ranking, which is where the loading issue often occurs. This tool shows you loading issues with your website, along with suggesting remedies and measures to increase loading speeds.

Check it out here

4. SEMrush (Free Plan)

SEMrush free plan can be used for Search Engine Optimization
Use SEMrush to optimize your search engine visibility.

SEMrush offers three main plans, Pro, Guru, and Business. However there is also a free alternative, which offers limited access to almost all of its services. While it is suggested to choose from one of the above plans for medium and large businesses, its free plan can be very helpful to small businesses as well.

Check it out here

5. SEObility

SEObility paid optimization tool.
Use SEObility paid SEO tool to improve your search visibility.

While SEObility is a paid tool, it offers its services for limited use for free. It is mainly comprised of analysis services. These include SEO check, keyword check, Ranking check, and SEO compare.

Check it out here

6. Google Search Console

Google Search Console can be used as a free SEO tool
Imrpove your SEO with Google Search Console, a free tool.

One of the Google's Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console tools and reports help you measure your site's Search traffic and performance, fix issues, and make your site shine in Google Search results.

Check it out here

7. Google Analytics

Use Google analytics for SEO optimization.
Imrpove your SEO with Google Analytics by tracking the way people interact with your website.

Probably the most popular free SEO analysis tool, Google analytics offers you the power to monitor every kind of traffic you can imagine on your website. It also offers feedback on which keywords visitors use to reach your web pages. It is done by a unique tracking code that Google provides to you, which can be used by pasting it into your webpages. Google can track visitor traffic and provide the metrics to you.

Check it out here

8. Moz (Free SEO tools)

Use Moz Free SEO tools to improve your visibility
Moz offers many tools for Search Engine Optimization

Moz offers over fifty SEO tools under Moz Free SEO services. These include backlinking and keyword recommendations. It is a great place to start Search Engine Optimization for beginners.

Check it out here

Other Free SEO tools

Free SEO tools we recommend trying out
Here is a short list of free SEO tools.

Other than Moz’s range of free SEO tools, there are a number of other free SEO tools and sites online that offer great SEO support and boost. Some of our favorite free tools include:

9. Schema Creator - Create rich snippets and functionality for search engines.

10. Keyword tool - Find relevant keywords for your website.

11. XML sitemap generator - Develop a sitemap for Google Crawlers.

12. Alexa Rank checker - Find how you rank on the web.

13. SEOquake - Check SEO, Backlinks.

14. SEO Minion - Check SEO, Broken Links, Headers.

15. Siteliner - Find Duplicate Content.

11 Paid SEO Tools 2020

Keywords Everywhere

Improve your SEO by using the right keywords, try Keywords everywhere, a Paid SEO tool.
Improve your SEO by using the right keywords, try Keywords everywhere, a Paid SEO tool.

Keywords Everywhere is an effective keywords analysis and management tool which can be used as an extension for Chrome and Firefox browsers that shows search volume, CPC, and competition on multiple websites for every keyword in the searchbox. Keywords Everywhere is also compatible with many other valuable sources such as Google Trends and Answer the Public.

Check it out here

While there are a lot of free SEO strategy options to choose from, those looking to focus on search engine rankings with a more serious and professional approach often prefer paid or ‘pro’ SEO tools. Here are our top picks from the paid SEO options that are worth the cost:

Ahrefs

Use AHrefs to identify onsite and offsite errors and oppotunities
Ahrefs is a great paid tool for SEO and best practices including backlink checking.

Ahrefs is great for analysing your competitors’ backlinks. It is the world's second largest crawler, only succeeded by Google Crawler. It is a great platform to determine where to start linkbuilding by analysing your competitors and potentially gaining a competitive advantage over them.

Check it out here

Raven Tools

Raven Tools Paid SEO tool
Raven Tools Paid SEO tool

Raven Tools works as a culmination of various SEO services, taking metrics from tools like Majestic SEO, SEMoz, Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, and Google Adwords to provide a comprehensive search ranking result.

Raven Tools also offers over two dozen SEO services including link building, content/campaign management, competitors’ link analysis, etc. It is a great tool for those looking to start getting into professional Search Engine Optimization.

Check it out here.

