Tag: keyword research

  • How To Do Keyword Research Fast (And Find Many Profitable Long Tail Keywords)?

    How To Do Keyword Research Fast (And Find Many Profitable Long Tail Keywords)?

    How do you do keyword research fast? In this article, I’m going to show you how you can find long tail keywords and at the same time, perform the right keyword research fast. To be exact, you will be able to find low difficulty keywords under 45 minutes.

    Are you ready to dive in?

    ​What is keyword research?

    ​Keyword research is the process of finding the right keywords that are easy to rank. The concept of keyword research is finding long tail keywords, medium to high volume searches and having low competition.

    ​One of the most common mistakes done by freelance SEO consultants are (solely) finding for profitable keywords without taking into consideration factors such as search volume, difficulty and keyword length.

    ​Why is keyword research important?

    ​Keyword research is a process and it takes time to master this process. Anyone can do keyword research but only a few can do it right. And when you do the right keyword research, you are going to find the right keywords to rank a website.

    ​Allow me to repeat myself. Keyword research is NOT complicated. It takes time to understand the process and the tools to be effective.

    ​Always remember that having the best keyword research software is not going to help you if you have no idea how to use it correctly.

    ​The best keyword research software is … ?

    ​This is a tough question to answer because it depends on personal needs. When it comes to the best keyword research software, there are both free and paid keyword research tool that you can choose from. 

    ​For this post, I’m going to share with you two tools which I believe they are the best keyword research software in the market today.

    Best Keyword Research Software #1: ​Rank Tracker by Link-Assistant

    Rank Tracker is free to use and by far, one of the most powerful keyword research tools I had used. Before you throw rotten tomato at me, hear me out. There is also a paid plan for Rank Tracker which allows you to export data, save your projects and a few more cool features. Check out the features here.

    Rank Tracker is powerful only if you know how to use it. Rank Tracker is not an easy keyword research software for ease of usage. To be honest, it is one of the most complicated ones in the market.

    The only reason why I still use Rank Tracker (aside from knowing how to use it) is the pricing. It’s free for Christ’s sake. Yes, yes and yes. Rank Tracker is free to use (forever)! So, there is no way in hell (or heaven) that anyone can complain about a free keyword research tool!

    Let’s dive more into Rank Tracker and how to use Rank Tracker to do keyword research fast.

    ​How to use Rank Tracker to do keyword research fast?

    ​The first step is to download and install Rank Tracker. You can download for free here.

    How To Install Rank TrackerHow To Install Rank Tracker

    ​After installing Rank Tracker, fire it up to start doing keyword research. This is what you will see (below). In step 1, key in your domain name to get started.

    Rank Tracker reviewRank Tracker review

    ​Once that is done, you will be prompted with the step 2 which is to sign in to your Google account. I recommend you to sign in for both Google Analytics and Google Adwords.

    sync google accountsync google account

    Once you have completed step 2, you will find a long list of keywords in step 3. These keywords are taken directly from your Google Analytics (top performing ones only). Delete all of them and enter the keyword of your choice to start keyword research.

    Start Keyword Research Using Rank TrackerStart Keyword Research Using Rank Tracker

    ​In step 4, you will need to choose the search engine to start the keyword research and ranking results. I recommend focusing on the top three search engines which are Google, Yahoo and Bing.

    Pro Tip: You can focus on local SEO instead of just focusing on US geolocation.

    Determine Search EngineDetermine Search Engine

    Next, head over to Keyword Research > Keyword Suggestions and start searching for the seed keyword.

    Fast Keyword Research With Rank TrackerFast Keyword Research With Rank Tracker

    ​While doing this sample keyword research, this SEO keyword research software takes around 8 seconds to come up with 1,102 related keywords. Now, it’s time to get your hand dirty and dive into the advanced keyword research strategy.

    Remember that you are looking for:

    • ​Medium to high search volume
    • ​Low keyword difficulty
    • High ​Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) score (KEI is an internal ranking factor by Rank Tracker)

    ​KEI score is calculated based on the following:

    What is Keyword Effectiveness IndexWhat is Keyword Effectiveness Index

    ​By default, KEI is not activated on Rank Tracker. Therefore, you need to activate it and here’s how.

    where is KEI in Rank Trackerwhere is KEI in Rank Tracker

    ​After activating KEI score, this is what you will see. You should sort the keywords based on KEI score (higher to lower).

