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Since starting my own digital marketing agency in mid-2015, I’ve experimented with several SEO tools. I’ve tried them all — free, freemium, and paid.
In some cases, I had to subscribe to a tool just because my client believed it provided the most accurate information about their website.
Here’s the harsh truth: Not all SEO tools are created equal. A majority of them are not worth your time and investment.
So in this article, I thought I’d help other agency owners avoid the pitfall of investing in a mediocre tool by listing down 6 SEO tools that are worth investing in.
Before we get started, let’s set some ground rules.
This list will feature only all-purpose SEO tools, meaning tools that include all of the following five essential capabilities:
The list will not feature tools like BuzzSumo, Ubersuggest, and Google’s very own Keyword Planner. While these tools are uniquely useful, they are not all-purpose SEO tools.
For instance, Keyword Planner is just that — a keyword analysis tool within Google Ads. You can’t perform an SEO site audit with Keyword Planner. Similarly, BuzzSumo is an excellent content marketing and influencer outreach tool. You can’t use it for backlink audit or position tracking.
As such, the tools that are featured below perform all functions of SEO and provide actionable reports — from SEO site audit to competition analysis to rank tracking. By using any of these tools, you can improve the overall SEO of your clients’ websites and expect them to rank higher in search results.
If you’re able to find a tool within your current budget and one which can perform all the key SEO functionalities reasonably well, then you’d have arrived at your go-to SEO tool. I hope you’ll be able to find one such tool in the list below.
So without further ado, here are the 6 best SEO tools you can consider to scale your agency business.
Note: Before we proceed, I’d just like to iterate that we will be focusing on paid SEO tools. If you’d like to use free SEO tools, I’d urge you to check out 35+ Best Free SEO Tools to Instantly Boost Your Rankings.
Table of Contents
Below are our top 6 recommendations for best SEO software for agencies. For an in-depth look at each of these tools, refer to the next section.
Use it if you want to do high-quality website audits and spend less time on SEO reporting.
Use it if your top priority is keyword research, competition analysis, and site audit.
Use it if your top priority is backlink analysis.
Use it if you have a smaller budget, but would still like a reliable SEO tool.
Use it for its phenomenal keyword research capabilities.
Use it if your top priority is optimizing your clients’ conversion rates.
Use it if you want to do high-quality website audits and spend less time on SEO reporting.
Use it if your top priority is keyword research, competition analysis, and site audit.
Use it if your top priority is backlink analysis.
Use it if you have a smaller budget, but would still like a reliable SEO tool.
Use it for its phenomenal keyword research capabilities.
Use it if your top priority is optimizing your clients’ conversion rates.
Almost any interaction with a client starts with the agency conducting an SEO audit of their website. SE Ranking handles this better than other tools as their Website Audit breaks any website down to details and identifies even the slightest issues preventing your clients from ranking at the top of the SERPs.
The tool analyzes websites against 110 parameters and lists errors divided into 19 categories. Each issue has a severity level so you can better prioritize fixes, a description to help you understand the problem, and fix tips to save time looking for an appropriate solution.
You can also customize the audit for each client, considering their specifics and needs.
SE Ranking offers several tools and it uses the same meticulous approach with each one of them.
Another critical issue is reporting to clients regarding their SEO progress. With SE Ranking, you can create manual and automated reports using ready-made or customizable templates. The White Label tool lets you re-style the SE Ranking platform to your agency’s brand.
Sign up for SE Ranking
Side note: SE Ranking has a special cost-effective pack for agencies that includes additional read-only seats, additional client-level seats at a lower price, team training, and personal manager.
Let’s kick things off with my favorite SEO tool: Semrush. I’ve been using
Semrush is primarily known for its keyword research and competitive intelligence capabilities. If your client is relatively new in the market or operates in a space with lots of competitors, then it’s not going to be easy to rank for high volume, high competition keywords. In such cases, your best bet would be to start targeting low competition keywords with high traffic potential.
You can use Semrush’s Keyword Magic tool to identify the best keywords to focus on for your clients’ websites. You can find both head terms and long-tail keywords for your campaign, but if you’re targeting long-tail keywords with high traffic potential, look for keywords that have low-to-medium search volume, low competition, and low keyword difficulty.
The Semrush toolkit also features one of the most advanced SEO audit tools on the market. With the
Sign up for
When it comes to backlink analysis, there’s no tool better than Ahrefs. It’s the preferred backlink analysis tool of leading experts in marketing and SEO because of its massive index size and the accuracy with which it presents the data.
Ahrefs boasts of having the world’s biggest index of live backlinks (16 trillion links) and its crawler processes up to 5 billion webpages a day. It also has a user-friendly interface which further bolsters its reputation as a top-notch SEO tool.
