10 Best DIY SEO Software: Explode Your Small Business in 2023
Worried about the future of your small business in a rapidly changing digital landscape?
Or how about having budget constraints to hire a professional SEO team?
Here’s the good news, you can stay up to date with the latest digital trends and save a bundle of money with the help of DIY SEO software, without hiring SEO experts.
In this blog post, i’ll cover the 10 best DIY SEO software that will propel your small business forward and give you a competitive advantage in 2023.
There are tools on this list that I’ve used and tested for myself, so you’ll be getting an inside perspective from my personal experiences.
I’ll also provide a FAQ section that answers some common questions about DIY SEO software.
Disclosure: If you purchase through my links on this website, I may receive a commission, which helps support my website at no additional cost to you.
What are DIY SEO Software Tools?
DIY SEO tools, or do-it-yourself search engine optimization tools, are software solutions that help you manage SEO processes on your own without the need to hire a professional to do the job for you.
These tools can help you with researching keywords, website analysis, reports, position tracking, content strategy, and technical aspects that are essential for your business to get online visibility.
How to choose the best DIY SEO Tools
There are factors that you want to consider when choosing the best DIY SEO software tools for your business.
Each tool has its own benefits and features, but you want to choose the one that fits best with your business needs.
Determine SEO Goals
Knowing what you want to achieve through your SEO efforts can help you get more clarity on options and choose the tools that best fit your needs.
Research Options
Look into the different types of DIY SEO tools available on the market and keep note of what they offer.
Evaluate Features
Check out each feature that these tools have and make sure that they are aligned with your SEO goals. Consider how they will benefit your business.
Read Reviews
See what other users are saying about these tools. This will help you understand the pros and cons. Make sure that the ratings are satisfactory.
Consider Budget
Figure out how much money you’re willing to spend. There are paid tools with advanced features and also free options that you can work with depending on your specific needs.
Test Out Tools
Try out different tools to get a sense of which ones may be better for you. Most have a free version or trial period that you can test out before upgrading.
What are the best DIY SEO Software Tools?
- Semrush – Best Overall
- BrightLocal – Best for Local SEO
- Google Search Console – Best free DIY SEO Tool
- Ahrefs – Best for Link Building
- Surfer SEO – Best for content optimization
- Nightwatch – Best for keyword rank tracking
- Screaming Frog – Best for website crawling
- SE Ranking – Best affordable tool
- Answer the Public – Best for keyword ideas
- Jasper AI – Best for copywriting
1. Semrush
Best Overall
Semrush is an SEO software tool that empowers you to take control of your website’s search engine visibility.
It has an all-in-one set of SEO tools that allow you to develop a comprehensive SEO strategy and execute it efficiently.
It gives you the power to monitor search rankings, implement effective keyword research, optimize web content, track competitors, uncover link-building opportunities, PPC keywords, and social media management.
Highlights
- Competitive Research – You’ll gain instant access to insights on your competitors such as their keywords, organic traffic, how many backlinks they have, and much more.
- Keyword Magic Tool – Find the best target keywords for any given topic or niche and generate ideas to help your search engine rankings.
- Link Building Tool – You’ll be able to gather link-building opportunities based on competitor domains and run effective outreach campaigns.
- On-Page SEO Checker – Everything from technical optimization to content performance and strategic ideas will be accessible to you so you can improve your website’s SEO.
- Local SEO – Manage your business listings, reviews, and your website’s search engine ranking for local traffic. – all within the Semrush platform.
Pricing
Semrush offers the following plans:
- Pro – $119.95/month
- Guru – $229.95/month
- Business – $449.95/month
You have a 7-day free trial with the Pro and Guru plan. You’ll get a full refund if you decide to cancel within the first 7 days.
You can also use the platform’s free tools but with a limited amount of features including one project to manage, 10 keywords to track, and 10 analytics reports per day.
Overall
If you’re looking for a DIY SEO tool that includes a full set of features, then Semrush is a tool that can certainly do the job to help your SEO efforts.
It has been regarded as one of the best overall SEO tools, and with good reason.
What’s also great about Semrush is that you can try it out risk-free simply by creating a free account.
2. BrightLocal
Best for Local SEO
When it comes to local search engine optimization, you can be sure that BrightLocal has all the SEO tools that you need to dominate the search engines within your respective location.
With BrightLocal, you can maintain your local Citations, and Google Business Profile to catapult your position in Google search results.
It also offers a powerful local rank-tracking tool that makes it easy to identify where your business stands in the search grid positioning in comparison to your competitors.
Highlights
- Local Auditing – You’ll know which aspects of local SEO you’ll need to optimize as well as unlock results-driven opportunities.
