Landing in the coveted top positions of the search engine results pages leads to more traffic than paid ads. The first and second positions of organic search results have click-through rates of 39.8% and 18.7%, respectively, compared to 2.1% and 1.4% for the top two ad positions.
The challenge is landing in those top spots. Nailing down search engine optimization for every web page, news article, or blog post you write is hard work. Fortunately, there are apps for that.
Using the right tools can seriously simplify your content marketing, improving research and writing efficiency and leading to a better return on investment than figuring it out yourself. Let’s dig into SEO tools for content writing that’ll make your content creation process easier.
Source: Lunar.io
Considerations Before Choosing SEO Tools for Content Writing
Before searching for tools to help you skyrocket to the top of the SERPs, you should be clear about what you need the tools to do for you. You might need more than one product to accomplish the desired results.
Writing to rank is about more than researching and using the right keywords. You also need to craft engaging copy that satisfies search intent.
Oh, and it has to be well-written. Consumers are picky about what they read because there is plenty of content out there to choose from. (Consider that in 2025, the world will generate an estimated 463 exabytes — that’s 1,000 to the sixth power — daily.)
SEO tools for content writing can help at each stage of the content production process, but no single tool does it all. Here are a few considerations when choosing the right tools for you:
- Budget: Both free and paid options exist, with some companies offering both types. Understand your budget constraints before you begin your search.
- Scalability: Take a pulse on where your company is now and its growth potential. It’s often better to use a product that can scale with your business than to switch software as you grow.
- Ease of use: The tools you choose should be easy to learn and user-friendly over the long term. You are probably more likely to use a tool that integrates with the systems you already use than one you can access from a separate app or online location.
- Priorities: If you don’t have a budget for countless SEO tools for content writing, prioritizing your needs narrows your options for paid versus free tools.
These considerations will make it easier to determine which tools are your best options.
This Year’s Best Tools for SEO Content Writing
We’ve given many SEO tools a spin over the years. Some excited us, while others not so much. The market is ever-evolving, so we like to review what’s out there to determine which of our favorites are still cutting it and which new products are potentially revolutionary. Here are our top picks for 2023.
SEO Tools for Keyword Research
Keyword research is tedious and time-consuming if you manually take on the task. The more helpful SEO tools for content writing are those that simplify the research process.
KWFinder is a useful tool for finding ranking keywords, with insight into search volume and competition levels. It also provides information on past and new keyword trends. Prices start at $19.90 annually.
SurferSEO is a powerful product for all stages of SEO content, including keyword research, and prices start at $828 annually. The software crawls the internet to find relevant keywords for any topic. It’ll also help you flesh out related keywords and clusters for planning content that matches search intent for any topic.
SEO Tools for Writing
As you move into the writing phase, SurferSEO continues to serve in producing optimized content. The writer interface tracks keyword usage as you write, comparing the number of times each appears compared to the recommended appearances for optimization. The software also:
- Helps you build an outline
- Suggests keywords to use in headers
- Tracks word, paragraph, and header counts
- Provides recommendations for images
- Scores content based on structure and readability
Additionally, SurferSEO integrates with other SEO tools for content writing.
Clearscope
Clearscope is another keyword tracker that provides insight into common keywords for your topic, heading suggestions, readability, and word count. It also grades your content based on keyword usage and lists common FAQs.
This software is simple to use, but it’s pricey and has fewer integrations than Surfer. However, it does have a Google Docs extension.
Frase
Frase isn’t as popular as Surfer and Clearscope, but offers helpful features including SEO research tools and an AI-based content generator. It’s also one of the more affordable paid options.
One of the SEO tools for content writing we like most is the content brief creator. The software creates a brief from your selected search query that includes target keywords and heading suggestions.
Writer and Jasper
AI is revolutionizing the content world, though it won’t replace humans any time soon. That said, Writer and Jasper are AI content generators that help you craft content quickly.
Both products can generate decent quality long-form articles using AI. However, we recommend using them to create outlines, meta descriptions, or alternative keyword phrases. If you use them to produce substantial amounts of text, you will need to fact-check and edit the content to ensure it is publishing-ready.
SEO Tools for Analyzing Performance
After you hit publish on your content, track its performance to ensure it meets your content marketing strategy goals. Google Analytics is often the default tool for measuring SEO performance.
However, Divvy Analytics can pull data from virtually any web analytics and SEO tracking platform that has an API, giving you a more robust view of content performance in a single dashboard. Our software also produces a nifty, readable report to share with your team members and decision-makers.
Source: Hubspot
A Platform That Integrates With SEO Tools for Content Writing
DivvyHQ is your one-stop shop for content operations teams. Our platform contains all the tools your team needs to move content from ideation to publication, including integrations with the best SEO tools for content writing. We eliminate the chaos, freeing you up to focus on crafting content that converts. Request a demo to check out our features.
