Budgeting for analytics is always tricky, especially when the tools you need can take a healthy bite out of your budget. Making sure your SEO budget includes the right product and app for the job is important. Tracking sales and ROI is a vital part of any tool, and there are some big name SEO tools that will get the job done. Spending your SEO budget on tools that will get results and deliver the kind of data you need will lead to increased profitability for your business in the long and short term, if used correctly. But you don’t have to reach for the vodka, like choosing the right tool is some kind of game of Russian roulette. Try to think of it more like Jell-O shots and a friendly game of darts. (An unlucky shot the first time doesn’t mean game over.)
Spending Money on Powerhouse SEO Tools
AuthorityLabs is an all-in-one rank monitoring tool which can track a few, thousands, or even millions of keywords. They offer a free trial with no credit card required, and an in depth tour of the site. The setup is quick and easy, and doesn’t require a degree in marketing or IT to figure out. They make everything simple to understand, while still delivering amazingly powerful, detailed, and easy to analyze results. They can sync domains, track your business’ competition, offer daily graphs and trends, as well as the ability to track results local to your business. Overall, AuthorityLabs is a great value for the power behind it, and the knowledge and skill of their team shines through. The free trial can help you determine whether or not it’s worth your investment.
There are, of course, many competing SEO tool suites out there. I’m not naming names because Brian has threatened to shove bamboo under my fingernails out of respect for this fine company that has me guest posting for them, but let’s face it…if you’re reading this blog, you probably already know who they are. With the wide selection of SEO tools available to you, remember that the most powerful suites are priced around $99/month or higher – and the price goes up a bit if you’re shopping for an agency that handles multiple clients.
Because various SEO tools offer differing functionality, it probably makes sense to subscribe to multiple services in order to paint a complete picture for your business. (We all know that virtually every analytics tool out there gives you different numbers because they all use different methods to make the raw data meaningful.) Some tools are compatible with others inasmuch as they sync their data, and others are completely standalone. See what combination of features and price points can get you the most bang for your buck.
Don’t Forget the Free Stuff
Fill in the blanks or just get another perspective from some of the free tools out there to complement your paid SEO tools. I’m sure you’re already using Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Google’s Keyword Tool, and the wide array of free SEO tools offered by SEO Book…right? There are loads of browser plug-ins to help you, as well. Check out Page Speed, Foxy SEO Tool, MozBar, SEO Quake, KGen, User Agent Switcher, and many others that you can run a quick search for. Just be careful of those “Best 200 free SEO tools” posts you find… My own research turned up a lot of high ranking posts from 3-4 years ago, with much of the information outdated or obsolete.
Overall, each tool offers something unique. Making room for SEO tracking in your business’ budget is a key to success. Knowing what keywords in your social media or website are driving sales, what your competition’s sites are up to in real time, having graphs and reports to show clients of the results they can expect with your business – all of these are vastly important to any modern company. Take advantage of those free trials to take the stress out of choosing which SEO tools you want to spend your budget on.
