12+ Best SEO Software for Small Business in 2023 [Free Trials]

Different niches have become highly competitive, and bloggers and website owners are adopting diverse ways to drive traffic.

One of the most effective ways to drive organic traffic to your small business website is by adopting SEO and optimizing your site to rank on search engines.

To optimize your website pages and succeed with SEO, you need to know, adopt, and strategically use the best SEO software for small businesses.

These SEO tools are specially designed for small business websites and are effective in helping you rank high on search engines and drive organic traffic.

Whether you’re doing your SEO yourself or with the help of an SEO expert, you need to have some SEO software solutions to make things easier for you and boost your results.

To help you know and understand these SEO tools for small businesses and how to use them effectively, this post will explore the following points:

• 11 best SEO software for small businesses (paid), their pros and cons, and free trial details.
• Key features of small business SEO tools.
• Benefits of using SEO software.
• Common features, similarities, and differences of the best SEO software solutions.
• Best free SEO tools for small businesses.

Before we get to the best SEO software for small business, let’s quickly review…

What is small business SEO software?

Small business SEO software or tools are online tools small and medium-sized businesses can use to improve their online visibility, search engine rankings, and overall website performance.

These tools help you analyze your website’s technical and content status and provide you with data on keywords, competitor performance, and backlinks.

Due to the cost of hiring SEO professionals and agencies, these SEO software solutions come in handy to meet the needs and budgets of small businesses.

12 best SEO software for small businesses in 2023 (+ SEO software trial)

Small businesses can use many SEO tools to meet their website objectives regarding SEO, and most of these tools offer free trials.

However, many of these tools are not equally effective and worth the money. More importantly, not every tool is suited for every business, especially small businesses with little budget and limited target audience.

The best SEO software for different kinds of goals are divided into 3 sections:

1. All-in-1 SEO software
2. Content SEO software
3. Local SEO software

Read below for the details based on my research and experience on some of the top seo tools for small business owners.

All-in-one SEO software for small businesses

1. Semrush

Semrush is not only the most powerful SEO tool that offers more than just the regular SEO features but also the best all-in-1 online marketing tool.

2. Moz Pro

Moz Pro is a sophisticated tool that offers all the SEO features needed by small businesses.

3. SE Ranking

SE Ranking is an all-in-1 SEO tool that offers plenty of SEO features at an affordable price.

4. SEO PowerSuite

SEO PowerSuite is the best SEO toolkit you can use for your desktop.  It’s a compilation of 4 different SEO tools.

5. Mangools

Mangools is one of the most user-friendly SEO toolkits and a compilation of 5 separate SEO tools.

6. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is great for keyword research, though it also offers other SEO features.

7. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another fantastic all-in-1 SEO tool that places a huge focus on backlinks. Ahrefs does not have a free trial, but it lets you try the tool for 7 days at a cost of $7.

8. WooRank

WooRank is an excellent SEO and website analysis tool you can use to get detailed insights and recommendations for improving your website’s online visibility and search engine performance.

9. SEOptimer

SEOptimer is another amazing SEO software solution for small businesses, an excellent website audit and reporting platform capable of comprehensively reviewing a website in less than 30 seconds.

Content SEO software for small businesses

SEO software does not only include only research and tracking software, it may also include software that helps you optimize your content for SEO.

While Semrush has an SEO Writing Assistant that sort of does that, you can also get a specialized tool for it which can make a world of difference to your organic position and traffic. Surfer SEO is one such tool.

10. Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is an SEO optimization platform that analyzes your content and gives tips on how to improve it. It examines the top-ranking pages for your target keywords and provides insights and recommendations based on their characteristics.

Local SEO software for small businesses

The 10 tools mentioned above are some of the most popular and all-in-1 SEO software for small businesses.

However, there are also some other SEO tools that you can use specifically for small business local SEO.

Some of these include:

11. Brightlocal

Brightlocal is a local SEO tool with multiple toolkits.

12. Whitespark

Whitespark is an agency that provides local SEO software along with SEO services.

