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It’s 2024 and your website traffic is down. No matter what you do, people don’t seem to find and click on your pages in search engine results. You’ve done the logical thing and typed “Why isn’t my website ranking” into the search bar, and now you’re trying to figure out what on-page technical SEO is–and how to make it work for you. Fortunately, technical SEO tools exist to make your website more visible (and keep your stress levels at baseline).
In this article, we’ll cover:
- Technical SEO Tools 101
- Why you should use technical SEO tools
- How to use technical SEO tools for your website
- Technical SEO tools for keyword research
- Technical SEO tools for backlink analysis
- Technical SEO tools for competitor research
- Technical SEO tools for strategy management
- How to use Slam’s technical SEO tools
Optimizing a website for searchability sounds like a complicated process, and SEO terms aren’t exactly user-friendly. However, the good news is that you don’t need to get a whole tech degree just to make your website more visible.
Technical SEO tools are a great way to streamline your work. But, if you’ve tried them all and still need help, you can partner with Slam Media Lab to develop a winning SEO strategy. From content writing and strategy to small business local SEO, we have the skills and experience to boost your website’s visibility and organic traffic.
We’ve also developed several products and tools to help DIY enthusiasts crush their digital marketing goals without breaking the bank. For an on-point SEO strategy, we recommend our Technical SEO Audit Template. We’ll cover how to use our in-house templates later in the article, so keep reading for more!
Technical SEO Tools 101
Technical SEO involves lots of confusing, overwhelming jargon–we totally get it. The goal, however, is actually pretty simple: user satisfaction. Search engine algorithms look at the aspects of a website that most impact user experience. While on-page and off-page SEO focus on content and external factors, technical SEO deals with the infrastructure and technical elements.
Here are a few key aspects of technical SEO that have to do with user experience:
- Site Speed: How long it takes your web pages to load.
- Site Structure: Are your content and URLs organized in a logical and SEO-friendly way?
- Mobile-Friendliness: Whether your website provides a positive user experience on mobile devices.
- HTTPS Implementation: Is your website secured with an SSL certificate?
If you want your website to rank on the first few pages of search engines, you need to address these and other aspects of technical SEO. Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of figuring this stuff out manually? Don’t be. The good news is that there are several great technical SEO tools available to monitor and optimize the technical elements of your website.
In addition to tracking the technical stuff, you can also leverage technical SEO tools for things like:
- Keyword research
- Site audits
- Backlink analysis
- Competitor analysis
- Rank tracking
- …and more!
If you have an existing website and don’t know where to begin, consider performing a technical SEO audit to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. You can use our Technical SEO Audit Template for this–it’s the exact same template we use with our clients.
How to Use Technical SEO Tools for Your Website
Building and launching a website is a lot of work. From figuring out hosting and domains to designing the visual elements and writing copy, it takes a significant investment of time and resources to create a digital home for your business.
The sad reality is that if your website doesn’t rank well in search engines, you likely won’t see a good return on your investment. Fortunately, you can leverage technical SEO tools to ensure you’re getting as much bang for your buck as possible.
In this section, we’ll explain how to use two Slam-created technical SEO tools to improve your website’s online visibility.
Audit Template
As award-winning experts in Webflow SEO, we spend a lot of time helping our clients ensure their websites are optimized to generate as much organic traffic as possible. Generally speaking, the first technical SEO tool we turn to is our Technical SEO Audit Template. We designed our template to comprehensively evaluate a website’s technical elements and target areas for improvement.
You can use our Audit Template in seven easy steps:
- Title tags and meta descriptions audit
- Link and button integrity check
- Heading structure evaluation
- Image optimization and Alt text analysis
- URL redirects and thin content pages
- Google PageSpeed Insights and accessibility review
- Documentation and action plan
The template integrates flawlessly with third-party technical SEO tools–including the ones we discuss further along in this article.
ROI Calculator
With your technical SEO audit out of the way, the next step is to determine whether your investment is providing the desired returns. To measure SEO, we recommend evaluating the following metrics:
- Total monthly keyword volume (TMKV)
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Conversions
- Average order value (AOV)
- Net revenue
- Lifetime value (LTV)
We developed our in-house SEO ROI Calculator to streamline this process. It measures all the metrics we just listed, making it easier to determine whether your optimization efforts are paying off.
And the best part is, it’s totally free to use!
