12 Best SEO Agency Tools in 2024: Tried & Tested By Specialists

Search engine optimization involves a lot of things — keyword research, content planning and creation, page analysis, and that’s just to name a few. This process can turn into a real headache without the right set of SEO agency tools in place.

That’s why today I’ll walk you through some of the best SEO tools currently available. To make the research easier for you, I split this list into multiple categories — from content collaboration platforms to SEO reporting tools, and more.

But first, let’s see more of the key features you need to look for when picking an SEO software solution.

What to look for in SEO agency tools

SEO tools span across numerous categories — be it on-page, off-page, or technical SEO, for example — and their functionality set can significantly differ from one another. Still, there are a few must-have features you should keep an eye on, regardless of your choice.

• Easy collaboration

Prioritize SEO tools that allow for seamless collaboration between team members and clients — especially for creative processes. A platform that centralizes all feedback ensures that both teams and clients are on the same page, and eliminates the risk of having feedback fall through the cracks.

• Reporting tools

Monitoring all your SEO data in one place, like keyword performance or your top traffic sources, makes optimization straightforward. This also allows you to integrate your SEO workflow into your other marketing agency tools. For example, if social media doesn’t drive as much traffic to your website as you’d hoped, you can use social media tools to identify and fix the issue.

• Keyword research tools

Platforms that let you generate keyword ideas, spot long-tail variations, and save them into separate lists will give you a much more structured approach to your content creation processes. For example, you could organize a large set of closely related key phrases into dedicated keyword lists — perfect for topic clusters.

Content writing and collaboration tools

1. Planable – best for content planning, collaboration, and approval

Planable handles all things content creation-related — from setting up your blog content calendar to writing first drafts, leaving feedback, and handling approvals. It’s a content planning platform that stands out through its collaboration tools.

You can leave feedback through in-context comments, suggestions, and annotations — just like Google Docs but better. The platform’s collaboration tools also extend to image and video editing, while the option to store all digital assets under its dedicated Media Library is also a nice touch.

Planable is solid in the client collaboration department too. Onboarding clients onto the platform is as easy as sending an invite email or link — no account setup needed. From there, you can create separate workspaces for each client and assign custom permissions (like viewer-only, approver, editor, and so on).

Planable lets you keep comments or complete posts internal – perfect for hiding them away from the client’s view until they’re ready. Coupled with its customizable approval workflows, you gain complete control over content review processes.

Content organization is also a walk in the park with Planable. You can schedule and re-schedule posts across multiple platforms and draft and approve content across multiple formats via its Universal Content feature. Plus, using the drag-and-drop calendar, you can keep an eye on important work via color-coded labels and an ample filter set.

Key features

• Custom approval workflows

Pick between optional, mandatory, or multi-layer approvals, or skip over the approval process completely. Leverage multi-level approvals to set up step-by-step review processes involving multiple teams, and ensure content is in tip-top shape before reaching the client.

• Image and video editors

Make quick tweaks to visuals via a broad selection of filters or get into the details and fine-tune exposure, vignetting, brightness, and so on. Leave feedback through direct comments.

• Version control

Check whether feedback was implemented correctly with version control. See each tweak under the Activity tab and quickly restore content back to a previous version in case of unwanted changes.

• Rich text editing

Use Planable’s built-in editor to add headings and sub-headings and structure content into bullet points or numbered listicles. Embed hyperlinks, images, videos, and even Tweets.

• Social media publishing

Schedule social media posts across all major networks directly within the platform. Set up cross-network or recurring posts, and use Planable’s built-in AI assistant to quickly edit captions or generate new ones from scratch, with hashtags included.

Drawbacks: Planable lacks dedicated keyword research and SEO performance tracking capabilities.

Pricing: Paid pricing plans start at $33 per workspace per month (yearly billing). Planable also offers a free version that lets you schedule up to 50 posts in total.

2. Google Docs – best free word processor for content creation

If you seek a straightforward word processor with simple, yet solid collaboration tools, Google Docs should be more than enough. The platform lets you create and edit content with other team members in real time — completely for free.

The platform’s paid plans also include extra features, like basic approvals and custom branding, along with functionalities from other Google Workspace products (chat rooms, polling, breakout rooms, and so on).

