Best SEO Software of 2024

Updated


Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported, which means we earn commissions from links on Digital. Commissions do not affect our editorial evaluations or opinions.

If you want to attract organic leads to your website, you need to be visible on search engines such as Google. We’ve researched the leading SEO software you can use to make that happen in a strategic, well-planned manner.

Best SEO Software: Our Top Pick

We chose Semrush as the best SEO software for its keyword tracking, backlink analytics, and site crawling functionality packed into a user-friendly interface.

Our Top Picks

Semrush

Best SEO Software

Jump to Review

Ahrefs

Best for Experienced Users

Jump to Review

SEOptimer

Best for White-Label Reports

Jump to Review

Mangools

Best for Keyword Research

Jump to Review

Yoast

Best for WordPress Users

Jump to Review

Netpeak Spider

Best for Site Audits

Jump to Review

Conductor

Best Customer Service

Jump to Review

Google Search Console

Best Free SEO Tool

Jump to Review

SEO Panel

Best Open-Source Solution

Jump to Review

LinkResearchTools

Best for Link Building

Jump to Review

Digital.com dives deep into every topic it covers to offer trusted and reliable recommendations for the best business tools. See how we review SEO software.


Meet the Team

Tired of worn-out business advice? Us too. We want to make the internet a better place for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone else who’s as do or die as we are.

The Top SEO Software

Semrush logo

Semrush

Best SEO Software

Features

  • All-in-one SEO suite
  • Backlink monitoring and analytics
  • Site crawling + keyword tracking

#1 Top Pick

Semrush is a complete SEO tool, covering every essential aspect of search you can think of. If you’re serious about organic search, you can’t go wrong with Semrush.

Starting Price
$99.95 per month

Value-adds
Local SEO module

Customer Support
Ticketing & phone

Basic Functionality:
– Keyword research
– SERP tracking
– Content optimization
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Once upon a time, Semrush seemed to be for SEO experts only, but after multiple updates to UI and UX, the dashboard and data are much easier to read, even if you’re new to SEO. We named Semrush the best overall SEO tool because it’s a complete SEO tool that won’t break a small business’s bank.

Keyword overview dashboard inside of Semrush. Shows volume, difficulty, global volume, intent, results, CPC, trends, keyword variations, questions, and related keywords

No SEO platform is right for every user, but Semrush is about as close as it gets. It’s our top recommendation if you’re looking for a new SEO service in 2023.

Semrush checks virtually every box such as keyword tracking, site crawling, backlink analytics, and Application Programming Interface (API) access for third-party integrations. Its prices are relatively affordable, and you can add various tools to your plan for an extra charge.

Furthermore, a visual update gave the application a new, attractive design and made it much easier to use. The left side of the screen displays various categories such as competitive research, keyword research, and link building. Even though it provides a lot of in-depth information, I felt that Semrush makes everything fairly simple to find.

You can easily identify potential high-value keywords based on factors like search volume, difficulty, intent, and recent trends. Even the cheapest plan supports daily tracking for up to 500 keywords at a time. Unfortunately, I felt that the tools themselves could be overwhelming, and there were some usability issues.

When I created a content template, for example, I could only export it as a Word document. Even worse, the document it gave me contained nearly 20,000 words, including the full text of 10 competing articles. There was no way to customize the report, export a smaller version, or export in any format other than Word.

Still, even though other providers might beat Semrush on specific features, it’s hard to find a better overall service for the average small business owner.

  • Who is Semrush best for?
    Based on my experience, Semrush is a good option for most small business owners. You’ll probably spend some time feeling it out as I did with the content template tool, but it’s still more straightforward than most other applications with similarly deep features. For example, you can immediately gather all relevant information about a specific keyword — how many people are searching for it and how your competitors rank for the same search term.
  • Recent upgrades to Semrush
    Semrush developed a new visual style that significantly improved its ease of use and aesthetic appeal and introduced many features. For example, the new Keyword Intent metric synthesizes search data to understand what you are looking for when you enter a specific search term. This makes it easier to develop campaigns that respond to the real desires of your audience.
  • Semrush Pricing
    The cheapest version of Semrush is the Pro subscription, which has a base rate of $99.95 per month paid annually, or $119.95 on a month-to-month basis. This plan comes with five projects, 500 tracked keywords, and 10,000 results per report. Guru ($191.62 per month paid annually) and Business ($374.95 per month paid annually) increase those limits and give you access to more advanced features.

