3 easy SEO tools to improve your website

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3 Easy SEO Tools to Improve Your Website
These companies can help take the mystery out of SEO and get your site on its way to ranking higher in
Google.
rlopex/Flickr
When it comes to marketing, search engine optimization, or SEO, is probably the most mysterious
undertaking of them all. And yet, it's one of the most important things you need to get online visibility.
The challenge with SEO is that search engines like the almighty Google make adjustments to their
algorithms all the time. A shining example is the Penguin update late last year, which had marketing f olks
everywhere clutching their pearls. These algorithms determine how high you rank naturally on a search
engine results page, or SERP, when someone types in a search term. They're based on lots of
constantly changing f actors that are more heavily guarded than the crown jewels.
Big companies hire big agencies to make sure their sites are f ully optimized, but if you're a small
business, the last thing you need to do is learn the ins and outs of SEO. And it can get pretty expensive
to hire someone, especially if you post content on a regular basis. (Tip: Creating usef ul, original content
is one of the f ew tried-and-true strategies f or SEO.)
But have no f ear, cool tools are here! Check out these three optimization-sof tware companies that help
take the mystery out of SEO and get your site on its way to ranking higher in Google.
Boost Suite
BoostSuite is an awesome tool designed specif ically f or small businesses. It takes data f rom your
website and turns it into a list of easy SEO to-dos. It even has a cool revenue tracker that shows you
how much more money you could be raking in (in terms of qualif ied leads and eventually customers) if
you make the suggested changes. Cost: Starts at f ree
Scribe
Brought to us by the awesome f olks at Copyblogger, Scribe lets you optimize your content, social and
search, with one tool. It tells you which topics are the most interesting and searched that are related to
your industry, so you can create content that resonates. Layer on top of that tips to tweak your content
f or search and to increase social-media sharing, and you've got a pretty powerf ul tool. Cost: Starts at
$97 a month
SEOmoz
SEOmoz is like the granddaddy of SEO best practices. The pro version helps you manage your SEO,

analyzes your site regularly, and provides recommendations. You can also download a f ree toolbar that
shows you SEO metrics of various sites as you surf online. But what I really love are the guides (like this
beginner's guide to SEO) and help f orum. Cost: Pro version starts at $99 a month
One last note on SEO: Don't cheat, such as using link schemes, stuf f ing your content with keywords,
hiding text or links, or employing any other below-the-board tactics. You could get punished hard, and
once you're on Google's crap list, it won't be easy getting of f .
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Janine Popick is the CEO and f ounder of VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self -
service email and event marketing, online surveys, social media, and direct mail solutions. The
company was ranked No. 2,802 on the 2012 Inc. 5000. @janinepopick