15 Secret SaaS SEO Tools That The Pros Use To Outrank The Competition

There are hundreds of success stories of SaaS companies driving growth with powerful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. Whether it’s Canva, HubSpot, Slack or Salesforce, all these businesses use SEO tools to guide their campaigns and grow exponentially. 

Without SEO tools, your team will waste time and resources crafting half-baked campaigns. Teams that use SEO tools understand the keywords they should target, the content gaps they can capitalize on, and the powerful link-building opportunities that drive website traffic. 

While there are plenty of SEO tools online, here are the 15 most powerful tools we have tried and tested for our SaaS clients. 

What We'll Cover:

#1 Google Analytics   

When creating your SaaS website, Google Analytics is a must-have free SEO tool. It’s designed to provide valuable insights to gauge your website’s performance. 

Most SEO marketers know how to use this tool and back their strategies by checking the traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates for different web pages.  

When Google launched the latest version of Google Analytics, GA4, it empowered SaaS businesses to leverage the power of predictive analytics and machine learning to forecast future visitor behavior. 

Key Features of Google Analytics 

• Create different reports like audience reports, behavior reports, conversion reports, and advertising reports to understand data easily.
• Measure the number of visitors to your website and the sources they are coming from.
• See time spent on the website, pages viewed, and bounce rate.
• Set smart goals like getting a new subscriber and measure the progress on these goals.
• Track traffic-generating pages and the pages that drive the most conversions.
• Set up custom alerts to get notified when there’s an immediate spike or dip in certain metrics.
• Monitor campaign performance across all channels, including Google Ads.

Pros  

• You do not need to pay any money to get detailed insights.
• The tool has a lot of integrations.

Cons  

• You will have to learn how to use the tool to reap the full benefits of its features.
• They do not provide full-fledged customer support.

Pricing  

The tool is free to use. 

#2 Google Search Console 

Google Search Console takes just a few minutes to set up and is one of the most powerful online tools. It lets you track your website’s performance and see how it performs on SERPs. 

For example, if you want to check the impressions or visits each content gets, you can do that easily on Google Search Console.  

The best part is that this data comes from Google and is thus authentic. There are no third-party tools involved. 

Key Features of Google Search Console 

• Track technical SEO factors like your site’s indexing status, crawling errors, mobile friendliness score, etc.
• Help search engines find your content faster by submitting a sitemap.
• Check the average position of your web pages and the number of clicks they get.
• Utilize the search queries section to check the keywords and search queries that triggered your web page to come up on SERP.
• Compare different time periods to see your site’s performance over time.

Pros  

• Alerts and notifications allow you to stay on top of website performance issues.
• It helps to identify crawling errors.

Cons 

• The interface can be difficult to understand for beginners.

Pricing  

The tool is free to use. 

#3 Ahrefs 

What started as a link analysis tool gradually shaped into one of the most robust SEO tools on the market. Most SEO marketers use Ahrefs as their primary tool of choice as it helps you do everything from keyword research, competitor analysis, and backlink analysis to content optimization. 

You can also track your rank, domain authority, and traffic to optimize your content strategies. 

Key Features of Ahrefs 

• Monitor ranking across different keywords in different countries.
• Conduct a site audit to find performance issues and correct them.
• Carry out keyword and competitor analysis.
• Find relevant opportunities for getting backlinks.
• Track organic traffic and other relevant SEO metrics to stay on top of your SEO strategies.
• Check for content issues and optimizations.
• Set alerts to get notifications about a change in ranking, web mentions, and new or lost backlinks.

Pros  

• It’s a robust tool, so you’ll not need to subscribe to any other additional tools for SEO.
• They have excellent learning resources, so you can find creative ways to use the tool.

Cons  

• The price point is a bit high.
• Some users, especially beginners, may find the UI complex.

Pricing  

While they offer some free tools, their paid plan starts from $99 per month. 

#4 Semrush 

Like Ahrefs, Semrush provides access to many SEO tools that fulfill most of your requirements. While Ahrefs is more powerful with backlink analysis, Semrush is stronger in keyword analysis. 

Beyond the basic SEO features, the tool offers many online marketing features like social media management, trends analysis, professional content marketing solution, etc.

