Search engine optimization has changed significantly over the past few years, and this should not come as a surprise considering all the algorithm updates that were introduced by Google. More and more people believe that “SEO is dead”, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. SEO will never be dead. In a way we can say that with every data refresh it dies a little, but it is soon reborn in a different form. The truth is that we have to understand a little bit about the beginning of SEO before we can start to discuss about the tools used to enhance performance, because no tool can be used to its full extent as long as one does not understand its use.
How SEO Has Evolved in the Last Decade
The practice of search engine optimization appeared approximately 12 years ago, but much has changed since its inception. In the beginning, Google and other search engines would use simple metrics in order to rank pages in the SERPs. First there were back-links. It was considered that a back-link from a higher authoritative site is a vote of confidence from the respective site. And credibility would be passed from web-page to webpage according to the number of links that would point to it.
Sadly, unethical SEO practitioners soon caught up on that parameter, and they began to manipulate the search engine by creating spammy links and content farms. Google’s response was swift and merciless. They decided to constantly tweak their systems in order to display more accurate results. This is how Penguin and Panda were born, the two major Google algorithms that fight against spammy links and sites, unethical SEO strategies, low-quality content and so on.
How SEO Works After Penguin 2.0
It is safe to say that much has changed since the first years of SEO, and Penguin 2.0’s update from 22 May is a testimony that webmasters have finally begun to understand the importance of building high-quality sites with the help of lucrative SEO strategies. It is true that the fourth Penguin’s release was not as devastating as it was expected, but it has given us important insights about the SEO world.
First of all, we have understood that social media and search engine optimization cannot be treated independently. The two should be intertwined and integrated in one’s strategy in order to achieve success.
Another thing we have observed is the fact that analytics, metrics and benchmarking techniques can bring important insights on the overall performance of your site, in comparison with your competitors. This is exactly why so many companies and webmasters rely on SEO tools such as Raven, MarketSamurai or Moz. Let’s take a look at the ten best SEO tools that will provide you with metrics, keyword analysis. Social media insights, and pretty much everything you will need to know in order to optimize your SEO strategy.
The tools have been listed in a random order. So before you decide to subscribe to any of them please make sure that you carefully read the following reviews as they contain detailed information about each tool’s strengths and weaknesses.
Social Networking Site Use by Age
Why is internet marketing so important? The answer is simple, more than a quarter of the world’s population is now online. Social media and online shopping have become a familiar thing to many people. As you can see in the chart above, people are now extremely active on social networks (and not only), and this means that there are many opportunities for internet specialists and webmasters. This never-before-seen interest in the online world has fueled the development of monitoring tools like the ones presented in the article. Bear with us as we present the top 11 SEO tools of 2013 (according to us).