Technical SEO Tools for Keyword Research
Selecting the right keywords is one of the most important aspects of a strong SEO strategy. In short, keywords are the terms people use when searching for something online. So, if you want to boost your chances of ranking high in search engines, the first step is to identify search terms that are popular and relevant in your industry.
If you’re wondering how to choose keywords for SEO, we suggest using some tools to make the job easier. Here are four examples of great technical SEO tools to consider:
In this section, we’ll show you how to use these technical SEO tools to optimize your website’s visibility. You can also check out the SEO Keyword Research Template that we use for our clients’ projects.
SEMrush
SEMrush is an all-in-one online visibility tool that provides a wide range of SEO-focused features. Here are some SEMrush features you can use for keyword research:
- Keyword Overview: Track search volume, keyword difficulty, Cost Per Click (CPC), and more.
- Related Keywords: Discover additional terms related to user queries.
- Keyword Magic Tool: Generate a list of related keywords based on a seed keyword.
- Competitor Keyword Analysis: Identify the keywords your competitors are targeting in organic and paid search.
- Position Tracking: Track the organic search positions of specific keywords over time.
These are just a few of the keyword-focused SEMrush features you can use to gain valuable insights for your technical SEO strategy.
Ahrefs Keyword Generator
Ahrefs Keyword Generator is a tool provided by Ahrefs, a comprehensive SEO platform beloved by digital marketers the world over. The Keyword Generator is designed to help users create informed content and SEO strategies.
Here are some key features of Ahrefs Keyword Generator:
- Keyword data
- Clicks and click-through rate (CTR)
- Keyword-based content ideas
- Parent topic suggestions
This is a great tool for optimizing your online presence–especially if you’re already using the broader Ahrefs suite of tools.
Google Keyword Planner
Once you’ve identified emerging keywords using one of the technical SEO tools mentioned above, it’s time to take a look at things like search volumes and user intent. Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for this purpose. Accessible through Google Ads, it gives you access to search volume data for specific keywords, as well as related keywords.
If you want to dig deeper into the popularity of search queries over time, you can also use Google Trends to identify seasonality in search behavior.
Keyword Insights
Keyword Insights is a comprehensive tool for keyword research and content optimization. It automates several key steps in the SEO process, making it easier for you to generate keyword ideas, organize them into clusters, and create or optimize content efficiently using AI-driven features.
Keyword Insights makes it easy to conduct keyword research with a four-step workflow:
- Research: Easily generate a list of keywords around a given topic.
- Plan: Group your keywords by lists and identify missing topical clusters.
- Outline: Use an AI-driven content brief generator to create outlines.
- Write: Send the brief to your content writing team or agency.
This tool’s systematic approach to keyword research and content creation makes it a valuable technical SEO tool for website owners looking to improve their online visibility.
Technical SEO Tools for Backlink Analysis
Backlinks, also known as inbound links or incoming links, are links from one website to another. In technical SEO, backlinks serve a critical role in determining a website’s authority. Search engines view backlinks as a vote of confidence in the content of the linked page. So, websites with a robust backlink strategy are treated as more credible and therefore prioritized in search engine rankings.
By monitoring and evaluating backlinks with technical SEO tools, you can refine your link-building strategy, remove harmful or spammy links from your pages, and strengthen your overall link profile. This will help improve your site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let’s take a look at two of Slam’s favorite backlink analysis tools.
Ahrefs
Did you know that Ahrefs is the second most active web crawler after Google? The platform updates its backlink index with fresh data every 15 minutes, making it a great tool for backlink analysis.
To take advantage of the best backlink database in the industry, check out Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker technical SEO tool. There’s a free version you can use if you don’t have a premium subscription.
OpenLinkProfiler
OpenLinkProfiler is another free backlink analysis tool you can use to gain insights into a website’s link-building strategies.
Here are some key features of OpenLinkProfiler:
- Backlink Analysis
- Link Quality Assessment
- Anchor Text Analysis
- Link Age Distribution
- Link Context
These features help analyze your website and make sure your backlink strategy is working as intended.
Technical SEO Tools for Competitor Research
Competitor research is an important part of a winning technical SEO strategy. It involves looking at your competitors’ strategies and performance to gain insights and identify opportunities for improvement.
When conducting competitor research, we examine various aspects of technical SEO, including:
- Keyword targeting
- Backlink profiles
- On-page optimization
- Site structure
- Technical Implementations
This research helps us uncover industry trends and discover untapped keywords. It’s also a great way to stay agile and adapt to changes in search engine algorithms.
