Best Automated SEO Tools to Save Your Agency Time & Money

It’s an unfortunate fact of running an SEO agency that not every task is going to be worthy of your time and attention.

While you should, of course, do your very best to be across every aspect of running your business, there are going to be tasks that are, by necessity, repetitive and mundane.

Whether you’re conducting keyword research, coming up with content ideas, or trawling pages for broken backlinks, you’ll encounter a great deal of repetition while working on your SEO agency.

Trying to complete these tasks by hand can be a time-consuming and frustrating process, and so it’s important to consider automation in this regard.

With that said, though, how can you automate SEO, and which tasks can be automated? That’s what we’re here to help you with. Here’s our guide on the best automated SEO tools to save you time and money!

Why automation is crucial for modern SEO agencies

Principally, automation is crucial for modern SEO agencies because it helps them save valuable time that they could be using on something more critical.

Liaising with clients, coming up with great creative copy, or working on branding could all be more productive uses of your time than attending to mundane tasks that could easily be handled by automation software.

What’s more, automation can help to reduce human error; after all, a human performing the same tasks over and over again is inevitably going to make mistakes due to boredom, distraction, or exhaustion.

Automation can also help your business to save costs; after all, it may well cost less to purchase SEO automation software than to pay a staff member to complete the tasks themselves.

By automating certain SEO tasks, you can implement a scalable policy that will allow your business to grow organically and exponentially, and it’s likely that all this will take is a small adjustment in your software’s instructions, if that.

By automating SEO tasks, you’re freeing yourself up to focus on the things that really matter; there are, after all, things SEO software can’t do that a human can, and those things are where your attention should be.

Key areas where SEO automation makes sense

So, now you know why SEO automation is important. What kind of SEO tasks should you be automating?

Generally speaking, any task that doesn’t directly require human input or creativity can be seen as an ideal candidate for SEO automation.

Here’s a quick list of some of the tasks you may wish to consider automating when it comes to your SEO strategy.

• Link building outreach. The process of discovering high-quality sites that are ideal for backlinks, then contacting those sites for link placement, can be tedious if you’re doing it at scale. Using automated SEO tools in this regard makes a lot of sense.
• SEO audits and reporting. Combing through SEO reports involves a lot of number-crunching, and those numbers aren’t always exciting to browse; you’ll be looking at a lot of page views, impressions, clicks, and other metrics. It’s best to use an automation tool for tasks like this.
• Keyword research and tracking. Discovering which keywords you should be focusing on for your content is a very important element of SEO, but it’s not always a particularly interesting one. Let SEO productivity software handle this while you get on with the important task of actually building the content yourself.
• Content optimisation and management. While you shouldn’t necessarily outsource the creation of content to an automation tool, optimising and managing that content to ensure it remains evergreen is certainly something you can entrust to software.

There will, of course, be other areas in which it makes sense to consider automating your SEO approach, but these are the four key elements of your business that would arguably benefit the most from an automated strategy.

Top automated SEO tools for agencies

We’ve talked a lot about the whys and wherefores of automating SEO, but now it’s time to get down to brass tacks and discuss which agencies or software you should be using.

These are some of the best affordable SEO automation tools on the market right now, so if your budget can stretch to it, we’d recommend seriously considering trying one of these tools out today.

A quick note: we’re listing the pricing for these tools on a monthly basis, but many of them also offer an annual option which cuts the cost.

Semrush

Semrush is one of the most well-known and well-respected SEO suites on the market right now.

It offers automated keyword research, competitor analysis, and link building, requiring only minimal input on your part to optimise and streamline these processes.

Pricing: Semrush has three main pricing tiers.

• Pro ($139.95/month): up to 5 projects
• Guru ($249.95/month): up to 15 projects
• Business ($499.95/month): up to 40 projects

Each tier adds its own set of new features, too, including the likes of extra content marketing tools, access to API, and more.

Semrush is ideal for smaller agencies looking to scale up; its services won’t come cheap, but it’s one of the more reasonably-priced suites on the market, and its features are second to none.

Try Semrush Now

Ahrefs

Another excellent SEO tool suite, Ahrefs automates many aspects of your SEO strategy, including keyword research, rank tracking, and mentions.

Not only that, but it includes a robust site auditing tool to allow you to audit and optimise your pages, and it’s got plenty more to offer besides.

Pricing: Ahrefs offers three core tiers.

• Lite (£99/month): up to 5 projects
• Standard (£199/month): up to 20 projects
• Advanced (£359/month): up to 50 projects

There’s also an Enterprise tier, which starts at £1,199 per month and is intended for larger businesses with a little more money to spare.