    KEI for Keyword ResearchKEI for Keyword Research

    ​1,102 keywords is a lot and therefore, use the filter to find only relevant keywords based on your choice. I call this process, “find valuable long tail keywords.”

    find valuable long tail keywordsfind valuable long tail keywords

    Out of the 121 long tail keywords, I choose a few which I believe have the best chance of ranking (and making money).

    Select Long Tail KeywordsSelect Long Tail Keywords

    ​Right click and choose the first option, “Move Selected Keywords To Rank Tacking.” Rank Tracker will ask you to to create a group for this and you can use any name for this purpose. This is what you will see.

    RankTracker Find Profitable KeywordsRankTracker Find Profitable Keywords

    ​The last step is to check on the keyword difficulty for each keyword you had chosen earlier. This is how you check for keyword difficulty using Rank Tracker.

    How To Find Keyword Diffuclty Using Rank TrackerHow To Find Keyword Diffuclty Using Rank Tracker

    ​Among all the keywords, I have found one of the keywords having the lowest keyword difficulty. By changing the visible column, I can easily sort the different long tail keywords using Rank Tracker in just a few clicks. You can also enable Yahoo and Bing keyword difficulty feature to reconfirm your findings or simply want to rank on different search engines apart from Google.

    Rank Tracker Keyword Difficulty FeatureRank Tracker Keyword Difficulty Feature

    ​How long it takes to find long tail keywords using Rank Tracker?

    ​The above search took me 10 minutes. Yes, 10 minutes and just a few clicks of the mouse.

    So, what do you learned from this?

    ​With the (right or) best SEO keyword research software, you will be​ able to do keyword research fast and find profitable long tail keywords ​without spending your entire day it.

    All you have to do is to learn how to do keyword research correctly. And the above is the only keyword research guide you ever need (no pun intended).

    Click here to try Rank Tracker for free now.

    ​Best Keyword Research Software #2: ​KWFinder

    KWFinder is powerful and very efficient at finding profitable long tail keywords. If you are looking for the best keyword research tool, KWFinder might just be the right tool for you.

    Click here to read more about KWFinder.

    ​KWFinder comes with both free and paid SEO plans. Creating a free KWFinder account allows you to perform up to 5 SEO keyword research daily.

    ​KWFinder is often considered a great alternative to Rank Tracker because it is a cloud based system. Therefore, there is no installation required and you can access KWFinder anywhere, anytime as you wished. More importantly, KWFinder is beginner friendly and the learning curve is very small.

    ​On a personal front, I prefer Rank Tracker because it is more versatile and provides better functionality. KWFinder is more towards my secondary free keyword generator because I can access it anytime on my smartphone or tablet. Thus, it is excellent for brainstorming and a handy keyword analysis tool on the go.

    ​How to do SEO keyword research using KWFinder?

    ​KWFinder is pretty much a free keyword suggestion tool. The first step is to head over to the main website, KWFinder.com. Once you have registered, key in the search the seed keyword in the search column.

    kwfinder free accountkwfinder free account

    Register for a free KWFinder account by clicking on the register button

    ​Let’s assume we search for “dog training” keyword. KWFinder will ​take about few seconds to come back with a list of results.

    As you can see below, the keyword “dog training” is highly competitive with 58/100 in keyword difficulty. KWFinder keyword difficulty is also based on colours; green as easy, orange as challenging and red as hard.

    kwfinder for keywords researchkwfinder for keywords research

    ​Scroll down the keywords and you will find “german shepherd training” which is only 39/100 in keyword difficulty. Now, that’s way easier to rank for compared to “dog training.”

    Click on the selected long tail keyword and take a look at the screen on the right. It will list down the trends over time and the top 10 results with more data (to help you rank for the specific keyword).

    find a profitable keywordfind a profitable keyword

    ​Let’s say yo don’t like “german shepherd training” and looking for another keyword, “dog collar.” KWFinder will give you a list of related long tail keywords for you to use. Take a look at the image below for more information.

    best keyword research toolbest keyword research tool

    ​Here’s another sample I did with KWFinder. I’m searching for “healthy breakfast ideas for toddlers” which is a super long and profitable long tail keyword. It’s easy to rank for this keyword with only 23/100in keyword difficulty.

    how to find long tail keywordshow to find long tail keywords

    ​Now that you have found a long tail keyword, use SERPChecker (another feature by KWFinder) to go into the details of the keyword. The information found (refer image below) will give you an idea on how to rank for the given keyword.

    how to use SERPCheckerhow to use SERPChecker

    SERPChecker gives you detailed information on the top 10 results

    ​As you can see, the top 4 rankings on Google is extremely easy to rank and this is how you use KWFinder to do keyword research fast.