Here is a more comprehensive deep dive into these best SEO tools for small businesses. It covers everything you need to know about them and how they can help your business.

Comparison table of the best small business SEO software and trials

1. Semrush – Most Powerful SEO Tool

I will definitely feature Semrush first because it is my favorite seo software for small businesses.

Semrush is not just an SEO tool, it is an all-in-1 tool for digital marketing, including tools for advertising and social media marketing. @semrush Click To Tweet

Semrush is the ultimate SEO and website positioning tool and an essential part of any digital content strategy.

It’s an incredibly powerful and versatile digital marketing tool designed to boost website traffic and search engine positions, monitor competitors, and much more – making it a must-have for any business.

One of the best aspects of Semrush is that it provides very in-depth SEO information, making it quick and easy to do the necessary SEO research and make quick, informed decisions.

Semrush Pros

• Semrush has high data accuracy and provides in-depth information, especially for basic SEO steps like keyword research.
• It gives detailed information on local SEO and advertising as well.
• It helps you identify your competition, even if you don’t know who they are yet.
• You can save all related and semantic keywords for different posts in different lists in the Keywords Manager and skip the need for separate Excel sheets.
• The free trial gives you access to all the tools to make it easier for you to decide whether to buy the subscription.
• Semrush gives you search intent data on keywords to know whether to target a certain keyword for your blog posts or product pages.
• The Semrush Content Marketing toolkit makes it easy to develop a content strategy, create content, and optimize it for SEO.

Semrush Cons

• It takes some time to get the best out of Semrush, as it has so much to offer.
• Because it is a very advanced tool with high data accuracy, the price point is a bit high for beginners.
• It provides SEO data only from Google, not Bing or Yahoo.

Semrush Pricing

Semrush has 3 different price points depending on your profile and needs.

The prices range from $99.95 – $374.95 per month if you sign up for the annual plans.

• Semrush Pro Plan: $99.95 per month for annual signups and $119.95 per month for monthly subscriptions
• Semrush Guru Plan: $191.62 per month for annual signups and $229.95 per month for monthly subscriptions
• Semrush Business Plan: $374.95 per month for annual signups and $449.95 per month for monthly subscriptions

You can get a Semrush lifetime deal or check out the Semrush Black Friday offer yearly to make it more affordable.

Semrush Free Trial

A regular Semrush free trial is valid for 7 days.

But with this Semrush advanced access link, you can get a 30-day trial exclusively for my readers!

Is a credit card required for signup?

You have to enter your credit card details for the signup period. But don’t worry; if you decide not to sign up for the tool, you will not be charged.

Get a 30-day free trial of Semrush Pro or Semrush Guru.

Get more details in my full posts about Semrush promo and the Semrush 30-day Guru trial.

Also, note that there is a difference between a Semrush free trial and a Semrush free account.

2. Moz Pro – Top All-in-1 SEO tool

Moz is another powerful SEO software for small businesses that offers almost all the same features as Semrush.

You can do keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, and also find link-building opportunities.

You can also create keyword lists to add all semantic keywords, like in Semrush.

Moz Pros

• Moz has a metric called Keyword Priority, which suggests the keywords worth targeting for your site.
• The link intersect tool lets you compare backlinks for 5 domains at one go.
• The entry-level price point is slightly lower than Semrush.

Moz Cons

• While Moz gives a lot of in-depth data, its dashboard and user experience are not very intuitive.
• Moz does not provide an idea about the traffic of other domains, so you can’t compare their traffic to yours.
• The entry-level plan is almost as expensive as Semrush but has fewer features.

Moz Pro Pricing

Moz offers 4 different plans and price points as per needs, ranging between $99 and $599.

Signing up for an annual plan gives you a 20% discount.

• Moz Standard Plan: $79 monthly for annual signups and $99 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Moz Medium Plan: $143 monthly for annual signups and $179 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Moz Large Plan: $239 per month for annual signups and $299 per month for monthly subscriptions.
• Moz Premium Plan: $479 monthly for annual signups and $599 monthly for monthly subscriptions.