Key features

• Document collaboration: Work with multiple team members on the same document simultaneously. Leave feedback through comments and suggestions, and assign custom permissions (viewer, commenter, or editor).
• Version control: Get a complete timeline of all document changes and restore to any previous version whenever necessary.
• Add-ons: Expand on the platform’s functionality with numerous add-ons — mail mergers, PDF converters, form builders, and more.

Drawbacks: Google is lackluster in the features department — it lacks dedicated client collaboration tools, multi-level approvals, etc.

Pricing: Paid packages start at $6 per user per month (yearly billing).

3. QuillBot – best for quick grammar checks and AI content editing

QuillBot is a free copywriting tool that uses AI to perform grammar checks, handle rewrites, and detect plagiarized or AI-generated content.

The platform also includes a paraphrasing tool — handy for tweaking AI-generated texts and avoiding duplicate content issues. QuillBot’s paid packages will also generate custom text summaries based on your input — great for repurposing long-form blog posts into quick social media posts or email newsletters.

Key features

• Content translation: Automatically translate content in up to 45 languages, including German, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean.
• Content paraphrasing: Automatically re-write content to fit various writing styles like informal, academic, or formal. Seamlessly switch between US and UK English to adapt your content to various markets.
• Grammar checker: Spot and fix grammar or spelling errors in multiple languages like English (US, UK, AU, and CA), German, and Spanish. Get automatic suggestions to improve content clarity and readability.

Drawbacks: QuillBot’s free plan is quite limited — it lacks tone and readability suggestions and includes limited language support.

Pricing: You can use QuillBot for free, while the Premium version costs $4.17 per month (yearly billing).

Content management tools

4. WordPress – best multi-purpose CMS for managing small websites

WordPress is a content management system fit for all sorts of use cases — blogs, small business websites, online stores, you name it.

The platform stands out through how easy it is to get a website up and running — set up your WordPress account, pick one of thousands of native or community-made templates, and tweak its design according to your needs.

WordPress also has a huge plugin library that expands on the platform’s feature set. For example, Elementor gives you more control over the design process, while free SEO tools like Yoast SEO are perfect to develop and manage SEO campaigns.

Key features

• Drag-and-drop editor: Design your web pages by dragging and dropping elements onto the editor — no coding required. Build a website completely from scratch or select between numerous ready-made website themes.
• Content management: Create and publish blog content directly within WordPress. Enable comments and store all your media assets (images, videos, audios, documents, etc.), in the platform’s built-in library.
• Page analytics: Track each page’s total views and number of unique visitors across different timelines. Get overviews showing what keywords visitors used to land on your web pages, page traffic sources, and visitor location distribution.

Drawbacks: The platform’s page editor is slightly restrictive. Page elements snap into place via pre-determined grids.

Pricing: You can get started with WordPress for free. Paid packages start at $4 per month (yearly billing).

5. Adobe Commerce – best to streamline eCommerce operations

Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) is an all-in-one eCommerce platform designed to help online stores scale their operations.

The platform includes an ample set of AI-powered functionalities that deliver personalized product recommendations based on website visitor behavior, product popularity, and more.

Adobe Commerce also includes B2B-specific tools, like quote management and customer-specific catalogs, for instance.

Key features

• Reports and analytics: Track sales data, traffic analytics, top-performing customer acquisition channels, and more — all under a unified dashboard. Turn complex data into actionable reports through the platform’s dedicated report builder, and easily share insights with stakeholders via email.
• Live Search: Leverage Adobe’s Live Search to set up seamless product search experiences for your customers. Have the right products displayed in the search bar — even if visitors mistype them — and gain full control over what products show up at the top of search results and which ones should be displayed further down.
• Checkout page customization: Let customers handle payments through numerous methods (PayPal, Venmo, ApplePay, MasterCard, Visa, and so on), and allow them to save their payment details for seamless future transactions. Accept payments in multiple currencies.

Drawbacks: Users report that the platform is heavy on hardware, which can cause performance issues.

Pricing: Pricing is not disclosed — you’ll need to contact the sales team to get a custom quote.