    ​How long it takes to find long tail keywords using ​KWFinder?

    ​The entire process took me less than 10 minutes to complete. If you are constantly on the rush, is not willing to spend hours in finding for keywords and want to do keyword research fast, KWFinder is a great keyword research tool.

    KWFinder is a free keyword tool that helps you find profitable long tail keywords fast. A free KWFinder account allows you to do limited keyword research daily andif you require more firepower, there is paid KWFinder plans. Here’s the pricing structure.

    kwfinder pricing tablekwfinder pricing table

    KWFinder pricing and features that are included

    ​For $29 per month (KWFinder Basic), this is definitely a worthwhile investment for any SEO consultants or SEO freelancers.

    Click here to try KWFinder today (free trial included).

    ​How To Do Keyword Research Fast And Effective?

    ​Keyword research is an important process for you to rank high on search engine result pages. Without proper keyword research, using the best keyword research software is not going to provide much results.

    ​I hope this guide helps you to do keyword research fast especially in finding profitable long tail keywords.

  • KWFinder Alternative: 7 Free And Paid Tools To Improve Ranking On Google

    KWFinder Alternative: 7 Free And Paid Tools To Improve Ranking On Google

    ​You read my KWFinder review and while you think KWFinder is a good keyword research tool, it may not be a good fit for you. So, what is the best KWFinder alternative?

    Before that, I want to say the KWFinder is probably the best keyword research tool that you can ever find. For only $29.90 a month, you can find long tail keywords faster and more effectively. And even if you think that KWFinder may not be a good fit for you, don’t forget to sign up for a free account.

    ​What is the best KWFinder alternative?

    ​Let me guess. You probably doesn’t want to spend the money (don’t worry, I get it) or you looking for a more complete tool that fits your need.

    So, here is a list of great keyword research tools that you can use today.

    ​Long Tail Pro — The Forgotten KWFinder Alternative

    ​When I started blogging in 2004, SEO was much easier and most of us are not using keyword research tool.

    Well, it makes sense. Anyone can improve ranking on Google simply by stuffing keywords and abusing the meta keywords. Nowadays, you need to have a complete strategy such as ​improving your content to rank higher on Google.

    And don’t forget that Google ranking is also affected by the way you optimize your entire site for SEO. ​

    ​Don’t worry if you have no idea on where to start or how to start optimizaing your site for search engine. Read this guide to help you get started.

    ​Back to the topic.

    ​Long Tail Pro had went off the radar back in 2016 after the acquisition.

    Yes, while Long Tail Pro is still available today, it is no longer under the same owner. ​This tool was developed and launched by Spencer Haws from Niche Pursuits (more bio about him here).

    Long Tail Pro is a good KWFinder alternative because:

    • ​Long Tail Pro ​has low learning curve
    • ​Powerful keyword research tool and features
    • ​Find profitable long tail keywords in just a few clicks
    • ​Easily ​sort profitable keywords through powerful keyword difficulty system

    long tail pro keyword research

    Find profitable keywords easily through Keyword Competitiveness (KC) metric

    ​Keyword research is often a challenging task and Long Tail Pro makes the entire process much easier for you.

    features on long tail pro

    Long Tail Pro provides detailed information such as top 10 result from Google, average keyword competitiveness, and monthly search volume.

    Advantages using Long Tail Pro:

    • ​Easy to use
    • ​Cloud-based system
    • ​Scores high in affordability
    • ​Low learning curve
    • ​Powerful keyword research system
    • Doesn’t take forever to load

    Disadvantages using Long Tail Pro:

    • The starter plan comes ​10,000 keywords searches is only fitted for beginners and newbies

    ​How much does Long Tail Pro costs?

    long tail pro pricing

    Get 33% discount on Long Tail Pro when you go for annual pricing

    ​The starter plan on Long Tail Pro is priced at $25 per month when you opt for annual payment.

    ​Note from the editor

    ​The entry level for Long Tail Pro offers up to 10,000 keywords searches in a month. This quota is refreshed every 30 days.​

    ​Long Tail Pro is a great KWFinder alternative as the entry level costs $25 per month. Plus, it comes with 10,000 keywords research which is ample for beginners.

