14 Essential SEO Tools for 2022
If you build, grow and sell digital agencies, you need the right tools. There are complex essential functions that make campaigns effective including tracking/reporting, technical SEO, and keyword research. Here's a breakdown of the high-level campaign phases with tools covering all the bases.
Ahrefs — The Swiss Army Knife
Ahrefs functions as a "swiss army knife" of SEO tools, used for keyword research, rank tracking, backlink analysis, competitive analysis and content topic ideation. It's by far and away the most used tool in our stack and the only tool checked on a daily basis. Ahrefs is a paid tool that's well worth the cost if you're a serious SEO.
Ahrefs vs SEMrush
While we previously used both Ahrefs and SEMrush (primarily using Ahrefs for backlink analysis and SEMrush for keyword research and competitive analysis), since Ahrefs has built out their keyword research functionality, we've been able to save costs by only paying for Ahrefs. We primarily use SEMrush for their API when building tools.
If choosing only one option between Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush, Ahrefs is preferred because most time is spent analyzing backlinks and competitors.
Reporting with Google Data Studio
For analyzing website data from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and SEMrush, use Google Data Studio (GDS) to pull and display this data in comprehensive reports.
Additional Essential Tools
The complete tool stack covers every phase of SEO campaign delivery, from technical auditing to content optimization to link building and reporting.