The Large and Premium plans are best for big businesses, agencies, and SEO specialists.

Note:

Regarding keyword features, the Semrush Pro plan ($99.95 per month) is closer to the Moz Pro Medium plan ($143 per month).

Moz Pro Free Trial

A Moz free trial is for 30 days, but not for its Standard plan, only the Pro one, priced at $179 monthly.

Is a credit card required for signup?

Yes, you have to sign up with a credit card for the trial.

If you don’t want to sign up for a subscription, you can cancel within the 30-day trial period and will not get charged.

3. SE Ranking – Best budget SEO tool

SE Ranking describes itself as an ‘all-in-one software’ made simple.

It is one of the best SEO software for small businesses that offers Semrush and Moz many features at a much lower price point.

I would say from experience that if you want a powerful SEO tool that is more affordable than the market leaders, SE Ranking is the best choice.

It does have an easy user experience per se, but like all tools, it also needs some getting used to.

One of the best advantages of SE Ranking is that you can choose custom pricing within a plan, depending on the number of metrics you need and at which frequency.

SE Ranking Pros

• It’s simple to set up and get started
• It provides most of the features of more sophisticated SEO tools but is more affordable
• You can choose a price point based on your exact keyword needs (quantity and frequency)

SE Ranking Cons

• The SE Ranking data is not as comprehensive as Semrush & Ahrefs, so in-depth information is limited
• Customer support is not around the clock, so if you have an urgent question, you have to wait

SE Ranking Pricing

SE Ranking also has 3 plans, with the most basic starting at $23.52 per month if you sign up for an annual plan and need weekly ranking reports.

See below how your pricing changes when you change your requirements.

If you add more keywords and a higher frequency, you pay more.

SE Ranking Free Trial

SE Ranking offers a free trial for 14 days, and you can access all features in that period.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You don’t need to sign up with a credit card for the free trial of the SEO tool SE Ranking.

Just set up an account, and you’re good to go.

4. SEO Powersuite – Desktop SEO Tool

Seo Powersuite is also an all-in-1 SEO software for small businesses that offers many of the same features as the above 3 research tools (keyword, competition), site audit, and link management, but it works very differently.

Unlike the other SEO tools with free trials that are online, it is a desktop app that you can download and start using for free.

Also, instead of just jumping to perform the function you want, you have to start with a project (a website you want to monitor). SEO Powersuite is a combination of 4 different tools:

• Rank Tracker: See the SERP ranking details of any webpage and an entire website
• SpyGlass: Build a link outreach strategy
• Link Assistant: Implement your link-building campaign
• Website Auditor: Do a full site audit

Different people created these 4 tools for different purposes, and they joined hands much later.

They are now very well integrated within the dashboard and work together seamlessly.

SEO PowerSuite Pros

• You can use the SEO Powersuite toolkit offline
• It is much cheaper than the high-end SEO tools but still provides a lot of data
• It is relatively easy for beginners

SEO PowerSuite Cons

• The user interface and features are not as advanced as the upper-end SEO tools
• If you are used to other online SEO software, it takes some time to get used to the SEO Powersuite
• Since the SEO Powersuite tool is a desktop one, you cannot access it from another device unless you install it there as well. You cannot access the tool just with an internet connection anywhere.

SEO Powersuite Pricing

• SEO Powersuite Professional Plan: $2996 yearly, no monthly plan available.
• SEO Powersuite Enterprise Plan: $499 a year, no monthly plan available

SEO

Powersuite is only available for annual signups and is much cheaper than Semrush & Moz.

You start by downloading the tool on your desktop, creating an account, and start using it.

You get unlimited keywords and website information included in the free plan.

So the question is, why buy a license?

Why pay for it at all?

The drawback of the free version is that you cannot save any of your SEO data.

So, if you get all your website’s data once, you cannot copy it, and the next time you open the toolkit, you have to start from scratch. This means that you also cannot track progress.