Ahrefs’ pricing is pretty much competitive with its peers, and its higher project count per tier means it’s ideal for businesses taking on multiple clients or projects at once.

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Moz Pro

Moz Pro offers a number of different metrics by which to track how your site is doing, including Search Visibility Score, Search Intent, and the built-in On-page Grader.

Its automation tools are wide-ranging and allow you to automate your reporting, rank tracking, and link analysis, among other things.

Pricing: Four main tiers make up the core of Moz Pro’s pricing structure.

• Starter ($49/month): one user, one tracked site
• Standard ($99/month): one user, three tracked sites
• Medium ($179/month): two users, ten tracked sites
• Large ($299/month): three users, 25 tracked sites

As usual, features like tracked keyword limits and pages crawled increase with each tier.

Moz is great for businesses that need to see their data in actionable, easy-to-digest form; the data provided by the software is reliable, and the wealth of metrics makes it easy to act on.

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BuzzStream

Rather than being a comprehensive, holistic SEO automation suite, BuzzStream is focused on the outreach and relationship-building side of things.

You’ll rely on BuzzStream to build relationships with outlets and influencers, create lists of sites and platforms for link-building, and promote your content.

Pricing: BuzzStream offers three core tiers and one enterprise tier for pricing.

• Starter ($24/month): one user, 1000 contacts
• Growth ($124/month): three users, 25,000 contacts
• Professional ($299/month): six users, 100,000 contacts
• Custom ($999/month): complete unique solution on a per-client basis

Each tier also offers the ability to add extra users to the plan at a nominal cost per user.

BuzzStream is the perfect tool for SEO agencies looking to build relationships and engage in digital PR.

It won’t necessarily provide the same breadth of SEO automation as other tools, but it’s second to none when it comes to content promotion and list creation.

Try BuzzStream Now

Surfer SEO

Content optimisation is the name of the game when it comes to Surfer SEO. The service boldly claims that it helps to create “the best-performing content” out there.

Using Surfer SEO, you can automatically optimise your content for Google and other search engines, and with the tool’s handy Content Score, you can see how Google-ready you really are.

Pricing: Surfer SEO has just two core pricing tiers, with an Enterprise tier also available.

• Essential ($99/month): 200 pages tracked, up to five teammates
• Scale ($219/month): 1000 pages tracked, up to ten teammates
• Enterprise (custom): to-spec plan for larger businesses

If your business generates a lot of content and you need a tool that will help you to check that content for SEO optimisation, then Surfer SEO is the tool for you.

Try Surfer SEO Now

SE Ranking

SE Ranking is another great all-rounder tool for automating many different aspects of an SEO agency’s day-to-day remit.

It offers tools for keyword suggestions, competitor research, and backlink checking, as well as a number of other vital metrics for your business.

Pricing: You’ll find three different pricing tiers available if you opt for SE Ranking.

• Essential (£55/month): one manager, five projects, 500 keywords
• Pro (£95/month): three managers, 30 projects, 2,000 keywords minimum
• Business (£209/month): five managers, unlimited projects, 5,000 keywords minimum

The Pro and Business tiers also allow you to add extra keywords for an additional fee.

SE Ranking is a great SEO automation suite for reporting, site monitoring, and effective auditing.

It’s a cost-effective SEO tool that has something to offer for businesses of every size and shape.

Try SE Ranking Now

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Technical SEO is Screaming Frog’s speciality, and using the site’s free crawler, you can crawl up to 500 URLs without having to pay a penny.

Paying a little extra removes that 500-URL limit and adds extra features like scheduling, saving crawls, and comparing different crawls.

Pricing: There’s just one pricing tier for Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider tool, although you can pay a little extra for multiple licenses.

• Paid license ($279/year): removes free limits, adds extra features

Multiple licenses are also available, with discounts depending on the number of licenses you decide to buy.

If you’re looking for an automated audit tool that also offers critical technical SEO insights, then Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider is right up your street.

Try Screaming Frog Now

BrightLocal

As the name suggests, BrightLocal is focused largely on the local SEO scene, so if your business has any kind of local component, then you’ll want to look into this one.

The suite offers automated local citation management and monitoring, allowing you to see where your business is being mentioned and by whom.

Pricing: Three main pricing tiers are available with BrightLocal.

• Track ($39/month): local rank tracking, competitor insights
• Manage ($49/month): sync data across platforms, schedule posts
• Grow ($59/month): monitor reviews, run review campaigns

All plans also include access to the pay-as-you-go Citation Builder service, as well as customisable white-label reporting and lead generation.

