Posts on State of Search about ‘Tools’

Test: Fresh Web Explorer

We have tested Fresh Web Explorer, the new mentions tool from SEOMoz. Do we love it?

Fresh Web Explorer (FWE) is the newest addition of SEOMoz tools. It is no secret to the people who know me that I both love, praise and use these tools on a daily basis. Some even accuse me of having a ~~major~~ small crush on Rand Fishkin, the way I go on about “his tools”. In other words, my hopes for this new addition are high.

FWE is a mention tool that ”lets you research and compare mentions and links to your domain using the power of the Freshscape index”, a “30 day index of 4.3 million feeds (and counting).” FWE is not real time, but pretty close, there’s a new Freshscape index every eight hours. (more…)

Four ‘Obvious’ SEO and Two Social Tools You Can’t Miss

Last week we showcased several tools on State of Search and even though the week is over, our content sure isn’t! This week you will see some more content around tools, as a sort of ‘bonus track’!

Today we are looking at the tools that some of the State of Search bloggers use. Which ones are important to them? And which one should you take a look at? An overview of not to miss tools for any SEO, brought to you by the State of Search blogging team. The interesting thing is, it seems obvious you can’t miss out on these but it still is a good reminder of what you should be using and if you are using them correctly! (more…)

Tools Week Presentation Demo: Majestic SEO

During the State of Search Tools Week we have given you several demo’s from tools, the last one in the series is Majestic SEO. Dixon Jones showed us the product and took the time to answer questions afterwards, which you can also listen to in the video below.

After the video there is information about what was said in the Q&A so you can skip directly to the part you find interesting. Below more information on Majestic SEO.

(more…)

How Tools Are Developing

The world of tools is changing. Rapidly. But where is it going to? It is a tough question to answer, if not impossible. Just take a look at tools a few years ago and tools now, some are completely different.

And if you listen to those presenting in our Tools Week, the tools themselves also realise things are changing. Matt Roberts from Linkdex for example said his tool is now compared to different tools than a few years ago. And if you look at Majestic SEO there is much more to it than ‘just data’. Where it’s going is difficult to determine, but maybe the past can help us get a better understanding of how tools are developing. And it will help us choose what tools fit our needs best.

Earlier this week I asked several experts if an SEO would be any good without tools. I also asked them another question:

“What do you think is the major area in how tools have developed in the past years?”

Marcus Tandler, Yousaf Sekander, Alex Moss, Disa Johnson, Debra Mastaler, Dennis Goedegebuure and Julie Joyce shared their answers with me. (more…)

Tools Week Presentation Demo: Searchmetrics

During the State of Search Tools Week we are doing several demo’s from tools, one is a demo of Searchmetrics where Marcus Tober showed us the product and took the time to answer questions afterwards, which you can also listen to in the video below.

After the video there is information about what was said in the Q&A so you can skip directly to the part you find interesting. Below more information on Searchmetrics,

Make sure you register for our other demo’s here (and get a month worth of MajesticSEO and LinkResearchTools for free)

(more…)

Link Tools of the Trade

There are many people looking at tools and trying to get a grip on them. What tool is best to do what? One of them is Michael King, Director of Inbound Marketing at iAcquire. For SEOMoz he created this overview almost two years ago! It gives a nice insight in how times are changing rapidly. But still many of these are very useful! (more…)

Tools Week Presentation Demo: LinkResearchTools

During the State of Search Tools Week we are doing several demo’s from tools, in this one Christoph Cemper of LinkResearchTools gave his demo of the product and took the time to answer questions afterwards, which you can also listen to in the video below.

After the video there is information about what was said in the Q&A so you can skip directly to the part you find interesting. Below more information on LinkResearchTools

Make sure you register for our other demo’s here (and get a month worth of MajesticSEO and LinkResearchTools for free)

(more…)

Can an SEO be a Good SEO Without Using Tools?

Can a good SEO live without tools? If you look at how the industry behaves you would say the answer is ‘no’. Sessions at conferences where tools are discussed are always packed full.

And if you look at the sheer number of tools available for SEO’s there is no other conclusion then yes, because otherwise there wouldn’t be so many out there!

But do good tools make a good SEO? And could a good SEO do without the tools? Well that is a whole different question which is interesting to explore. So for Tools Week I decided to go and ask some industry experts to share their opinions on this topic. With the help of Marcus Tandler, Alex Moss, Disa Johnson, Debra Mastaler, Dennis Goedegebuure and Julie Joyce, let’s try to look at every side of the story. (more…)

Tools Week Presentation Demo: Analytics SEO

During the State of Search Tools Week we are doing several demo’s from tools, in this one the presentation demo stage was for Analytics SEO. Laurence O’Tool presented an overview of the best that AnalyticsSEO has to offer.

After the presentation there was time for Q&A, which you can also listen to in the video below.

After the video there is information about what was said in the Q&A so you can skip directly to the part you find interesting. Below more information on Analytics SEO.

Make sure you register for our other demo’s here (and get a month worth of MajesticSEO for free)

(more…)

Is Paying for SEO Tools Worth It?

I used to be a bit of an SEO tool junkie. Whenever a new tool was announced I’d drop everything and go find out what it did, signup for a free trial or even start paying for it straight away if I was really impressed.

But my life as an SEO didn’t start like this because I didn’t have the money to invest in tools, I built my first website using Notepad and a free FTP program. Even when I started to learn SEO properly and get my sites ranking, it was a while before I could afford to buy a website creator and some ~~spamming~~ link building software. I learnt most of my skills the hard way, I really wanted to take the easy route and let tools do the hard work for me, but I genuinely couldn’t afford to.

Looking back, I think I was making up for lost time when I started signing up for every new tool that came along! I seem to have gone back the other way now as I only use a small amount of SEO tools each and every day.

The fact is, you probably don’t need to pay for SEO tools in order to learn your trade or get results. But in many instances, they can sure make your life a hell of a lot easier and free up your time to work on more interesting tasks. But how do you know when to invest? How much should you invest? How do you know that a subscription is worth keeping?

Hopefully I can help answer some of these questions as part of tools week here on State of Search. (more…)

Tools Week Presentation Demo: Linkdex

The very first Tools Week Presentation Demo we did yesterday was with Linkdex. Matt Roberts, founder of Linkdex, showed us the highlights of the tool, where it is going and why people should be using the tool. After the presentation there was time for Q&A, which you can also listen to in the video below.

After the video there is information about what was said in the Q&A so you can skip directly to the part you find interesting. Below more information on Linkdex.