Key Features of Semrush 

• Site audit tool to check for technical SEO issues and recommendations to improve rankings on SERP.
• Monitor ranking for different keywords.
• Perform keyword research and competitor analysis.
• Create custom reports and export data for further analysis or collaboration.
• Analyze the performance of paid advertising campaigns, including data on landing pages and ad copy.
• Get email updates for changes in ranking or other relevant SEO metrics.

Pros  

• They have an easy-to-use interface.
• They have many tools to fulfill all your SEO needs.

Cons  

• The pricing is steep.
• Their data covers only Google.

Pricing  

They have some free tools, but if you want to get extensive analysis or data, their pricing plans start from $129.95 per month. 

#5 Moz 

Moz is one SEO tool that has undergone extensive development over the years to provide users with power-packed SEO features. It boasts the biggest link index in the industry and gives you great insights into your website’s performance.

One thing that separates Moz from the rest is its ability to monitor search engine rankings by different regions. 

This can be a powerful feature for SaaS companies targeting location-specific users. 

Key Features of Moz 

• On-site optimization grader that tells what elements need to be changed to achieve an optimal score, such as optimizing meta descriptions, title tags, etc.
• Track search engine rankings for specific keywords.
• Conduct keyword research and check backlink profiles.
• Find keywords that will help you rank higher on SERPs.
• Find and correct technical SEO issues.
• Generate customizable reports that you can share with your team or clients.
• Browser extension that lets you check Moz data for websites you visit, like domain authority, spam score, page authority, etc.

Pros  

• They offer free tools so you can experience the product before subscribing.
• They have various integrations with analytics tools.

Cons  

• The navigation can be more user-friendly.
• It is not as robust as other SEO tools on the market.

Pricing  

Their pricing starts at $99 per month. 

#6 SE Ranking 

SE Ranking is a relatively new tool compared to the other tools in this list. The platform provides a tool kit across four major areas: SEO research, SEO monitoring, local marketing, and content marketing. 

Many prominent SaaS companies like Zapier have picked it up. It also has gained popularity amongst startups as their pricing plan is a lot cheaper when compared to the other options. 

Key Features of SE Ranking 

• Keyword rank tracker to know how your pages are ranking for different keywords.
• Conduct keyword research and competitor research.
• Check any site’s backlink profile and get updated about changes to your backlinks.
• Perform a website audit to check the health and find ways to optimize it further.
• Build customizable reports to share with your team or clients.
• Get access to a content auditor and SERP checker.

Pros  

• It is cost-effective.
• It offers everything you need to get started with SEO.

Cons 

• The keyword research functionality is not robust.
• You still need to pay extra if you want to access some services.

Pricing  

Their pricing plan starts from $44 per month. 

#7 SpyFu 

SpyFu is an SEO analytics tool specializing in competitor analysis, comparing domains, keyword research, rank tracking, backlink building, and SERP analysis. It’s a great tool when you want to adopt tried-and-tested strategies your competitors use. 

One of their unique features lets you analyze which marketing area your competitors focus on and their common and unique keywords. You can also get insights on the profitability of their paid and organic keywords to get an idea of what you should focus on.

Key Features of SpyFu 

• Get detailed keyword and strategy insights on your SaaS business’ competitors.
• Rank tracking to track ranking across keywords.
• Conduct keyword research and find keywords for your content and ads.
• Get notified when competitors make changes to their online strategies.
• Get a detailed overview of any domain name, like organic and paid keywords, backlink profiles, search ads, organic and paid visibility, etc.

Pros  

• It’s a great tool for gaining competitive intelligence.
• They provide exceptional support.

Cons  

• They do not offer any free trial or free plan.
• The traffic and keyword results are not region/location specific.

Pricing  

Their pricing plan starts from $39 per month. 

#8 Keywords Everywhere 

Keywords Everywhere is a browser extension that lets you find keywords from SERPs. You can easily install this on either Firefox or Chrome and get access to keyword metrics for any list of keywords. 

You can then download this list in PDF, CSV, or Excel formats to share with your colleagues. After selecting the keywords, you can target them in your website’s content and meta tags to improve its search engine visibility. 

