What are the best SEO software tools for startups that are heavily focused on content and SEO but are on a budget? We've looked at Moz, Ahrefs, Alexa, BrightEdge, Linkdex, ScreamingFrog, etc.
I've been doing SEO for nearly 20 years now (about as long as that's possible), built 3 of my own successful businesses from it, and run a 12-member agency in Chicago these days.
Here's my take.
You mentioned a lot of great tools there, but keep two things in mind.
- These tools tend to overlap like crazy, but they're all mediocre at just about all but one thing. That's if you're lucky.
- Having a system to use a tool is infinitely more valuable than the tool itself. Tools alone are worthless.
This said, here's a basic SEO tech stack that I'd consider:
- Ahrefs: they have the largest backlink database and a great web interface. Though, they also have the worst API by a lot (Majestic wins that).
- SEMrush: they have the best scrape database of Google search results.
- Screaming Frog: the best tool that I've seen to crawl your own site (by far). Somewhat of a learning curve, but pays dividends once you get good with it.
- Moz: Mostly just for their keyword explorer, which is quite good. Tracking MozCast is nice too, though that's free.
- BuzzStream: The most impressive outreach CRM that I've encountered.
- Linkdex: for really intense per-keyword proposals.
That's a strong core and how to use it.
Best of luck.