    ​LSIGraph — KWFinder Alternative When Finding For LSI Keywords

    ​According to Quora, LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) are basically keywords that are semantically related to your primary keyword. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT just synonym or keywords that are similar in meaning.

    how to use LSIGraph

    Generate a list of LSI keywords based on your primary keyword

    LSIGraph is a free keyword research tool that allows you to search for relevant keywords in just a few clicks.

    ​Not only that LSIGraph is highly effective in keyword research and SEO strategy, it is extremely easy to use as well!

    what is LSIGraph

    Proper usage of LSI keywords will help you rank your site on Google

    ​LSIGraph isn’t entire a good KWFinder alternative as it is not able to calculate the keyword competitiveness. However, it is still able to provide you with strings of keywords that you could use to rank on Google.

    After all, Google hates abusers who use keyword stuffing!

    Advantages using LSIGraph:

    • Easily find long tail keywords
    • Very fast and quick response (close to zero waiting/loading time)
    • ​Free to use

    The only downsite of using LSIGraph is that it doesn’t provide other forms of data such as number of searches and keyword difficulty.

    Nonetheless, I still recommend you to use this to optimize your site for SEO. You can check out LSIGraph here.

    ​KeywordTool.io — Free​ & Premium KWFinder Alternative

    ​If you are looking for a keyword research tool to find keywords to rank on Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay and App Store, you don’t have to look further.

    Introducing KeywordTool.io.

    This keyword tool is best when you are looking to generate keyword suggestions based on different media and platforms. KeywordTool.io is considered the best KWFinder alternative because it provides close to 100% accuracy Google search volume.

    find long tail keywords using keywordtool.io

    You can search for relevant keywords with limited features (with the free account)

    ​Advantages using KeywordTool.io:

    • ​Free to use
    • ​Search keywords on multiple platforms
    • ​Data are relevant and trusted

    Of course, the downside of this tool compared to KWFinder is that it lacks the search volume and competition level in the free account.

    ​While KeywordTool.io is often considered a good alternative, the pricing structure may turn many people off.

    keywordtool.io review

    KeywordTool.io pricing structure

    ​If you can see, KeywordTool.io starts at $88 per month and you can save up to $211 when you go for annual subscription. The entry level pricing is very steep and may not be the best choice for beginners or bloggers.

    However, there is still no denial that the free KeywordTool.io is able to perform pretty decent keyword research.

    ​S​ERPSTAT — Growth hacking and SEO tool for marketing

    SERPSTAT is not your average keyword research tool. I love to consider it as an all-in-one growth hacking and SEO tool.

    ​And the reasons are simple! With SERTSTATS, you can:

    • ​Find long tail keywords and related keywords in just a few clicks
    • ​Easy to understand detailed ​graphs to analyze the keywords’ trends
    • ​Additional data such as organic keywords, the number of Facebook shares, and the potential traffic score are provided for each competitor’s page
    • Batch analyze up to 200 domains at a single go
    • On-page audit feature will tell you how efficient separate elements of your website are and shows the optimization errors

    serpstat competitor analysis

    The visual on SERPSTAT reports are easy to understand and detailed

    ​There is only one disadvantage using SERPSTAT — it doens’t come with keyword difficulty which all of us dearly need.

    In terms of pricing and features, SERPSTAT certainly beats KWFinder out of the park anytime of the day.

    serpstat pricing

    ​If you are looking for SERPSTAT discount, signing up for yearly subscription and get 20% off from your total invoice!

    ​SpyFu — Steal Competitor Keywords (Faster & Smarter)

    ​If you want to rank on Google, the most important factor is the keywords. 

    Traditionally, keyword research involves finding the best keywords, create content around the keyword and publish it, right?

    As SEO is an ever-changing industry, you should take keyword research to a whole new level. By ethically stealing your competitors’ keywords, you can now rank faster and spend lesser time in overall keyword research.

    This is where SpyFu shine and becoming a great KWFinder alternative.

    What does SpyFu does well?

    • ​Organic keywords finder from competitive URLs
    • ​Keyword searches to get strongest long tail keywords
    • ​Track ranking history up to 9 years (WTF?!)
    • In-depth SEO Audit reports
    • Export unlimited data pertaining to backlink results
    • SpyFu allows you to spy on competitor’s PPC campaigns with possible budget and reports

    ​SpyFu is a freaking awesome keyword research tool because it can be a monstrous tool in the right hands. If you are a geeky SEO guy or have an SEO team, this is one tool you got to use!

