The Beginners Guide to Owning a Successful Online Business

The Beginners Guide to Owning a Successful Online Business

In today’s modern society, business owners have to deal with a lot of competition. The internet has made it easier than ever to start a company, but even more difficult to sustain as one. If a business doesn’t have a strong online presence, then you’ll struggle to make an impact. In this guide, we’re going to discuss how successful online businesses dominate the internet. 

 

The Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses (FSB) estimates that there are approximately 6 million businesses in the UK, as of 2020. While some small business owners believe that taking a more traditional approach gives them a competitive edge, an internet presence opens up a world of opportunities. 

 

The Advantages of Having an Online Presence 

 

<h3>aspects of a website</h3>

 

There are many advantages to having an online platform for your business. Let’s take a look at them now. 

 

Reach a Broader Audience 

 

If you sell products or online services, then having a website will help you to connect with a broader audience. The best thing about the internet is that we no longer have to travel to purchase the things we want. E-Commerce makes it easy to go online, visit a website and order a product or service. 

 

Websites are especially useful if you operate within a niche. With the right website integrations, you can ship your products around the world, which enables you to sustain your company and reach the right audiences. 

 

It Fits The “Always On” Mentality 

 

People are so busy these days. Hectic work schedules, childcare commitments and playing catch up over the weekend means going out shopping isn’t always an option. The good thing about the net is just because your business isn’t open, doesn’t mean people can’t shop. 

 

When you provide solutions for your consumers’ needs, you can sell products without even having a conversation. People look for convenience, and a website allows you to provide that for them. 

 

Advertise Your Business 

 

Traditional advertising methods often meant a lot of leaflets, planning, and expensive agencies. The internet is a hub of advertising opportunities, and better still, you can do it all yourself or pay an internet marketing agency to do it for you. 

 

Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and even using a free business directory are all excellent ways to advertise your business. 

 

Better Experience For Customers 

 

When you have a website, you can display all of your business information online. Customers can visit your site to learn about the products you sell and the services you offer. Not only does this offer them a better experience, but it saves your time. 

Ways to Build a Successful Online Business

 

So now you know why having a website is essential, we’re going to look at how to build your business online. 

 

Create a Website

 

 

When it comes to building a website, there are so many options available to you. For some companies, using a DIY website builder is ideal, but you have to know what you’re doing. Platforms such as WIX and GoDaddy offer cost-effective web design solutions, but they can look somewhat generic. 

 

To make an impression, you could use a specialist website designer. Great designers will talk about your website needs and do their best to fulfil them. It’s important to remember that your site is the face of your business, and if customers aren’t impressed with what you have to offer, they won’t stick around. 

 

Click here to read our guide on must-have e-commerce website design features. 

 

Build a Social Presence 

 

 

Social media is a vast sea of customers, and the only thing you have to do is catch them. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, there’s a platform that contains your target audience. 

 

Every business should be on social media, and while many create profiles, they don’t use them as they should. Remember that people use social media for learning and entertainment. Nobody wants to hear about the new software you’ve just bought (unless they love your company). 

 

Use your social media account to attract an audience and offer them valuable information. Unless you’re an established company, you should save the selling for your website and build useful connections through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. 

 

You can find the best social media platform for your company here

 

Put a Content Strategy In Place 

 

 

One of the best ways to get your business online, and noticed, is by putting together an effective content marketing strategy. PPC advertising can yield immediate website traffic and results, but content-driven marketing is a long-term strategy that can give you a constant stream of leads. 

 

Implementing an SEO strategy is central to your success. You could write the best blog posts in the world, but if you don’t optimise them for search engines, your efforts won’t matter. However, when you do learn how to use SEO correctly, you’ll reap the rewards. 

 

A strong content marketing strategy means that eventually, you’ll rank on the search engine results page. When this happens, it’s basically free marketing. According to Internet Live Stats, Google processes 40,000 searches per second. If your content reaches the first results page, it will drive people towards your website and through your sales funnel. 

 

You’ve Got Email 

 

 

Surprisingly, email marketing is still one of the best ways to attract customers. The majority of people that visit your website, won’t come back but if you catch their email address, then you can use it to drive them back there. 

 

Building an email list is an invaluable asset to your company, and nurturing the leads you have is more straightforward than finding new ones. It would help if you thought about how to keep your leads interested so that when they’re ready to make a purchase or buy a product, you can direct them to your site. 