SEO Powersuite Free Trial

As mentioned above, you just download and start using the software for free.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You don’t need a credit card to download the Powersuite toolkit. You only need it when you buy a license.

5. Mangools – Easy-to-Use SEO Toolkit

Mangools is a toolkit consisting of 5 different tools:

• KWFinder: A typical keyword research tool.
• SERPChecker: A tool to analyze the top-ranking pages for strong and weak points.
• SERPWatcher: A rank-tracking tool that lets you know your site’s position in Google for a certain keyword.
• LinkMiner: A backlink analyzer tool. It also shows you a snapshot of the page linked to you and where.
• SiteProfiler: Gives you a quick overview of a site.

Mangools Pros

• The dashboard is very clean, user-friendly, and beginner-friendly
• Mangools has a feature called the SERP Features Impact, which shows you how crowded the SERP is for your target term
• The SERP Checker lets you compare your target URL with the current top-ranking pages so you can spot content opportunities

Mangools Cons

• Unlike SEO Powersuite, which also combines different toolkits, the 5 apps within Mangools are not very well integrated
• The features are not as advanced as Semrush or Moz

Mangools Pricing

The Mangools pricing starts at $49 for a monthly subscription (Mangools Basic) but has limited features.

• Mangools Basic Plan: $29 monthly for annual signups and $49 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Mangools Premium Plan: $39.90 monthly for annual signups and $69 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Mangools Agency Plan: $79.90 monthly for annual signups and $129 monthly for monthly subscriptions.

Mangools Free Trial

The Mangools free trial gives you access to all features in their 10-day trial period, but in a limited way. For example, you can only do 5 keyword searches per day.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You don’t need a credit card to sign up for the free trial.

6. Ubersuggest – Affordable Keyword Research Tool​

Ubersuggest is an SEO tool created by digital marketing expert Neil Patel.

It offers the standard features of an average SEO tool, including keyword research, site audit, and backlink analysis. The interface is not too complicated for beginners.

Though it has all the SEO features like the other best SEO tools, its depth of insights is not as detailed as Semrush or even SE Ranking.

Ubersuggest was launched as a free tool but now is a paid one.

Ubersuggest Pros

• Ubersuggest started as a keyword research tool, which is still the strongest core feature
• It has very affordable pricing and discounted offers

Uberuggest Cons

• The marketing features are more limited than Tier A tools like Semrush or Moz
• The free trial offers access to very limited features and is insufficient to give you a good feel of the software.

Ubersuggest Pricing

The Ubersuggest pricing starts from $29 a month and goes up to $99 per month.

Currently, it offers a lifetime subscription for $290 for the Individual plan, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

• Ubersuggest Individual Plan: $29 per month or $290 for a lifetime subscription
• Ubersuggest Business Plan: $49 per month or $490 for a lifetime subscription
• Ubersuggest Enterprise/ AgencyPlan: $99 per month or $990 for a lifetime subscription

Ubersuggest Free Trial

You can get a Ubersuggest free trial for 7 days, with limited access to the features.

Is a credit card required for signup?

Yes, you must enter your credit card details, but you will only be charged once the trial period ends.

Remember to cancel your subscription within the trial period if you do not want to upgrade to the paid version.

7. Ahrefs – Advanced SEO Tool for 10 search engines

Before I started using Semrush, I used Ahrefs, another complete, advanced SEO tool.

Ahrefs has all the features needed to monitor and increase rankings for your domain on search engine result pages.

However, what sets Ahrefs apart is its intuitiveness for finding broken links, link intersects gaps, and the number of search engines it provides data for.

It’s one of the most powerful, but Ahrefs has no ‘free’ trial period.

But more on that below.

