Making websites user-friendly and easily indexable should be every online business’s first step. However, optimizing content requires precision, and your chosen tools can make all the difference.
In this review article, we’ll give you our favorite on-page SEO tools we use for client websites and content daily. Pick from our list to tackle on-page SEO for your business like a pro and seize the spotlight in 2024!
Ranq-ing the best on-page SEO analysis tools
On-page SEO, basically the strategies that help webpages rank better on the SERPs, involves many things. Most good tools offer these features, which is why we’ve compiled our list considering factors like usability, scalability, and reliability.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs provides one of the best all-in-one SEO toolsets on the internet, and it covers everything you need for on-page SEO. Ahrefs stands out for its reliable and exhaustive data set.
We love Ahrefs for its competitor analysis capabilities, specifically its content gap analysis tool. Its emphasis on links is especially handy when optimizing the interlinking between pages. For an at-a-glance look at the on-page SEO elements, we recommend using the free Ahrefs SEO toolbar.
It shows all the relevant on-page SEO data like content length, meta description, headings, structured data, outgoing links, and more. It’s great if you’re looking to optimize individual pages of a website. For larger websites, you may need the audit feature found in the paid version.
Key features
- Keyword explorer: Excels in discovering high-performing keywords and analyzing their difficulty
- Site audit: Scans your website, uncovering on-page issues such as broken links, missing meta tags, and other factors that impact SEO
- Content explorer: Enables you to refine your content by analyzing top-performing content in your niche
- Rank tracker: Monitors your website’s search engine rankings over time and track the impact of on-page optimizations
Pricing
Ahrefs offers four transparent pricing plans that cater to diverse user needs. At $99/month, the Lite plan suits small projects, providing access to basic features like keyword research and rank tracking. The Standard plan, priced at $199/month, offers an upgrade with additional features, including content explorer.
For growing businesses, the Advanced plan, at $399/month, unlocks even more capabilities, such as AI content grader. Agencies and enterprises benefit from the Agency plan, which is priced at $999/month.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Reliable rank tracking, competitor analysis, and content gap analysis
- Strong page link analysis capabilities
- Free Ahrefs SEO toolbar for at-a-glace check on on-page SEO elements
Cons:
- Significant learning curve
- Paid versions can be pricey
Semrush
Semrush is our next favorite tool for its sheer versatility, usability, and extensive array of features. The Semrush suite of solutions comprises tools for SEO, content, market research, advertising, and social media. With Semrush, there’s little you can’t do.
Semrush offers a site audit tool, an on-page SEO checker, and a log file analyzer for specifically tackling on-page SEO. While the site audit tool is excellent for uncovering crawling and broken link-related technical issues, the on-page checker is a solutions-oriented tool for improving the visibility of specific pages.
Key features
- Keyword research: In-depth keyword analysis helps users discover relevant keywords, along with data on search volume, competition, and trends
- On-page SEO checker: Evaluates individual pages and provides actionable recommendations for optimizing content, meta tags, and other on-page elements
- SEO content checker: Enables users to analyze their content’s performance and identify improvement areas
- Site Audit: Conducts a thorough analysis of a website’s health, identifying issues such as broken links, missing tags, and other factors that impact on-page SEO
- Rank tracking: Keeps track of keyword rankings over time, enabling users to measure the impact of on-page optimizations and adjust strategies
Pricing
After a 7-day free trial, Semrush offers three paid plans. The Pro plan costs $129.95/month and mainly suits freelancers and startups. It offers SEO features, including site audit and keyword tracking for five projects.
If you’re an agency or a mid-sized business, you can step up to the Guru plan, priced at $249.95/month. This will expand your plan’s capabilities to 15 projects, offer historical data, and include content marketing features. ‘
For larger enterprises and agencies, the Business plan, at $449.95/month, offers extended limits, sharing options, and Google Data Studio integration for 40 projects.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Versatile, covering all the bases for online business success
- User-friendly interface
- Displays search intent data
Cons:
- Free plan is limited
- Paid plans are pricey
Surfer SEO
For creating SEO-optimized content that climbs fast to the top of the SERPs, we trust Surfer SEO. This tool will help you optimize already-created content, but where it really shines is streamlining the creation of SEO-optimized content from scratch.
Surfer SEO employs AI algorithms to analyze top-ranking pages, offering precise recommendations for content structure, keyword density, and relevance. The Content Editor tool is a standout feature, providing real-time guidance to enhance on-page elements. Surfer SEO’s actionable insights empower users to fine-tune their content strategy for optimal search engine performance.
Key features
- Content editor: Offers real-time suggestions for content optimization based on top-ranking pages
- Keyword analysis: Provides in-depth keyword analysis, suggesting target keywords and phrases to improve on-page optimization
- Content planner: Assists in planning and organizing content strategies by identifying relevant topics and keywords for a target audience
- SERP analyzer: Analyzes SERPs to understand the structure and content of top-performing pages for specific keywords
- NLP analysis: Utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the context and semantics of content
- Content score: Assigns a content score based on the optimization level, helping users gauge the effectiveness of their on-page SEO efforts
Pricing
The Essential plan, priced at $69/month, caters to individuals and small businesses, providing access to essential features like Content Editor and Keyword Planner. At $149/month, the Advanced plan expands capabilities with additional users, domains, and content checks.