 

Many businesses offer free e-books or downloads as incentives to retain subscribers. Whatever you decide to offer, it’s important that it appeals to your audience. 

 

Top Tip: Check out what your competitors are doing. You can subscribe to their mailing list and see how they interact with their audience. 

 

Don’t Ignore the Numbers 

 

 

The best thing about technology today is that it makes it easy for anyone to analyse how their business is performing. Gone are the days of analytical experts, because Google Analytics tells you everything you need to know. 

 

Using tools gives you valuable information about the visitors you’re attracting, how long they stay on your site, and the content they interact with most. Once you have this information, you can use it to improve your website, update your content and figure out ways to turn leads into customers. 

 

There are so many software solutions available, and it would be impossible to name each one. If you’re not sure where to start, then think about the type of industry you’re operating in and search for the best solutions related to your company. 

 

Check out our extensive guide on getting started with Google Analytics here

 

Keeping Your Business Online 

 

It’s one thing getting your business online and attracting an audience, but if you don’t remain consistent, then none of your initial efforts won’t matter. If you want a successful online business, there are some vital factors to consider. Let’s take a look at them by answering some of the most problems our clients face. 

 

Which Platform is Best for My Website? 

 

Well, there are a lot of great options around, but we recommend WordPress. As a team of experienced website managers and designers, we look to WordPress because it has such incredible functionality. 

 

With WP, you can choose from a selection of plugins, widgets and integrations to load your site with the software it needs. At Zapp Sites, we offer WordPress solutions for businesses of all sizes, and we do that because we know the platform stands head and shoulders above its competitors. 

 

How Do I Know Who My Target Audience Is?

 

A big challenge for small business owners is finding their target audience. It’s difficult to conduct extensive research on a small budget, but there are some techniques you can use to isolate the individuals that will purchase your product or service. 

 

Two of our favourite ways to conduct research is the use of social media and forums. For example, imagine you sell women’s clothing. There are plenty of Facebook groups that women interact on, and you can use your account to create polls to find answers to your questions. Most importantly, you can learn how to solve your target audience’s pain points. 

 

Another tactic is becoming an active participant in online forums. People love to connect and often discuss their issues. 

 

Want to learn five free ways to do market research? Click here

 

If At First, I Don’t Succeed..?

 

You got it. Try and try again. Building an successful online business isn’t easy. But if it were easy, then the results wouldn’t be so profitable. Everything from finding your target audience, to creating a website and building a marketing strategy takes a lot of time and commitment. 

 

The blog posts you create won’t immediately gain attention, but if you continue to put in the effort, you will see results. 

 

Are You Ready to Create a Successful Online Business?

 

 

In these uncertain times, a lot of people want to take advantage of the freedom of owning a successful online business. But a lot of them don’t want to put the work in and believe us – there’s a lot of work involved. The long-term rewards of the time you spend building your business include a prosperous financial future, the ability to travel and many other freedoms. 

 

If you’d like some support with your website, then Zapp offers website management services UK wide. Our experienced team can support you to keep your content fresh and your site at its peak performance. Contact us today to discover more about how we can help you. 

How to Use Google Trends in 2020 

How to Use Google Trends in 2020 

Trends define the products companies sell and the ways consumers shop. They’re central to fashion, e-commerce and even B2B services. In this post, we’re going to discuss how to use Google Trends in 2020. 

 

What Is Google Trends?

 

The primary aim of content creation is to expose your business to a broader audience. Once people start reading your content and valuing it, they’re more likely to trust your company and can become loyal customers. 

 

Keywords are central to helping people discover your content. For example, at Zapp Sites, we’d create content to include the keyword term ‘website management services UK’. But how do you know what people are searching for? 

 

According to statistics published on Oberlo, Google processes around 3.5 billion searches a day. With so many inquiries, it’s challenging to keep up to date with changing trends. 

 

Google Trends is a free tool that collates data from searches to show researchers the most popular keyword terms for a range of topics. You can use those terms to maximise your SEO strategy and target your content to people in different countries. 

 

Using Google Trends for More Leads 

 

Google has a range of free software, and the trends feature can improve your lead generation and boost your conversions. The most important question people have is ‘how do I use Google Trends?’ 

 

All you need to do is input a particular search term or topic to see its popularity over time. For example, we created a search for Google Trends to see if it was worthwhile to dedicate a blog post to it. 