Reasons to choose Semrush

  • Visually appealing interface
  • Flexible pricing with add-ons
  • API access (Business tier only)

Reasons to avoid

  • More expensive than some
  • Can feel overwhelming

Visit Semrush

Ahrefs logo

Ahrefs

Best for Experienced Users

Features

  • Powerful keyword research tool
  • Comprehensive competitor research
  • Excellent site auditing & backlink analysis
  • True all-in-one SEO solution

Starting Price
$83 per month

Value-adds
SERP history tool

Customer Support
Email, Twitter, live chat

Basic Functionality:
– Keyword research
– SERP tracking
– Content optimization
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Ahrefs packs a lot of nuance into its powerful tools, making it a bit harder to learn. If you have experience though, it can be a great SEO companion. Its keyword research tool is well known in the industry, and it has one of the most extensive crawlers, second only to Google’s.

Checking the top organic keywords for a website in Ahrefs

Compared to the sleek, futuristic design of Semrush, Ahrefs appears a little more technical and complicated. It might not be as welcoming if you are new to it, but it offers some incredibly powerful tools. That’s why I picked Ahrefs as the top 2023 option for more experienced marketers.

I’ve used Ahrefs for years, and it’s one of my favorite SEO tools for keyword (KW) research and competitor analysis. There is a lot more Ahrefs can do, including site audits, content suggestions, and helpful analysis of your site (or another’s). The links report is great for giving you a look at which links are helping or hurting your website.

  • Who is Ahrefs best for?
    Anyone can learn to use Ahrefs effectively, but if you are less experienced you may need some time to understand how the application works. The interface is more barebones than Semrush and other competitors. Ahrefs enables data-driven insights including detailed comparisons and granular filters, but you need to know how to interpret that data to unlock its underlying value.
  • Recent upgrades
    Ahrefs publishes monthly blog posts about recent updates to the platform. It added a SERP history tool that shows the top search results for a given keyword on any given date. This makes it much easier to see how your website has compared to others over time.
  • Ahrefs Pricing
    Ahrefs is available for slightly less than Semrush at a starting price of $83 per month paid annually. That said, the most robust versions actually go far beyond Semrush in terms of price — the Enterprise tier is $833 per month paid annually. This plan comes with features like API access, activity logs, and access management.

Reasons to choose Ahrefs

  • Powerful, granular keyword research
  • New SERP history tool
  • Excellent site auditing for multiple sites
  • One of the best backlink analysis tools (extensive database, comprehensive crawlers)

Reasons to avoid

  • Expensive after entry-level plan
  • Limited features on low-tier plan
  • Steep learning curve

The Bottom Line

Its keyword research tool is well known in the industry, and it has one of the most extensive crawlers, second only to Google’s.

Visit Ahrefs

SEOptimer logo

SEOptimer

Best for White-Label Reports

Features

  • White-label reports on higher tiers
  • Keyword tracking and recommendations
  • Lower cost option for individuals
  • Robust SEO auditing tool

Starting Price
$19 per month

Value-adds
White-label reporting

Customer Support
Email, live chat

Basic Functionality:
– Keyword research
– SERP tracking
– Content optimization
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

SEOptimer offers three plans; the low-priced one is suitable for individuals, while the other two are better for small businesses (specifically content or SEO agencies). Its standout feature is white labeling, so you can create SEO reports for clients with your branding on them.