- Citation Builder – Once you create a free citation-building account and select the sites you want to get listed on, BrightLocal will handle all of your citation submissions for you, saving you time and effort.
- Track Local Rankings – You’ll have accurate data on where your local business stands in the search engine results page so you can make optimize with clarity and confidence.
- Reputation Management – You can easily stay on top of all of your business reviews within the platform to grow your reputation and build trust.
- White Labeled Solutions – If you provide SEO services, you can set up automated SEO reports for clients with your brand logo and customized colors.
Pricing
BrightLocal offers the following plans:
All-In-One Services
- Single Business – $29/month
- Multi Business – $49/month
- SEO Pro – $79/month
Other Services
- Citation Builder – Build and fix citations from $2 per site
- Just Reviews – Manage reviews for $8/month per location
- Enterprise – Custom plans for businesses and agencies that manage over 100 locations.
There’s a 14-day free trial available with no credit card needed.
Overall
BrightLocal serves as an amazing local DIY SEO tool for any small to medium-sized business that’s looking to elevate its local organic search traffic.
It has all of the necessary components to help you take care of your local SEO tasks including building citations, reputation management, local rankings, and more so you can maintain a healthy budget and save a significant amount of time.
3. Google Search Console
Best Free DIY SEO Tool
Google Search Console (GSC) stands out as one of the best free DIY SEO tools, making it many people’s favorite SEO tool – Including mine.
It’s a handy tool, especially if you’re looking to track your sites’ performance and gain valuable SEO insights.
With Google Search Console you can monitor your website’s health through on-page, off-page, technical elements, and more – all with understandable, comprehensive reports that make optimizing your site simple.
You can also integrate it with Google Analytics so you get an even deeper understanding of how users interact with your site.
Highlights
- Dashboard Overview – You’ll see all of the most important metrics at a glance like page performance, indexing, and user experience.
- Site Performance – You’ll get specific metrics on how your site is performing on Google including search queries, clicks, impressions, and position.
- Core Web Vitals – This gives you crucial insights into Google ranking factors like page speed, responsiveness, and overall user experience so you can optimize accordingly.
- Indexing – You can see which website URL is indexed in Google or submit a sitemap that will help your pages get discovered faster.
- Security and Manuel Actions – This will inform you of any malware, hacked content, or pages that go against Google guidelines.
Pricing
GSC is a free service. All you have to do is verify ownership of your site to get started.
Overall
GSC is one of the most popular free DIY SEO tools available that lets you analyze your website’s performance and diagnose any errors.
You can also use it to monitor how often your web pages appear in Google search results.
I’ve been able to do things like request indexing for new blog posts, fix page indexing issues, see my website clicks for different URL’s, or look at the top queries that my pages show up for in Google.
In my honest opinion, it should be a must-have tool for your business. You can get an immense amount of value for free.
4. Ahrefs
Best for Link Building
Ahrefs is a software company that started as just a backlink tool and has now grown to be one of the most popular sets of SEO software tools for marketers.
This is also one of my favorite SEO tools to use – especially for link-building and guest blogging opportunities.
It has many different features including keyword research tools, site auditing, rank tracking, content exploration, and more.
But when it comes to the world of link-building, that’s where Ahrefs really stands out.
This is because Ahrefs consistently crawls the web and stores updated data and backlinks into their index.
Highlights
- Site Explorer – You can see in-depth metrics like backlink profiles and traffic from any domain.
- Keyword Explorer – This allows you to get a ton of accurate keyword metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty, clicks, and related keywords.
- Link Intersect – You’ll be able to identify multiple backlinks from competitors that aren’t linking to your site so for more link opportunities.
- Content Explorer – This helps you research top-performing sites in your niche so you can have a robust content marketing strategy.
- SEO Tool Bar – A free chrome extension tool that allows you to see page & domain metrics right in search engine results pages
Pricing
These are the following pricing plans for Ahrefs:
- Lite – $99/month
- Standard – $199/month
- Advanced – $399/month
- Enterprise – $999/month
You can sign up for the Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for free but have limited access to certain features.
Overall
Ahrefs is a very robust DIY SEO software tool that has contributed to the success of many of its users worldwide.
It has everything you need to develop a successful SEO campaign including an effective keyword tool, site exploration, content analysis, and a powerful link-building system that will help boost your site’s domain authority.
5. Surfer SEO
Best for Content Optimization
Surfer SEO is an excellent tool for optimizing or updating your content and it gives you the competitive edge that you need to go up against the top-ranking pages in the search results.
It’s made to give you the best SEO guidelines for creating blog posts and finding suggested topic clusters quickly.
