You’ve built a great business. You have excellent products, glowing reviews, and a website that’s easy to navigate. So why don’t customers flock to your site?
While you can chase online visibility by paying for ads, online advertising is expensive and can quickly eat into your marketing budget. A more sustainable option is search engine optimization (SEO), a digital marketing strategy to get your website to organically rank higher on search engine results pages.
SEO apps can help you get started. Here’s a rundown of some of the best apps in the SEO industry.
What is SEO?
SEO is the process of increasing the search engine visibility of your website or ecommerce store. With improved SEO performance, your site may turn up near the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), which can send more traffic to your website.
What are SEO tools?
An SEO tool is a software application that helps your website rank higher in search results. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are free, basic tools that include reports on your website’s performance—including the number of site visits. More comprehensive tools provide advanced features like keyword rank tracking, page speed reports, and site audits (which can pinpoint what factors may be affecting your SEO efforts).
The best SEO tools can improve your chances of capitalizing on search volume, but as Kyle Risley, senior SEO lead at Shopify, notes, SEO is about more than tools and apps. “Fundamental SEO success starts with creating the right pages (products and collections), labeling them clearly, and consistently delivering an exceptional experience to users,” Kyle says. “If you’re not doing that, then installing an app won’t improve your SEO performance.”
Start your SEO strategy with a thoughtfully constructed website—one that’s easy to navigate, free of broken links, and visually appealing. Then examine the top SEO tools and choose one to optimize your digital marketing efforts.
Best SEO apps
From free tools like Google Search Console to impressively complex tools like SEMrush, there’s SEO software for every budget. Here are some of the most popular SEO apps that can help take your search visibility to a new level:
JSON-LD for SEO
If you have a large ecommerce store, look to JSON-LD for SEO. “There are a lot of apps that will improve parts of your store’s structured data, but if you have complex needs that you want to resolve once and for all, go with JSON-LD for SEO,” Kyle says.
- Features: Can manage all types of structured data, including product markup, ratings and reviews, and breadcrumbs. Integrates with various review and subscription apps, plus analytics integrations. Excellent customer service from top SEO professional Ilana Davis.
- Pricing: $399/year, with a free trial available.
- Best for: Large ecommerce stores with substantial numbers of customer reviews.
Google & YouTube
Google’s SEO tools can get your products featured on Google and YouTube SERPs. The Google & YouTube app for Shopify is perhaps the best SEO tool to make this happen. “If you don’t have a product feed set up for Google, then installing this app is the closest thing there is to ‘one weird trick to boosting your SEO traffic,’” Kyle says.
- Features: Automatically builds and maintains a feed for your products to qualify for organic product listings. As a free tool, it’s both efficient and easy to use.
- Pricing: Free.
- Best for: Growing ecommerce stores that need a free service to boost organic product listings on Google and YouTube.
Yoast SEO
Plenty of SEO tools can perform a site audit; fewer can teach you how to improve your SEO. Yoast SEO fills the space as an intuitive tool with an affordable price. “There are a number of all-in-one SEO apps, with Yoast SEO hitting a sweet spot between functionality and usability,” Kyle says. “Plus, you’ll get access to Yoast’s SEO Academy, so you can actually learn SEO, not just tick off boxes.”
- Features:All-in-one tool that handles on-page auditing, technical SEO, and schema markup.
- Pricing: $19/month.
- Best for: Business owners who want to learn the basics of SEO, and startups that want more search traffic but don’t have a big budget.
SearchPie
SearchPie is a go-to tool for SEO professionals who want to use backlinking (other websites linking to yours) to build their search traffic. Its backlink analysis capabilities are complemented by the app’s SEO content generator, which helps you create unique product descriptions and ensure your on- and off-page SEO tactics are top-notch.
- Features: Site explorer, backlink data, 404-page detection, SEO content generator, and smart SEO reports.
- Pricing: Free plans are available with premium plans starting at $39/month.
- Best for: Companies seeking robust backlink analysis and issue detection for their own sites.
StoreSEO
StoreSEO is an industry leader because of its multifaceted reporting, image optimization, and keyword research tools. This highly versatile tool can optimize everything from your content strategy to keyword rankings—all while integrating with other popular tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. It’s particularly strong in local SEO (appearing on search engines for local users), and it provides excellent educational resources to help you do things like track keywords and understand your traffic analytics.
- Features: Comprehensive keyword research tool, image optimizer, position tracking, and competitive analysis.
- Pricing: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $2.99/month.
- Best for: Both small and established businesses seeking an all-in-one SEO tool with educational resources and 24/7 customer support.
Smart SEO
Smart SEO’s free, basic tools can perform a basic SERP analysis, letting you understand how you’re ranking for relevant keywords that drive traffic to your site. The tool also helps you fix problems preventing you from ranking, like broken links, slow page speeds, and missing meta descriptions.
- Features: SEO audits, link analysis, rank tracking, image optimization, and bulk editing.
- Pricing: Free plan available plus free trials on paid plans starting at $9.99/month.
- Best for: Website owners who need DIY SEO tools to monitor their site’s presence in search results.
TinyIMG
Small business owners who are new to website building need an SEO app with a manageable learning curve. TinyIMG offers a user-friendly interface with a solid array of SEO features from a sitemap and image optimizer to a broken link detector and AI-powered meta description generator.
- Features: Page speed optimization, meta description generation, lazy loading, and user-friendly interface.
- Pricing: Free plan available with paid plans starting at $14/month.
- Best for: Small- to medium-sized businesses that need an all-in-one SEO tool with a low barrier to entry.
Best SEO app FAQ
Does Google have a free SEO tool?
Yes, Google Analytics and Google Search Console are both free to use.
Which SEO platform is the best?
The best SEO platform will vary based on your needs and budget. You can opt for a free tool like the Google & YouTube app, a low-priced yet accessible tool like Yoast SEO, or an enterprise-level option like JSON-LD for SEO.
Are there SEO apps that integrate with Shopify?
Yes, the Shopify App Store features several SEO apps that integrate with the Shopify ecommerce platform.