Local SEO isn’t going to be important for every business, but if you’re running any kind of local enterprise, then BrightLocal should be at the top of your SEO automation software list.

Try Bright Local Now

Linkody

Another tool whose name rather gives the game away, Linkody is built around backlinks, which are a crucial part of any automated SEO approach.

Using Linkody, you can monitor backlinks automatically, and the suite’s robust link analysis tool lets you see where you’re weakest and strengthen your backlink strategy.

Pricing: Five core tiers are available as part of Linkody’s pricing scheme.

• Webmaster (€13.90/month): two domains, 500 links
• Advanced (€22.90/month): five domains, 2000 links
• Pro (€45.90/month): 20 domains, 5000 links, three users
• Agency (€90.90/month): 50 domains, 20,000 links, five users
• Agency XL (€138.90/month): 100 domains, 50,000 links, ten users

When you need to find broken backlinks or discover links that have depreciated in quality, then Linkody is your tool of choice.

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Sitechecker

Website audits allow you to continually track which aspects of your website’s pages need to be optimised, and Sitechecker can automate that process for you.

The tool will create automated SEO tests across your pages, potentially alerting you to SEO problems even before Google gets wind of them.

Pricing: Three pricing tiers are available with Sitechecker.

• Basic ($59/month): three websites, up to 10,000 pages
• Standard ($149/month): 20 websites, up to 50,000 pages
• Premium ($349/month): 100 websites, up to 200,000 pages

Sitechecker also offers a pay-as-you-go service that allows you to purchase credits for certain services without needing to sign up to a subscription.

It goes without saying that if you’re looking to monitor your sites for SEO problems on a continual basis, then Sitechecker should be your first port of call.

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How to choose the best SEO automation tool

When you’re thinking about picking the best SEO automation tools for you, it’s important to keep a few factors in mind.

The first, naturally, is pricing. You need to make sure that the SEO tool you’re choosing is within your budget and that you’ll be able to afford it on a sustainable basis.

You should also carefully consider which features and integrations the SEO tool in question offers; there may be some you don’t need, and those features could mean the difference between opting for a more expensive tier or the tier below it.

Some SEO software is a little tricker to use, too, so if you’re not massively experienced in the world of SEO automation software, then you should opt for software that’s easier for neophytes.

If you do happen to get stuck, or you encounter an issue with the software that means you need to contact customer service, it’s also important to make sure the SEO software company you’re using has good customer service in place.

Thorough research, including reading user reviews, looking at your competitors’ partners, and even contacting the automation software companies themselves to discuss your needs, is of paramount importance.

Tips for implementing SEO automation successfully

Once you do take the plunge, there’s still a way to go before you can say you’ve successfully implemented SEO automation.

Here are a few tips to help you make sure you’re not overfacing yourself or taking on tasks you don’t feel equipped to handle!

• Start small and scale up. It might be tempting to try and automate every facet of your SEO strategy, but the important thing here is to start off small and scale up little by little. That way, you’ll be able to master each automation element before moving onto the next.
• Test multiple tools. Don’t feel that you need to settle on one tool just because it’s the first one you’ve used. Try out multiple different software suites and see which one works best for you.
• Train team members to maximise productivity. Why limit your team’s use of your SEO automation software to just yourself? By training your team members, you can ensure that everyone knows how to use this vital element of your business, thus increasing productivity and ensuring that you’ve built a network if things go wrong.

Real-world case studies of automation success

A number of real-world businesses already use SEO automation in order to make sure that they’re playing by Google’s rules while also providing the content users want to see.

One example of this policy in action is TripAdvisor, which uses a simple formula to generate pages based on different cities and locations, putting thousands upon thousands of pages into place without having to do too much work.

Another great example would be Airbnb, which utilises a similar approach by building pages based around certain queries; since the site deals with a large volume of different locations, it makes sense to automate pages so that users’ queries for “accommodation in [place]” can point back to Airbnb.

There are plenty of other examples we could give, and not all of them are in the travel and hospitality industry, either! Suffice it to say that SEO automation works out there in the real world as well as on the page.

Conclusion

The world of SEO automation can feel vast and intimidating, but with the right suite of software at your side, you can tackle it comfortably.

SEO automation is a critical element of your agency’s growth; without it, you’ll spend far too much time on tasks that should take mere minutes, meaning that you’ll be missing the important things that actually require your attention.

Don’t hesitate: start implementing SEO automation into your business today. We’d be surprised if you don’t start seeing results very quickly indeed.