Key Features of Keywords Everywhere 

• Access keyword metrics like search volume, competition data, and CPC for several keywords on different websites.
• Perform keyword research for organic and paid searches.
• Create keyword lists and save them for future use.
• Analyze competitor keywords and find gaps, if any.
• Integrate with other SEO and marketing tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz.
• Analyze keyword performance over time.

Pros  

• It saves you from the screen hopping involved in copying data from one website and finding keyword metrics on another.
• Quickly gain insights on competitor keyword strategy.

Cons  

• You’ll need to use other tools besides Keywords Everywhere.
• The features they provide are basic.

Pricing  

Their pricing plan starts from $1.25 per month. 

#9 AnswerThePublic 

AnswerThePublic is a keyword research tool that aims to get you raw search insights that come straight from your customer's mind. The tool imagines the suggestions of autocomplete on Google and creates helpful keyword phrases and queries people want to know about. 

It’s a search listening tool that provides search variations to help build topic clusters, landing pages, and FAQ pages. You can create a question-based keywords list, preposition-based keywords list, and comparison-based keywords list.

Key Features of AnswerThePublic 

• See the most common questions asked around particular keywords.
• Get data in the form of questions and comparisons for content topics.
• Search for keyword phrases and questions for particular locations for local SEO.
• Get related keywords and phrases for SEO and content creation.
• Download data in the format of your choice.

Pros  

• You can discover hidden insights and niches that you wouldn’t get otherwise with normal keyword research tools.
• You can monitor trends and remove the guesswork from your SEO strategies.

Cons  

• The tool does not offer many keyword search filters.
• It’s not a comprehensive SEO tool.

Pricing  

Their plan starts at $5 per month. 

#10 Ubersuggest 

Like AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest is a keyword research tool that helps you identify keywords and their search intent by seeing the top-ranking results for each keyword. You can get thousands of short-tail and long-tail keyword suggestions using this tool. The metrics included in this tool are search volume, competition, CPC, and seasonal trends. 

The tool also helps you reverse engineer your competitor’s strategy by finding their keywords, content marketing, and social media marketing strategy. 

Key Features of Ubersuggest 

• Analyze a competitor's backlink profile, top keywords, and organic search traffic.
• Find your competitor’s top SEO pages.
• It shows keyword difficulty, so you don’t waste time creating content with little probability of ranking.
  
  
• Measures your website’s overall performance and shows you optimization suggestions.
  
  
• Track search rankings for your overall website as well as individual web pages.
• Analyze readability, keyword density, and other relevant factors of your content.

Pros  

• The tool is easy to use and comparatively cheaper than other SEO tools.
• They have a Chrome extension and an interactive dashboard.

Cons  

• They do not have a comprehensive database like Ahrefs or Semrush.
• The reporting functionality isn’t that great.

Pricing  

Their basic plan for individuals starts from $12 per month. 

#11 Majestic 

If you want to focus on link building, Majestic is your tool. The tool boasts about being one of the best SEO backlink checkers that provide you with link intelligence data. Their metrics list shows you trust flow (quality of links to a website), citation flow (quantity of links to a website), and topical trust flow (shows topical relevancy). 

You can also see the referring domains, crawled URLs, indexed URLs, etc. 

Key Features of Majestic 

• Check a website’s backlink profile and other relevant metrics like the number of links, referring domains, and top anchor text.
• Link charts show the search queries driving visitors to your competitor’s pages.
  
  
• Their domain comparison feature lets you compare the backlink profile of multiple websites.
• It helps check the latest backlinks to a website.
  
  
• They have useful plugins like Chrome and Firefox.

Pros  

• It is completely dedicated to link analysis, so they have a lot of valuable features.
• They provide API access.

Cons  

• The pricing can be steep, considering they only offer features for one part of SEO.
• The user interface can be a lot better.

Pricing  

Their monthly pricing starts from $49.99. 

#12 SurferSEO 

SurferSEO provides two main tools: keyword research and content editor. The keyword research tool helps you discover dozens of relevant topic clusters in a few minutes and plan a successful content strategy without spending much money. 

Their content editor tool helps generate briefs quickly and lets you write and optimize content in any language.

