Behind every successful business, you’ll find a well-designed search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Maintaining a stunning website, understanding user behavior, and seeing what your competitors are doing right can help you stay ahead in the corporate world. However, many SEO tasks are highly repetitive and time-consuming. That’s where SEO automation comes in.
When you automate SEO operations in your workplace, you set yourself up for success. In this article, we’ll cover what areas of your SEO strategy would benefit from automation and how it can benefit you. We’ll also go over a few powerful SEO automation tools to handle tasks like site monitoring, keyword research, link building, and more.
Why automate some areas of SEO?
Millions of large e-commerce enterprises, small businesses, and professionals like you use SEO to help reach business goals. However, there’s only so much time in a workweek to dedicate to such tedious tasks. If you give your undivided attention to SEO, you won’t have much left for anything else. Automating some areas of your marketing plan can free you to focus on other important aspects of your business.
Another reason to utilize SEO automation involves saving money. Yes, the highest-quality AI tools will cost you a pretty penny at first (unless you settle for the free versions). However, they can save you more in the long run. Here’s how:
- Reducing overhead: Without automated SEO tasks, you must pay an individual or SEO agency to track PPC ads, develop meta descriptions, perform site audits, etc. Automating SEO removes unnecessary positions and frees up company expenditures.
- Minimizing marketing errors: Even the most experienced digital marketers miscalculate numbers and overlook minor issues. Unfortunately, human error can lead to costly marketing mistakes. With AI tools, you can optimize your marketing strategy and minimize budget-biting technical errors.
Automating parts of SEO also means staying on top of everything outside of business hours. Your software will collect data and monitor tasks while you spend time with your family and enjoy a good night’s rest. It’s an excellent way to keep up with the competitive, ever-evolving world of marketing without having to lift a finger.
What areas of SEO can you automate?
OK, so you know why you should automate certain aspects of SEO. Now, let’s talk about how you might put these tools into practice. SEO automation can take the reins for various tasks, providing around-the-clock assistance to help grow your business.
Site monitoring
One of the most vital aspects of SEO is website monitoring. Monitoring a site refers to checking a website regularly to ensure it’s accessible, functional, and performing at the highest level. If something goes wrong, you’ll know immediately and have the information you need to fix it.
Your website is the central hub for your business’s entire digital marketing structure. Social media ads, paid search ads, email campaigns, and blog posts filter the target audience to your site. By keeping it in tip-top condition visually and functionally, you increase your chances of turning leads into conversions.
Tools for automating site monitoring
You can’t monitor your website 24/7. You have a hundred other responsibilities and a long list of tasks requiring your immediate attention. The solution is to utilize AI tools for website monitoring.
Some of the most popular SEO automation tools for site monitoring include:
- Semrush: Semrush is a content marketing platform offering applications for automating repetitive tasks, including website monitoring. The Semrush Brand Monitoring tool handles on-page SEO and provides valuable insight to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Ahrefs Site Audit: Technical SEO issues can pop up anytime and go undetected for a while. With the Site Audit automation tool from Ahrefs, you can spot problems as soon as they occur and fix them quickly.
- Morphio: Morphio is a multi-faceted tool that can analyze your website and provide critical insights moving forward. In addition, it integrates with other robust platforms like Google Analytics and Google Ads.
Keyword rank tracking
Keywords and keyword phrases are at the core of SEO. You want to reach the right audience with the right message, and relevant keywords help make that happen. For example, this blog article contains multiple instances of the keyword phrase “automate SEO” to reach people like you who want to learn more about SEO automation (this is a very important principle of writing SEO-optimized blog posts)..
Since keywords form the backbone of SEO, you’ll want to use them effectively. To take it a step further, you’ll want to know which target keyword performs well and ranks highest in your industry. This will help you understand what potential customers are interested in and discover new ways to market your products or services.
Tools for automating keyword rank tracking
Keyword rankings change with industry shifts and technological advancements. What may have attracted a large crowd yesterday might be old news tomorrow. By automating keyword rank tracking, you can keep up with these changes and know how to reach your audience effectively.
Here are some highly acclaimed AI tools to help with keyword rank tracking:
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider tool can analyze every page of your website and provide details on keyword usage. The paid version unlocks many more features, but some businesses can get by with the free version.
- AnswerThePublic: With AnswerThePublic, you can learn about relevant searches and find the top-ranked keywords in your industry. It offers a free SEO report that helps you align each marketing campaign with your audience’s needs.
- Ahrefs Rank Tracker: Do you want to track specific keywords and see how they perform? The Rank Tracker tool by Ahrefs provides in-depth analysis and SEO data on keyword ranks.
Backlink analysis
No well-rounded SEO strategy is complete without backlinks. Backlinks are hyperlinks from external sources (another company’s website or your Twitter profile, for example) that direct traffic to your own site. These links can send prospective customers to specific web pages, encouraging them to learn more and take the next step.
Unfortunately, many businesses overlook getting quality backlinks. If they do have backlinks, they may neglect to check them and fix any broken links. It’s easy to focus on flashier aspects of your SEO campaign and forget all about the basics.
Tools for automating backlink analysis
Analyzing backlinks might initially sound complicated, but SEO automation tools can simplify the process. Developers have created powerful monitoring tools to manage backlinks and keep track of the ones you’ve won or lost. Three of the most popular ones are as follows:
- SE Ranking: If you’re looking to automate backlink analysis and other SEO tasks in a centralized location, consider SE Ranking. SE Ranking offers backlink monitoring to verify and flag links from external sources.
- Semrush: Semrush is the one-stop shop for SEO automation and all SEO needs. It checks backlinks automatically and can let you know if any need repairs through a site audit.
- Morphio: Part of Morphio’s website monitoring capabilities includes analyzing backlinks. Maintaining quality backlinks can help boost your credibility and climb up the search results page.