Ahrefs Pros

• Ahrefs is a very advanced SEO tool offering loads of features and data on domains, keywords, links, and content
• It is especially powerful to track top-performing content, backlinks, and the top pages of your own and competitors’ websites
• Ahrefs provides data on 10 search engines, including YouTube and Amazon, whereas Semrush provides data only for Google

Ahrefs Cons

• Like most sophisticated SEO tools, Ahrefs is priced slightly high compared to medium tools like Mangools and Ubersuggest
• Ahrefs also has similar price levels as Semrush but offers comparatively fewer reports

Ahrefs Pricing

Ahrefs offers 4 different plans with pricing ranging from $99 – $999 for monthly plans.

Ahrefs Free Trial

Ahrefs does not have a free trial but offers a subsidized price of $7 for 7 days.

After the 7 days, you must pay the full amount to use the features.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You have to pay your initial $7 with a credit card, and the same card can be used to pay for your subscription once the 7 days are over.

And there you go! Those were the details of some of the best SEO software for small businesses.

You may have some starting questions about it, so here are some fundamentals.

8. WooRank – SEO and website analysis tool

WooRank is an excellent SEO and website analysis tool you can use to get detailed insights and recommendations for improving your website’s online visibility and search engine performance.

Like Semrush, WooRank is an all-in-one digital marketing solution offering SEO and other digital marketing services. It provides extensive tools for keyword research, competitor analysis, lead generation, technical website audits, instant website reviews, and white-label reports.

WooRank Pros

• It’s incredibly easy and simple to set up and start using.
• Allows you to view and assess a website’s performance with only a single click.
• Provides a trackable and measurable score to facilitate your SEO improvements.
• Easily integrates with other SEO tools and platforms to give you more detailed insights.

WooRanks Cons

• It’s almost as expensive as Semrush yet provides fewer features.
• Provides limited competitor data than Semrush, Moz, and some other top SEO software.
• You can only optimize one website with the Pro plan, which costs $90 per month.

WooRank Pricing

WooRank has 3 pricing plans, ranging from $90 to $200. You can get 4 months free if you make an annual subscription:

• WooRank Pro Plan: $53.25 monthly for annual signups and $89.99 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• WooRank Premium Plan: $133.25 monthly for annual signups and $199.99 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• WooRank Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing plan tailored to your needs

Which businesses are Woorank best suited for?

The Woorank Pro plan is an excellent tool for small businesses with only one website to manage. The Premium plan is best suited for professionals and agencies working on multiple projects, as it allows them to manage up to five websites.

Big companies with multiple units and independent websites can leverage the Woorank Enterprise Plan to get the best out of their marketing efforts.

WooRank free trial

A WooRank free trial is available for 3 days on the Pro and Premium pricing plans.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You’ll provide credit card information to sign up for the WooRank free trial.

However, if you don’t want to proceed with the subscription, you can cancel on or before the 3rd day, and you won’t be charged.

9. SEOptimer – Website audit and reporting tool

SEOptimer is another amazing SEO software solution for small businesses. It’s an excellent website audit and reporting platform capable of comprehensively reviewing a website in less than 30 seconds.

You can improve your rankings and online presence by leveraging SEOptimer to improve the aspects of your website that search engines and users care about the most, such as page load speed and mobile usability.

SEOptimer Pros

• It can comprehensively review a website in under 30 seconds.
• Has an easy-to-use interface, suitable for even beginners in SEO.
• Provides detailed reports on the metrics that matter for improved ranking.
• Stays updated on the latest trends and search engine algorithm changes to always provide quality reports.

SEOptimer Cons

• SEOptimer doesn’t provide tools for competitor analysis, backlinks tracking, and other important SEO functionalities.
• Its free version is limited and won’t provide enough audit results to optimize a website.

SEOptimer pricing

SEOptimer has 3 monthly pricing plans ranging from $19 to $59. However, you can get a 25% discount when you make an annual subscription.

Here are the pricing plans:

• DIY SEO Plan: $14.25 monthly for annual signups and $19 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• White Label Plan: $21.75 monthly for annual signups and $29 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• White Label and Embedding Plan: $44.25 per month for annual signups and $59 monthly for monthly subscriptions.