You can also audit your site and analyze keywords to find ranking correlations in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
Highlights
- Content Editor – You can optimize new or existing content for keyword-rich search terms using their SEO guidelines to help you rank higher.
- Domain Planner – You can audit and analyze the performance of your site’s pages based on your Google Search Console data or Surfer SEO content.
- SERP Analyzer – This will give you key metrics from top-performing pages in the search engine results page so you can compare and optimize accordingly.
- Grow Flow – You’ll be provided with guided and actionable tasks by an AI-powered tool to help you boost your organic SEO.
- Keyword Research – It helps you find topic clusters, match user search intent, and ensure that your content is relevant.
Pricing
Surfer SEO offers the following pricing and plans:
- Basic – $59/month
- Pro – $199/month
- Business – $239/month
- Enterprise – Custom price
Paying annually will save you 17% off.
Overall
This tool will help you craft SEO-friendly content and optimize various on-page factors to help you rank in the search engines.
It also reveals valuable insights on competing pages in the SERPs so you can make the necessary adjustments that you need for a better SEO strategy.
I use this tool to help me generate high-quality blog posts with user intent for a better chance of ranking.
Plus, its Grow Flow tool will give you suggested actionable steps to take consistently, so you won’t feel stuck.
6. Nightwatch
Best for Keyword Rank Tracking
Nightwatch is an SEO software tool that has robust rank tracking, reporting, and site auditing.
It tracks rankings across various search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo and it also tracks changes in search engine algorithms.
Nightwatch has a keyword discovery tool that allows you to find keyword opportunities and segment them to create a better strategy.
You can also get customized reporting on KPIs from multiple locations.
Highlights
- Keyword Discovery – You can track keyword rankings and filter by current location or zip code to have accurate results.
- Rank Tracker – This is a powerful tool that lets you create custom segments and monitor local or global search rankings from any Google data center.
- Customized Reporting – A simple-to-use automated reporting tool that lets you filter any key data for faster accessibility.
- Local SERP Tracking – You’ll get essential tracking on local keywords from thousands of locations globally from the SERPs and map pack.
- Site Auditing – It analyzes your site for important on-page factors like broken links, meta descriptions, alt tags, and other web semantics for better optimization.
Pricing
Nightwatch pricing varies depending on how many keywords you chose a month.
For 250 keywords, it starts at $39/month. They also have a custom enterprise plan depending on your marketing needs.
They offer a 14-day free trial.
Overall
This tool can serve as a powerful DIY SEO software tool for your business, especially when it comes to keyword rank tracking.
Unlike other tools, It can pull relatively accurate data from any Google data center worldwide.
You’ll get daily position rankings across multiple locations from competitors as well as algorithm updates, auditing, and automated reporting that simplifies your marketing process.
7. Screaming Frog
Best for Website Crawling
Screaming Frog is a technical SEO tool that crawls websites to quickly identify any structural or performance issues so you can analyze and audit your SEO effectively.
I learned about this tool during my time with an SEO agency in Colorado.
They had me use this tool to help identify issues for some of their biggest clients and I must say, it gives a very detailed and comprehensive analysis and report.
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider’s comprehensive crawl data looks at page titles, meta descriptions, and more to assist you in fine-tuning website structure and optimizing on-page performance.
This tool extracts data from your pages and gives you a detailed report so you can optimize for a better user experience and higher search rankings.
Highlights
- Site Crawler – It will quickly and easily scan metadata such as internal links, broken links, outlinks, and much more to access your site’s performance to find improvement opportunities.
- Web Scraping – Screaming Frog offers custom extraction tools to help you easily gather data from a website to gain valuable content and insights.
- API Capability – The platform integrates with popular tools like google analytics, Ahrefs, and Moz to simplify data collection and have it readily available.
- SERP Snippets – Monitor how your page titles and descriptions display by pixel width and device type to define cut-off points so all essential information is visible to potential customers.
Pricing
Screaming frog offers the following pricing and plans:
- Free Version – 500 URL crawl limit
- Paid Version – Starts at $209/year per license
Overall
Screaming Frog is an invaluable technical SEO tool that will crawl your business website and collect metadata quickly and efficiently.
This makes it a powerful ally in SEO campaigns to pin down and fix issues that may exist on your website.
Its easy-to-use interface makes it the perfect crawler for those who are new to SEO, but its deep analytics gives experienced users access to more detailed info.
8. SE Ranking
Best Affordable SEO Tool
SE Ranking is an affordable DIY SEO software that’s easy to use and comes with a complete set of tools to help improve your search rankings.
