Between backlinks and alt tags, metadata and H1s, search engine optimization can get pretty complicated. Seriously, which update is Google on now the Penguin, the Panda, or the Hummingbird? And what’s the difference? Who knows? These days the success of your website, blog, microsite, landing page and general online presence starts with how easily you can be found in search engines. A little SEO tweaking of your website or blog can considerably impact lead generation, sales, revenues, etc. Outsourcing an SEO team can do wonders, but it can also be pretty pricy. Fortunately, there have been some wonderful plugins, websites and widgets to simplify SEO. It may be no substitute to having a team, but it’s a great start for getting content optimized and it will save you a few bucks. Most of these can be done with little to no SEO training or experience. Best of all, most of these are free!
- A Toast for Yoast: This is our favorite. If you have a WordPress blog the SEO plugin by Yoast is a must-have. Simply select a keyword and Yoast automatically tells you where to make updates or where keyword content is missing. It’s so simple and it’s free.
- The Uber Keyword Planner: Coming up with keywords and phrases is a pain, but Ubersuggest is the anesthesia. Just add a word to search box. Fill out the captcha. Hit the “Suggest” button and hundreds of keywords and long-tail phrases magically appear. Ubersuggest is a free website.
- Fight Bad SEO like a Ninja: The Internet Marketing Ninjas provide some of the best tools out there for optimizing your on-page SEO, resizing site images, broken link analysis, and other scary web traffic and SEO killers. The tools are free and if you don’t want to do it yourself, you can hire your own ninja.
- Moz gives you the Most:com is the single best place online for any and all things SEO-related. There are free and paid SEO tools and an awesome blog dedicated to SEO. This is the site that the pros use to get their info and a lot of their tools. Subscriptions are available for $99 a month, but you can do a 30-day trial before you buy.
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