    You should also use SpyFu if you want your competitors to do the hard work (keyword research) and gaining their data to rank for the keywords.

    How much does SpyFu costs?

    ​The entry level for SpyFu is affordable and pretty much on par with what KWFinder is offering. The features that come with SpyFu starter plan fits well for bloggers and business owners who want to beat their competitors on Google.

    Related: SEMrush offering 30 Day Free Trial

    ​Wordtracker by Wordstream — Reveal 1000s of longtail keywords in real time

    Wordtracker is pretty similar to KeywordTool.io where you are able to search for results on Google, Wordtracker, YouTube and Amazon keyword data ​under one roof. 

    wordtracker by wordstream

    Search for relevant keywords and SERP easily using Wordtracker

    ​As you can see above, the dashboard for Wordtracker is very intuitive and packed with data.

    You start with a primary keyword and it will display a truckload of data including keyword suggestions and the keyword difficulty.

    ​Comparing to KWFinder dashboard, the Wordtracker tool is definitely the clear winner here.

    wordtracker vs google keyword planner

    Do you know that the data collected from Google Keyword Planner is not accurate?

    ​Google Keyword Planner groups data based on relevant keywords and this makes the data inaccurate in many cases. With Wordtracker, keywords are not groupped together and thus, you are able to get detailed information on the chosen keywords.

    So, how much does Wordtracker costs?

    wordtracker pricing

    ​If you are interested to take Wordtracker on a trial run, click on the button below to try it for 7 days free.

    ​SEMrush — All-in-one competitive intelligence suite

    ​SEMrush is more than just an SEO tool. It is a competitive intelligence tool that allows you merge data from social media, PPC, website audits and other forms of marketing to give you exact information of your standing.

    semrush is KWFinder alternative

    This is how SEMrush dashboard looks like

    ​SEMrush offers snapshot of your project and you can easily dive into each SEO project by clicking on the specific tabs on the left of the screen.

    ​While I still use KWFinder to find for long tail keywords, I use SEMrush to monitor several aspects of my SEO projects.

    Mainly, I love SEMrush’s On-Page SEO Checker where it will provide a list of ideas to improve your content. Always remember that improved content will help you improve your ranking on Google.

    Advantages using SEMrush:

    • ​All-in-one SEO and marketing tool
    • ​Easy to use and extensive marketing features
    • ​Provides ideas on ways to improve your overall content
    • Tracks your activity on social media
    • Able to monitor the brand name as well

    ​The only downside of SEMrush is the pricing structure. The entry level pricing is $99.95 per month and it often considered slightly on the higher end for many bloggers.

    SEMrush pricing table

    ​If you are a seasoned blogger or business owner, going for the annual plans will save you up to $800 per year!

    ​Summary: Finding the best KWFinder alternative

    ​With today’s technology, finding a good keyword research tool to replace KWFinder is pretty simple. From the above article, you have discovered the top 7 KWFinder alternative that are either free or comes with a monthly subscription.

    There is no denial that KWFinder is an affordable keyword research tool (​create a free lifetime account here). If you are still tempted to give KWFinder a go, read this KWFinder review that I had just published and who knows?

    You may find some gems in it!

  • Top 10 SEO Tools And Plugins You Will Ever Need In 2014

    Top 10 SEO Tools And Plugins You Will Ever Need In 2014

    There are a lot of tools in the SEO industry and over the years, we had learned that these SEO tools are used more than just increase website ranking; majority of us use these SEO tools for analytics and data collection.

    Last year itself, we seen the departure of specific data which we use dearly for ranking a website and this made us extremely vulnerable when it comes to planning our godly SEO strategies.

    SEO in 2014 would be slightly different from previous years as we will be facing extra challenges … which is collecting the right data. This is why it is important use the best search engine optimization tools to get the job done.

    A quick rundown on Google and you may find dozens of tools out there but just like a majority of us, you will most likely puzzled and wondering which is best and of course, save you the most money (a.k.a. easy on your wallet).

    This post is long and thus, bookmark this for future reference. By the way, have you checked out 2014 SEO tips from 21 industry experts?

    You could easy get your hands on free SEO tools (and plugins) like Yoast SEO for free or premium ones that could easily cost hundreds of dollars monthly.

    Either way, you need to find the best combination for all your SEO needs and honestly speaking, free online tools doesn’t always make the cut.