A white labeled SEO report from SEOptimer

SEOptimer is a good option for your SEO use, but it stands out, even more, when it comes to white labeling. With its white-label reports, you can give your clients and leads professional SEO reports at the click of a button. That makes SEOptimer a popular choice for SEO businesses that want to improve their offerings.

After signing up, you can easily create reports with custom branding by uploading your company’s name, logo, and colors. This is particularly useful for lead generation — showing a prospect a clear, professional representation of their SEO practices will go a long way toward gaining their trust.

SEOptimer reports cover a wide range of SEO factors such as broken links, page load speed, keyword positions, and search traffic. I ran a report on my own site and compared what I got back to what Google Analytics offers. It’s the same information, but it was far easier for me to read SEOptimer’s report and it’s more visually appealing.

There are some limitations, such as with page crawling — if a site has thousands of pages, you might not be able to crawl them all with SEOptimer.

Even if you’re targeting an international audience, you can generate reports in 11 other languages, including French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Support is available by email or live chat, but SEOptimer typically takes a couple of hours for a response.

  • Who is SEOptimer best for?
    SEOptimer is going to be the best fit for selling SEO services to your clients. It comes with solid fundamental features like SEO crawling and keyword research, but the white-label reports are its main value-add. Given its relatively affordable price tag, you could easily justify the cost with a fairly low volume of sales.
  • Recent upgrades
    SEOptimer has a Feature Request board for customer suggestions. A recent update included an especially hard-hitting feature: the option to add competitors to audit reports so that clients and leads can see how they stack up against other websites in their niche. There were also several smaller additions such as automatic scheduling for recurring reports.
  • SEOptimer Pricing
    After a 14-day free trial, you can continue with one of three SEOptimer subscriptions. You have your choice of paying month-to-month or saving 25% by paying upfront annually. At $19 per month, the DIY SEO tier is intended for your own use. You’ll need to upgrade to the White Label plan ($29 per month) to generate white-label reports for other clients. At $59 per month, the White Label & Embedding subscription enables you to place audit forms on your site for even better lead generation.

Reasons to choose SEOptimer

  • Extremely easy to use
  • Starts at just $19 per month
  • Available white-label reports

Reasons to avoid

  • Limited value outside of reports
  • Embed forms double the cost
  • Page crawling is limited

The Bottom Line

Its standout feature is white labeling, so you can create SEO reports for clients with your branding on them.

Visit SEOptimer

Mangools logo

Mangools

Best for Keyword Research

Features

  • Strong keyword research solution
  • Five unique SEO tools in one
  • User-friendly interface

Starting Price
$29.90 per month

Value-adds
Keyword research

Customer Support
Email, live chat

Basic Functionality:
– Keyword research
– SERP tracking
– Content optimization
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Mangools is an easy-to-use suite of SEO tools to help you research and manage keywords, SERPs, links, your site’s health, and your competition. Its claim to fame is keyword research.

Shows a list of keywords for a domain inside of Mangools. Shows list of keywords on the left and keyword stats on the right

Mangools is an SEO software provider that offers a bundle of five tools: KWFinder, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher, LinkMiner, and SiteProfiler. These programs cover keyword research, search engine rank analysis, backlink tracking, and website evaluation.

Each of the five services offers value, but I’ve always been impressed by KWFinder. It responds to one of the biggest SEO challenges: how to identify new keyword ideas with strong traffic potential. I used KWFinder exclusively before I learned how to use Ahrefs.

KWFinder will help you find keywords with low rank difficulty and a relatively high search volume. I was impressed by the way it synthesized so much data into a fairly straightforward visual. Even if you’ve never used an SEO tool before, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble wrapping your head around KWFinder.

Similarly, the competitor research tools are just as straightforward and offer solid value for sites struggling to rank. Rather than searching by keyword, you can search by domain and then see the top keywords sending readers to that website. The one downside I noticed is that there’s no clear way to directly compare two sites for content gap analysis.

