How to build a winning SEO tool stack for 2023

SEO professionals can access many free and paid platforms, tools, and software. But if you and your competitors are all using the same tools, data, and approaches – how can you set yourself apart?

At SMX Next, I shared the SEO tools that will make up my toolkit in 2023. If you missed the session, read on as I share some highlights.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that true to the fast pace of SEO, there’s already been a change in how you might think of one of the tools – but we’ll get to that shortly.

So what will we be covering in this article?

  • Why do we use SEO tools?
  • The usual suspects.
  • The unusual suspects.
  • Fun with AI.

Let’s get started.

Why do we use SEO tools?

Why am I here?

As with virtually every decision we make, when it comes to tools, it’s good to think about the ever-present question – why? Why do we use tools in the first place?

We generally use SEO tools for one of the following tasks:

  • To automate monotonous tasks (e.g., rank checking). 
  • To distill large amounts of data into usable information (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • To access information not functionally available to us otherwise (e.g., backlink analysis).
  • To combine data sources and points (e.g., domain metrics on backlinks).

Essentially, we use tools to save time. When you think of most of the tools you use or want to use, they generally speed up the collection of information or present it in a way that’s easier to draw conclusions.

Take a moment and think of one of the tools you use and one of the tasks you use it for. Guaranteed it will fit one or more of the purposes above.

But, of course, there are hundreds of tools to choose from. I’m not going to pretend that the list below is fully exhaustive.

I’ve only included tools I use myself and only those that would apply to most people. That said, they’re tools that have proven themselves invaluable to my regular routine.

So what are they?

The usual suspects

The usual suspects

You can probably guess what my list of usual suspects is now. But let’s cover them anyway.

Semrush

Why does Semrush make this list?

Semrush is a solid all-in-one toolset covering multiple areas of SEO, SEM and SMM and generally does them well.

Some of the key tools within the suite I use regularly are:

  • Audit: There are definitely more sophisticated technical audit tools out there, but the Semrush tool runs regularly and gives you a quick-and-easy place to monitor for spikes and drops in errors, etc.
  • Rank checking: Their rank-checking tool is excellent. You can select the location your rankings are checked from (or multiple) and monitor them daily. For those with large numbers of terms, they’re also presented in an easily digested and filterable way.
  • Social poster: Semrush has a solid social monitoring and posting tool. You can keep track of your progress against competitors and monitor RSS feeds to quickly and easily get post ideas. It’s not as robust a social tool as some dedicated ones are, but it’s solid and good enough for many use cases.
backlink tool

You’re probably familiar with much of what it does and if not, I’d suggest a trial.

Semrush is generally pretty affordable for the variety of purposes it serves (though it can get pricey if you need to add users, white label reports, or use add-ons). And since it’s generally well known, knowing how to use it is a marketable skill.

Screaming Frog

Hands down, this is the best value tool on the market.

Bing

Screaming Frog, for the three of you who might not know, is a crawler.

Give it a website or a list of URLs and configure how you want it to crawl (depth, user agents, paths, etc.), info on the data you want to collect, plus a bit of time, and it’ll return an audit of the site with various visualizations and filters.

There’s a free version that’s good for up to 500 URLs, though it has limited customizations. For a paid version, you’ll have to pony up a “whopping” $210/year. As I said, best value tool on the market.

It’s good for:

  • Customized crawling.
  • Looking for specific text or HTML on pages.
  • Easily export issues to send to devs.
  • Creates XML sitemaps.
  • Great visualizations.

And I don’t have to dive into the remainder of my usual suspects as you hopefully use them already:

All I’ll say about Bing Webmaster Tools is this:

Bing Webmaster Tools

It’s like Search Console, but with far more details and information, making it the unsung hero of SEO tools.

The unusual suspects

The unusual suspects

Technical SEO tools

Jet Octopus is another technical SEO suite. (And no, I don’t know where these companies get their names.)

The interface includes screens like:

Jet Octopus

It’s similar to Semrush but with different filtering options and of course, a different crawler. As you can see above, Jet Octopus lets you easily group issues into the sections of the site you’ll find them in, like a combination of Semrush and Bing Webmaster Tools.

I also find it gives me a different way of looking at a site structure, though I wouldn’t give up Semrush for it, making it one to add to the mix if you have the budget and need to make sure you have an easy-to-use different way of looking at things.