6. Joomla – best open-source CMS for complex websites

In contrast to WordPress, Joomla is suitable for more advanced users. The platform offers more out-of-the-box functionalities, like technical SEO tools, built-in news feeds, and cache management.

Joomla also gives you access to all of the platform’s features completely for free, making it much more scalability-friendly compared to WordPress.

Key features

• Content management: Schedule content in advance directly within the platform. Use the platform’s version control to keep track of all changes and restore previous versions in case of any potential issues. View your pages both in the backend and frontend in real time for better control over your design.
• Extension library: Access a large selection of extensions to build on the platform’s functionality set, like SEO tools, advertising management features, review management, and more.
• Multi-lingual support: Localize your website in up to 70 languages. Add language switchers, translate articles, menus, and so on.

Drawbacks: Joomla is more technical compared to WordPress, and requires some development expertise.

Pricing: You can use Joomla for free.

Keyword research tools

7. Google Keyword Planner – best for PPC keyword research and optimization

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool available on the Google Ads platform. The keyword planner gives all the data necessary to set up successful ad campaigns — from keyword suggestions related to your products or services to insights on search trends, and bid estimates.

You can then use this data to plan and roll out your advertising campaigns with Google Ads, as well as measure and optimize their performance.

Key features

• Ad campaign estimates: Figure out whether your ad campaign is set up for success before rolling it out. Measure its potential reach through the platform’s search trends analytics and adjust your budget via bidding estimates for each target keyword.
• Keyword planning: Generate a list of keywords relevant to your website, brand, products, or service. Organize your target search terms in multiple categories and share them with your team members or clients.
• Ad campaign optimization: Leverage Google’s Insights and Recommendations tools to measure and optimize your ad campaigns in real time. Uncover search trends relevant to your business and receive automated recommendations for your bidding strategies and ad creative design.

Drawbacks: Google Keyword Planner mostly focuses on PPC campaigns. Although it can also be useful for identifying keywords for organic search results, it lacks other organic SEO-specific features, like dedicated topic cluster planners and content auditing tools.

Pricing: Google Keyword Planner is completely free to use.

8. Ahrefs – best SEO tool for backlink profile analytics

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO tool with particularly powerful backlink analytics capabilities. The platform’s backlink checker gives you detailed insights regarding your website’s — or your competitors’ — domain authority, total number of backlinks, and referring domains.

You’ll then receive a list of your top referring root domains, along with the pages they linked to (both dofollow and nofollow links), and the anchor texts they used. Ahrefs also displays the domain authority score of referring websites — perfect to spark potential partnerships.

Key features

• Keywords Explorer: Streamline the keyword research process by generating numerous search terms related to your industry. Leverage Ahers’s keyword research data to spot low-hanging fruit based on ranking difficulty, search volumes, cost-per-click, parent topics, and so on. Easily group keywords covering the same niche to set up clusters.
• Site Explorer: Perform comprehensive analyses to get valuable SEO data — from backlink analytics to PPC, organic search, and website structure reports. Compare reports between different timelines to pinpoint which strategies work and which don’t.
• Rank Tracker: Monitor the results of your SEO strategy in real time. Track your average position in search engine rankings, see what content made it to Google’s rich results, and more.

Drawbacks: Scalability with Ahrefs might be a challenge — there are large pricing gaps between plans.

Pricing: Ahrefs starts at $29 per month (monthly billing).

9. KWFinder – best for keyword research

KWFinder is a dedicated keyword research tool — it gives all the insights necessary to optimize content for high positions in search results.

All you need to do is type in your seed keyword and the platform generates dozens of long-tail keyword variations, along with their ranking difficulty, search volumes, cost-per-click, and so on.

Key features

• Competitor research: Search up keywords by root domain to see what terms your competitors target. Spot their most effective keywords via KWFinder’s Estimated Visits per month metric — it gives you an idea of how many page visits these particular keywords attract.
• Keyword lists and exports: Save all closely related keywords into separate lists — perfect for developing topic clusters. Export search terms in bulk into CSV files directly within the platform.
• Search volume and trend analysis: Identify fluctuations in your target keyword’s search volumes across a specific time frame via straightforward graphs. Use the dedicated Trends tab to gauge audience interest.