Over the last few years, Ahrefs has evolved into a complete marketing toolkit, offering separate tools for keyword research, site audit, and content. But Ahrefs continues to be known for Site Explorer — a backlink checker and organic research tool that offers an in-depth look at the SEO traffic and backlink profile of any website or URL.
With Site Explorer, you can see which websites link to your clients’ websites and their competitors’ sites and gauge the quality of their backlink profiles. You can also analyze the keywords the competitors are ranking for and see which pages bring the most search engine traffic.
Then there is Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker which is one of the most frequently used tools in SEO. With Rank Tracker, you can monitor your clients’ search rankings over time and chart their performance against that of their competitors’. You can also get scheduled reports delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up for Ahrefs
Side note: For a more in-depth comparison of features between
If SEO isn’t your forte, HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software can provide the recommendations you need to optimize for your target keywords.
You can plan your content strategy around the topics that matter most to your business and audience using HubSpot’s content strategy tool. This tool helps you focus on relevant topics and create topic clusters based on insights and recommendations, making it easier for search engines to understand your site structure.
SEO is about continuously optimizing your content for your target audience’s search intent. HubSpot Marketing Software offers content optimization recommendations to enhance your search authority. It ranks the keywords that will have the most impact based on your website’s optimization needs.
From a data point of view, HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software lets you quickly check keyword data and avoid any confusion related to content optimization. These reports help you understand what your pages are ranking for and the keywords that your pages could rank for, helping you improve your organic traffic. You can even integrate Google Search Console with HubSpot to import the impressions and click data.
The multi-purpose features let you do more in place, saving you much time.
Get a Demo
Related: 15 Free HubSpot Tools and Resources Every Marketer Should Be Using
The problem with most SEO tools is that they cost almost $100 per month. That’s the standard pricing practice in this industry. Popular SEO tools like
Serpstat breaks away from this standard pricing practice with its basic plan costing just $69/month, making it a great alternative to
Launched in 2013 as simply a keyword research tool, Serpstat has gradually evolved into a full-fledged SEO and PPC analysis platform.
With Serpstat, you can do keyword research, competitive analysis, technical site audits, backlink analysis, and much more. The data generated via this tool may not be as accurate or comprehensive as other tools like
Sign up for Serpstat
Last but not least, we have the Mangools suite of SEO tools. Launched in 2014, Mangools includes five SEO tools — KWFinder for keyword research, SERPChecker for SERP analysis, LinkMiner for backlink analysis, SERPWatcher for rank tracking, and SiteProfiler for website analysis.
Mangools is perhaps best known for its flagship tool KWFinder — a cloud-based keyword research tool that helps you generate the perfect keyword ideas that you can use on everything from blog posts, website content, landing pages, and copy on PPC ads. But the other SEO tools in the suite are just as useful and available at a fairly affordable price.
So if you’re operating on a shoestring budget, but would still like to invest in a tool that helps you with day-to-day SEO, Mangools is your best bet. It’s the most economical SEO tool on this list.
Sign up for Mangools
Related: Semrush vs Mangools: Which SEO Tool is Better?
So these are the six SEO tools I’d recommend to digital marketing agencies. Based on your top priority and budget, you can choose any of these 6 SEO tools:
Use it if you want to do high-quality website audits and spend less time on SEO reporting.
Use it if your top priority is keyword research, competition analysis, and site audit.
Use it if your top priority is backlink analysis.
Use it if you have a smaller budget, but would still like a reliable SEO tool.
Use it for its phenomenal keyword research capabilities.
Use it if your top priority is optimizing your clients’ conversion rates.
Use it if you want to do high-quality website audits and spend less time on SEO reporting.
Use it if your top priority is keyword research, competition analysis, and site audit.
Use it if your top priority is backlink analysis.
Use it if you have a smaller budget, but would still like a reliable SEO tool.
Use it for its phenomenal keyword research capabilities.
Use it if your top priority is optimizing your clients’ conversion rates.
You can also check out these free SEO tools to supplement your SEO efforts, but to get the best results for your clients’ SEO and PPC campaigns, you’ll need to invest in at least one of the above SEO tools.
Agencies often manage multiple client accounts and need tools that can handle bulk analysis, reporting, and tracking. Premium SEO tools like
Key features include keyword research capabilities, competitor analysis, comprehensive reporting tools, white-labeling options, integration with other marketing tools, scalability, and customer support.
An all-purpose SEO tool includes features for keyword research, competitive research, backlink analysis, technical SEO audits, and position tracking. These tools provide comprehensive functionality to handle a variety of SEO tasks.
The article focuses on paid SEO tools that offer comprehensive features for agencies. While free SEO tools can be useful, they often have limitations in features and scalability compared to paid options.
