Best SEO Software
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PRODUCTS
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BUYER'S GUIDE
Buyer's Guide
By Ivy Pope Technical Content Writer at SelectHub
SEO software, like marketing automation software, is perfect for strategizing. You'll struggle to get leads if you don't know how to stand out from the crowd and present yourself as the most credible source.
Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t a set-in-stone checklist. It’s different for every type of website and company. Knowing SEO tools ensures you choose the ideal option for your website and business.
Executive Summary
- SEO software works to enhance your metrics by collecting data and presenting it to you in an easy-to-read manner.
- It automates tedious tasks like metric tracking, analysis, graph creation and data exportation.
- These tools help your business gain credibility by ensuring that your backlinks and links are up to par with Google’s preferences.
- Asking the right questions is essential when selecting a suitable vendor.
- What Is SEO Software?
- Primary Benefits
- Implementation Goals
- Basic Features & Functionality
- Advanced Features & Functionality
- Current & Upcoming Trends
- Software Comparison Strategy
- Cost & Pricing Considerations
- The Most Popular SEO Software
- Questions To Ask Yourself
- Questions To Ask Vendors
- In Conclusion
- Product Comparisons
What Is SEO Software?
SEO software is a tool used by digital marketers to analyze and determine how webpages rank organically on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Search engine optimization has three main focuses:
- Site structure and how accessible and easily navigated the site is.
- How the content presents onsite.
- The offsite factors, such as keyword rankings.
SEO software identifies and organizes keywords. Optimizing articles depends on solid research to determine which keywords to use and how to incorporate them best. A product specifically focused on SEO makes researching and finding keywords more straightforward.
How To Use SEO Software
SEO tools help you manage keyword structure, research keywords, attain data about outbound or inbound links and analyze keywords and articles. You can also use SEO to leverage insights to review where your competitors rank with similar or the same keywords.
If your website doesn’t index well, it won’t appear as high in search results. With that in mind, search engine optimization is the best way to ensure your website gets indexed by crawler bots. Indexing ensures content will be searchable and how quickly it shows up depends on the keywords’ ranking.
Primary Benefits
Data is the new currency, and the metrics clearly show the benefits of using SEO tools. The higher your rank, the better your click-through rates, organic searches and engaged customer rates.
Boosts Organic Search Volume
Organic search volume is typically where the highest leads come from. This search is just customers or would-be customers searching for a product or service.
Increases Click Through Rate
The click-through rate (CTR) is a ratio showing how often people visit the site from a link in a blog or advertisement. The higher the rate, the more engaging your content is. SEO tools help you see which content performs best and which falls short so you can adjust accordingly.
Enhances Engaged Customer Rates
A site with quality optimization brings in a lot of traffic. If your site's content matches what the searcher was looking for, they’ll likely spend more time browsing. This means your engaged customer rates are going to go up.
Improves Credibility and Authority
A higher ranking will make you seem trustworthy, which means a lot to your customers. Making your site accessible and aesthetically pleasing ensures more people see your site and stay longer. The more accessible your site is, the more credibility your site will have.
Implementation Goals
Goal 1 Boost Awareness | The first goal is to raise awareness about your business. If nobody knows it exists, they can’t come to view your website or sample your services and product. |
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Goal 2 Identify Target Keywords | An SEO product lets you find suitable keywords and determine your usage of potential keywords. Targeting informational keywords boosts your content to rank higher and brings more traffic. |
Goal 3 Organize Keywords | Manually managing keywords is time-consuming. An SEO tool organizes your keywords to make that task easier. |
Goal 4 Generate Content Ideas | Using SEO software in this way means you should optimize your content for search engine results. |
Goal 5 Gain Link Insights | Links are a huge part of SEO. A program providing insights on backlinking, internal linkage, and link/keyword compatibility broadens your business’ reach. |
Basic Features & Functionality
Keyword Research | Keyword research is a core capability. Analyzing the popularity of a keyword or search result and then deciding how to include those words or phrases into your content is vital to achieving higher search engine results. |
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Ranking Tools | When working with keywords, your goal is to rank at the top. You'll understand how well your keywords rank and evaluate content based on specific keywords. |
Data Management | Data management allows you to research keywords or potential content and save it for easy access. It involves a database with link-building information, content-created account information and results regarding SEO metrics. |
Analytics and Reporting | Measuring how well your content ranks paves the path for improving your SEO strategy. Analytics enables data-backed decisions. |
Social Media Optimization | Social media is a pivotal part of SEO building. Any good software will have ways to optimize your social media content, from helping you schedule posts to picking out the correct hashtags. |
Advanced Features & Functionality
On-page SEO Analysis | Analyzing website pages provide detailed real-time statistics. These stats equip you with information like content scores, warnings based on SEO practices and readability scores. |
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Link Structure Visualization | Link structure visualization provides an interactive map of internal links. Accessing link structure helps you identify weak keywords and links in the content and areas to improve. |
Sitewide Meta Details | Understanding critical components like titles, meta tags and H1s is essential to determine how your page structure affects metrics. With a holistic view of key data, you can find and fix missing meta info, delete duplicate titles and save your content from falling in rank for being too similar. |
Current & Upcoming Trends
Understanding the latest trends ensure you stay on top of the SEO changes and can continually plan your content.