  • Who is Mangools best for?
    Mangools is best if you want to focus on identifying valuable keywords for your websites. I found it very easy to visualize and interpret data, and based on customer reviews, most users agree with that assessment. I would highly recommend Mangools if you’re having trouble settling on a content direction.
  • Recent upgrades
    Mangools product updates include new visual metrics added to SERPWatcher, which offers a comprehensive view of keyword performance. You can also watch multiple URLs per keyword and add sub-users.
  • Pricing
    Mangools is available at three price points: Basic ($29.90 per month paid annually), Premium ($39.90 per month paid annually), and Agency ($79.90 per month paid annually). You’ll get a one-hour-only offer for a lifetime 10% off after creating a Mangools account.

Reasons to choose Mangools

  • Strong keyword research tools
  • Responsive customer support
  • Outstanding ease of use

Reasons to avoid

  • Disappointing backlink tracking
  • Not as robust or established as others

The Bottom Line

Mangools is an easy-to-use suite of SEO tools to help you research and manage keywords, SERPs, links, your site’s health, and your competition.

Visit Mangools

Yoast logo

Yoast

Best for WordPress Users

Features

  • On-page SEO suggestions
  • Global settings for site-wide preferences
  • Readability analysis

Starting Price
Free or $99 per year

Value-adds
On-page SEO

Customer Support
24/7 on higher tiers only

Basic Functionality:
– Content optimization
– Link management
– SEO audits

Read More

Yoast is one of the most ubiquitous SEO tools. The WordPress plug-in is simple to use, and it’s a big help for anyone who needs a reminder to add a meta title, description, or targeted keyword on posts and pages. The free version is useful, but the paid versions unlock more helpful features and support.

Optimizing a WordPress post with Yoast

Yoast is a well-known WordPress plug-in that isn’t a typical SEO tool — and it’s one of the easiest-to-use SEO tools on our list. It’s a great way to analyze on-page SEO and offers suggestions for improving your SEO on pages and posts. It scans the content on your site, sentence structure, passive and active voice, subheadings, and sentence and paragraph length.

You can use a 100% free version, and it’s a bit limiting, but a useful tool. I use it for my own website, which helps me see the problems it spots with my pages and posts. Yoast SEO happens behind the scenes and is automated, such as your SEO title — just choose how you want it to look under Search Appearance in settings.

  • Who is Yoast best for?
    Yoast is essentially a keyword and content optimizer, so it’s ideal if you blog for your business or personal site. It can be helpful for small e-commerce businesses that want to optimize product pages, too. You can’t do competitor analysis, deep keyword research, or run reports on your top pages with Yoast, though (that’s not really what it’s meant to do).
  • Recent upgrades
    The Yoast SEO Changelog provides information about new releases. Recent changes include improved language analysis, discovery of cornerstone articles for Premium users, and a new readability assessment.
  • Pricing
    Yoast is one of a few applications on this list with a free version available. While you will be limited concerning some features, you can use this option indefinitely at no charge. At $99 per year, the Premium tier comes with helpful extras like internal linking tools, 24/7 support, and early access to updates. You can also bundle Yoast SEO with four other Yoast plug-ins for a single payment of $229 per year or $22 per month.

Reasons to choose Yoast

  • Outstanding ease of use
  • Installs directly within WordPress
  • Free version is enough for most
  • Just $99 per year for Premium

Reasons to avoid

  • Limited analytic tools
  • Unimpressive visual design
  • No keyword research

The Bottom Line

The WordPress plug-in is free & simple to use. It’s not an all-in-one SEO solution, but it’s a big help for anyone who needs a reminder to add a meta title, description, or targeted keyword on posts and pages.

Visit Yoast

Netpeak Spider logo

Netpeak Spider

Best for Site Audits

Features

  • Fast, thorough SEO site audits
  • Automated data enrichment for outreach
  • Basic backlink analysis

Starting Price
$7 per month

Value-adds
Lifetime licenses

Customer Support
Email

Basic Functionality:
– SERP tracking
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Netpeak Spider is an on-premise SEO tool that’s most helpful for site audits to help you clean up on-page SEO. It also offers data enrichment, so you can more easily do outreach for link building. As a bonus, Netpeak Spider is one of the most affordable SEO tools in the industry with an option for a lifetime license.

