Hands down, SEO tools are a must. No matter if you are performing SEO efforts yourself or hiring an SEO consultant or firm, it is imperative that you have the appropriate processes and tools in place to measure your SEO efforts to increase search rankings.

When starting to implement and execute search engine optimization strategies (SEO), it is imperative that you not only fully understand SEO and your tactics, but ensure that you have the right SEO tools.

It’s one thing to know about an SEO tool and a whole different story to intimately know the ins and outs of how to effectively use the tool.

I’m often asked by potential customers what types of SEO tools and software I use on a regular basis to achieve profitable and measurable white-hat results.

From simple tools to advance tools, I use and have used quite a few tools on the SEO market. Some of the tools I use are free or open-sourced SEO tools while others are paid annual or monthly memberships.

In today’s post, I’ll shed light on a few paid options for SEO tools that you can take advantage of. The tools we’ll discuss are based on my user experience.

In addition, links to the SEO tools discussed in this post are not affiliate links. Let’s get started reviewing SEO tools.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is do or die for most businesses, and a very critical resource and facet of the internet marketing strategy.

Many small businesses use a variety of effective SEO Tools and heavily depend on SEO to increase website rankings across a multitude of search engines.

Without proper SEO, it is extremely difficult to achieve first page rankings across multiple search engines due to the ever-growing competition.

And add in the constant changes in search algorithms imposed by search engines, and your website could find itself on a never-ending SEO roller coaster, drastically moving up and down for a variety of keywords.

To help their website gain SEO relevance and rank well in search engines, companies make use of many search engine optimization tools and methods.

Most SEO tools have been developed by SEO experts as a way to help others lacking SEO expertise to perform SEO without having to learn each and every aspect of SEO as a strategy.

Now widely available to most Internet users, search engine optimization tools are available via desktop applications, software plug-ins, or browser extensions.

And with the treasure trove of search engine optimization tools on the market, there also comes a wide variety of prices.

From free to monthly to annual to one-time fees, it can be quite a daunting task to review and compare SEO tools, and choose the best SEO tool according to your business and SEO needs.

As with most internet marketing tools, most offer SEO tools and software using the “freemium” model, a blend of “free” and “premium” meaning free to download and use but for to be a premium user, you have to pay a fixed or monthly fee.

Today, I’m going to quickly discuss and give you a few “freemium” SEO tools to try out and use for your website as a part of your SEO efforts.

Over the last few years, negative SEO attacks have caught more than a few companies off guard, and that number is growing daily based on the nearly 15 million search results for negative SEO (and growing).

Even a famous digital marketing agency was caught off guard and experienced a first hand negative SEO attack on their website and brand.

If you’re not familiar with negative SEO, then you might want to read up on it and establish a plan to manage against it.

In short, negative SEO attacks can get a company penalized and booted from Google rankings, and in some cases entirely de-indexed and banned.

So, how do negative SEO attacks occur?

Only a few days remain in this year, closing in fast to being only hours.

There is a lot to do before year-end as we prepare for a new year.

And as I do every year, I take a moment to perform 11 MUST-DO SEO actions on my website.  Some of the 11 SEO actions I perform consistently throughout the year.

However, even if I lose track of time during the year, I make sure that the SEO actions we’ll soon discuss are completed at the end of each year without fail.

There’s always chatter about the coming year and what SEO this or that will impact a website and its overall search rankings.

I’m not discounting those articles and predictions.  In fact, I have my own 2016 SEO predictions to be published soon enough.

Stick around, and you’ll see.  But I digress.

There are more than 11 SEO actions to perform on any given website at any point in time.  Some of the actions I’ll soon discuss are reactive, while most are going to be preventative.

The preventative steps will aim to help you successfully and safely manage your website’s growing content while keeping it search-friendly and safe.

I’m sharing with you actions that I find and see substantial benefits to performing at the end of each year for my website.

I hope you receive the same benefits, if not more, that I have from performing the following 11 SEO actions.

How can I increase my website’s traffic and search rankings?

This is the most common question I hear from potential and existing customers looking to gain an edge in search rankings and generate more qualified traffic.

And of course, no matter how I try, there is never enough time to sum up all of the SEO actions one can take to increase website traffic and search rankings.

For those who use WordPress, I simply recommend a few general settings changes and the installation of Yoast or All-In-One Webmaster plugins for starters.

Then there are those who have a static website I recommend content marketing via blogs and articles.

And let us not be quick to forget or diminish the value of social media networks.

Out of all the thoughts previously mentioned, we are barely scratching the surface in addressing the 200+ search ranking factors.

In addition to fielding potential and existing customer SEO questions, I’ve personally had a chance to document the process for creating, developing, and sustaining a few niche websites I’ve started in recent weeks.

I tried my very best to document the 108 actions I’ve used and followed, per my SEO guideline.

Using this exhaustive list of proven SEO actions, every small business owner (that’s you!) can execute these actions on an ongoing basis to increase website traffic and search rankings in hopes of capturing qualified customers.

So if you’re ready, let’s get started!

It’s the silver bullet to SEO: Automation.

Every small business owner would love for SEO to plan, implement, execute, measure and sustain itself automatically.

However, the truth and reality is that it doesn’t. The End.

Okay, there is more to it that just stating the obvious and calling it a day.

This doesn’t mean that certain aspects of SEO cannot be automated.

In fact, there are many aspects of SEO that can be automated.

But the wisdom in automating SEO is knowing what to automate and how to go about automation.

Blinded by future rankings and the expected tsunami of traffic to be receive moments after signing their SEO agreement, business owners fall prey to paying large sums of money for services that either can’t be rendered or are rendered and leave their website severely penalized or de-indexed by search engines.

Too many times, business owners and businesses fall victim to the ole’ foolproof SEO automatic packages that tout overnight page one rankings.

Instead of taking the time to invest in SEO for the long haul, most business owners opt for the silver bullet approach.

Now, I can’t stop you or any other business owner in search of SEO strategies and services from falling prey to automating SEO.

While you can automate some of your SEO actions, there are some SEO actions that you should never automate.

It’s been a while since we’ve covered a few search ranking factors for boosting one’s website search results across major search engines.

Well, today, we’re going to address the top 20 SEO tips that website owners can implement and execute to ensure that their website’s search rankings remain highly visible or boost your way into page one search rankings across major search engines.

Here are my top 20 SEO tips for small businesses to boost their website’s search rankings.