And some additional unusual suspects for technical SEO:

Merkle: Various free SEO tools covering everything from schema to prerendering.

Merkle

Structured Data Testing Tool: For testing your schema.

Structured Data Testing Tool

Mobile Moxie: Free and paid tools for testing your mobile SEO.

Mobile Moxie

Uptime Robot: For making sure your site(s) are up.

Uptime Robot

Content tools

But all the technical SEO in the world won’t get your ranking without great content. So let’s look at some unusual suspects on the content side:

A huge favorite content-related SEO tool of mine is the shockingly inexpensive Infranodus (though it arguably isn’t a content tool, it’s what I use it most for).

Within Infranodus, you’ll find an array of tools for a whopping €9/month (about the same in USD).

Infranodus

My most commonly used tools help me dig into the concepts included in the top Google results, and how the concepts connect to various pages within a list.

In short, you can enter a query and it will produce an interactive mapping of how the terms in the results connect to each other, which I find helps me not only better understand how Google might see a concept, but a user as well.

Here it is in action:

A screenshot of a computer

And of course:

  • AlsoAsked: A good visualization of questions people as related to topics you’re researching.
  • Answer The Public: A good visualization of how the questions related to a phrase group, by question intent.

Of course, I have tools I use for keeping an eye on links and competitors’ links.

My favorite tools in this category are:

Ahrefs

While technically Ahrefs is a suite of tools one might compare to Semrush, it’s in links that I find it really shines. 

Ahrefs

I find it catches new backlinks faster than other tools, and generally has a more robust database.

So when I’m keeping my eye on new links, looking for gaps in link profiles, or just researching competitors, this is my first (though not only) stop.

Majestic

I haven’t used Majestic in a few years, but I wanted to include it in the list as it’s a solid backlink tool worth your consideration.

Majestic

At one point, I hit a threshold and had too many tools, so I made a “one in, one out” policy to keep it under control.

I had a lot of duplication in the link category so I had to get rid of some tools. But for those who don’t have this problem, Majestic is a solid option to consider (and might even be worth revisiting myself).

Search Console

I hope I don’t have to tell you why Search Console is an important tool for monitoring your backlinks, but here it is summed up in a Stable Diffusion-generated image. 

straight from the horse's mouth

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

<input type="hidden" name="utmMedium" value="” />
<input type="hidden" name="utmCampaign" value="” />
<input type="hidden" name="utmSource" value="” />
<input type="hidden" name="utmContent" value="” />
<input type="hidden" name="pageLink" value="” />
<input type="hidden" name="ipAddress" value="” />

Processing…Please wait.

See terms.

function getCookie(cname) {
let name = cname + “=”;
let decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);
let ca = decodedCookie.split(‘;’);
for(let i = 0; i <ca.length; i++) {
let c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
c = c.substring(1);
}
if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
}
}
return "";
}
document.getElementById('munchkinCookieInline').value = getCookie('_mkto_trk');

Some AI tools

Of course, we can’t forget about AI. There are all sorts of AI-driven tools and I’m not going to tell you which is best as I haven’t tested them all and am far from deciding which one(s) I’ll land on yet (though Jasper has taken an early lead).

That said, you can access some of the core tech for free! 

While there’s been a lot of hype around ChatGPT, I still prefer accessing the technology (GPT-3) in the OpenAI playground. It’s the same technology with (IMO) better flexibility and interface.

Simply sign up for an OpenAI account, and then you can access the API to perform all sorts of NLP-related tasks, or just play around in their playground.

It can be used for:

  • Content outlines.
  • Writing ecommerce data en masse.
  • Powering chatbots (though there are many pre-boxed solutions for that as well).
  • Translation.
  • And so much more, including full content creation. (Use at your own risk!)
OpenAI playground

AI tools for image generation are also popular nowadays. I’ve used text-to-image generators for:

  • Images for articles.
  • Featured images.
  • Digital ads.
  • Social posts.
  • Swag creation.

You can see some good examples of the power of image generators in my previous article, What the new wave of machine learning libraries means for SEO, marketing, which include:

Stable Diffusion-generated images

The major tools you can use for text-to-image generators include:

  • Craiyon (formerly DALL-E mini): Free and unlimited use.
  • Stable Diffusion (via Dream Studio): 200 free generations, then $10/month for 1,000.
  • DALL-E 2: 15 free generations, then $15 per block of 115.