 

As you can see from the results, the term has a moderate level of interest. 

<h3>nimbus screenshot google trends</h3>

 

Before you write about a topic, it’s essential to see whether people search for it or not. By doing this, you can maximise your content marketing strategy. 

 

Benefits For New Businesses 

 

Trends is also useful for general market research if you’re thinking of introducing a new service or product. 

 

It’s incredibly hard to decide which products to sell, especially with consumers being offered more options today than ever before. But Google is ideal for conducting market research and giving yourself a head start against the competition. 

 

If a term generates zero results or has a low search volume, you can focus on finding products that have stable levels of popularity. 

 

You can also use Trends to find the right domain names for your business. A domain should appeal to searchers, and if it has a high volume, you’ll attract more visitors. 

 

The Bottom Line 

 

Whether you’re searching for compelling content ideas or conducting market research, Google has a host of useful tools, and its trends software is up there with the best of them. 

 

Once you understand what your target audience is searching for, you can align your business with them and create content that appeals to your chosen demographics. 

 

Now you know how to use Google Trends in 2020, you can put together an effective plan and place yourself in an advantageous position against your competitors. If you need some help along the way, then check out our guide on Google Analytics to improve your marketing strategy. 

What Are Negative Keywords and Why Are They Important?

What Are Negative Keywords and Why Are They Important?

One of the best ways to increase your customer base is pay per click advertising. PPC offers quick results and can be an excellent option if you want to promote a sale, introduce a new product or drive people to your website. To succeed in your PPC efforts, you need to use SEO. One of the most common questions our clients ask is “What are negative keywords?” 

 

So, What Are Negative Keywords?

 

In simple terms, negative keywords are words you can add to your campaigns to improve the results. Essentially, negative keywords are there so when a user types a query in a search bar; the word acts as a screen to stop your company coming up in the results. 

 

For example, if you sell food and toys for cats, you’ll want to use keywords that relate to the topic, such as cat food and mouse toys for cats. But you could place dog based keywords in the negative section to avoid people that are searching for items for their canine.  

 

Doing this means you avoid the costs associated with PPC advertising, and only pay for qualified leads. 

 

According to Google, you should set an advertising budget that works for your business needs and budget. By using negative keywords, companies on a small budget can maximise their lead generation by removing search terms that are irrelevant to their product range or services. 

 

The Importance of Negative Keywords 

 

There are numerous advantages of negative keywords. Let’s take a look at them. 

 

Better CTR (Click Through Rate)

 

Your click-through rate refers to the percentage of clicks your adverts receive. Impressions are when people see your ad on their search engine results page. 

 

Click-throughs are essential for a successful advertising campaign because they’re central for turning leads into customers. 

 

Negative words improve your CTR because only qualified leads can see your adverts. 

 

Save Money 

 

As we mentioned previously, negative keywords can save you a lot of money. It’s essential to add that you can reduce the risks of competing against yourself, and avoid decreasing the impact of your keyword-level data

 

Improve the Relevance of Your Adverts 

 

Ad groups refer to a variety of adverts with the same general message. For example, suppose you wanted to promote a website management service. In that case, you’d probably have different adverts for your chosen demographics, but each advert would have the same overall message and purpose. 

 

When you use these keywords across all of your adverts, you improve their relevance and make your campaigns more manageable. 

 

Finding The Right Keywords

 

Most keyword tools such as Google Keyword Planner can help you to find the right keywords by offering suggestions. You can also use a specialist website management company that specialises in SEO. 

 

Negative keywords are essential to your advertising campaign. Without them, you’re likely to waste your budget on unqualified leads. By looking for the right keywords, you can save yourself a lot of time and money. 

 

Got any tips on how to use keyword research? Leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you. 

The Best Free Writing Tools to Rev Up Your Content Marketing

The Best Free Writing Tools to Rev Up Your Content Marketing

Most people can write, but there’s a big difference between stringing a coherent sentence together and being an influential writer. Luckily, writing tools can help you to correct spelling mistakes and simplify your sentences.

 

Great content is concise, informational and understandable. Here are our top choices for writing tools to help you rev up your content marketing game. 

 

Grammarly

 

<h3>grammarly homepage</h3>

 

Grammarly is one of the most popular writing tools around, and it packs a host of free features. It offers an in-depth analysis of your grammar, and it’s especially beneficial if you’re writing in UK or US English. 