Key Features of SurferSEO 

• Find the best keywords for your SaaS website.
• Get detailed keyword metrics like CPC, search volume, and competition for particular keywords.
• Get a detailed analysis of the top-ranking results for a particular keyword, including metrics like domain authority, backlinks, and page authority.
• Allows you to track and monitor your website’s ranking.
• It helps you create guidelines for each content piece so you have a better chance of ranking.
• Connect with different tools like Semrush, Jasper, etc.

Pros  

• Best for startups and small-scale businesses that cannot afford to hire a content marketing team.
  
  
• They have a user-friendly interface and live chat customer support for easy resolution of queries.

Cons  

• They do not have a free plan.
• You’ll have to use other SEO tools in conjunction with this tool.

Pricing  

Their plan starts from $89 per month. 

#13 Screaming Frog 

Do you want to identify technical issues on your website? Or extract important SEO data from a website? Screaming Frog is the right tool for you. It is a website crawler that crawls the website’s links, CSS, scripts, images, and apps from an SEO perspective. 

It also helps identify any SEO issues like broken links, duplicate content, indexing issues, etc., hampering a website’s visibility and rankings.

Key Features of Screaming Frog 

• Run crawling and even schedule it at regular intervals to get key updates on your website’s health.
• Customize crawl settings to suit your SEO requirements, like applying custom filters to the collected data.
• Locate broken links and manage redirects.
• Analyzes your website’s structure, including meta tags and internal linking, to provide valuable insights.
• Provides solutions to recover from any Google penalties imposed on your website.

Pros  

• They have integrations with Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Pagespeed Insights so that you can combine the power of all these SEO tools.
  
  
• They also have a free plan.

Cons  

• They offer limited support.
• It’s not a full-fledged SEO tool.

Pricing  

Their paid plan charges $259 per year. 

#14 Woorank 

If you want to see how your website is performing and optimize it further, Woorank is a great choice. The tool helps you conduct website optimizations, find keyword ideas, provide instant website reviews, and get customizable reports to share with your team. 

You can even check your website’s mobile responsiveness to ensure you are not missing out on leads from that medium. 

Key Features of Woorank 

• Analyze the website’s content, which includes relevancy and quality. Based on this, it provides suggestions for improvement.
• Conduct a competitor analysis to analyze their technical performance, track ranking changes, and view target keywords.
• Identify keywords for your business that trigger featured results.
• Understand how Google views your website so your website can be easily crawled, indexed, and ranked.
• Choose which sections of the report you want to generate and customize them accordingly.

Pros  

• It’s perfect for beginners as the tool does a great job of simplifying technical jargon.
• They have a browser extension, so you get results easily.

Cons  

• They do not offer any free plan.
• Their keyword research tool isn’t comprehensive.

Pricing  

Their plan starts from $89.99 per month. 

#15 Yoast 

Yoast has one simple goal – to get your website in perfect shape to compete in search results. The tool is more popular among WordPress users and can help automatically analyze your content and rate your SEO strategies.

It also helps with technical and on-page optimization, so your website gets the visibility it requires on SERPs. 

Key Features of Yoast 

• It helps you create SEO-friendly content by signifying whether your meta descriptions, text length, keyphrase length, and outbound links are proper.
• Set up a solid internal linking structure.
• Identify broken links and prevent your visitors from landing on dead links.
• Integrates with powerful platforms like Semrush, Elementor, and WordProof.

Pros  

• They have a free version, so you can experience the tool before subscribing.
• It’s great for WordPress users as the tool is specially made for them.

Cons  

• There is a lack of tutorials or guides to help users understand the tool better.
  
  
• The UI needs improvisations.

Pricing  

Their paid plan starts from $99 per year. 

Picking the Right SaaS Tool for You 

Picking the best SaaS SEO tools for your business can be challenging. While some SaaS businesses may want independent tools for keyword research, link-building, and other SEO activities, some may require a single tool that does it all.  

You don’t want to invest in tools only to find they don't meet your needs or requirements. For that reason, note down all your SEO requirements, purpose, and budget. Based on these criteria, conduct research for the tool. 

Do you want to drive growth with your SEO strategies? Get in touch with us for laser-focused SEO services.