Someone recently asked me for my thoughts on SEO tools. Which ones did I use and why? I thought this would be an interesting topic for this site so here goes. SEO tools can be broken down into three basic types in my mind.

1. SEO Tools for Research
2. SEO Tools for Production
3. SEO Tools for Analysis

While there are a ton of tools out there for every conceivable need, it is best to stick with as few as possible or your work load will become fairly cumbersome. Don’t stop testing or trying new tools as they appear, but don’t get in the habit of using 2-3 tools to do the same job because each has a feature the others don’t. This will bury you and erase any advantage the tools may have provided in the first place.

Let’s take a look at each of the basic types above and dig into some specific details about tools for tasks under those categories …

SEO Tools for Research

Research is a key component of SEO and using the right tool can make all the difference. Here are some tools I use for some specific types of research.

SEO Knowledge: Researching the changes in the industry is key to staying on top of your game and keeping clients on top of the rankings. RSS Feeds are the #1 way to keep up. Either subscribe to the top SEO blogs or even easier, join Twitter and subscribe to TopSEOBlogs this twitter account posts a new tweet with a link to every post of the top 30 or so SEO bloggers. Additionally, read Sphinn.com the digg style SEO and search engine news source.

Keyword Research: This is the foundation of any good SEO campaign. Predictive keyword analysis can be tough and the right tools can make the job a bit easier to get though. One of the best Keyword research tools I have used is Keyword Discovery by Trellian. Their algos seem to understand the relationships between words better than most. Additionally, Google has recently added specific traffic counts to their AdWords Keyword Tool. This data is invaluable when doing keyword research.

Competitive Research: Knowing what your competitors are up to has always been an advantage in business and this is still true online. However, there are so many aspects of SEO it’s hard to find just one tool to do this job. One way to get a ton of competitor information in a single place is to download and use the SEO for FireFox plugin. To get more, will require you to build a list of specific resources and sometimes hit the engines manually with advanced search techniques in hand.

SEO Tools for Production

This is an area that can get you in trouble. There are way too many tools on the market that claim to make SEO easier. What can you do to make a difference?

Automation: Automated site submission, automated rank tracking, and automated link building programs etc.etc. See any thing in common with these? There are all “automated” and this makes them better, right? Wrong! Be careful with any software or program that claims to automate the processes. While there are some things that can be automated, most tasks can’t be and still remain effective.

What Not to Use: Programs like “Web Position Gold” and “WebCEO” do have some helpful features, but many of the built in tools can get you in trouble with the major search engines. WPG is specifically called out in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines as a tool not to use because it breaks their “terms of service” agreement. Don’t let these programs fool you with statements like “We use the API so we are approved.” Even using the API does not exempt you from the “terms of service” agreement.

SEO production: The most helpful tool to use when in the midst of SEO production is Microsoft’s Excel or another spreadsheet tool such as those found in Google docs or Open Office. These can be used to track progress or build resources for future use. Using a spreadsheet to keep organized is the best use of a tool during SEO production. More advanced users may want to build their own database to do the same tasks.

SEO Tools for Analysis

Research is a key component of SEO and using the right tool can make all the difference. Here are some tools I use for some specific types of research.

Site Analysis: There are so many different aspects of a site to analyze that once again we have a hard time identifying one or two specific tools to do the whole job. So here I am going to identify a few tools for a few specific purposes:

• Visitor Analysis – Google Analytics or Omniture
• Header Response Checker – RexSwain HTTP Viewer
• Crawler Simulation – Summit Media Spider Simulator
• BackLink Analysis – LinkScape by SEOMoz
• Site Search Data – SEO for FireFox Plugin
• Content Targeting – Keyword Density & Prominence Analyzer by Ranks.nl
• Rank Tracking – Advanced Web Ranking
• Reputation Monitoring – Trackur.com by Andy Beal

I know this is a ton to absorb so I won’t clog your brain with anymore for now. I highly recommend you try out some of these tools if you are not already using them. Feel add some more in the comments, I always love trying these things out so show me some I don’t know about.

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