 

The free version offers a spell check and provides suggestions to improve your grammar and readability. The paid version is best for marketers or people who write content and reports regularly. 

 

Overall, Grammarly is a fantastic tool, and it’s surprisingly accurate. There are times when it makes an inappropriate suggestion, so always read your work thoroughly instead of relying solely on the platform. 

 

The Hemingway App

 

 

The Hemingway Editor is advanced free editing software that focuses on the effectiveness of your writing. Ernest Hemingway was a writer that prioritised clear and concise language, and the app is based around his methods. 

 

What we like most about this tool is its ability to show you what the reading grade level of your writing. The editor will also provide suggestions to help you simplify your content and remove claggy paragraphs. 

 

If you’re looking for a free editing tool, then we can’t recommend the Hemingway Editor enough. It’s ideal for new writers, but it’s also useful for experienced marketers that need to create easy to understand guides. 

 

Google Translate 

 

Google provides an abundance of free tools, and its translate app is one of our favourites. The translation software enables you to find out the meaning and pronunciation of words and phrases. 

 

It’s primarily for people that want to write in another language because it checks your work and corrects your errors. Our favourite thing about translate is you can translate photos and use the audio recorder to check if your pronunciation is correct. 

 

Google Translate also has an excellent grammar tool for proficient English speaks that want to check whether their content is readable. 

 

Grammar Girl

 

Grammar Girl is a unique platform that focuses on answering your grammar questions. It’s not a spell checking platform, but the founder, Mignon Fogarty, knows her stuff when it comes to persuasive writing. 

 

You can read the helpful blog or listen to her podcast for more information. Grammar Girl won’t improve individual pieces of writing, but it can make you a better writer. 

 

VisuWords 

 

One of the worst writing mistakes we see is when people use the same word repeatedly in their content. VisuWords is a free tool that enables you to enter a term and see its relatives. 

 

The best thing about this free writing tool is you can use it to make your content more original. It’s also ideal for finding the correct words to fit the topic and writing style. 

 

Each of the writing tools above has its benefits, and using them means you can create content that compels and converts your audience. 

 

Did you know that a blog can boost your traffic? Check out our post on blog writing here. 

Hashtags For Business: The Complete Growth & Visibility Guide

Hashtags For Business: The Complete Growth & Visibility Guide

Hashtags are everywhere, and they’ve been a popular way of tagging your posts since 2009. It was Twitter that popularised hashtags, but today platforms such as Instagram and LinkedIn use them. The biggest issue many people have is how to use hashtags for business growth. 

 

Using hashtags correctly can ignite peoples interest and make them talk about your brand. They also increase your impressions and help you to reach your target audience. In this post, we’re going to discuss hashtags in more detail and reveal some ways to grow your business by using them. 

 

How Do Hashtags Work?

 

Hashtags are a popular way to categorise your content on social media platforms. For example, if you wrote a post about some new cat food, you could add this ‘#pets# tag to make sure it reaches the relevant audiences. 

 

Social media platforms can analyse and index your content according to the tags you use, which is especially beneficial for businesses. When you use a specific hashtag, your post will become visible to anyone who follows the topic. 

 

Social Media Marketing Using Hashtags 

 

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Hashtag marketing can boost your social media strategy and help you reach a wider audience. If you learn to use them to your advantage, you’ll be able to decrease the time you spend promoting your business on social platforms. 

 

The biggest issue for businesses is choosing the right hashtags. It’s important to mention here that the one thing you don’t want to do is fill your post with hashtags. Readers won’t take your post seriously if it seems like you want to get as many views as possible, so keep it simple. 

 

It would help if you chose the hashtags that have the most relevance for your business. For example, if you offer website management services, you can look for the most popular hashtag variations for that industry. 

 

Choosing the Right Hashtags for Business Marketing

 

 

So, how do you choose the right hashtags? Well, there are so many on the platform; it’s best to look at which one fits your objective. Here are the tags you should know. 

 

Exposure Hashtags 

 

There are many types of hashtags, so we’ve split them into two groups: exposure and sales tags. Exposure tags can put your business in front of a larger audience, and sales tags can turn followers into customers. 

 

Let’s take a look at exposure hashtags. 

 

Niche Hashtags 

 

Niche hashtags relate to your field or industry. They’re the most popular type of tags for small businesses because finding them takes very little research. When you know which hashtags to use, you can implement them in your social media strategy. 

