My Recommended SEO Tools
Since everyone’s always asking in my YouTube comments, here’s a list of SEO tools I use and recommend.
Some (not all) links here are affiliate links, and I can earn a commission if you make a purchase. I figure if I’m giving these companies free promo all day every day, I should at least try to get paid for it. If you don’t want to support me, just visit the website directly instead of clicking. I still recommend them!
All-Around SEO Tools:
Ahrefs: My SEO tool of choice for backlinks, competitor research, keyword research, etc. However, it’s expensive, and many are unhappy with constant price increases and the company in general. They do not have a free trial for the full tool, but they do have a free tools page with scaled-down versions of some stuff.
Semrush: For those who want a cheaper alternative than Ahrefs with much of the same functionality, this is the tool. Many high-level SEOs are even switching over to Semrush. It’s not quite as good at some things (backlinks), but maybe better at others (keywords). They also have a free trial, so there’s no reason not to check it out!
Clicks: This is by far the cheapest option I’ve found for an all-around SEO tool. It’s not as robust as Ahrefs or Semrush, but it’s great for those on a budget who still need to invest in a solid SEO tool. The creator is a boss and is constantly improving the tool and adding new features. There’s no free trial, but it’s so cheap that it doesn’t even matter.
Content Optimization Tools:
SurferSEO: This is my most-used content tool over the years, but it is also the most expensive of my recommendations. It’s a great tool for getting your content on point with related keywords, article length, competitor analysis, etc. Some AI options include an article writer and auto-optimizer. There are some cheaper alternatives, but this one seems to be the most robust for those that really want to get their content optimized correctly.
Page Optimizer Pro: This is also a very robust content-optimization tool, and it’s quite a bit cheaper than Surfer if you’re looking for an alternative. It’s made by the one and only Kyle Roof. The UI doesn’t feel as clean and beginner-friendly as Surfer, but it’s still a powerhouse and accomplishes much of the same thing. They also have a free trial and a 7-day refund guarantee.
NeuronWriter: This is the cheapest option I’ve found and is a great tool for optimizing content. I’ve found myself using this one more recently as I don’t need many of the more advanced options of the other tools. They no longer have a lifetime deal, but they do have a free trial, so there’s no reason not to give it a try. It even looks very similar to Surfer!
Google Chrome Extensions:
Ahrefs Toolbar (Paid): Great for doing SERP based research, but requires Ahrefs subscription.
Mozbar (Free): Same as Ahrefs Toolbar but uses Moz metrics, so not as good. But it’s free!
Detailed (Free): See things like titles, headings, links, schema, extra PAA on Google, etc. Awesome!
Grammarly (Free/Paid): I never write anything without it. I use the paid version, and it can be great for your writers’ SOPs too. Can’t imagine NOT having this tool with how many mistakes I make!
Loom (Free/Paid): Amazing for recording quick screen share videos to share with your team, create SOPs, etc. I use the paid version.
Fonts Ninja (Free): Cool for stealing a website’s design by seeing fonts, text sizes, etc.
Link Grabber (Free): Grab all links on a page and export them to an Excel file.
Keywords Everywhere (Paid): A cool plugin that will show you keywords… everywhere! Great for doing keyword research. Very cheap.
Link Building Tools:
Pitchbox: This is an expensive tool for automating link-building outreach. For agencies like ours, tools like this are a must-have for running many campaigns, finding targets, managing messages, etc. Pitchbox seems to be the cream of the crop for link-building outreach tools, but the high price will most likely turn many people away.
Hunter: A lot of people use this to find email addresses to contact link-building prospects in addition to Pitchbox, but it also does a lot more, like finding link-building targets, sending emails, and verifying emails. This tool is much cheaper than Pitchbox and even has a free plan with limited usage for those wanting to test it out.
Buzzstream: This one is very similar to Pitchbox but a lot cheaper. I know a lot of agencies and pros who are using this one, so don’t let the cheaper price tag fool you. Find link-building prospects, send emails, manage outreach campaigns, reporting… it has it all. And best of all, you can try it for free!
Technical SEO Tools:
Screaming Frog: This is what I use for technical SEO. There is so much you can do with this tool that even after years of use, I feel like I’m barely scratching the surface. It’s very cheap considering what you can do with it, and you can use it for free for websites with less than 500 URLs.
Sitebulb: Very similar to Screaming Frog, but with a more user-friendly UI. It ends up being more expensive than Screaming Frog to use the full version, but they do have a free trial. Could be a better option if you or your team need more hand-holding.
Email Tools:
ActiveCampaign: This is my most-used tool for collecting email addresses and sending emails to my list, but it also has a higher price tag. This is a very robust tool and can scale to the moon. They also have a free trial with up to 100 contacts and 100 emails sent.
MailerLite: This is a much cheaper option and is what I use when I’m starting a new email list. They have a free plan for smaller email lists and a free trial of their premium features if you want to check those out. This is really a no-brainer for those who don’t already have a big list or don’t need some of the more robust features of ActiveCampaign.
