What SEO Software Means For the SEO Community
October 2, 2008 - Written by Gyutae Park
A couple days ago, I reviewed Ranksense, a “point and click” suite of SEO tools that guide you through the best practices of an entire SEO campaign. The software was created by SEO superstar Hamlet Batista and actually has a lot of potential to be extremely effective in increasing your rankings and traffic. Read my full Ranksense review.
Now, many of you know that I work full-time as an SEO consultant so you may be shocked that I’m promoting a solution that supposedly does my job for you. You would think that I would shun such software and tools and label them rubbish.
Well the fact of the matter is that “do-it-all” SEO software and SEO consultants can easily exist in harmony. Automated tools can make SEO’s more efficient and nothing can ever compare to the customized work of a highly-qualified SEO professional.
If you make your living online doing SEO, there’s no need to feel threatened by the development of comprehensive SEO solutions like Ranksense. Believe it or not, SEO software actually benefits the SEO community. Let me explain with a few reasons below.
3 Reasons Why SEO Software is Good for the SEO Community
1. Better tools = better results
This reason is obvious. Better tools mean better results in terms of search engine rankings. SEO’s can use software to save time, increase productivity, and dig into data they normally wouldn’t be able to get. Can you imagine creating a ranking report for hundreds of keywords without using a search engine rank checker?
2. SEO goes more mainstream
Last that I heard, Ranksense is partnering with a few popular web hosts to include its software as a package to thousands of customers. This sort of alliance ideally makes SEO strategies and best practices easily accessible to common webmasters and validates the SEO industry as a whole. People are much more willing to pay $25 for a software package than $2,500 for SEO services. This also takes away some of the “smoke and mirrors” mystique that has plagued SEO’s reputation for years. By engaging in best practices and seeing that they work, webmasters will further be convinced that SEO is real.
3. Increased competition = greater need for SEO services & advancement
With the emergence of inexpensive one-stop SEO software, competition among sites for search rankings will increase as more and more webmasters become aware of and implement SEO best practices. The results of SEO depend on the competitive landscape of your niche, so companies will need to hire experienced consultants to get an edge. In the near future, SEO will be less about technical best practices and more about creative marketing to gain market share - which will really separate the cream of the crop.
What are your thoughts on automated SEO software? Obviously, nothing can ever take the place of real manual optimization work, but I think packages like Ranksense are good for the industry - especially in assisting newbies to get started and spreading SEO awareness.
What do you think?
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The picture of this tool looks like similar.
Well it was a random picture I found online, so you’ve probably seen it before.
“People are much more willing to pay $25 for a software package than $2,500 for SEO services. ”
Dude, you can’t honestly believe this software is gonna take the place of hiring an SEO though.
Hiya Will,
No, definitely not. Software will never take the place of hiring an SEO. However, people who would otherwise never hire an SEO to begin with might get the software, learn about the benefits of SEO and how it works, and eventually hire an SEO for more advanced stuff.
I’m not saying that one will replace the other, I’m saying how they will complement each other for the better.
IMHO SEO tools will never replace the need for an specialist SEO. There are some great SEO tools available, for anyone to benefit from but it has to be said that all they really do is automate extremely time consuming tasks, that yes, can all be done manually, but doing so would consume far too much time and there by increase the cost of hiring a professional to an unreasonable amount. The other thing to remember is the information these tools collate is not enough to optimise a website to the best of it’s ability without comprehensive and up to date knowledge in all aspects of SEO and how they all compound together to achieve top results.
Yes i see what you mean when you say “People are much more willing to pay $25 for a software package than $2,500 for SEO services. ” Its not as if this is INSTEAD of actual SEO services, more like a beginning for the uninitiated.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. The SEO software caters to a market that isn’t very savvy with SEO, and then bumps them up to the next level if they stick with it.
I think seo software is great, it allows anyone to do it so there will be more competition which will make seo worth even more
I guess there’s two sides to the more competition aspect. In one hand, more competition means less opportunities for webmasters in terms of getting up in the rankings. However, it also means the SEO industry will mature and like you said the value of it will increase.
I have always thought that the tools just made the consultant better. I guess there is that underlying theme of will the machines beat the humans thought, or a creation become stronger than its creator.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it. Tools are made to make SEO’s better and to help them do their jobs more efficiently. However, as the tools get more sophisticated, I can see how the tools would basically run themselves and humans merely push the buttons.
I think that these new tools will help SEO’s but could never replace the job of an SEO. I think that software can’t replicate human ingenuity. These tools should be seen as a way to advance the capabilities of SEO, not a replacement.
I totally agree with you on that. SEO tools will never replace the experience of a qualified SEO expert. Software should be used to make tasks easier and to save time. However, for most small webmasters who don’t have much SEO knowledge, software is a good place to start to empower themselves.
It’s no different than a copywriter using MS Word to work on web copy, or an SEO using Google advanced operators for research - a tool is a tool is a tool. What the human behind the tool does with it is what makes all the difference. Good article!
Very well put! I think it’s important to note that tools are tools but they represent different things to different people. For example, an SEO tool might be a way for an expert to automate tasks and save time, but it could also be a way for a newbie to learn the process and educate themselves.
Thanks for the review of Ranksense, It is outstanding.