 

For example, let’s say you own an online shop selling used clothing, but only shipping within the UK. Instead of finding an international hashtag, you should look for one that’s specific to the UK. That way, you can reach your target audience and have a higher chance of converting them into customers. 

 

You can also find tags by thinking about the products you sell and the services you offer. Let’s take Zapp Sites as an example. 

 

At Zapp, we offer website management services, which includes design, maintenance, updates and WordPress websites. Instead of just using #website management services, we make sure our tags contain WordPress and other keywords related to our management services. 

 

Niche Tag Tip

 

A great way to find the right hashtags is by analysing your competitors. Go onto their page and look at the tags they use for their posts. 

 

Branded Hashtags 

 

If you want to build a strong brand, then it’s essential to make sure people know who you are and what you can offer them. One of the best (and most complicated) ways of improving your companies social media presence is to use branded hashtags. 

 

Branded hashtags feature your company name, and they can be instrumental in converting your followers to customers. When it comes to difficulty, branded hashtags are in a league of their own. Your success with your tags depends on your marketing strategy. 

 

While other types of hashtags often refer to trending topics, your branded tags must emulate your company and help people find you. There are traditional company hashtags such as #McDonald’s, but you can also get creative. For example, # ZappAndIt’sDone

 

The best thing about branded hashtags is you can use them to grow your customer base. They’re convenient to use, and adding them to every post means you can increase your online presence. 

 

Trending Hashtags

 

Trending hashtags are similar to top news stories because they’re the hot topics of the moment. If you’re a small business and want to gain some traction on social media, then trending tags can save you a lot of time and money. 

 

When you use a tag that relates to a trending topic, you can reach a wider audience. While trending hashtags offer the advantage of getting your content to people quickly, they also have some disadvantages. Let’s take a look at them: 

 

You Might Not Reach the People You Want 

 

Just because you tag your post with a trending topic, it doesn’t mean you’ll reach the right audience. For example, if #business is trending, that opens up a wide net of people that might follow the topic. But it doesn’t mean they need your service. 

 

Trending hashtags allow you to gain exposure for your company, but they don’t guarantee you more customers. A lot of businesses choose to niche their tags because it puts them in front of the right audience. 

 

You Could Lose Out on Opportunities 

 

If you spend all your time focusing on trending topics, you might miss out on potential customers. Writing content for trending topics is like casting a net into the ocean and hoping you’ll catch a fish. You don’t know where they are, or if you’re in the right place – but it’s worth a try, right? 

 

Trending hashtags can be beneficial, but we recommended combining those tags with niche tags to get more leads. 

 

Sales Hashtags 

 

Statistics from LinkedIn show that 97% of B2B marketers use it as a platform for showcasing content. This figure alone shows how competitive social media is for businesses.

 

Sales hashtags can help you to turn followers into paying customers; if you use them correctly. 

 

Call to Action Tags 

 

<h3>shareacoke twitter page</h3>

 

Never underestimate the impact of a strong CTA. The primary purpose of a call to action tag is to compel people to complete an action. For example, if you want your audience to visit your website, you can use a call to action.

 

Coke is a classic example of using CTA tags. Their #ShareACoke campaign was successful because it spoke directly to the Millennial audience. Talking to your target audience and making yourself a relatable brand can dramatically improve your brand identity.

 

How to Use CTA Tags  

 

If you want to use CTA tags, you should focus on your campaign instead of the overall brand. For example, Coke chose #ShareACoke to focus on the happiness the beverage brings. 

 

The campaign was positioned to appeal to the Millennial generation, but Coke also runs different campaigns to keep their brand fresh. Using the same CTA tags can reduce the impact of your campaigns, so it’s time to get creative! 

 

Product & Service Hashtags

 

If you offer a wide range of products/services, then it’s beneficial to use hashtags to market them. People often search by their intent, so you can save a lot of time when you add tags to specific products. 

 

For example, a clothing brand for women could use a hashtag such as #WomensClothing, but do people search for that specific term? If a customer wants to buy a new skirt, they will look for skirts. 

 

When you strategise your hashtags based on user intent, you can reach qualified leads instead of people who show interest in a broad topic. 