There’s also the Max plan, priced at $249/month, for bigger agencies and enterprises with extended organizational seats and personalized onboarding. If you plan to use AI for your content creation, you can add Surfer AI to these plans, and the pricing changes accordingly.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Best content editor for streamlining SEO-optimized content creation
- Surfer AI with NLP ensures quality content
- User-friendly interface
- Integrates seamlessly with WordPress, Google Docs, etc.
Cons:
- No free trial
- AI writer may not generate the best results
- Can be buggy at times
SEOptimer
For those who prioritize simplicity and efficiency above everything else, SEOptimer is the best solution. It’s a powerful auditing and reporting tool that offers a robust suite for meticulous website optimization.
We love it for its embeddable auditing tool that blends into the theme of a website for a cohesive look. SEOptimer follows the same philosophy when it comes to their SEO reports and offers customizable reports with multiple language options.
Key features
- Site Audit: Conducts a thorough analysis of the entire website, uncovering issues that may impact on-page SEO, such as broken links and missing tags
- SEO crawler: Crawls, identifies, and sorts out on-page issues by severity
- Keyword Analysis: Provides insights into keyword usage, density, and relevance, helping users refine their content strategy
- Free SEO tools: SEOptimer offers 60+ free tools to cover on-page SEO aspects like meta descriptions, title tags, header tags, image alt text checkers, and lots more
Pricing
SEOptimer’s offers a 14-day free trial. After that, you can get on the first rung of their paid plans, the DIY SEO plan for $19/month. This plan is ideal for small business website owners who want to take control of their SEO.
The next plan, White Label, is yours for $29/month and is best suited for agency owners. It provides comprehensive reporting features but with limited customizable templates and scheduling capabilities.
If you want more customizable options, you can opt for the next plan for agencies at $59/month. This plan offers the same features as the White Label plan but with expanded customizing capabilities and the embeddable auditing tool for your website.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very affordable
- Embeddable audit tool to bring in leads
- Reports can be scheduled and customized to fit branding
- Lots of free tools
Cons:
- Advanced users may find it too basic
- It isn’t the most user-friendly
Here’s what you should know before picking an on-page SEO tool
Now that you know our favorites, here are a few other considerations to help you decide which on-page SEO tool you should pick—or if you should pick one at all!
What is an on-page SEO checker exactly?
Essentially, an on-page SEO checker is a tool that evaluates and optimizes various elements within a webpage to enhance its search engine visibility. This tool analyzes on-page components like meta tags, headers, content, and keyword usage.
Then, it provides actionable insights and recommendations for improving these elements to align the webpage with search engine algorithms. All this ensures that the content is relevant to user queries and structured in a way that search engines can recognize its value, ultimately leading to improved rankings.
What features are necessary for on-page optimization?
There’s a slight overlap between on-page SEO elements and technical SEO. If you’re looking for purely on-page SEO elements, you’ll want to enhance your content, how it’s structured, and the HTML elements related to your page. A good on-page SEO tool should have features that provide insights and data into the following:
- Keyword optimization: Whether relevant keywords are incorporated in titles, headers, meta tags, and throughout the content
- Content quality: Is the content valuable, well-written, and engaging while satisfying user intent at the same time?
- Meta tags: Crafting compelling meta descriptions that accurately represent the page’s content and encourage click-throughs
- Header tags: Check for proper use of HTML header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure content and emphasize key points
- URL structure: Creating clean and descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords
- Image optimization: Optimizing images for faster loading times and incorporating descriptive alt text
- Internal linking: Connecting pages within the website to improve navigation and distribute page authority
- Schema markup: Implementing structured data markup to provide additional context to search engines about the content on page
- Readability and formatting: checking that content is easily readable with appropriate use of headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs
- Canonical tags: Implementing canonical tags to address duplicate content issues and guide search engines on the preferred version of a page
Do I need individual on-page SEO tools?
The short answer is no, you don’t. That’s because most good SEO tools already provide complete and comprehensive information for enhancing a page’s visibility. Further, improving a page’s rank can’t be done in a vacuum. You also need competitors’ data to know what to tweak and which direction to improve.
Further, a tool will only provide data. Deciding what to implement and how to direct your resources needs the trained eye of an SEO expert. This is why the best solution for tackling on-page SEO isn’t a tool but hiring a great SEO expert who understands the ins and outs of your online business.
Forget on-page SEO tools! Why not hire on-page SEO experts?
If you’ve had your fill of experimenting with different tools, try another approach. Hire an SEO expert and see what a world of difference it makes for your website and the overall success of your business. That’s what we at Ranq do for our clients daily.
Our content strategists and SEO experts combine forces to care for businesses’ SEO needs; that way, business owners can focus on more important things. Every month, we create fresh SEO content that stands the test of algorithmic changes. We ensure sound technical SEO so your business stands on steady foundations and conduct on-page SEO evaluations and improvements daily. And one week every month, we run wholesale upgrades on pages that need them the most. If that sounds like something your business could use, get in touch with us today!