Drawbacks: The keyword research tool is part of Mangool’s product suite. It comes bundled with other SEO tools, which may not bring the best value for money if you’re strictly looking for keyword research tools.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $17.91 per month (yearly billing). You can also try KWFinder for free and perform up to five searches.

Performance SEO tools

10. Google Analytics 4 – best for website visitor tracking

Google Analytics reveals everything you need to know about your website visitors. The platform’s website traffic analysis tool lets you know what pages attract the most visitors, how much they spend on each specific page, their traffic sources, and so on.

You can also set up custom events via Google Tag Manager — perfect to gain further insights on conversions and micro-conversions.

Key features

• Audience demographics: Receive valuable data regarding your visitors’ gender, languages, age brackets, and location, as well as interests (sports, arts, traveling, etc.).
• Advertisement performance tracking: Link GA4 with Google Ads to get extra insights on your ad campaign performance — identify website visits from advertisements, the specific keywords that lead to those visits, and so on.
• Page metrics: Track average engagement rates and engagement times across all your pages. Distinguish between new and recurring visitors and measure how much time they spend on your website.

Drawbacks: GA4 could do with some improvements in the user experience department — most users report a steep learning curve.

Pricing: Google Analytics is completely free to use.

11. Google Search Console – best for website performance tracking

In contrast, Google Search Console (GSC) gets into the technicalities — you can track page speed performance, spot 404 error pages, and analyze your website’s structure for crawlability.

The platform also offers suggestions to fix any potential issues, like compressing images for faster loading speeds, for example. Google Search Console also runs in the background — it notifies you via email whenever it finds site problems.

Key features

• Site usability reports: See whether your pages are up to standards in terms of loading speeds and overall browsing experience. Identify whether copy is too small to read on mobiles, if buttons are too close to one another, if you have any broken links, and more.
• Search analytics: See exactly which search terms brought visitors to your site. Track your page’s average position in search rankings, along with each listing’s impressions and clicks.
• URL inspections: Check how quickly search bots crawl to your site to spot any potential improvements in terms of site structure.

Drawbacks: Just like with GA4, Google Search Console can be rather tricky to use.

Pricing: You can use Google Search Console for free.

12. Screaming Frog – best for full SEO audits

Screaming Frog lets you perform in-depth site audits and spot anything that might be wrong with your website — from broken links to unoptimized metadata, unnecessary redirects, duplicate content issues, and even grammar or spelling mistakes.

The platform also generates XML sitemaps to enhance website crawlability, while its native GA4 and Google Search Console integrations give you further insights into optimizing site performance.

Key features

• Crawl comparisons: Simulate indexing for new page variations and compare them against older versions. See exactly what improved between changes and spot new potential issues.
• Metadata analysis: Analyze page titles and meta descriptions across all your pages — see where metadata is missing, whether it’s too short or too long, or if it’s duplicated.
• Link analysis: View all your website’s inbound and outbound links, along with the pages they link to. Get further context and identify each link’s anchor text. See whether links are dofollow or nofollow, and monitor their status (blocked by robots.txt, canonicalized, redirected, and so on).

Drawbacks: The platform’s free plan is limited to 500 URLs — not suitable for large websites. The paid package is only available as an annual subscription.

Pricing: Screaming Frog starts at $259 per year (one user included).

Streamline content creation and dominate search results with SEO agency tools

Planable is the best option for content collaboration — its ample set of team collaboration features, coupled with dedicated client workspaces and straightforward calendars, make content planning and creation processes a breeze.

As for content management, WordPress and Joomla cover rather similar functionalities. However, Joomla is more code-centric — perfect for advanced users who seek more flexibility in customization. WordPress, on the other hand, is an excellent alternative for ease of use. And of course, Adobe Commerce should be your go-to if you mostly work with online stores.

In terms of keyword analytics, Ahrefs is a highly capable tool. KWFinder is a great alternative for cost-effectiveness, while Keyword Planner is a solid choice for SEM campaigns.

Wrapping with analytics tools, GA4 and GSC are the perfect free combo to get a 360-degree overview of your campaign performance. Screaming Frog is an excellent option if you also want to diagnose technical SEO issues, like broken links, slow page speed, and so on.