Wordtracker

Wordtracker has a paid tool that can help you monitor your keywords
Monitor Keywords with Wordtracker

As suggested by the name, Wordtracker is probably the best keyword research tools with data on over 250 million keywords in partnership with SEMrush. It has now included a ‘linkbuilder tool’ as well, which helps you find best backlinking prospects for you. It also shows competition data on how many pages are competing for each keyword and what it’s potential value is, giving a good push for competitor analysis as well.

Check it out here.

SEO PowerSuite

SEO PowerSuite offers a compregensive SEO tool
Optimize for digital presence with SEO PowerSuite

SEO PowerSuite, like Moz, is a comprehensive SEO tool that has its services divided mainly into four branches, namely Rank Tracker, WebSite Auditor, LinkAssistant, and SEO SpyGlass. You have the option to either go for services individually or opt for an all-in-one plan as per your needs.

Rank Tracker

Supports over 300 search engines internationally. It shows website ranks from individual or grouped keywords and also suggests best keywords for optimization.

WebSite Auditor

lets you run an audit on your whole website or individual pages as per your needs. It shows errors such as broken links, duplicate content, and missing HTML elements as well as suggesting methods to fix such issues.

LinkAssistant

finds and suggests relevant and valuable link-building partners along with their contact info. It also lets to create and manage your own cloud linking directory.

SEO SpyGlass

lets you spy on your competitors’ ranking and backlinking tactics. It shows their Google PageRank and Alexa Traffic Rank, along with their anchor and title keyword density.

Check it out here

SEMrush Pro

SEMrush Pro A Paid SEO tool for increasing web traffic
SEMrush Pro A Paid SEO tools to increase traffic

We have discussed its free version, but SEMrush Pro packs various advantages over its free version. It is a great tool for systematic management and observation on search rankings, especially for analytics reports about your own website’s search data, traffic, and the same about your competitors’ websites as well. It also is a great tool for comparing keywords and domains.

Check it out here

Buzzstream

BuzzStream a Paid Tool for Link Building
Use BuzzStream for Link Building

Buzzstream’s primary purpose is Backlinking and Link-management. It is a great tool for CRM, Link building, and Social Media management. It lets you bookmark websites, search pages for contact info, collect metrics, track Twitter conversations, and overall help with online presence management.

Check it out here

SEOmoz (MOZ Pro)

Moz Pro optimization checklists for improving on page SEO
Moz Pro Optimization Checklist Paid SEO tool

SEOmoz offers free service such as an Open Site Explorer to find backlinks. However, like most SEO tools it offers its premium services such as tracking ranks, analyzing social media activity, comparing backlinks among different URLS, testing a website for crawl errors, and performing keyword analysis under a pro package. It is one of the most respectable SEO tools due to its convenient and user-friendly design and effectiveness.

Check it out here

Quicksprout Website analyser

Quicksprout website analyzer for SEO
Quicksprout is a paid Tool for SEO

Quicksprout connects to Google analytics and analyzes SEO data, social mentions, pagespeed and provides recommendations for improvement based on the inputs and results generated by it.

Check it out here

Majestic SEO tool

Majestic SEO tool for building backlinks
Majestic SEO tool for building backlinks

Majestic SEO tool is a backlinking tool which lets you check a website’s citation flow, keywords, anchor text, and backlink history. It also lets you analyze you and your competitors’ backlinking background to building a better link-base.

Check it out here

WhiteSpark

Whitespark for local SEO and rankings
Whitespark for local SEO and rankings

There are a lot of other effective paid SEO strategies and tools which can be used according to your business' needs. We recommend established SEO tools such as Whitespark (another comprehensive SEO toolkit) and Advanced Web ranking which can help you grow your search ranking.

Check it out here

Conclusion

Your SEO needs truly depend on your business’ needs and requirements, its unique variables, and SEO strategies required in the particular industry. While such tools can be really effective, professional help is often recommended if you are looking to gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

We Can help!

Search Engine Optimization can be a tricky concept to understand and even trickier to tackle. Symphysis maximizes the number of times you appear in organic search queries. Our SEO team begins by reducing loading time, improving image quality, removing leftover template code, implementing analytics, all while improving keyword ranking. For more information and a free initial consultation, call or text @ +1 (425) 390-4738.

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Symphysis Marketing Solutions, LLC 
A business development firm focused on growth strategies, branding strategies, and data-driven marketing for enterprise businesses, start-ups, and small businesses.
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