One of the worst mistakes that many new internet marketers make is underestimating the importance of tools and resources. Now, there’s a fine line between an appropriate tool and over-reliance on it; we’ll get into that in a bit. You don’t want to be like one man I know who has an arsenal of ten different keyword research tools, but can’t write three paragraphs on the subject he’s writing about.
Tools are great; they make life easier and your internet marketing strategy more effective. But, there is no substitute for common sense, hard work and personal responsibility.
Google has said that one of their top priorities is to reward sites with useful content, not content farms. The days of buying a few links and writing some spun content in order to rank high are over. They have been for a long time.
Some tools you may want to lookin too are:
SEMRush
Majestic
Moz
Goolge Search Console
Google Analytics
Ahrefs
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Another very helpful tool for on page optimization is Surfer SEO.
The best approach is use tools as a guide, for example:
1. Use SEMRush to determine the best keywords you should be targeting
2. Use Majestic to see how many links are pointing to your competitors
3. Use Google Analytics to see what sites are actually converting for you
4. Use Ahrefs or Majestic Webmaster Tools to check out your backlinks and make sure they’re not harmful
5. Use Google Webmaster Tools to find out how many site you’re actually ranking for
6. Use SEO Site Tools to monitor your rankings over time and see if you’ve been gaining or losing ground
7. Use Quicksprout to track your keywords and see what’s working and what isn’t
8. Use Buzzsumo to find out what kind of content your competitors are putting out that’s working well
9. Use Google Search Console to identify any structural problems, indexing issues or duplicate content problems with your website
10. And lastly, use the ever popular MozBar for Chrome to help you do on-page SEO.
But here’s the thing, if you rely solely on these tools instead of using their own brain, you’re going to have a very difficult time succeeding in the long term.
You won’t be able to establish a creative or effective business strategy on the idea that tools will give you all the information you need.
Now, the point I’m trying to make is that although these tools will give you a leg up in your industry, they’re not going to do ALL of the work for you. You still have to put in the effort and really think about what kind of strategy you’re creating and who your audience is.
So, although you should really use these tools to fine tune your SEO efforts , don’t let them become an obsession.
So in summary…
Tools are great; they make life easier and your internet marketing strategy more effective. However, there is no substitute for common sense, hard work and personal responsibility.
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