Link outreach
Quality backlinks don’t come out of thin air. Unless you make a breakthrough discovery or invent a product that will change the world, you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and do the dirty work of link outreach. Asking reputable companies and influencers for backlinks to your site is the first (and often most challenging) step of SEO link building.
You might think, “Why would anyone want to provide backlinks to my website?” First, you never know if you never ask. Second, getting and giving backlinks is essential to online community participation. It establishes a professional relationship that could benefit both parties in the future.
Tools for automating link outreach
Knowing who to contact and what to say is usually the hardest part of link outreach. However, you don’t have to take a wild guess and hope it works out. You can automate link outreach using various automatic SEO tools.
Below are a few tools that can automate the link outreach process.
- PayPal Traffic Booster: PayPal’s Traffic Booster defines backlink creation. Instead of reaching out to other companies for links, you can generate them yourself.
- SentiOne: Technically, SentiOne is not an SEO tool. However, the AI service can help with link outreach by listening to social media and notifying you when someone mentions your brand.
- Rio SEO: Acquiring backlinks doesn’t need to be complicated. Rio SEO simplifies the process with local listing management tools.
Reporting
Our world runs on data. The automotive industry uses data to manufacture vehicles that are as aerodynamic, comfortable, and safe as possible. The agricultural industry relies on data to know the best time to plant seeds, what fertilizers and pesticides to use, and when to harvest. Without data, most of what businesses do nowadays would be a guessing game.
Collecting in-depth data and reviewing it through easy-to-understand reports is essential to running a successful business. SEO reports simplify complex information and present it in an accessible, readable format. Your SEO team can then use these critical insights to develop a killer SEO campaign.
Tools for automating reporting
Pouring over mountains of numbers can be tedious and overwhelming. With the right AI tools, you can complete the job in no time. You can let your SEO software scan the data for you and create visually appealing, accurate SEO reports. Here are some tools for automating reporting:
- Google Search Console: Google is one of the most popular search engines worldwide, so Google’s SEO automation tools are incredibly valuable. The company’s Search Console tool can inspect your URL, see where you land in the search results, and much more. Then, it gives you a detailed report of the findings.
- AgencyAnalytics: Many businesses rely on AgencyAnalytics for the data behind their marketing campaigns. AgencyAnalytics’ robust automation tool provides regular reports to ensure you always stay in the know.
- Looker Studio: Formerly known as Google Data Studio, Looker Studio is a go-to option for automated SEO reporting. Looker Studio pulls analysis from programs like Google Analytics and Search Console, compiling it in an easy-to-read format on the main dashboard.
Competitor analysis
Have you ever wondered what companies like yours are doing about SEO? Analyzing the competition can save you a lot of time and headaches. You can see what strategies work and which ones don’t, helping your business stand out by doing things your competitors are not doing.
Each business differs from the next, and you want to implement an SEO plan that works best for you. However, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Competitor analysis can provide the necessary insights to help affirm your approach and find ways to improve.
Tools for automating competitor analysis
You might have hundreds of competitors, depending on your industry. Keeping tabs on how the competition uses SEO and what the results are takes time, energy, and resources. Automating this process allows you to stay on board and even stay one step ahead.
We recommend looking into these tools for automating competitor monitoring:
- SE Ranking: SE Ranking is an all-in-one solution to automate SEO tasks at your company. The competitive research tool looks into the competition’s keyword usage and where they serve ads.
- Ahrefs: Among many other tasks, Ahrefs’ tools can help you analyze the competition. It’s all part of getting ahead in the SEO game and having the flexibility to adjust as necessary.
- Google Search Console: Google’s Search Console automation tool tracks user search queries and identifies your biggest competitors. This data can help you discover what other companies are doing and how customers are getting there.
Should you also automate keyword research and writing content?
You can use automated tools for website monitoring, link outreach, reporting, and many other areas of SEO. But what about content creation and keyword research? Why not leverage automated programs to generate authoritative written material as fast as possible?
Machine learning can handle some SEO projects better than humans, but not content creation. There’s nothing like a human touch to connect the author with the reader. Although AI writing technology continues to develop, it cannot compete with human-to-human interaction.
Tools that can speed up the process
Automation should never replace humans when writing high-quality content with excellent keyword density. However, some individuals and businesses leverage keyword research tools to speed up the process. The following tools can help you research keywords to develop relevant content:
- Semrush Position Tracking tool
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer tool
- SE Ranking Keyword Suggestion tool
Avoiding SEO automation tool bloat
Discovering all the ways in which you can use automation for SEO project management is exciting. However, it’s important to avoid going overboard with programs and platforms.
Automation bloat is a dangerous thing that can end up hurting your business if you let it go too far. Having multiple tools clutters your workspace and makes it challenging to locate or retrieve information. You will want to minimize the number of tools you employ or centralize them using a single tool to mitigate the risk of conflicting algorithms.
Too many SEO automation tools can also drain your marketing budget unnecessarily. You should only pay for what’s necessary and try to get the most mileage out of every program. With this in mind, consider investing in an all-in-one tool and taking the time to explore its capabilities.
Your next steps for SEO automation
In today’s world, businesses cannot last long without a well-rounded SEO strategy. Optimizing your site includes more than building a beautiful website — it involves repetitive tasks like website monitoring, keyword rank tracking, reporting, competitive analysis, and more. You can hand these jobs over to automated tools to make them go faster, cheaper, and more accurately.
As you automate SEO processes at your business, remember to avoid automation bloat. Utilize your automation tools sparingly to prevent inefficiencies and maintain an appropriate level of human touch.
At Connective, we can help you achieve your goals through effective SEO strategies. Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation and see how we can take your business to the next level!