User Intent
More people are moving away from simply writing content that meets generalized SEO goals. Content written for search engines isn’t easy to read. Now, people are focusing on how to make content readable for users first and foremost.
SERP Changes
The search engine results page (SERP) is changing. Rampant misinformation pushes Google and other browsers to create fact-oriented SERPs, prioritizing fact-checked information over non-fact-checked information. Google constantly evolves how SERP is localized, focusing on mobile layouts for specific areas based on how users best respond.
In particular, Google changed to focus on the journey to get to the link, not the individual keywords searched. The implications of this are that Google may tease subtopics from pages to show whether their content is more robust than it seems by the title. And that might earn sites many views for long-tail keywords.
Mobile Accessibility
Google also encourages more mobile-friendly sites, as sites rank higher when they’re mobile accessible. Mobile compatibility is particularly vital given how many people search on a tablet or a smartphone. Mobile devices account for 60% of searches, compared to 40% for desktops.
Mobile preference means your web pages need to pass Google’s mobile-friendly test. Mobile compatibility will also alter the content structure. Large paragraphs aren’t easy to read on mobile devices.
Software Comparison Strategy
When comparing SEO software, start by looking at the most basic features you’d expect and ensure that all the software in your comparison meets those feature requirements. After that, ?consider other things you may care about, like automation or AI capabilities, cost, and the type of SEO tool most frequently used.
Automation and AI capabilities are constantly evolving. Software with these features can help you analyze your SEO and content faster. Things like natural language processing (NLP) are making solid moves throughout the SEO community, bringing significant changes to how SEO functions.
Cost & Pricing Considerations
Many SEO suites have different pricing models, goals and plans to match different organizational sizes. When looking at SEO software, you’ll want to avoid SEO suites that seem cheap or guarantee results because these promises are usually unreliable.
Some tools also have pricing tiers tied to the number of keywords you need to track.
The Most Popular SEO Software
Here is a list of five of the industry's most popular systems.
Note: These are the most popular marketing solutions with SEO capabilities, not explicitly the most popular SEO software overall.
Keap
Keap is an integrated solution providing businesses with tools to expand and grow. It helps businesses stay organized, provides automation and integrates with many apps. It has lead collection capabilities, marketing and sales automation, and in-depth analytics.
Dashboard for Keap.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a cloud-based platform built for inbound businesses with a customer-centric focus. It offers CRM, marketing, sales and service platforms that can work individually or together. It uses automation in some areas like funnel creation.
Dashboard for HubSpot.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a cloud-based marketing software built with automation capabilities, reporting, lead scoring and contact segmentation. It’s a flexible solution adaptable to any sized business. ActiveCampaign provides machine learning for use with phone calls, emails and sales.
Dashboard for ActiveCampaign.
Pardot
Pardot is a cloud-based brand management platform helping sales departments meet marketing and KPI goals. This suite offers a variety of tools, from measuring user activity to optimization of results. It uses AI to create automated emails and generate landing pages.
Dashboard for Pardot.
Marketo
Marketo uses cloud-based engagement and manages customer relationships with integrated modules that include automation, social media marketing and analytics. Both B2B and B2C businesses use Marketo.
Dashboard for Marketo.
Questions To Ask Yourself
Use these questions as a starting point for internal conversations:
- What are your current SEO rankings?
- How are you tracking and analyzing your metrics?
- How much content do you plan to produce monthly, and do you want automated processes like scheduling?
- What kind of customization do you need from a product?
- What kind of marketing methods are you planning to use?
Questions To Ask Vendors
Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with vendors:
About the Software
- Can the software seamlessly integrate with other applications?
- What additional integrations does the software support?
- Does the software offer filtering?
- Can this software handle white papers, long-form and short-form content like emails?
- Is the software pay-as-you-go or licensable?
About the Vendor
- What type of support do you offer?
- When are product updates, and how often?
- Are training or learning opportunities available?
- What other resources are available?
- Are there additional charges for any features or services?
In Conclusion
A SERP-optimized website is vital to building an online presence. Your website ranking well is the digital fuel your company needs to reach potential customers online before your competition. However, where Google and other search engines receive never-ending alterations, keeping up can be an uphill battle without the right tools.
When a field is ever-changing, the results can be catastrophic if you fall behind. Purchasing the best SEO software that suits your needs ensures you stay ahead of the competition!