    There is nothing called as the best SEO tools. The best are always the tools which best fit into your SEO strategy.

    In this article, I will be sharing my search engine optimization strategy using various free and paid SEO tools which are divided into several categories:

    1. General research
    2. Competitor research
    3. Keyword research
    4. On-page SEO
    5. Rank tracking

    I got to admit that the above might sound a little challenging especially if you are just a novice blogger. As much as I recommend you to have a list of tools at your own disposal, make sure you are financially ready as some of these tools are really costly.

    Top 10 SEO tools for 2014

    Top 10 SEO tools for 2014

    1. General research tools

    • Google Webmaster Tool
    • Google Analytics

    The above are my first go-to tools when it comes to SEO planning especially when I am doing SEO services for my client.

    These are tools which gives you the first sugar coating for your SEO strategy. Consider it as the base of your project.

    Google Webmaster Tool

    Google Webmaster Tool is one of the best and free SEO tools 2014

    Powered by Google, you must be out of your mind if this is not one of your SEO tools for 2014!

    Google Webmaster Tool gives you an idea on:

    • HTML improvements
    • Search queries
    • External backlinks
    • Manual spam action
    • Crawl error

    Under 30 minutes, you would be able to determine factors affecting your website ranking and possibly keywords which your website are ranking on search engine.

    One of the best SEO tips is to ensure your website is SEO-ready even before you start engaging in any projects.

    A huge part of Google Webmaster Tools are focused on on-page SEO and thus, it is always good to ensure your site is physically ready for any SEO plans.

    Read more about On-Page and Off-Page SEO

    Google Analytics

    Google Analytics is one of the most important tools when it comes to SEO analysis

    Another power SEO tool which is powered by Google and is in fact, one of the best tools out there when it comes to providing analytics data.

    Google Analytics (some call it GA) offers truck load of stats and data for your ‘digestion’. GA fit nicely into my best SEO tools 2014 with the Search Engine Optimization feature (Acquisition > Search Engine Optimization).

    In this category, you will be spoilt with not one but three important stats which are Queries, Landing Pages and Geographical Summary.

    Geographical Summary is only useful if you are running SEO campaigns based on locations.

    While Google is fond of removing even more data from various tools, both Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are still able to provide sufficient information which will affect your overall SEO strategy.

    2. Competitor research tools

    • Ahrefs
    • Majestic SEO

    If you are thinking of ranking your website, it is a no brainer that you need to know who are your competitors. A friend of mine did told me that ranking the website is easy; All you need is to do ‘that’ slightly better than your competitor and you have the edge already.

    Competitor research tools are used to understand how your competitors get their ranking and reverse engineer it until certain extend. This means that forget about copying exactly but instead, focus in building something better or more explosive than theirs.

    Ahrefs

    Why is Ahrefs used by dozens of SEO experts?

    My personal favorite due to looks and user interface. Seriously.

    Ahrefs provides better analytics data especially when it comes to finding external and internal backlinks. As much as Ahrefs is great for checking on your own site, I uses it to check on my competitor.

    My overused features would be anchor text, domains and top pages.

    With just the above 3 information, I could easily determine (roughly) what are my competitor’s SEO strategy and how it is working out for them.

    The only issue with Ahrefs is that the free account comes with limited SEO requests and reports. To solve this, you may opt for the premium plan which starts at $79 per month.

    If you are running an SEO agency, Ahrefs is one SEO tool you must have in your arsenal.

    Try Ahrefs for free today.

    Majestic SEO

    Majestic SEO is one of the most popular tools when it comes to SEO

    The direct competitor to Ahrefs and I had used Majestic SEO for over 2 years now.

    Data from Ahrefs itself is not enough and thus, I merge them (on Excel) with the data collected from Majestic SEO.

    Basically, Majestic SEO offers pretty much as what Ahrefs (and a dozen more SEO tools out there) in terms of features. However, since Majestic SEO and Ahrefs use different methods to measure the data, it is a great move to have a wider data.

    Just like its competitor, Majestic SEO offers free accounts and premium ones would start from $42 per month.

    Create a free account with Majestic SEO.

    3. Keyword research tools

    • Google Keyword Planner
    • Long Tail Pro

    Debate all you want; keyword research is still important when it comes to SEO.

    My keyword research strategy lies in several phrases and tools such as general keywords and specific, long tail keywords.

    While choosing the right keyword is one thing, using the keyword(s) is another important task as well. This is probably why I uses not one but two SEO tools just for keyword research.