Consider your agency’s specific needs, such as the priority of SEO tasks (e.g., keyword research, site audit) and budget constraints. Also, think about the tool’s scalability and whether it offers features that can grow with your agency.
Yes, some tools mentioned offer budget-friendly options and are suitable for small agencies or those just starting out. It’s important to evaluate each tool’s pricing and features to find the best fit for your agency’s size and budget.
Investing in a paid SEO tool can significantly enhance your agency’s SEO capabilities, providing comprehensive data, insights, and automation that free tools cannot match. Consider the potential ROI in terms of time saved and improved SEO performance for your clients.
Regular use of SEO tools is essential for monitoring your clients’ website performance, tracking rankings, identifying technical issues, and staying ahead of competitors. Weekly checks and monthly in-depth analyses are common practices among successful agencies.
While SEO tools provide valuable insights and data to inform your strategies, they cannot guarantee better rankings due to the ever-changing nature of search engine algorithms. However, using these tools effectively can significantly increase your chances of improving your clients’ SEO performance.
Most SEO tool providers offer customer support through tutorials, documentation, online chat, email, and sometimes phone support. Look for providers with robust support options to help you maximize the tool’s benefits.
Integration allows agencies to streamline their workflows and consolidate data across platforms, making it easier to measure overall performance and ROI. This holistic view can lead to more cohesive and effective marketing strategies.
Agencies should assess their tools at least once a year or whenever there are significant changes in their needs, the landscape of SEO, or the tools themselves. This ensures that they are always using the best resources to serve their clients effectively.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published on October 3, 2019 and has been updated regularly since then for relevance and comprehensiveness.
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Great tools you have mentioned. Some tools can be used by individuals also to track their personal blogs and network. Recently I came across diib.com (I’m not here to promote that ;)). It looks great once you connect with the GA and other social media networks. The price is also not that high. You can try it. I’m sure it will be useful for you and readers here.
SEMRush is one of the best tools available for affiliate marketers. You have mentioned really good tools that we can use.
I find AHREF data much precise and update compared to the SEMRUSH or any other tool. Unfortunately, it’s the most expensive one.
Really great seo tools you have mentioned here. I have been using semrush for my agency. Like Louiser said about diib.com, I had used their free version recently, it was really good, if you had been through this tool, can you provide an indepth review on diib.com.
I think SEMrush is all rounder, ahrefs is good backlinks checker, but Mangools is good enough to hold forth spot why you drop it to the end of your list, I think it is because it tired too early in free trial edition, I can not check it completely I think they want users to buy it to take a try. like ahrefs paid trial.
Just used your Link for SemRush and I Think my investment will not go in vain.
Great one!!! We are very happy to have access to your website. We have got to learn a lot by reading your articles. Most of the SEO tools that you are provided in this blog were really helpful for me. The tools like Answer the public, Majestic, Fat rank, Keyword everywhere, Cora, Bonus Tools these tools were really new info for me. Will try those for Search engine optimization. Which the team of ibusinessmotivation.com appreciates you and your team. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your experience so transparently. As someone also running a digital marketing agency, I couldn’t agree more—choosing the right all-in-one SEO tool can make or break your workflow and results. I appreciate the clear criteria you set before listing the tools; it really helps filter out the noise. Looking forward to seeing which six made your list!
Hi there, I’m Sandeep Mallya!
I’m an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant from Bangalore, India. I founded my own digital agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015 to help SMBs leverage SEO, social media, and content marketing to grow their traffic and generate qualified leads for their business.
I launched 99signals in 2016 as a side project to document all the strategies, tools, and tactics that I was using to grow my small agency. The goal was simple: to arm other entrepreneurs and bloggers with all the right information and tools they needed to launch a successful online business.
Since then, 99signals has grown significantly and generates over $10,000 in side income each month. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”…
Hi there, I’m Sandeep Mallya!
I’m an entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant from Bangalore, India. I founded my own digital agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015 to help SMBs leverage SEO, social media, and content marketing to grow their traffic and generate qualified leads for their business.
I launched 99signals in 2016 as a side project to document all the strategies, tools, and tactics that I was using to grow my small agency. The goal was simple: to arm other entrepreneurs and bloggers with all the right information and tools they needed to launch a successful online business.
Since then, 99signals has grown significantly and generates over $10,000 in side income each month. Read More about “About Sandeep Mallya”…
A few links on this blog are affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service through one of these affiliate links, I’ll receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
Rest assured, I recommend only those tools that I personally use and genuinely trust. In most cases, you’ll find in-depth reviews, tutorials, and how-to guides of these tools on my blog to help you make informed decisions.