A great place to start your search is via our free comparison report that compares and ranks tools based on your most important features.
Product Comparisons
Products found for SEO Software
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a web-based marketing platform that specializes in email marketing, sending, monitoring and personalizing communications. Given its pricing point, it’s great for small or medium businesses who want a fully-featured marketing implementation. Standout features include an intuitive website builder with a drag-and-drop interface, an integrated database, as well as robust landing page builders for web and social media traffic. It also facilitates the creation of digital ads as well as physical postcards to reach customers via postal services.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a web-based email marketing application suitable for small businesses. It enables businesses to import data from spreadsheets or email clients such as Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and other popular vendors. It provides built-in email templates with drag-and-drop elements and real-time reporting features to track email opens, clicks, forwards, social shares and more.
Asana
Asana is a cloud-based marketing solution that helps teams of all sizes manage and organize projects while increasing communication and collaboration. It helps teams stay aligned to goals, locate risks and hit project deadlines. It offers marketing, HR, engineering and design on a unified dashboard. It simplifies work, automates processes and assists with developing efficient strategies and plan of action. Other workflow interactions include Agile, Scrum, task management and more.
HubSpot
HubSpot provides a cloud-based platform built around inbound methodology and designed to help businesses be more customer-centric. It offers a free CRM package along with marketing, sales, service and CMS hubs, which can be deployed individually or together for full flexibility and scalability. Timeline segmentation provides users with an overview of their prospect’s journey from the attraction stage to closing. Additional capabilities include funnel automation, lead targeting, analytics and reporting, email templates and more. It caters to small businesses but has paid versions robust enough to support the needs of larger organizations.
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo provides a detailed contact directory for simplified marketing outreach. It supports lead generation, sales management and revenue tracking, and helps improve productivity by systematizing work. Users can leverage analytics and prioritize marketing efforts, sales prospects and align teams for effective outcomes. The ability to locate and align required contacts from desired domains reduces anonymity rates. Data-driven, it helps businesses make insightful strategies, connect with the right audience, boost business growth and provide custom solutions.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo provides businesses in a variety of industries with e-commerce marketing solutions. It allows integrations, market segmentation, tracking, analytics and more. Personalized according to the requirements and scale of a business, it helps drive growth and optimize customer reach.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign provides cloud-based marketing services, with robust capabilities ranging from automation and reporting to lead scoring and contact segmentation. It’s ideal for businesses of any size, as it offers a flexible, device-agnostic deployment model. It also functions as a marketing-oriented CRM with different integrations and exporting options to assist sales. It provides machine learning that can be used on data including phone calls, emails and sales. Machine learning enables predicting win probability and using predictive sending. Customers can also take advantage of a consultant directory with certified consultants from different countries.
Marketo
Marketo Engage offers a cloud-based marketing platform for companies to manage and monitor customer relationships. Its integrated modules include marketing automation, social marketing, email marketing, lead nurturing, budget management, analytics, sales insight and website personalization.It’s designed to serve both B2B and B2C environments. There’s also an active marketers’ community named the Marketo Marketing Nation in which marketers around the globe share their knowledge, ideas and best practices.
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) aligns marketing and sales to meet KPI goals. A variety of tools help users measure and optimize efforts to produce better results. It offers powerful features like lead management, automated email marketing, analytics generated by AI to help augment the user experience, landing page generation, lead generation and more.As part of the Salesforce ecosystem, it can seamlessly connect with other offerings to enhance data flow and more easily extend capabilities.
monday.com
Monday.com uses a visual, collaborative approach to help teams manage a range of marketing tasks. As a cloud-based platform, it syncs all information on a single, accessible dashboard and eliminates manual entry errors. This enables team members to make important decisions together, keep track of details and deliver projects on time.Organizations can customize it for the management of projects, tasks, people, ad campaigns, bug tracking, CRM, customer projects and more. Monitor project statuses off-site using mobile devices. It integrates with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud and more.
Thryv
Thryv offers all-in-one management to support business operations, receive marketing input and handle customer interactions. Users can make and schedule appointments, communicate with clients and get paid with easy invoicing. A perfect fit for small businesses, it helps meet customer needs and scale the business. It automates tasks, aligns workflow, adds up the marketing ROI and customer experience. It covers online listings, rating and review evaluation, customer sentiment analysis, social media relevance and more. A dedicated app provides on-the-go access to take care of tasks at any time.
SharpSpring
SharpSpring is a cloud-based sales and marketing platform that facilitates building automation rules to send customers with dynamic content or targeted emails based on their interests. It also provides adequate support for marketing agencies.Features include behavior-based email, campaign tracking, dynamic landing pages, a blog builder, anonymous visitor ID, a form builder, reporting and analytics, social media management, and integrations. Lead scoring helps track a lead’s page visits, demographics and engagement to enhance nurturing efforts.