SEOptimer free trial

SEOptimer offers a 14-day free trial on its three pricing plans.

Is a credit card required for signup?

You’ll provide credit card information to sign up for the SEOptimer free trial.

However, if you don’t want to proceed with the subscription, you can cancel on or before the 14th day, and you won’t be charged.

10. Surfer SEO

I like Surfer SEO best for 3 key features:

• Content Editor – You can get ideas on keywords to add, optimize your titles and headings, and overall your on-page SEO.
• Keyword Clustering – I really like how easy topic research is with the keyword clustering tool.
• Grow Flow – This tool provides insights into your competitors’ strategies, giving you ideas to improve your SEO strategies and content further.

Surfer SEO Pros

• Top-class content and on-page SEO recommendations
• Analysis of top-ranking pages, helping you understand what works in your niche.
• Easy-to-use keyword clustering tool

Surfer SEO Cons

• For beginners, the platform may have a steeper learning curve due to its data-centric approach.
• The pricing may be considered relatively high compared to some other SEO tools.
• Surfer SEO primarily focuses on on-page SEO and might not offer in-depth analysis of off-page factors.

Surfer SEO Pricing

Surfer SEO offers various pricing tiers to accommodate different needs. Prices typically range from $69 per month for the Essential plan to $249 per month for the Max plan.

The cost varies depending on the features, number of projects, and keywords you require.

You can also get a custom plan if your needs are higher or different than what the core plans include.

• Essential Plan: $69 per month if billed annually or $89 per month if billed monthly
• Advanced Plan: $149 per month if billed annually or $179 per month if billed monthly
• Max Plan: $249 per month if billed annually or $299 per month if billed monthly

Surfer SEO Free Trial

Surfer SEO is like Ahrefs, in the sense that it does not offer a free trial.

It does, however, offer you a 7-day guarantee period. So you pay upfront, either on a monthly or annual basis, and if Surfer SEO isn’t what you expected, and you’re not happy with it, you can get a refund within 7 days.

10. Brightlocal – local SEO tool

Brightlocal is an SEO software popular for helping businesses improve their local SEO and build a solid brand reputation.

With the tool’s Brightlocal offers, improving your online visibility, managing your online reputation, and monitoring your local search performance is easier.

The local SEO solution for small businesses provides tools for local rank tracking, website auditing, white-label reporting, online reputation building, and online listing management.

Brightlocal Pros

• Provides excellent tools for building, tracking, and managing citations.
• Provides a comprehensive local search audit in minutes.
• It has a simple and easy-to-navigate user interface.
• Provides the latest, relevant local SEO insights.
• It provides customizable white-label reporting.

Brightlocal Cons

• The white-label reporting customization can be better.
• Lead generation is greatly limited.
• Requires an extra cost to use the keyword grid.

Brightlocal pricing

Brightlocal has 3 pricing plans, ranging from $39 to $59 per month, depending on the number of locations you manage.

If you make an annual subscription, you can get two months free.

Here’s a breakdown of the pricing plans for one location:

• Brightlocal Track: $33 monthly for annual signups and $39 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Brightlocal Manage: $41 monthly for annual signups and $49 monthly for monthly subscriptions.
• Grow: $49 monthly for annual signups and $59 monthly for monthly subscriptions.

Brightlocal free trial

Brightlocal offers a 14-day free trial on three of its pricing plans.

You’ll have unlimited access to every feature on the platform.

Is a credit card required for signup?

No credit card is required to sign up on Brightlocal.

However, once the trial period is over, you’ll have to use your credit card for billing to continue enjoying the premium services.

11. Whitespark – local SEO and search marketing tool

Whitespark is an effective online tool for local search engine optimization and search marketing.

It provides local SEO services such as GBP management, a local rank tracker, a local citation finder, and a reputation builder. It also provides you with listings and other SEO services to help you improve your rankings and build listings for your website.

With Whitespark’s software and services, your business can rank better and drive more traffic from Google.

