Top SEO Tools for 2016

Every web developer and website owner understands the importance of search engine optimization, which is also referred to as SEO. SEO helps your ranking on search engines to increase; getting on first page results is a common goal. This will drive more traffic to your website as well as increase your credibility.

It seems as if there are always new SEO tools to use to benefit your website. Their popularity comes and goes, but there are some great ones to try for 2016. Most of these are free tools, which means you have no reason not to give them a try for your website!

1. Hootsuite

Most website owners know social media is crucial for the success of their business. It is needed for building a brand name, increasing clientele numbers, retaining existing customers, and building your credibility. However, managing all of the platforms can be troublesome. This is where Hootsuite shines. It helps you manage all of your social media accounts on one platform.

2. Google Trends

Internet trends, such as search queries, topics, and entities, change on a very frequent basis. You want to know what people are searching and what is popular that week. It is important to stay a few steps ahead, especially for marketing. While it may not seem like a huge deal, it can give you a major boost.

3. Keyword Tools

Keywords are no longer the biggest SEO requirement, but they still play a part in how search engines find and increase your ranking. However, it can be difficult to determine what keywords to use in your article. When you use a keyword tool, you enter in your main term. Then, the tool will build a list of other potential keywords users make a search. Two popular options are Keywordtool.ie and Ubersuggest.

4. Google Search Console

At one time, this was also known to as Google Webmaster Tool. It gives you data on your website. One of the nice features is it can find a link that links back to your website; these are referred to as backlinks. These are one of the best ways to increase your rankings. You need to find your backlinks and make sure they are indexed by Google. Having backlinks that are not indexed serve you no purpose.

5. Google Analytics

If you spend all of this time on SEO and on your blog, you want to understand the effects of your efforts. Any data you can obtain from your website is important. Google Analytics tracks data about your website and lays out the data for you to easily understand. For example, if you try sharing your backlinks on Twitter, you can see if your ranking on Google increases. Or, if you send out a new email marketing campaign, you can see if you gain additional traffic.

6. SEMrush

You may have heard of SEMrush and wondered what it does. You can use it to determine if a site is healthy or not. If you are trying to build backlinks, you want to make sure the website ranks well in Google so you can gain some traffic from your efforts. SEMrush lets you also check their organic traffic.

7. Ahrefs

Here is another way to check for backlinks. Ahrefs help you look for backlinks. They also can find out other important information, such as the growth of the platform, or their referring domains. You can also find out if the website had penalties. In addition, Ahrefs can check for anchor text density, broken links, exporting links and other important features that can help you.

SEO can be complicated to navigate, however, it can be made much easier with the use of these awesome tools.