Plus, a forecasting tool

I built a forecasting tool that you can run as a Google Colab.

It lets you connect with your Google Analytics (only Universal Analytics for now, as most people don’t have over a year of data in GA4, which is required for decent forecasting).

You can even choose a specific segment of your analytics (organic, for example) and forecast the next few months to give you something like:

Google Colab forecasting tool by Dave Davies

It’s nice to be able to know in advance what things are going to look like in the future.

I wrote a full tutorial on how to use it (very easy) in a previous Search Engine Land article, Forecasting web traffic using Google Analytics and Facebook Prophet. 

The task of our tools

The above tools are not the only ones I use. (I have 39 in my bookmarks alone!) But these are the ones I’ve found to work for me over the years.

Of course, you may use different tools as your situation or budget may differ. What’s important is that you have tools for all the main tasks.

Watch: How to build a winning SEO tool stack for 2023

Below is the complete video of my SMX Next presentation.

The post How to build a winning SEO tool stack for 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/build-winning-seo-tool-stack-2023-392209

201 thoughts on “How to build a winning SEO tool stack for 2023”

  2. Предлагаем услуги профессиональных инженеров офицальной мастерской.
    Еслли вы искали сервисный центр asus цены, можете посмотреть на сайте: сервисный центр asus адреса
    Наши мастера оперативно устранят неисправности вашего устройства в сервисе или с выездом на дом!

  3. Предлагаем услуги профессиональных инженеров офицальной мастерской.
    Еслли вы искали сервисный центр asus цены, можете посмотреть на сайте: сервисный центр asus адреса
    Наши мастера оперативно устранят неисправности вашего устройства в сервисе или с выездом на дом!

  4. Предлагаем услуги профессиональных инженеров офицальной мастерской.
    Еслли вы искали сервисный центр asus, можете посмотреть на сайте: сервисный центр asus
    Наши мастера оперативно устранят неисправности вашего устройства в сервисе или с выездом на дом!

  25. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Seo Paketi Skype: By_uMuT@KRaLBenim.Com -_- live:by_umut

  38. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Seo Paketi Skype: By_uMuT@KRaLBenim.Com -_- live:by_umut

  47. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Seo Paketi Skype: By_uMuT@KRaLBenim.Com -_- live:by_umut

  64. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Seo Paketi Skype: By_uMuT@KRaLBenim.Com -_- live:by_umut

  84. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet

  85. Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet

  88. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  96. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  100. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  155. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  157. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  175. Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.

  179. Hi everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web page,
    and paragraph is really fruitful for me, keep up posting such articles.

  182. Having read this I believed it was rather informative. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this information together. I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  183. These are truly great ideas in on the topic of blogging.
    You have touched some fastidious things here. Any way keep up wrinting.

  184. I think this is among the most vital info for
    me. And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on some general things,
    The site style is perfect, the articles is really great : D.
    Good job, cheers

  185. Hey there! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell
    you I really enjoy reading your posts. Can you recommend
    any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics?

    Thanks a ton!

  186. Hi, i feel that i noticed you visited my blog thus i came to go back
    the choose?.I’m trying to in finding things to enhance my site!I assume
    its ok to make use of a few of your concepts!!

  187. I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your website.

    Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems?
    A number of my blog visitors have complained about my site not
    operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome.
    Do you have any recommendations to help fix this problem?

  188. Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of
    this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s
    hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb
    usability and visual appeal. I must say you have done a amazing job with this.
    In addition, the blog loads very fast for me on Internet explorer.
    Superb Blog!

  190. What’s up to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from
    this website, and your views are pleasant in support of new users.

  191. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point.
    You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you
    could be giving us something enlightening to read?

  192. Hi there everyone, it’s my first pay a visit at this web page, and article
    is genuinely fruitful for me, keep up posting these types of articles.

  193. I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
    The sketch is attractive, your authored material stylish.

    nonetheless, you command get got an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following.
    unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this
    hike.

  195. A motivating discussion is worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more on this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but generally people do not speak about these topics. To the next! Cheers!!

  196. Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles?

    I mean, what you say is valuable and all. Nevertheless think about if
    you added some great graphics or videos to give your
    posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this blog could definitely be one of the
    most beneficial in its niche. Superb blog!

  198. Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the best I’ve came
    upon so far. But, what concerning the conclusion? Are you positive
    in regards to the source?

Comments are closed.