The world of SEO is complex. Luckily, there are several tools out there that enable us to work smarter and faster with SEO.

In this article, we’ll show you 10 best SEO tools which you should use to boost your content marketing efforts.

10 Best SEO Tools to Supercharge Your Marketing

1) Google Analytics

(Use it for traffic stats and search insights)

Don’t underestimate the potential of Google Analytics as an SEO tool just because it’s free. No matter what paid SEO tool you prefer to use, using Google Analytics to track your site’s traffic is super important.

In addition to tracking pretty much every bit of traffic you could imagine on your website, Analytics also offers vital keyword insights as to which terms people use to land on your pages.

Is it Free? 

Yes, totally! Sign up for your free Google Analytics account here. To get more value out of this tool, you can use Analytics in parallel with other free Google SEO tools: Keyword Planner and Search Console.

2) Keyword Tool

(Use it to generate keyword ideas and LSI keywords)

Keyword Tool is a nifty tool to generate keyword ideas from one keyword. Simply enter a keyword in the Keyword Tool search box to unravel a huge list of long-tail keyword opportunities.

You can also use this tool to unearth LSI keywords to boost your content’s SEO.

Click here to learn more about Latent Semantic Keywords (LSI) and their impact on SEO.

Is it Free?

The basic version is free, but if you want a more advanced version (called Keyword Tool Pro), then you need to pay a monthly fee of $48.

My advise is to stick to the free version as it allows you to get 750+ keyword suggestion and there no restrictions on the number of searches you can give in a day.

3) CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

(Use it to create snappy, click-worthy headlines)

Title tag is a critical on-page component which  Your article headline can make or break your article. A good headline boosts CTR, and thereby improves your site’s SEO.

CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer analyses your blog post’s headline by assigning scores to its overall quality and rates its ability to result in social shares, increased traffic, and SEO value.

Is it Free?

Yes! It’s one of the best free SEO tools on the market. The alternative to Headline Analyzer is Brian Dean’s YoRocket WordPress plugin for which you have to pay $29/month. That’s too much money for the same functionality and features offered by this free tool.

Click here to get started. 

4) SEMrush

(Use it to conduct site audits, spy on competition, and generate SEO ideas)

SEMrush is a must-have tool if you want to outrank your competition in search engines. Only a few tools offer features that SEMrush does for the price it charges.

With SEMrush, you can conduct site audits to fix any errors, check out the organic and PPC keywords your compeitiion is rankijng for, do a backlink audit for your site as well as your competitors’ site, and even receive ideas and recommendations to improve the existing content on your site.

It may seem like SEMrush is trying to do one thing too many, but it does almost everything with perfection.

Is it Free?

No, although there is a free version of SEMrush which allows you to 3 searches/day and offers only a glimpse of the results.

If you want maximum value out of this tool, I suggest signing up for their monthly plan which starts from $69.95. If you’ve never tried this tool before, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial here (worth $69.95). After 30 days, your SEMrush account will be downgraded to the free version, limiting your searches and search results.

5) Copyscape

(Use it to check for duplicate content)

Content duplication can lead to serious consequences and hurt your SEO score in the long run.

Copyscape promises to be the most powerful plagiarism search engine on the web. You just need to enter the URL of your content and let the tool find out if there are any duplicates of it floating around on the web.

Is it Free?

Yes, the basic version is free. They’ve a few paid plans, but I’d suggest you stick to the free version.

6) Moz Toolbar

(Use it to check a site’s domain authority and page authority)

There are several free SEO toolbars on the market, but MozBar is the best in terms of usefulness and accuracy.

By installing this free chrome extension, you can quickly see the page authority (PA) and domain authority (DA) of the pages to assess the competition.

Is it Free?

Yes. Download the Chrome Browser Extension from here.

7) Ahrefs

(Use it to conduct backlink analysis)

Ahrefs is the best backlink research and audit tool on the market. With Ahrefs, you can check the number of backlinks your site has, the number of referring domains for your site, your competitors’ backlinks, find organic keywords your site is ranking for, and much more.

Is it Free?

Nope! Ahrefs used to offer a free 14-day trial, but now they offer a 7-day trial for $7 which is a huge bummer. This is because the 14-day trial truly showed you what this excellent tool is capable of. The monthly plan for Ahrefs starts from $99/month.

8) Browseo

(Use it to view your site the way search spiders see it)

Browsea is an invaluable SEO tool which shows your site the way search spiders see it.

This particular view is helpful to see the hierarchy you’ve given to particular elements on your site (without even realizing it!).

9) Long Tail Pro

(Use it to conduct keyword research)

Long Tail Pro is a powerful keyword research tool which is trusted by many professional bloggers.

Long Tail Pro allows you to find high-traffic keywords with low competition. Using this tool, you can find profitable keywords in competitive niches, do keyword research, and analyze the top ten results for any keyword in your niche.

Is it Free?

No. They do offer a free 10-day trial for $1. Their monthly plans start from $25/month (billed annually). Click here to try Long Tail Pro for 10 days for $1.

10) GTMetrix

(Use it to optimize site speed and fix technical SEO issues)

GTMetrix is a free SEO tool which measures your site’s speed and provides actionable tips to speed up your website.

The report extracted from GTMetrix gives you a complete picture of how your site loads and helps you fix technical SEO issues.

It’s an excellent tool to test the performance of your website and all the essential features of GTMetrix are completely free.

Is it FREE?

Yes. Get started by clicking here.

Over to You

So these are some of the best SEO tools which can truly help you with your content marketing efforts.

Which SEO tool is your favorite? Let me know in the comments section.

This article was originally published on 99signals on Oct 14, 2016.