Kit (ConvertKit): Another extremely popular option. I don’t have experience with this one, but I know a ton of people using it. Has a free trial.
Video Tools:
Opus.pro: We use this on our main YouTube channel to turn long-form videos into shorts. It’s amazingly quick and easy to use. It uses AI to create the shorts automatically for you, and then you pick which one you like the best. We have a VA handle it all for us. You can sign up for free as well as test the tool for free.
Descript: This is what I use to record all of my videos. It’s an AI-driven software that allows you to edit the video by editing the text transcript, automatically remove filler words and silences, and a million other things. If you’re recording videos, I really couldn’t image living without this. You can get started for free.
Domains, Hosting, CDN
Namecheap: I buy all my domains and hosting from Namecheap and Namecheap only. Their customer service is so good that once I tried them out, I never went back to anything else. They will help you with literally everything.
Cloudflare: A great CDN to help drastically improve your site’s page speed and make sure it doesn’t go down.
Parasite SEO:
ParasiteSEO.com: This AI-based tool allows you to search for parasite SEO opportunities and even shows you different sites on which you can get paid parasite posts. If you are into parasite SEO, this is definitely worth checking out. The information given by the tool is quite valuable, so unfortunately there is no free trial.
WordPress Plugins
RankMath: You need an all-around SEO plugin. This is the one I’ve been using the most lately. I use it for titles, metas, URLs, redirects, schema, sitemaps, indexing, and much more. Also includes suggestions for SEO performance, but I turn those off because as an SEO, you should know how to do these things infinitely better than a plugin. Has free and paid options.
Yoast: This is another all-around SEO plugin, similar to RankMath but with less features. If you don’t vibe with RankMath for some reason, this would be the one I recommend. It also has free and paid options.
Link Whisper: This plugin can help automate your internal linking, which is crucial for SEO. You can do a better job doing internal links manually, but if you’re unsure about internal linking or are working on a large site that you don’t understand well or just want to speed things up, this can be a lifesaver. They have a 7-day free trial.
WP Rocket: This is a page speed plugin. A plugin like this is 100% mandatory to ensure your pages load quickly. I’m not a page speed genius, I just know they work and are easy to set up. WP Rocket is the best one I’ve used, but they have a paid version only.
WP Fastest Cache: Another page speed plugin. It’s not as good as WP Rocket (above), but they do have a free version.
Smush: This plugin compresses your images for you to make them load faster. Highly recommend. They have paid version which I’ve never used, as the free version has worked well for my needs so far.
Wordfence: This is a security plugin. They have a free version and a paid version. When you install this plugin and see how many people are trying to hack your site daily, you’ll never uninstall it. Have never had a single security breach when having this installed.
WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post: This plugin automatically redirects any 404 pages to another page on your site that it thinks is the most relevant. You should still try to clean up any 404s, but this is a great security measure for anything you forgot!
Advanced Custom Fields: Instead of trying to explain this one, I’ll just say it can help work around many things in WordPress. You’re gonna need to watch some videos for this one. Great for programmatic SEO, too. I’ve only used the free version.
OptinMonster: My most-used plugin to create pop-ups to collect emails. Tons of functionality here. There is no free trial, but they often give big discounts for new users. Crazy strong tool.
WordPress Page Builders and Themes
Elementor: My preferred setup is with Elementor Pro (paid) + Hello Elementor Theme (free). Some people will complain about site speed, but for 99% of people it won’t matter. This is perhaps the most used builder + theme setup for WordPress, and you can do literally anything with it. And if you need support, there are a million other people who have already had the same problem and asked about it on Reddit etc. They have a free version as well as a 7-day free trial of the Pro version.
GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks: This is another very popular setup. I don’t have much experience with it myself, but I know a lot of people who use it and are very happy with it. People praise it for its simplicity and speed. Free and paid options.
Kadence: Another insanely popular theme. Has both free and paid versions.
Elegant Themes (Divi): People talk a lot of smack about Divi being slow, but the amount of sites I’ve used it on and made a ton of money with is pretty high. I would say it’s the most beginner-friendly of these options, but you might end up having to use some workarounds for more advanced stuff. The good news is their support is always willing to help and is very effective. No free trial, but they have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Generative AI Tools
OpenAI/ChatGPT: This is my most-used AI tool by far. For $20 a month, what you get is insane. I use it for an unlimited amount of random tasks including data analysis, writing content, and a million other things. Always be sure to edit any AI content with a checklist like I show in my videos.
Claude: I’m starting to play with this one more for certain styles of writing, ie: sales pages and email newsletters. I feel like it doesn’t go as deep as ChatGPT but sounds more human.
Google Services
Some of the best SEO tools are from Google and are 100% free. This includes stuff like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Trends, Google Search, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Workspace.
More to come later!
Let me know if there are any tool recommendations you are looking for!