Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving website or web page results in search engines. By using SEO tools and software you can dramatically increase your results and decrease the amount of time you devote to optimizing your website.
The different types of SEO software
SEO used to be a long, arduous manual chore, but no longer. Today there are several different types of SEO tools you can use alone, or in combination, to get the job done easier and faster.
Installable software: These are tools you download and install on your own computer. Installable software is a good option for those needing basic SEO tools and easy access to reports on their local machine.
Web based services: Web based services offer collections of tools located on a website other than your own. Web based services usually contain a wide variety of tools and are best used by those who need access to their website results no matter where they are or what computer they’re using.
Browser extensions: Browser extensions and toolbars are added on to your Internet browser. Browser extensions will show you various SEO statistics on not only your website, but also other sites you search to.
The basic function of SEO tools
There are thousands upon thousands of SEO tools on the market today and for that reason, it’s impossible to highlight every single function of all the available tools. In general though, SEO tools are most commonly used to discover, keep track of and improve everything from website ranking to keywords. Today’s most used SEO tools include:
Keyword research tools: Keyword research and analysis is the most basic task of search engine optimization. Keyword research tools will provide comprehensive data from major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing about your keywords, let you know if you’re using them well, and how you can improve.
Backlink checking tools: The number of backlinks to your website helps to determine its popularity with search engines. Also known as link popularity tools, backlink checkers track all the backlinks pointing to your website and provide detailed information about those links, including whether or not those sites linking to you hold PR, are follow or no follow, and what their link authority is.
Meta tag analyzers: These tools examine the meta tags on your website pages and makes sure your site adheres to basic search engine guidelines.
Web analytics tools: Web analytics help you to examine various aspects of your website, such as how long visitors stay on each page, what your bounce rate is, and how people are finding you.
Search engine ranking checkers: How well does your website do on the world’s most popular search engines? Search engine ranking checkers will show you how you’re faring on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.
Those are the basic functions that SEO tools perform, though many toolsets can tell you much more, including how your competitors are doing, where you’re showing up on social bookmarking websites, the domain stats of your website or others, and how you’re doing with Alexa.
SEO tools are an invaluable part of any webmaster’s toolbox. Most use a combination of free and paid services and tools to fulfill their needs. How do you use SEO tools to get ahead online?