It comes with a keyword research tool, competitor analysis, content marketing tools, website auditing, and more.
SE Ranking provides solutions for entrepreneurs, agencies, and businesses of any size and is a great alternative to Ahrefs or Semrush.
Highlights
- Keyword Suggestion Tool – You can analyze a particular keyword, see popular search queries, and assess keyword competition.
- Backlink Checker – This will give you a comprehensive overview of the backlink profile from any domain so you can unlock new opportunities.
- Competitor Analysis – Get insights into your competitor’s SEO metrics such as traffic, organic keywords, backlinks, PPC, and rankings.
- Content Marketing Tool – This tool provides you with content briefs, content editing, and quality checks for your content creation process.
- SERP Checker – Analyze the search engine results page and get real-time data to see how competitors are performing so you can outrank them.
- SEO Reporting – Automated reporting that covers all the SEO data you need – saving you time and effort.
Pricing
SE Ranking offers 3 different pricing options. For each option, you can adjust the number of keywords you need based on your budget.
- Essential – $39.20/month
- Pro – $87.20/month
- Business – $191.20/month
You can save 20% with the annual subscription. There is also a 14-day free trial.
Overall
The bottom line is that SE ranking is one of the most affordable all-in-one DIY SEO tools allowing you to gain insights into the performance of your business online and make improvements.
This platform makes it simple for you to understand where your website stands in search engine results and how it compares to competitors.
From generating keyword rankings to offering understanding into backlink analysis, SE ranking has long been recognized as one of the easiest ways for DIYers and small businesses alike to begin their SEO journey without the hefty price tag.
9. Answer the Public
Best for Keyword Ideas
Answer the Public is a keyword research tool that provides helpful insights to better understand your target audiences. This is one of the tools that I use and stand by.
It collects and analyzes search engine queries from people and gives you relevant content based on the keyword or phrase that you type in its search bar.
It then breaks down the questions into different categories, such as related searches, prepositions, and more.
Highlights
- Autocomplete Data – It gives you the latest queries that people are searching for from Google and other search engines so you can create content relevant to your business.
- Question Categories – You’ll get an overview of questions that start with “Who”, “What”, “Where”, “Why”, or “How” to get a deeper understanding of your customers.
- Search Listening Alerts – With the paid version, you’ll get weekly notifications on any changes or new topics around a keyword or phrase that you’re tracking.
- Language/Region Settings – You can customize the search settings by choosing specific languages and regions to tailor content from around the world.
Pricing
Answer the Public has both paid and free versions:
- Monthly – $99/month
- Annual – $948/year ($79/month)
- Expert – $199/month
The free version offers up to 3 daily searches that you can try out and get lots of content ideas.
Overall
Answer the public is by far one of the best free keyword research tools that you can use to get great content ideas for your business.
It gives a comprehensive overview of what people are already searching for and allows you to quickly identify what questions they have.
The paid version has added features that allow you to compare data over time and uncover market trends.
Check out my other blog post to learn how to use Answer the Public effectively to generate traffic.
10. Jasper AI
Best for Copywriting
Jasper AI is an artificial intelligence copywriting assistant that helps you quickly pump out SEO-friendly content for blog articles, websites, emails, and much more.
I use this tool myself and it’s helped me to alleviate writer’s block just about every time.
Many ready-to-use custom templates can help you come up with email subject headlines, product descriptions, blog outlines, and even photo post captions for social media.
You can also integrate Jasper with Surfer SEO to maximize your blog content and rank higher.
Highlights
- Powerful Templates – Dozens of templates that you can use for your business that will save you a lot of time and effort including product descriptions, blog topic ideas, and ad headlines.
- Long-form Assistant – Jasper will assist you in creating blog posts, emails, reports, or high-converting sales pages to save you all of the guesswork.
- Streamline Workflows – Jasper provides customizable workflows to automate time-consuming tasks.
- Jasper Chrome Extension – Add the chrome extension to your browser and use Jasper to maximize your daily content activity.
- Jasper Commands – You can prompt jasper to respond and execute specific instructions to create content 5x faster. (Check out Jasper’s command ideas).
Pricing
Jasper AI offers the following pricing and plans:
- Starter – $29/month
- Boss Mode -$59/month
- Business – Custom Plan & Price
Overall
Jasper AI is a copywriting tool that provides many DIY SEO solutions and makes crafting content a lot easier and faster for your business.
Whether it’s trying to come up with a description for your product or service, crafting a sales page, sending out emails, or writing a blog post, you can leverage its functionalities for greater efficiency.
This tool can serve as a great solution, especially when you’re busy running your business and trying to juggle many tasks.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Can I do SEO by Myself?
