10 SEO tools compared

For search engine optimisation (SEO) to be successful all you need are some key data insights and the right tools. SEO tools help your website to rank higher on Google & Co so that customers can find you more easily.

The power of SEO tools

Search engine optimisation is an attempt to improve one's website for search engines (mostly Google) to display the content as high up as possible in search results (SERPs). This should always be supported by data. SEO tools are useful to monitor your success and help optimise your content. Some of the common tasks that can be done using SEO tools include:

  • Keyword research: Which keywords should you produce content for?
  • Keyword monitoring: How does your website currently rank for relevant keywords?
  • Analysis of backlinks: Which external pages link to your content?
  • Page structure analysis: How is your website structured? (Does it generate a sitemap?)
  • Performance analysis: Is your website loading fast enough?
  • Internal link analysis: Are internal links free from errors?

Ahrefs

The Ahrefs toolset is aimed at search engine optimisation for professionals. It includes five smaller tools:

  • Site Explorer: provides information about the backlink profile and how your pages rank compared to the competition.
  • Keywords Explorer: helps to find relevant keywords.
  • Site Audit: displays all important SEO data about your pages.
  • Rank Tracker: tracks the evolution of your website ranking over time.
  • Content Explorer: finds good content within your sector and helps to write your own.

Ahrefs offers several SEO tools for beginners and there are plenty of free tools available to help with keyword research or small-scale analysis of your website. Don’t expect any detailed reports though. Some features require registration. The Ahrefs website boasts plenty of guidance to help learn some of the finer aspects of search engine optimisation.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite of tools

✘ can be expensive

✔ some free tools

✔ educational materials and tips for beginners

Google Search Console

The Google Search Console is Google’s own tool to help with SEO. All webmasters should be using the feature because submitting a website to Google is usually the first step in SEO. You simply need to verify that you’re the owner of the domain. Using the online software is free of charge. The Google console boasts plenty of information and functions. The Search Console:

  • tracks how visitors get to your content
  • allows for a manual sitemap to be added
  • tests your URLs
  • analyses your website performance based on Core Web Vitals

The Search console can be combined with other Google products such as Google Analytics or Google Ads.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ available from Google

✘ fewer features

✔ can be connected to other Google services

✔ free

Note

There are many other Google SEO tools you can use to try and improve your search ranking.

Ryte

Much like Ahrefs, Ryte is an extensive SEO suite to optimise search engine performance. Its target market is predominantly professional marketers. Ryte offers support in the following areas:

  • SEO: What are SEO-relevant data?
  • Quality control: Is your website error-free?
  • Web performance: Is there potential to optimise your website technically?
  • Sustainability: Are you using a sustainable website design?
  • Accessibility: Is your website accessible?
  • Compliance: Are your privacy settings GDPR-compliant?

Reports on sustainability, accessibility and privacy are rare among commonly available SEO tools. Ryte offers content creation tools including tips on which words to use more or less often to create a suitable text.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite

✘ fairly expensive

✔ tips for content creation

✔ reports on sustainability, accessibility and privacy

Screaming Frog

SEO agency Screaming Frog has two popular tools on offer – available both as a free version and a paid-for one.

  • SEO Spider: The crawler checks your website for errors and duplicate content. In addition, the software creates a XML sitemap. The paid-for version boasts additional analytics tools and plenty of resources. Google services can be included.
  • Log File Analyser: The tool adds interesting data on how the search engine crawlers perceive your website. This way you can explore any potential issues in your page structure. The Premium version provides only technical support and infinitely larger log files.

The two SEO tools need to be downloaded, but are available for Windows, Mac and Linux. The free options include all the most important functions.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ most important features available in free version

✘ limited features

✘ requires installation of programs

Searchmetrics Suite

The Searchmetrics Suite combines a comprehensive range of useful tools:

  • Research Cloud: extensive competitive analysis and identification of potential content
  • Content Experience: help with content creation including keyword research
  • Search Experience: rankings and visibility in the search engines
  • Site Experience: review of the technical implementation of your website

The Searchmetrics Suite is a paid service and prices are disclosed upon request. Just like Ahrefs, Searchmetrics provides tons of information, guidance and even tutorials on its website to help beginners get started with SEO.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite

✘ prices available upon request

✔ educational materials and tips for SEO beginners

Semrush

Semrush offers more than 50 different tools. Some of them are similar, but each focuses on a different aspect of SEO. For example, there are six different features for keyword research. Broadly speaking the different tools can be categorised as follows:

  • SEO: backlink analysis, keyword research, ranking analyses, etc.
  • Content: help with content creation, marketing calendar, etc.
  • Advertising: support with online advertising
  • Social Media: scheduling posts, monitoring competition, organising Facebook Ads.
  • Ad analysis: SEO competitor reports

You only need a single license to access all the Semrush features. However, prices are fairly steep. A free option is available that includes some of the tools. But this is limited in terms of the operations you can perform. In addition, Semrush boasts plenty of educational materials.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite with over 50 SEO tools

✘ very expensive

✔ educational resources and beginner tips

✔ free version available but limited

Seobility

Seobility combines plenty of useful features but overall is a little leaner in its breath of functionality compared to competitors. The main areas of support include:

  • On-page optimisation: the entire website is searched to reveal structures and spot errors
  • Rank tracking: displays how your website is positioned in search engines
  • Backlink analyses: determines the backlink profile and provides tips for new links from external websites

Seobility can be used free of charge with the basic package. This is suitable for website owners who prefer to take care of search engine optimisation themselves. The free version combines the most important features, but only a single domain can be optimised. For additional capacity, a comparatively inexpensive premium version is available.

What’s more, Seobility provides a few smaller tools on its website that are freely available and do not require registration. They include a keyword checker and a WDF*IDF tool.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ free version includes most important functionalities

✘ comparatively limited range of functions

✔ can be used without registration

Sistrix

Sistrix is well known for its visibility index.  The SEO tool can be used for other tasks. Sistrix focuses on the following:

  • Visibility index: checks your website visibility on Google
  • Competitor Analysis: checks the visibility of your competitors
  • Content Assistant: helps to write SEO-optimised texts
  • On-page Audit: spots errors and potential for optimised pages

Even though the visibility index is the most interesting feature (in the context of competitive analysis), the provider offers tools for keyword research, backlink analysis or Google Ads.

Given its wide range of offers, Sistrix is aimed at SEO professionals, which is why prices are higher. Much like other providers of extensive SEO suites, Sistrix offers plenty of information and resources on its website.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite

✘ quite expensive

✔ industry-relevant visibility index

✔ learning materials and tips for beginners

XOVI

XOVI is an all-round solution. The suite bundles eight different tools:

  • Keywords: helps with the development of keyword strategies
  • Monitoring: monitors website ranking in regards to certain keywords
  • Onpage: spots errors in website structure
  • Links: assembles a backlink profile
  • Disavow: ensures your website doesn't get any Google penalties
  • Search Analytics: analyses how visitors arrive on your website
  • SEA: support Google Ads
  • Reporting: lets you assemble different reports

XOVI is aimed at both webmasters and SEO professionals. Different pricing packages are available. These differ predominantly in the amount of monitorable URLs and the number of user accounts. XOVI also offers learning materials and organizes educational seminars.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ extensive suite

✘ fairly expensive

✔ learning resources and tips for beginners

Yoast

Yoast is a little different. The favourite SEO plugin for WordPress is suitable for working directly from within the dashboard of the content management system (CMS). The advantage is that changes are immediately implemented. The most important functions of the extension include:

  • Help with the creation of meta data
  • SEO content writing support
  • Automatic creation of structured data
  • Optimised page load speed
  • Creation of XLM sitemap

The free version is a good start but for additional support for content creation, help with internal links and professional support you’ll need the premium package.

Advantages

Disadvantages

✔ basic functions available for free

✘ only suitable for WordPress website

✔ works directly in the WordPress dashboard

✘ limited functions

Conclusion

Most of our top 10 SEO tools are all-in-one solutions. This means you can use them to focus on every aspect of search engine optimisation. To this end, it’s also worth creating reports that monitor website performance long-term. But quick insights can be just as useful. SEO plugins for browsers display plenty of information while you’re surfing your website.

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