Keap
Keap, formerly known as Infusionsoft, is an integrated platform that helps empower business growth through improved client organization, smooth automation, integrated apps and minimized repetitions. Available in Lite, Pro, Max and Max Classic, it caters to businesses of all sizes across different industries. Lead collection, client conversion, marketing and sales automation, in-depth analytics and sales pipeline management are some of its notable attributes.
Meltwater
Meltwater is a cloud-based tool that helps PR, communications and marketing professionals deploy a data-based approach to customer engagement. It comprises media intelligence, outreach management, social listening and social media management capabilities to gather relevant insights and execute strategic brand management. It has a rich visual interface, AI-enabled media monitoring technology and data-based reporting capabilities to analyze media and social media coverage. The customizable and scalable model suits businesses of all sizes.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers B2C and B2B cross channel marketing to a large number of industries. Available as a standalone or as a part of the Salesforce Customer 360 suite, it’s easy to plug into a larger ecosystem as required. Digital marketing, advertising, email marketing, social media marketing and customer engagement are among its many features.
Measured
Measured organizes marketing data in data warehouses to perform advanced analysis and reporting. It ingests, unifies and stores data for measurement while providing extensive customization, active monitoring and secure data management capabilities. Deploy and manage experiments using audience-split and geo-matched market testing to determine incrementality and use opportunities for business growth. Deliver actionable insights to boost media performance.
Trumpia
Trumpia is a multichannel solution that automates the communication process for individual and business needs. It extends advanced technological features along with enterprise-grade automation, integration and messaging capabilities.Users can leverage it to coordinate deliveries, manage shipments, send alerts and provide one-on-one support. It helps engage customers and drive measurable results that support organizational growth. The mass texting feature assists in marketing and sending alerts to clients for both departments and industries. There’s a free trial that provides 100 emails and messages, one automated workflow and two data sets.
Act-On
Established in 2008, Act-On is a comprehensive platform that offers marketing professionals all the standard features in an automation tool, alongside several other unique features.Sophisticated email automation, landing page construction, analytics, automated campaigns, useful templates, and social channels are just some of the features that are available to users. This product is ideal for medium to large enterprises, especially those that have dedicated marketing departments.
Kentico
Kentico is a cloud-based solution that helps manage content and digital experiences. It streamlines tasks, content production, business collaborations, content delivery and integrations. Users can ensure engaging and personalized experiences for existing and potential customers by creating digital touchpoints across websites, online stores, email campaigns and mobile devices. They can also leverage the .NET MVC architecture to build new and developed life cycles. Workflow management helps match business processes and align internal operations.Its built-in AI and analytics optimize digital initiatives by allowing users to track the most visited pages, create customized websites, send newsletters and identify recurring visitors. It enables businesses to remind customers about abandoned shopping carts and notify them to reorder favorite products. It also includes flexible payment and shipping options, automated checkout processes, marketing integrations and multi-store management.
Survicate
Survicate is a web and app-based tool built to streamline and optimize customer feedback management. It provides a single hub to store and manage feedback from multiple sources. Users can access insights throughout the customer journey to improve engagement and retention.It offers collected data via customizable email, link, web and mobile surveys. Track, filter and analyze responses and view automated reports. Its native integration with various CRM platforms allows users to export survey results.
emfluence
Emfluence is a cloud-based software focused on automated marketing. Designed from a digital marketing perspective, it helps marketers create, track and deploy successful digital campaigns. Website tracking, email marketing, social media, reporting, surveys and analytics are some of its core capabilities. It offers particularly robust email functionality, including customizable variable data, A/B testing, UTM tracking, automated drip series campaigns, list segmentation and device-level reporting.
EngageBay
EngageBay is a customer relationship management platform that helps businesses engage and convert leads, acquire customers and nurture existing relationships. Key features include SMS marketing, automation, web analytics and live chat.
Sugar Market
Sugar Market, formerly Salesfusion, is an enterprise-grade platform that enables companies to automate their marketing efforts. Based on the cloud, it’s suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. Features include email marketing, advanced automation, campaign builders, reporting, social media management, AdWord management, lead scoring and nurturing, analytics, and resource management. Unlimited custom fields provide options for advanced segmentation and personalization, allowing marketers to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. It helps set up multi-step nurture campaigns and measure success with BI-grade analytics and reporting.
SALESmanago
SALESmanago is a complete AI-powered solution that delivers configurable, personalized experiences across a range of native and integrated marketing execution channels. It accomplishes this by combining advanced analytics and AI automation. Users can deliver enhanced customer experiences and improve metrics and KPIs. Capabilities include web push, website personalization, social proof, live chat, predictive analytics, advertising, a data management platform, A/B/X testing and optimization, loyalty programs and more.
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