    Google Keyword Planner

    Find the ebst keywords using Google Keyword Planner

    Every keyword research strategy starts from here. Google Keyword Planner or GKP in short provides a list of keywords which we can use to rank our website.

    Not only that, you can also use GKP to search for keywords your competitors are trying to rank as well. You may refer to this article which I wrote about Google Keyword Tool but the concept is very similar to the current Google Keyword Planner.

    All you need is Excel and copy-pasting all the information into the list and sort them out. After sorting, you would have around 500 relevant keywords to kick start your SEO campaign.

    For bloggers or content writers who are tight in budget, GKP is free and thus, is definitely the top 5 SEO tool for majority of us.

    Related article: Step by step guide to use Google Keyword Planner

    Long Tail Pro

    Long Tail Pro is an important SEO tool for keyword research

    Personally, I consider Long Tail Pro or LTP as an advance version of Google Keyword Planner. You can search up to 10 keywords at one time and check for the competition level.

    Long Tail Pro is a great SEO tool as you can easily save hours in keyword research. With data collected from Google Keyword Planner, you can easily minimize the list into several high value keyword groups to increase the chances of ranking.

    This is easily done by Long Tail Pro as it provides competition analysis and keyword ranking as well. With a one time fee of $97, this is an absolute must for bloggers and niche writers.

    You may refer to my Long Tail Pro review or jump directly into the official website for more information.

    4. On-page SEO tools

    • Scribe SEO
    • SEOPressor

    One of the SEO best practices is to ensure your website is optimized for SEO.

    Ring any bells? This is what we call on-page SEO, folks.

    While having SEO agencies or consultants might be not an advisable plan for startups and small time bloggers,  there are two tools which I would highly recommend when it comes to on-page SEO.

    So, what is on-page SEO means?

    Basically, it means using the right keyword density, utilizing the correct markup and to get some serious love from search engine bots.

    Scribe SEO

    Scribe Content takes on-page SEO analysis to the next level

    If you think that my keyword research stops after using Long Tail Pro, you are absolutely wrong.

    Scribe SEO is my next go-to SEO tool for composing blog posts. Basically, Scribe SEO provides a comprehensive research and analytics for you.

    It works in a 4- steps procedure:

    1. Checking the chance of ranking for that specific keyword (competition analysis)
    2. Upon completion of blog post, it will analyze the keyword density by comparing not only that blog post but as well as the whole website to determine the chance of ranking on search engine
    3. Provide a list of recommended tags to use
    4. Recommending a list of external and internal links to build backlinks

    Once you have completed the steps above, your blog post would be nearly to perfect in terms of keyword density and indirectly, improving the chance to rank on search engine.

    Scribe SEO (some call it Scribe Content) price starts at $88 per month and this is a must-have SEO tool in 2014 if you are serious in dominating the SERPs.

    Did I mentioned that this is managed by the guys from StudioPress?

    Take Scribe SEO for a 30-days trial run or grab your free SEO report here.

    SEOPressor

    SEOPressor is the most affrodable SEO tool for bloggers

    One of the biggest issue with keyword research tools like Scribe Content is that they are pricey. Therefore, say hello to SEOPressor.

    SEOPressor is one of the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress users simply because it provides features such as:

    • On-page SEO analysis
    • Keyword suggestions
    • Over optimization check
    • Rich snippet
    • LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) suggestions
    • Social SEO
    • Automatic internal linking
    • Video embedded suggestion

    With pricing starts from $47, there is absolutely no reason for you to complaint that it is expensive or you are not affordable for it.

    Personally, SEOPressor is a great alternative to Scribe SEO as it provides great value and SEO features with a one-time payment.

    Double your traffic under 14 days using SEOPressor or money back guarantee!

    5. Rank Tracking tool

    • SEMrush

    When it comes to SEO planning and strategy, tracking and monitoring keywords play vital roles.

    Blogging is always a business and you need to think like an SEO strategist to compete with your competitors. This means that you need to plan not one but multiple SEO marketing strategies to achieve results.

    Tracking tools are extremely important when it comes to SEO keyword strategy. Looking at the above, you will notice that a huge chunk of your time are used to find quality keywords for your site.

    And the next step is to ensure your hardwork pays off.

    So, if you are not tracking your keywords now, you better do it right now!