 

How to Use Hashtags for Business Growth

 

<h3>hashtags to sales</h3>

 

If you haven’t used hashtag marketing before, then it can seem like a daunting process. Luckily, there are some easy ways to find the right tags. Let’s take a look at them. 

  • Keyword Research – If you’re familiar with SEO, you can use keyword research to find the best hashtags. 
  • Twitter Advanced Search – Twitter has a fantastic advanced search option which allows you to choose specific words and phrases to find the right keywords. 
  • LinkedIn Search – LinkedIn has a similar feature to find hashtags. Type the word or phrase into the search bar, and a list of the most popular hashtag topics will appear. Using this feature means you can find topics with the most followers. 

The Bottom Line 

Now you know how to use hashtags for business, you can begin to increase your visibility. Social media marketing takes time, but once you start to gain some traction with your audience, you can focus on turning them into paying customers. 

 

While some people focus on multiple social media platforms, professional marketers choose the best platform for the business. If you’re not sure which is best for you, check out our guide here

The Best SEO Tools For SMB’s 

The Best SEO Tools For SMB’s 

Search Engine Optimisation is everywhere, but it’s something that few of us think about. But SEO is vital for any business that wants to rank in the search engines. In this post, we’re going to discuss the best SEO tools for small and medium enterprises. 

 

Is SEO That Important? 

 

Yes, yes and yes! The fact is without SEO, ranking on search engines is a game of luck. Every time someone asks a question to Google, they use a set of words. Google’s crawlers scan content that contains these words and ranks the website according to their algorithm. 

 

If you don’t optimise your content to include these keywords, then it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever reach that coveted first-page rank status. As you can see from these statistics from The Search Engine Journal, you should never underestimate how powerful SEO can be. 

 

Here are some of the biggest reasons SEO is vital for your business: 

 

User Experience: Google ranks websites based on the experience they offer users. When a site focuses on SEO, people visiting the site often find the information they need through backlinks and internal linking strategies too. 

 

More Buyers: Everyone (and we mean everyone) does their research before buying a product or service. They look at reviews and ask questions to find out if they’re investing their money wisely. SEO provides answers to questions, so combining it with your products can result in more sales. 

 

Save Money: Using Facebook and Google to create adverts costs money. The best thing about SEO is it saves you money on other marketing methods and enables you to invest that money in other areas of your business. 

 

It’s for the Long-Term: SEO is a long-term strategy. Yes, you’ll spend a lot of time optimising your website and content at first, but it’s worth the effort. Once you appear on the first page of Google, you’ll have an endless stream of free traffic. 

 

So, now you know why SEO is essential for businesses of all sizes, let’s take a look at the best SEO tools around. Whether you’ve got hundreds to spend on optimisation or are looking for a free application that doesn’t skimp on its tools, then read on. 

 

Premium SEO Tools 

 

The following tools are the ones used by big businesses. Yes, they can be expensive, but their features are well worth the money. Investing in your SEO can turn your business around, so let’s take a look at the best SEO software for premium users. 

 

Ahrefs: Starts at $99 per month.

<h3>ahrefs homepage</h3>

If you’ve heard of SEO, then the chances are you know about Ahrefs. It’s one of the most effective SEO tools on the internet, and many companies credit Ahrefs with helping them build and scale their business. 

 

The SEO platform has all of the tools you’d expect, including keyword research, website audits and competitor analysis. One of the things we like most about Ahrefs is the site audit feature. While most tools give a basic overview, Ahref’s site audit tells you exactly where the issues lie on your website and how to correct them. 

 

Overall, Ahrefs is a fantastic tool – but it does come at a price. If you can afford to invest in the software, then you should give it a go and see how it can turn your business around. 

 

SEMRush: Starts at $99.95 per month.

<h3>semrush homepage</h3>

SEMRush is a definite favourite among marketers and SEO professionals. The easy-to-use platform packs a range of features, including highlighting your opportunities to rank. If you’re looking for a way to analyse your competition, the domain to domain feature can show you how you build your backlinks.

 

If you’re looking for a host of features, then SEMRush won’t disappoint. At Zapp, we particularly love the SEO writing aid because it makes it simple to optimise each piece of content and measures the keyword density on each web page. 

 

Moz SEO Software: Starts at $99 per month. 

<h3>moz homepage</h3>

Moz is another fan favourite because of its ease-of-use. While many SEO tools take time to learn, you’ll pick up Moz without a problem. The platform comes with all of the features you’d expect to see, but there’s also a lot more to offer. 