Overview dashboard of a site audit in Netpeak Spider

Netpeak Spider is a popular SEO tool with a more narrow focus than many of the options on this list. While some other features are included, the primary focus is on site crawling and SEO audit tools. It’s also an easy-to-use tool, but there are a lot of settings that might be overwhelming.

A quick crawl from Netpeak Spider can identify common SEO problems like broken links, duplicate content, and misspelled words. This solves a critical pain point for many website owners: you might not even know what’s holding back your site rankings. Cleaning up these easily fixable issues could give your site more visibility in search engines.

If you wanted to check for the same issues on your own, it would be extremely time-consuming — particularly as your site grows. Netpeak Spider can perform a much more comprehensive crawl in just a few minutes and has other helpful features such as analytics, integrations with other software, and data scraping for backlink outreach.

I used Netpeak Spider for keyword and content gap analysis, but it falls short compared with other options because this is more of a technical SEO auditing tool. With plans available for less than $10 per month paid annually, Netpeak Spider is also much more affordable than full-service SEO platforms.

  • Who is Netpeak Spider best for?
    Netpeak Spider is much cheaper than most other providers listed, so it makes sense for smaller businesses with a limited budget for SEO and content marketing. Given Netpeak Spider’s narrow set of features, it’s best for link building and cleaning up your websites — plus, you should already be confident in your core SEO strategy. Full-service SEO software often comes with similar crawling tools, so consider an alternative if you’re looking for a broader set of features.
  • Recent upgrades
    Netpeak Spider’s release schedule seems to be every other month. There’s no longer a freemium plan but rather a free trial with limits. Netpeak changed its pricing plans and added an onboarding window to make it even more affordable and accessible.
  • Pricing
    Pricing is a substantial advantage for Netpeak Spider compared to most other SEO software. Additionally, Netpeak Spider offers extra discounts for lifetime licenses, so you can save some money if you’re in it for the long haul. The Starter tier ($7 per month paid annually) comes with most basic features, while Advanced ($12 per month paid annually) adds in infinite crawled URLs plus white-label reports and the new audit enrichment tool.

    Business ($22 per month paid annually) is built for larger clients with features like VIP onboarding and a dedicated account manager. Rates are double the annual cost for lifetime licenses, but you get all future updates for a one-time fee.

Reasons to choose Netpeak Spider

  • Starts at just $7 per month
  • Crawls sites (even large ones) quickly
  • Lots of parameters and controls
  • Integrates with Google Analytics & Yandex

Reasons to avoid

  • Limited range of features
  • Not great for visual reports
  • Dated interface

The Bottom Line

Netpeak Spider is a desktop SEO tool that’s most helpful for site audits to help you clean up on-page SEO.

Visit Netpeak Spider

Conductor logo

Conductor

Best Customer Service

Features

  • Custom-built SEO suite based on your needs
  • On-demand AI recommendations
  • Detailed analytics & insights

Starting Price
Custom pricing

Value-adds
SEO roadmaps

Customer Support
24/5 tailored to you

Basic Functionality:
– Keyword research
– SERP tracking
– Content optimization
– Link management
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Conductor targets enterprise-level businesses to provide custom solutions for SEO and marketing. The support team from Conductor gets consistently high marks from customers because it offers direct support.

A website health check inside of Conductor

Every piece of SEO software we’ve covered provides value, but it can be difficult to take advantage of that on your own. Especially in the early stages, it’s extremely helpful to work with experienced professionals who can contextualize a platform’s functionality and help you leverage it to the fullest possible extent.

Conductor made our list due to its uniquely responsive and helpful support team. I had an easy time getting help and found that numerous other reviewers have positively interacted with the customer service staff, while almost nobody has had a negative experience.

