Achieving SEO success requires the right toolkit. Our proven SEO strategies are powered by key tools that allow us to:
- Target user intent with keywords and content
- Enhance user experience with a strong technical framework
With more than 40 years combined experience, my team and I have seen firsthand how these tools do more than facilitate SEO strategies — they form the very backbone. Here’s a closer look at some of our go-to SEO tools and how they can empower businesses to narrow in on user intent and provide a great user experience.
focus area #1: targeting user intent with keywords + content
The key to getting the right traffic to your site is understanding the intent behind users’ search queries so you can optimize your content accordingly. After all, it won’t matter how many keywords you rank for if they only attract unqualified traffic.
keyword gap analysis
Targeting user intent begins with a keyword gap analysis. This reveals keywords that competitors are ranking for that you are not, which can help you expand your keyword targeting. A keyword gap analysis can also identify keywords your audience is using that you don’t have content for on your website. This tells you where you need to create content to meet user needs.
Recommended tools:
- SEMrush
- aHrefs
- BrightEdge
search query analysis
A search query analysis tells you which search queries are driving traffic to your site and what kind of content search engines are returning for those queries (videos, featured snippets, images, etc.). This helps inform what kind of content to create to cater to your audience. For example, say a search query that’s driving traffic to your site is returning featured snippets. Knowing that, you would probably want to create a content resource (like a blog post) targeting that query, as opposed to something like a landing page.
Recommended tools:
- Google Search Console
- aHrefs
content gap analysis
A content gap analysis reveals opportunities to better satisfy user intent through content. This usually includes identifying what content your competitors have that you don’t, as well as what content you have versus what content your audience is actually searching for. All of this helps to inform what kind of content you should be creating to attract visitors and stay competitive.
Recommended tools:
- Brighedge
- aHrefs
- SEMrush
focus area #2: enhancing user experience with a strong technical framework
Getting the right traffic to your site is only half the battle — you also have to provide an exceptional user experience for visitors when they get there.
mobile-friendliness analysis
Whatever your market, some (potentially large) portion of your audience visits your website on a mobile device. It’s critical to provide a seamless user experience for mobile-first visitors, and a mobile-friendliness analysis is a good starting point. A mobile-friendliness analysis will uncover critical errors on your site, assess site speed, and determine if the important elements of your site are visible on mobile (i.e., fit within the mobile viewport).
Recommended tools:
- Google Search Console
- Google Page Speed Insights
page load speed + core web vitals review
Site speed and page load performance can have a huge impact on user experience and SEO overall. It’s important to identify, evaluate and prioritize opportunities to improve in these areas to ensure visitors and search engines can access your website quickly and easily.
Recommended tools:
- Zoompf
- Google Page Speed Insights
- Screaming Frog
website crawlability review
A website crawlability review will tell you if your site follows SEO best practices and uncover errors that are blocking search engines from crawling and indexing the site. It will also tell you which pages of your site are available in the search results, so you can ensure all your important pages are visible (or which pages to work on if they are not).
Recommended tools:
- Screaming Frog
- Botify
- Google Search Console
do you have the right tools for the job?
SEO tools are indispensable for crafting a well-rounded SEO strategy. With the right tools providing insights, we’re able to shape keyword and content strategies that attract qualified traffic and improve rankings. If you’d like to learn more or discuss your SEO challenges, please reach out. My team and I are ready to help.