 

SEO specialists choose Moz because of the toolbar application. There’s also a page optimiser with step by step instructions on how to improve your SEO score. Google changes its algorithm regularly, but Moz somehow manages to hold its own and continues to offer one of the best SEO tools available today. 

 

Cora: Starts at £250 per month. 

<h3>cora homepage</h3>

Cora comes with an incredibly expensive price tag, but it’s also one of the most advanced SEO tools around. The expert software analyses your website for 2040 ranking factors, giving you the best chance of getting onto that coveted first page of Google. 

 

You can also run monthly reports on a static site and gain valuable feedback about the algorithm. Overall, Cora is an incredible tool, but it’s more suited to the pros. At $250 a month, you’ll want to make sure you can understand the complex software before you commit. 

 

Budget SEO Tools 

 

It’s hard when you have a small business because your budget can limit what you can do to market your company. Spend too little, and you won’t get anywhere, but spend too much, and it could place you in debt and perhaps even ruin your business. 

 

Luckily there are two fantastic budget options for SEO apps. Here they are. 

 

Mangools – Starts at $29 per month 

<h3>mangools homepage</h3>

Mangools packs a host of features, and it comes with a very reasonable price tag. The platform contains four useful apps for small businesses that need to up their game. Mangools keyword planner features an auto-complete, relevant words and questions sections, with detailed information of keyword difficulty. 

 

There is also a SERP feature so you can track your companies rankings and monitor other businesses for their keywords and backlinks. Overall Mangools is a welcoming budget option as it has a vast selection of features. The lowest-cost plan is applicable when you pay annually. 

 

Majestic – Starts at $49.99 per month 

<h3>majestic homepage</h3>

Majestic is one of the top SEO tools around today, and it has some unique features. For example, The Majestic Million lists the top websites in the world and their rank, which can help you see what it takes to get to the top. 

 

You can also use the keyword tool to find high ranking optimisation opportunities. Majestic is renowned as an expert backlink checker, and it allows you to add your website along with your competitors. 

 

Overall, specialists love Majestic, but if you’re looking for a tool that’s easy to use, you might find the platform too complicated. 

 

Free SEO Tools 

 

Just because an SEO platform is free, doesn’t mean it’s useless. Many of the apps on our list have a free option with limited features. Let’s take a look at our top three SEO tools that won’t cost you a penny. 

 

Google 

<h3>google seo tools</h3>

Google is a powerhouse platform, and it has so many useful apps for your website. The best thing is, they’re completely free! We particularly love three applications from the internet giants: 

 

Keyword Planner: Users can view a range of keyword suggestions, look at how popular they are and choose ones that fit your SEO strategy. 

 

Trends: Google Trends is the go-to place for content marketers because it enables them to look at which topics are trending and how the trends change over time. 

 

Search Console: Analytics measures a range of factors, but Google Search Console tracks your organic visitors. It focuses on your search engine marketing strategy, making it an invaluable tool when you need to improve your organic rankings. 

 

Answer the Public 

<h3>answerthepublic homepage</h3>

If you’re struggling to find topics to write about, then Answer the Public is the tool you’ve been searching for. It focuses on showing you what others are asking. For example, if you typed in Small Business into the search, you’d find a range of popular small business topics and questions. 

 

It’s also a great way to find keywords, through looking at the results that Answer the Public offers. Overall, this is a wonderful tool, and it’s also ideal if you want a complete list of topics you can write about in under five minutes. 

 

SpyFu

<h3>spyfu homepage</h3>

SpyFu does have a premium version, but it’s free features go above and beyond most other top SEO tools. If you’re just starting with SEO, you can use the free version and upgrade when you’re ready. 

 

The free features of SpyFu include keyword research, competitor analysis, and our favourite is the ability to check out your competitors’ adverts. SpyFu is a fantastic app that gives you in-depth insights that should come at a premium price but remains completely free. 

 

The Wrap Up

 

While some things go out of style, SEO will be around for the foreseeable future. Remember, building an effective SEO strategy takes time, but once you have content that ranks on the search engines, it’s free traffic. 

 

If you’d like some help using your choice of the best SEO tools, then don’t hesitate to contact us today. Zapp is an expert website management platform that saves you time, money and a lot of headaches! Contact us today, or check out our blog for other helpful tips and guides.