Conductor has a stronger focus on larger enterprise clients than other leading SEO software providers. However, there is a free Chrome extension that I installed and use occasionally to get an idea of what isn’t working well on my site.

Based on Conductor’s recommendations, I changed the wording on my site to drop the reading level down to a seventh-grade level. I still need to add alt text to my images, which the SEO plug-in pointed out.

If you use Conductor, you’ll have the chance to work with a team of experts who can answer questions and help you achieve your targets. The process starts with an organic marketing assessment in which its team will look at your current practices and help develop a roadmap for the future. That’s a much greater degree of support than you’ll get from most SEO software.

  • Who is Conductor best for?
    Conductor is built for large-scale companies and organizations that want to build industry-leading campaigns. It’s a comprehensive SEO platform that can integrate with your full tech stack and supercharge every area of your digital marketing practices. On the other hand, Conductor’s robust features and custom pricing make it a less practical choice for small- and even mid-sized businesses.
  • Recent upgrades
    Conductor announced new AI-powered content recommendations. This tool can help you develop more focused content by identifying key elements such as questions to answer and keywords to include in the headings and meta descriptions. Other product updates have been announced on a near-monthly basis.
  • Pricing
    Since Conductor is aimed at large-scale businesses, it doesn’t offer any free plan or even pre-set pricing tiers. That said, there is a free Chrome extension with a narrower range of tools. Contact Conductor directly to get an idea of what its services would cost your company.

Reasons to choose Conductor

  • Free Chrome extension
  • Comprehensive SEO services
  • Interactive customer support
  • Futuristic, appealing Interface

Reasons to avoid

  • Expensive for small businesses
  • Issues with ease of use

The Bottom Line

The support team from Conductor gets consistently high marks from customers because it offers direct support and custom plans tailored around what you need.

Visit Conductor

Google Search Console logo

Google Search Console

Best Free SEO Tool

Features

  • Up-to-date insight on current rankings
  • Submit sitemaps & fix SEO issues
  • Understand website performance

Starting Price
Free

Value-adds
Sitemap submittal

Customer Support
Videos & documentation

Basic Functionality:
– SERP tracking
– Competitor research
– SEO audits

Read More

Google Search Console is a great way to ensure that Google indexes your site correctly. Plus, this tool will point out any errors, and pages that were no-indexed, and show you how well your site performs from a traffic, click-through-rate (CTR), and impression standpoint. And it’s free to use.

More detailed performance analytics in Google Search Console

The Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that offers basic SEO and site optimization features. It won’t replace the functionality of a premium SEO service like Semrush or Ahrefs, but it’s surprisingly practical if you aren’t looking to spend any money.

Even if you pay for another application, it may still be worth leveraging Google Search Console in certain situations. For example, I used it recently to request a new crawl of my site after I made changes.

These crawls work differently from third-party crawlers like Netpeak Spider. Google will identify some optimization issues, but it will also change the way your site appears in search results. Without a manual crawl, Google may still be indexing your site based on outdated information. Requesting a crawl ensures that Google is using the currently published version of your site.

Google also offers mobile usability reports that help identify any optimization issues that may pop up for mobile users. These could include anything from small text to crowded buttons that are difficult for mobile visitors to select. Most of the Search Console’s features are simple, straightforward tools that offer an immediate SEO impact.

  • Who is Google Search Console best for?
    Google Search Console makes sense if you are relatively new to the world of SEO. As your site grows, you will probably find that it doesn’t offer enough to meet your needs. But in the early stages, this tool will identify plenty of weaknesses and help you move the site in the right direction.
  • There are also Google-specific functions that continue to be useful even after switching to a more robust platform.
  • Recent upgrades
    Google recently added a new Search Console Video index report to match the growing importance of video marketing. With this tool, you can see how many pages Google has identified a video on. You can also look at why certain pages aren’t indexed.