You can definitely do SEO on your own without hiring a professional. Start by learning the basics first and then put them into practice.
It’ll take some time and effort, but using SEO tools can help make your process easier. Check out my other blog post to learn more about SEO.
Can I do SEO for free?
Yes, you can. There are free tools available that can help you with things like keyword research, site audits, analytics, tracking, and more.
You can use tools like Answer the Public for keyword research and content ideas or Google Search Console to measure your site’s performance for better search visibility.
But keep in mind that most free tools will have limited features.
Why are SEO tools important?
SEO tools can be critical to the success of your online visibility because they help optimize your website for search engines so that your potential customers can find you.
These tools can track keyword performance, boost global or local rankings, diagnose technical problems, and improve your content.
Not only will you attract more customers but you’ll also stay ahead of the competition in an ever-changing digital landscape.
Which are the best free SEO tools?
Here is a list of some of the best free SEO tools:
Google Search Console – Monitor and manage website performance, user experience, page indexing, core web vitals, and URL Inspections.
Ubersuggest – Get keyword insights on search volume, competition data, cost per click, as well as keyword ideas.
Answer the Public – Get raw data from search engine queries and create content that answers people’s questions.
Google Analytics – Track website visitors and get behavioral insights.
Google Trends – Spot the latest trends worldwide with real-time data on popular searches.
Screaming Frog – a great tool for quickly finding out if any page issues exist on your site through its crawler feature.
Google Page Speed Insights – It checks how quickly your pages are loading and offers optimization tips for a better user experience.
Yoast SEO – A WordPress plugin that helps you optimize your content for search engines.
Final thoughts.
I’ve covered the 10 Best DIY SEO software tools, free and paid, to help you dominate the search engines in 2023.
Whether it’s for local rankings, content creation, or technical SEO, there’s something on this list that can help your business generate more revenue.
All the tools above are industry-standard tools that have been proven to help businesses of all sizes reach their desired SEO goals.
Also, as your business grows, you may want to consider upgrading to more advanced features to maximize and further scale your SEO traffic.
And if you have any questions about any of the tools mentioned in this post, feel free to leave a comment down below.
Hope this helps. Thanks for reading!
This is outstanding and so important when wanting to improve your website. SEO is something very important and I think everyone should understand it and how to improve it. Once you understand this, then you will have an upper hand on improving your website and being successful. Also, with having the knowledge about SEO, you can save money and not have to hire someone.
I really enjoyed how you have these 10 different platforms and really helped me get an understanding of each. Because, I have to agree with you that everyone should do their research and decide what will benefit their websites needs the most!
Thank you so much for this information and look forward to future articles!
Hey Josh,
Thanks for taking the time to leave some awesome feedback! I’m glad you also understand how critical SEO can be, especially right now.
We are at a pivotal time in history as far as technological advances and I think that business owners need to be cognitive of this.
Search optimization can open a lot of opportunities!
Hey there, peeps! I just read this article on DIY SEO software and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty excited about the whole thing.
Now, let me ask you: have you ever thought about tackling your website’s SEO on your own? It can be a bit daunting, I know, but with the right tools, it can also be incredibly empowering. That’s where DIY SEO software comes in.
In my experience, using DIY SEO software has been a real game-changer. It’s allowed me to take control of my website’s SEO and make improvements on my own, without having to rely on an expensive SEO consultant. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love saving a bit of money?
Chris’s article does an impressive job of outlining some of the best DIY SEO software available on the market. From keyword research tools to link building platforms, there’s something for every type of website owner. I especially appreciated the section on website audit tools, which can be a real lifesaver when it comes to identifying areas for improvement on your website.
But with so many options out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That’s why I think articles like this one are so important. They break down the options and help you understand which software is right for you and your website.
In conclusion, I believe that using DIY SEO software is an excellent option for anyone looking to improve their website’s SEO without breaking the bank. So if you’re considering taking the DIY route, I highly recommend checking out the software mentioned in this article.
Hey Bob,
I appreciate the amazing feedback!
Leveraging these SEO tools can bring a wealth of opportunities. We just have to find ones that are best fit for our business needs.
With good strategic planning, implementation, testing, and optimizing, these tools can be powerful!
Hey there, I enjoyed reading your post. SEO can greatly affect the quality of our work. I know a lot of software that can help us to improve the production content, you mentioned very good points that can help me. I have used Semrush before and I recommend it to others. Thank you.
Hey Liam,
Thank you for taking the time to check out this post! SEO can definitely help us with producing high-quality content that’s ready for search engines. Semrush is a great tool and has helped me before in my SEO processes as well!