Indispensable SEO Tools

Posted: Feb 26, 2011 |

One of the questions that I get asked at least every couple of months is what kind of basic tools do you use for SEO?  The truth of the matter is that while I might use a specific tool to research keywords or a tool to watch traffic closely, I find that there are a few tools available- all of which are free which are indispensable and help me with my day to day projects.  Whether you are looking at your competition, tracking your page rank or looking to find a weakness in your site or blog, the following tools are a great way to get an understanding and conduct research.

Google Toolbar
I know by now everyone has already heard or is using Google Toolbar, but it deserves a mention.  Obviously one of the most practical features for SEO/SEM experts is the Page Rank checker that shows up automatically anytime you visit a page.  But I find that Google Highlight which makes it easy to search and locate specific keywords throughout copy on a page is essential as well.  Google Toolbar is available for Internet Explorer and Firefox and of course for those that use Google Chrome browser.  You can install it at the following link:  <http://www.google.com/toolbar/ie/index.html>

SEO Quake
I'm a big fan of Firefox and one of things that I love about this browser are the add ons.  I kind of see add ons as the precursor to mobile phone apps.  One of my favorite SEO add ons available for Firefox is SEOQuake.  As you can see in the screenshot below, SEOQuake gives you a wide variety of information for just about any webpage you land on.  From left to right, you can see it tells you the Google Page Rank, the amount of links from Yahoo, Google and Bing, Alexa Rank and the age of the website.  You can also click the many buttons for Who is information, keyword density, etc.  Other features tell you whether the site has a robot file and sitemap. 




For those SEO and SEM professionals that look at lots of web pages each and everyday, a great little tool like SEOQuake can be extremely helpful especially for research purposes.  You can visit SEOQuake at the following link for more information and to download the addon.  It is available for Firefox, Chrome and Safari.  <http://www.seoquake.com/>


FlagFox
The web is a truly international marketplace and knowing which country a website is hosted in can be helpful for certain projects.  While one can always access IP data, doing this manually does take time and is inconvenient.  I use FlagFox.  FlagFox is an addon for Firefox that easily shows you the server's country of origin with an easy flag image.  You can also quickly click on the flag to pull up Who is info as well, the ISP, city and even local time.  I like to use this tool to research competition for some of my international clients and prospects.  This tool is a particularly great way to research sites in the UK and Australia. <http://flagfox.servehttp.com/>

KGen
If you are looking for an easy way to analyze keywords, one choice is KGen.  Within a few seconds, you can analyze just about any webpage with content, easily seeing its frequency and the placement of the keyword.  Obviously, this is very important when researching competitor sites as it can help you determine your competitor's keyword strategy.  It is also helpful when writing content for your own site to determine whether or not your site has correct keyword density.  In addition to this indispensable tool, KGen allows one to transfer your findings to a clipboard (CSV) file where you can use the keywords in other pieces of content.  Find more info at: <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/kgen/>




There are plenty of great SEO tools available to < a href = "http://www.seohouston.com"> SEO and SEM professionals </a>.  While this is a short list, there are many other high quality and effective tools available pretty much for all browsers.  Definitely visit the above tools as well as do some research for the others available, it can streamline your research and give you essential information about your site or others instantly.

Questions and Answers

Ask
200 Characters left
Rate this Article
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 0 vote(s)
    Feedback
    Print
    Re-Publish
    Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/indispensable-seo-tools-4317413.html

    Article Tags:

    seo

    ,

    sem

    ,

    search engine optimization

    ,

    search engine marketing

    ,

    google toolbar

    ,

    seo quake

    In USA, one of the leading brands that offer diverse and high quality products promoting proper hygiene is Difresh USA. If you are looking for the best opportunity to grow and have the opportunity for a new business Difresh USA can help you for they are looking for Exclusive Local Distributors

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    Getting clean and refresh doesn't sacrifice the place where you are for it should be a habit. Having a healthy body will allow you to do things right and good. And no matter where you are you should practice a healthy and proper hygiene even in little things you do.

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    Maintaining a healthy and proper hygiene badly needs products that are truly effective and could truly answer our need for this. No matter where we are and at anytime we want to get clean we basically need these products right away and only Difresh USA can supply these in a very easy way

    By: danieltorrisl Businessl May 31, 2012

    The key reason why some firms thrive while some implode during an financial recession is still a puzzle to many people business-owning business owners. Some wrongly assume that all businesses should suffer via recessionary cycles. But the truth is that some companies are usually essentially recession-proof, and it is not necessarily because they are much larger, better known, or a lot more generously capitalized.

    By: danhoh75rel Businessl May 31, 2012

    Companies like Arch Coal (ACI) and Massey Energy (MEE) watched his or her stock climbed.

    By: pennystockegghead49l Businessl May 30, 2012

    Mobile Search is constantly on the rise. As more and more people purchase smart phones and as smartphones get more and more powerful, mobile search has become a very big focus for many companies. Whether you are a local business or service the nation/world, you should consider how mobile search can affect your business.

    By: Michael Moorheadl Businessl May 05, 2011

    There is definitely a search engine war going on and Google is making changes that are giving their users more control over how they surf the web. One of the main focuses of Google at the moment is to raise the bar on the quality of sites it shows to users. Recently they unleashed the Farmers Algorithm (which we wrote about a couple of weeks ago), but Google now has gone even further giving its users the power to block sites they don't want to see. What are the ramifications of this new resou

    By: Michael Moorheadl Businessl Mar 25, 2011

    It's official! While there has been talk of an upcoming algorithm change from Google for at least a couple of months, these past couple of weeks saw a definite change in the way that Google ranks those sites on the web vying for top placement in its listings. So what is the big news? This algorithm specifically went after content farms and in addition to a broad extent low quality sites that have been gaming the system for higher rankings. Since the algorithm targeted content farmers, this a

    By: Michael Moorheadl Businessl Mar 11, 2011

    If you are an SEO/SEM professional, you already know just how important content creation can be. Content is a driving force in attracting the attention of the major search engines and keeping visitors on your site, satisfied with the information you provide them and a lure for them to keep coming back. With so much content creation on the web, it can sometimes be difficult for Google to figure out just who created the content and if it is the original source.

    By: Michael Moorheadl Businessl Mar 07, 2011
    Author Box
    Articles Categories
    All Categories
    Quantcast