    For example, you might use an unsupported video format, or the video may be too large or small for Google’s crawler to pick up.
  • Pricing
    Google Search Console is free, and there aren’t any paid upgrades or add-ons to consider. If you’re interested in the Search Console, you may also like Google’s other programs, such as Google Analytics. You might add other services to your toolkit later, but Google’s suite of SEO tools offers a solid starting point.

Reasons to choose Google Search Console

  • Free to use
  • Request new crawls from Google
  • Regular updates
  • Clear, streamlined interface

Reasons to avoid

  • Small set of SEO features
  • No customer support

The Bottom Line

Google Search Console is a great way to ensure that Google indexes your site correctly. Plus, this tool will point out any errors, and pages that were no-indexed, and show you how well your site performs from a traffic, click-through-rate (CTR), and impression standpoint.

Visit Google Search Console

SEO Panel logo

SEO Panel

Best Open-Source Solution

Features

  • Backlink and page speed analytics
  • Rank tracking for Google and Alexa
  • Built-in site auditor

Starting Price
Free

Value-adds
Free & open source

Customer Support
Ticket, email, forum

Basic Functionality:
– SERP tracking
– Link Management
– SEO audits

Read More

Whether you choose the free on-premises version or a paid cloud-hosted version of SEO Panel, you get helpful features to track your backlinks, page speed, keyword positions, and your site’s rank. Paid versions of the SEO tool come with plug-ins to help you manage social media, customize your SEO Panel, and perform bulk keyword checks.

Keyword tracker and manager inside of SEO Panel

Active open-source software is incredibly difficult to find, particularly in the B2B space. I was happy to have the chance to highlight SEO Panel, an effective SEO platform that’s surprisingly robust and simple to use. It was an easy selection of the best open-source SEO software in 2023.

With SEO Panel, it was easy to track my position for various keywords, audit my site for basic optimization, and check backlinks leading to my website from other domains. It also supports these features for multiple domains in a single SEO Panel account.

Even though SEO Panel doesn’t have the same amenities as a premium service, you can still use robust support resources. The website offers thorough documentation for virtually every element of the SEO Panel application.

You can even request more help by creating a support ticket. SEO Panel easily integrates any other programs you use through the API. Those might be routine features for a paid application, but they make SEO Panel stand out as a free service.

  • Who is SEO Panel best for?
    SEO Panel is primarily a good recommendation for startups and other small businesses in the early stages of growth. Like most other free software, SEO Panel can only offer so much. Even cloud subscriptions are relatively limited compared to premium alternatives. I also found the visual design disappointing compared to what’s available from paid applications.
  • Recent upgrades
    SEO Panel recently added numerous features, including minor bug fixes, PHP 8 support, and new PDF reporting tools.
  • Pricing
    SEO Panel is free to use, but only on your server. The cloud version of SEO Panel is more analogous to other SEO services. You can get cloud hosting for $25 per month (Personal), $49 per month (Professional), or $99 per month (Business). While each subscription has unique features, they include installation, free upgrades, and a free subdomain.

Reasons to choose SEO Panel

  • Free and open-source
  • Paid cloud hosting available
  • Positive customer reviews
  • Surprisingly deep features

Reasons to avoid

  • No major recent updates
  • Limited scope

The Bottom Line

Whether you choose the free on-premises version or a paid cloud-hosted version of SEO Panel, you get helpful features to track your backlinks, page speed, keyword positions, and your site’s rank.