Whitespark Pros

• It has a clean, user-friendly, and charming interface.
• Uses terms and words new users and non-SEOs can easily understand.
• Provides more accurate reports than other local SEO software.
• Presents data in an actionable, easy-to-scan order.

Whitespark Cons

• Some navigation actions are inconsistent
• Highly limited free trial

Whitespark pricing

Whitespark has 4 monthly pricing plans ranging from $39 to $149. You can save $72 to $300 per month if you make an annual subscription.

Here are the pricing plans:

• Small business: $396 per year and $39 per month.
• Specialist: $492 per year and $49 per month.
• Agency: $588 per year and $59 per month.
• Enterprise: $1,488 per year and $149 per month.

Whitespark free trial

Whitespark offers a 14-day free trial on its pricing plans.

Is a credit card required for signup?

No credit card is required to sign up on Whitespark.

Best free SEO tools for small businesses

Besides paid software, you can also use free SEO tools that will help improve your small business SEO.

Here are some of the best free SEO tools for small businesses you should use:

1. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool that provides an overview of your website’s performance in organic search results.

With Search Console, you can see which queries bring people to your site and which pages are being clicked on most.

You can also use Search Console to submit your website to Google for indexing and find any errors affecting your rankings.

2. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to track various statistics about your website, such as;

• How many people visit your site.
• Where they’re coming from.
• What pages they’re viewing.
• How long they’re staying on each page.
• And many more.

3. Google My Business

Google My Business is the best tool for improving local SEO.

You can create a profile and add details about your business, such as location, hours of operation, contact information, and photos or videos. This will make it easier for potential customers to find you on Google Maps or other local search results.

4. Screaming Frog

The Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool is a free desktop application that allows you to crawl websites and analyze various aspects of their on-page SEO.

The tool generates detailed reports about website structure, page titles & descriptions, metadata & images, etc., which you can use to improve your SEO.

5. SEO Plugins

There are plenty of WordPress plugins that help you optimize your website for search engines.

Most of these SEO plugins for small businesses analyze pages based on factors like readability, keyword density, meta tags, etc., and give suggestions to optimize your content.

Many also include an XML sitemap feature, which helps search engines find and index all of the pages on your website.

Some of the most popular free SEO plugins are:

• Yoast SEO
• Rank Math
• All in one SEO

6. Free keyword research tools

Free keyword research tools are a great way to save time and money to maximize your website’s digital presence.

They provide helpful insight into what words potential customers search for, allowing you to optimize your content around those terms.

All SEO software for small businesses includes keyword research features, but if you only want to do keyword research occasionally and don’t need a full SEO tool, free keyword tools can help.

Some of the most popular free keyword research tools are:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Keywords Everywhere
• Google Trends
• Ahrefs Keyword Generator

Key features of small business SEO tools

The first thing to understand about all the best small business search engine optimization tools is that, overall, they have similar core features and functionalities.

The question is which one is the best one for you.

When choosing your small business SEO software, ensure that they offer the key elements of SEO:

• Keyword Research: Analyze the volume and difficulty level of different keywords.
• Domain/ URL Analysis: Get insights about the performance of other websites, which is helpful to research your competition.
• Site Audit: Analyze your branded website for on-page SEO, technical issues, internal link metrics, and backlink data.
• Link Tracking: Identify your own backlinks and also of your competitors, and explore link-building opportunities.
• Content Marketing: Get tools that can help with content creation for small businesses.
• Position Tracking: Track the position of your website pages in search engines for different keywords.
• Content Gap Analysis: Know the keywords your competition ranks for, but you don’t.
• Project Monitoring: Set up your website as a project, to understand its performance and track it over time.

Benefits of using SEO software for small business.

One of the biggest benefits of organic traffic is boosting your brand visibility online.

So, if you’re wondering how to get your website seen by your audience and get more traffic, you need to optimize your website for search engines using pro SEO software solutions.