Several great technical SEO tools on the market support competitor research and analysis. In this section, we’ll take a look at our favorite four.
Keyword Insights
The Keyword Insights platform offers a feature called Keyword Distill that allows users to analyze a competitor’s URL or domain and uncover which keywords they are targeting and how those keywords are currently ranking.
Once you’ve identified your competitor’s keywords, you can push them to the platform’s clustering feature and compare them with your website to identify and resolve gaps in your content.
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is a free monitoring tool that notifies you when new content shows up in Google Search based on your specified keywords or queries.
To conduct competitor research with this tool, set up Google Alerts for competitors’ names, industry terms, or specific keywords.
You can also receive email notifications when competitors publish content. This will help you stay informed about their strategies and areas of focus.
Ahrefs
To use Ahrefs for your competitor research, start by entering your target competitor’s domain in Ahrefs Site Explorer. This will give you enough data to do the following:
- Analyze their backlink profile to identify high-quality links and link-building strategies.
- Review top-performing pages to uncover their content strategy.
- Use the Content Gap tool to identify keywords your competitor ranks for but you don’t.
- Assess their organic search positions and estimated traffic.
You can also track your competitor’s changes over time with Ahrefs alerts.
Technical SEO Tools for Strategy Management
The process of planning, implementing, and monitoring your technical SEO processes is known as strategy management. It involves aligning your website’s technical elements with your broader business goals to ensure your site performs well in search engines and drives the organic traffic you need to succeed.
From looking at site structure and speed to on-page optimization and other technical factors, consistently managing your SEO strategy is essential if you want to see a long-term return on your investment.
In this section, we’ll discuss how you can use popular technical SEO tools to stay on top of your SEO strategy. We’ll also share some Slam-created templates that leverage best practices for boosting online visibility.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a valuable free tool that makes it easy for you to monitor how your website performs in Google’s search engine rankings.
Here are a few ways you can use GSC to monitor and optimize your technical SEO strategy:
- Identify indexing issues
- Review search analytics for keyword insights
- Monitor click-through rates
- Fix crawl errors
- Improve mobile usability
- Receive alerts about security issues
You should also update your sitemap in GSC every time you make updates or edits to your website’s technical SEO. This will ensure that search engines have the most recent information about your website’s structure and content.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service for tracking and reporting your website traffic. Here are a few ways you can use Google Analytics to manage your technical SEO strategy:
- Monitor key metrics like organic search traffic, user behavior, and page load times.
- Analyze landing pages, user engagement, and bounce rates.
- Use the Site Speed report to identify and resolve speed issues.
You can also use this technical SEO tool to track mobile performance and gather data on user demographics for refining your optimization strategy.
Slam Templates
While most of this article has been about the technical aspects of SEO, you should keep in mind that project management is as important to your technical SEO strategy as backlink analysis. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a robust set of agency tools for managing meetings, tracking tasks, and organizing documentation.
As an award-winning web design agency, we’ve created several products for managing your SEO projects and strategy, including:
- Notion 1-1s and Feedback Tracker Template
- Notion Meeting Notes Template
- Go-to-Market Strategy Template
- Notion Task List Template
- Notion Documentation Template
You can purchase each of these resources individually from our products page. Or, sign up for our How to Start an Agency masterclass and get 20+ templates (including these ones), for a set price.
How to Crush Your Goals with Slam's Technical SEO Tools & Services
Technical SEO isn’t default easy. But, with the right tools, it doesn’t need to be an insurmountable obstacle to achieving your business goals. By combining the tools mentioned in this article with Slam’s in-house templates and resources, you’ll have everything you need to improve your website’s online visibility. For example, our guide to performing a technical SEO audit will walk you through using our Technical SEO Audit Template in seven simple steps.
As a Web SEO consultant agency, we’ve helped several of our clients with their technical SEO strategy, including:
You can read more about how we help our clients crush their SEO and digital marketing goals on our case studies page.
If you want to take advantage of the many benefits of SEO for small business, but would rather leave it to the pros, check out our small business SEO packages. As an award-winning web design agency, we also offer the following services to nonprofits and businesses of all sizes:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Webflow Design & Development
- Content Writing & Strategy
- Brand Strategy & Identity
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our experts.
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