Visit SEO Panel

Compare SEO Software

SEO Software

Features & Services

Starting Price

Semrush logo

Semrush

Best SEO Software

  • All-in-one SEO suite
  • Backlink monitoring and analytics
  • Site crawling + keyword tracking

$99.95 per month

Ahrefs logo

Ahrefs

Best for Experienced Users

  • Powerful keyword research tool
  • Comprehensive competitor research
  • Excellent site auditing

$83 per month

SEOptimer logo

SEOptimer

Best for White-Label Reports

  • White-label reports on higher tiers
  • Keyword tracking and recommendations
  • Robust SEO auditing tool

$19 per month

Mangools logo

Tinuiti

Best for Keyword Research

  • Strong keyword research solution
  • Five unique SEO tools in one
  • User-friendly interface

$29.90 per month

Yoast logo

Yoast

Best for WordPress

  • On-page SEO suggestions
  • Global settings for site-wide preferences
  • Readability analysis

Free or $99 per year

Netpeak Spider logo

Netpeak Spider

Best for Site Audits

  • Fast, thorough SEO site audits
  • Automated data enrichment for outreach
  • Basic backlink analysis

$7 per month

Conductor logo

Conductor

Best Customer Service

  • Custom-built SEO suite based on your needs
  • On-demand AI recommendations
  • Detailed analytics & insights

Custom pricing

Google Search Console logo

Google Search Console

Best Free SEO Tool

  • Up-to-date insight on current rankings
  • Submit sitemaps & fix SEO issues
  • Understand website performance

Free

SEO Panel logo

SEO Panel

Best Open-Source Solution

  • Backlink and page speed analytics
  • Rank tracking for Google and Alexa
  • Built-in site auditor
LinkResearchTools logo

LinkResearchTools

Best for Link Building

  • Disavow file management
  • Link simulator for vetting links
  • Deep competitor analysis

$483.25 per month

What You Need to Know

What is SEO and why do I need it?

SEO stands for search engine optimization—increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. The ultimate goal of SEO for business is to generate organic traffic: searchers clicking through to your website from a search engine results page (SERP).

What is SEO software?

Search engine optimization (SEO) tools, or organic search marketing software, are designed to improve the ranking of websites in search engine results pages (SERPs) without paying the search engine provider for placement.

Should I pay for SEO services/software?

While investing in SEO services isn’t cheap, it can be worthwhile if you want to generate more traffic to your site and raise conversions. SEO agencies give you access to dedicated professionals that can enhance your online presence and scale your business.

Is SEO software secure?

As with most types of software, the best SEO software programs offer many levels of security. When choosing this type of software, you want to look for security features like documentation that show frequent security updates and patches, intrusion detection, two-factor authentication (2FA) or multifactor authentication (MFA), data encryption, privacy protection, and the monitoring of user activities.

How long does it take SEO to kick in?

The short answer is between 4-12 months. The longer answer concerns several factors that tie into your SEO strategy. If you target low-competition keywords, you can start to see results within four to six months. Measurable increases in traffic and conversions should be able to be tracked within 6 months to a year if your new SEO strategy is working for you. However, with high-competition keywords and high domain and page authorities, it can take much longer, sometimes up to 4 years, to see strong results and good rankings.

How can I tell if my SEO strategy is working?

Here are 7 signs that your SEO efforts are working:

  1. Your website health score is improving.
  2. You’re getting more organic traffic.
  3. Your pages are ranking higher.
  4. Visitors are spending more time on your website.
  5. Your conversion rate is increasing.
  6. You’re getting more referring domains.
  7. Your domain and page authority are improving.

How We Review SEO Software

When it comes to SEO software, everyone is looking for something different. With that in mind, I balanced my evaluation by taking a variety of factors into account. I signed up for each of the 10 listed services and tested the application to see how it works in practice. The most important criteria are functionality, ease of use, price, and customer support, but I also considered other unique traits of each service.

When testing the SEO software providers, I evaluated:

  • Basic functionality: SEO strategy involves a core set of tools: keyword research, SERP tracking, content optimization, link management, competitor research, and SEO audits and analytics
  • Value-adds: unique benefits that make particular platforms stand out
  • Ease of use: including the application’s visual design, how simple it is to find what you’re looking for, tutorials, and customer supports
  • Pricing: Price isn’t everything, but it makes a big difference for small businesses. The most important thing was to confirm that each platform offers sufficient functionality and value to be worth the cost.

Learn more about our review methodology.

Scroll to Top