A small business should use SEO software to get help with the following:

• Research keywords based on your keyword checklist that you could use for your site to boost rankings.
• Find SEO content ideas and blog topics for your website.
• Analyze your competitor’s keywords and links and get insights on how to beat them.
• Create and implement a customized SEO strategy.
• Find high-intent keywords to optimize your content and boost website conversions.
• Track your site’s progress in terms of authority and rankings in search engines.
• Write SEO-friendly content.
• Improve your small business website optimization.
• Scan your site for technical issues and other opportunities for improvement.
• Work on your ongoing SEO maintenance.
• Get data to guide your link-building campaigns.

Similarities among the best small business SEO software

The most common elements of the best pro SEO software are:

• Paid or freemium software, with the freemium tools offering some basic features in the free versions.
• Different pricing levels based on the extent of different needs.
• Discounts on annual subscriptions.
• While the lowest pricing plan gives access to 1 user, the higher plans give access to more users, making them perfect for big SEO teams and agencies.
• For most SEO tools, you have to enter your credit card details before you sign up for free trials.
• The free versions don’t let you really perform SEO work, they just help you get used to the tool.

Differences between the best SEO software for small businesses

The best professional SEO tools for small businesses provide similar features and benefits, but they can differ in a lot of aspects :

• The number of features or data sets they offer per pricing plan.
• Some features may be different or extra in some SEO tools.
• The algorithms to calculate the SEO data are different.
• The size of the database the tools have, to calculate the key data.
• The interface and user experiences are different for all SEO tools.

Of course, they might also have a few features which might be different from each other.

That is why they also offer free trials so you can check out the user experience and if the tool is meeting your needs before you use their paid versions.

My recommendation for the best SEO software for small business

My recommendation for the best SEO tool that you should choose for your business depends on your needs and budget.

How to choose the best SEO software for small businesses?

You have to choose which is the best SEO tool for your business, depending on your specific situation.

These are 4 key criteria to keep in mind:

1. Determine your goals

Set your business and SEO goals before you decide on the best SEO software for your small business.

Do you expect your sales and brand awareness to come more from SEO or social media, ads, word of mouth, or retail channels?

What do you want to achieve with your SEO exactly?

Set SMART goals whenever possible so you can track them later.

2. Identify your requirements

Depending on what your goals are, what would be the strategy to get there?

Remember, even the best SEO software for small businesses is a software/tool.

You have to use it in the best way to get the results you want.

Which brings us to the next point.

3. Set your budget

To choose the best software for your business, you must decide your SEO budget first.

You must balance how much of an SEO win you need vs. how much you can spare from your limited resources.

Semrush is one of the best software for small businesses, but it could be too expensive for you, especially if SEO is not a big goal.

If you have a blogging business, for example, you need organic traffic, and an SEO tool should be a high priority.

So, a tier-A SEO tool like Semrush would make more sense.

4. Identify the user proficiency level

Determine who will use the SEO software for your business and their comfort level with SEO tools.

Choose an SEO software with a relatively easier learning curve for the user doing the SEO monitoring and research.

If you, as an entrepreneur, will use the SEO tool, evaluate how comfortable you are using a DIY SEO tool and which do-it-yourself seo software is the easiest to start with.

The top DIY software can be any of the above 7, but the most important criterion is how comfortable you use it. That’s why you should always get a free trial before you settle on one.

Best SEO software for small businesses – Conclusion

Here is a recap of the best SEO tools for small businesses.

The best part about the best small business SEO software is that they offer free trials.

A free trial of an SEO tool is not to really use it for your SEO needs as you get limited data. It is more to get a feel of the tool and the user experience and decide if it is the best fit for your SEO needs. Click To Tweet

So overall, whether you are just starting your SEO journey or planning to be more focused on it, you should get a free trial of an SEO tool before you decide to pay for it.

Over to you! Which is the best SEO tool for small businesses, in your opinion? Did you upgrade to the paid version?

Which SEO tool finally worked best for you? Share in the comments!

To end this list of the best SEO software for small businesses, here are answers to additional questions you may have.