    SEMrush

    SEMrush is a great SEO tracking tool

    I got to admit; SEMrush isn’t the best tool for tracking keywords. The main purpose of SEMrush is to track Google Adwords keywords.

    However, you can actually use this to your advantage … yes, by tracking related keywords on your blog.

    On a free account, you can create up to 10 keywords for tracking. I usually set up long tail keywords. Choice of keywords can be taken from Google Analytics, Google Keyword Planner, Google Webmaster Tools or any research tools of your choice.

    SEMrush will then populate the keywords which you are planning to rank and the stats will be updated once every day.

    And you might be wondering, “Okay, I am lost. How can SEMrush possibly be one of the best SEO tools available to mankind?”

    Allow me explain a little more in detail.

    SEMrush is one of the SEO tools for 2014 as I consider it as an all-in-one SEO software that monitors nearly everything. For example, it offers:

    • Organic research
    • Backlink checker
    • Keyword research
    • Position tracking
    • Domain vs domain
    • Rankings

    I do know a few serious (and experienced) bloggers who use SEMrush to cater for all their SEO needs but personally, I use it for organic research and position tracking only.

    You can sign up for a free SEMrush account here. Paid accounts start from $69.95 per month.

     

    All in one SEO tool – SEO PowerSuite

    SEO PowerSuite is a very powerful tool for SEO research and monitoring

    When it comes to search engine optimization, it is really hard to find a good SEO tool that does everything for you. As a matter of fact, I used to think that it never exist.

    With so many SEO tools out there for us to choose, we are often wondering which is the best and worth our money.

    Sounds familiar?

    I bet it does.Okay, I admit it. Call me a plugin or SEO tool freak. My love for them will never fade.

    Introducing the almighty, SEO PowerSuite.

    SEO PowerSuite (some call it SEO PS) is probably the most expensive single piece of SEO tool I ever bought in my life.

    So, is SEO PowerSuite worth it?

    While SEO PowerSuite is just one piece of SEO tool, it actually consists of several parts (or features):

    1. Rank Tracker
    2. Website Auditor
    3. SEO Spyglass
    4. Link Assistant

    Yes, 4 features which can skyrocket your SEO campaigns in 2014.

    Rank Tracker

    One of the top 3 ranking tools I ever use. Extremely useful (and fast) when it comes to following up on your keywords rankings. If you are planning to do mass keyword ranking check or multiple domains, it is best to use private proxies to avoid temporary ban from Google.

    While it offers a whopping keyword ranking check on over 346 search engines, I only check on Google, Bing and Yahoo for obvious reasons.

    Website Auditor

    When a client of mine ask for SEO services, this is the number one tool I use to check for on-page SEO. If you want to check ever corner, worm hole and tiny 404 errors, this is one tool you need to use.

    Trust me when I tell you this is one of the best website auditing tool I ever … ever used!

    • Want to check if your robot.txt is working? Done!
    • Want to build robot.text but no idea how? Do it with Website Auditor!
    • Want to check if your website have crawl issues? Done!

    Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to hard sell Website Auditor (okay, maybe a little) but seriously, this is seriously one bad-a*s tool to use.

    The only issue you may face is that when you are generating a report for every tiny bit of problem with your site, it could take hours. My longest experience was 18 hours.

    Go figure!

    SEO Spyglass

    If you want to know what your competitor is doing, what keywords are they trying to rank for or even, anchor texts they are using, this tool will tell you everything you need to know.

    SEO Spyglass = Backlink checker. Period!

    Link Assistant

    Link Assistant is a powerful … and not so powerful tool.

    If you are using it correctly, you can easily turn Link Assistant into a Virtual Assistant that does all your link building works, emailing etc.

    And of course, if you have no idea what it is all about, then you are probably not going far with this tool.

    In short, Link Assistant is a management tool that helps you to:

    1. Store data (all your links) in a bullet proof, nuclear resistance ‘space’
    2. Tool to verify backlinks
    3. Reach out to webmasters for link building opportunities

    SEO PowerSuite comes in three plans:

    • Free
    • Professional
    • Enterprise

    For me, I am using Enterprise version as I need to export data for further usage.

    Free SEO PowerSuite trial download | Buy SEO PowerSuite

    What is your favorite tool when it comes to search engine optimization?

    Always remember that one of the best SEO tips for 2014 is to use the right tool for the right job. There is absolutely no point using a specific tool if you have no idea how to utilize it.

    So, what is your go-to SEO tools that you must use in 2014? Tell me using the comment form below!