There are numerous ways and approaches to optimizing a website. While there’s no exact definition, everyone agrees that it comes down to improving the user experience and the value the site offers to visitors. From a technical point of view, optimization could include enhancing page loading speed and adjusting the layout to be more user-friendly regardless of the device the visitor uses. Don’t forget the importance of boosting the content quality and using the right keywords and other strategies to enhance search engine optimization.
In this article, we focus on the best website optimization tools currently available. You’ll see a quick list of the recommended platforms, an overview of factors we considered, and the top services to use to optimize your site!
List of Top Tools
- SE Ranking. A fast and comprehensive site audit, AI-powered on-page SEO checker and content editor and a range of other features, ensure that SE Ranking offers excellent value for money.
- Screaming Frog. It’s the best choice if you need a downloadable site optimization tool.
- Google Search Console. A smart choice to monitor visibility and presence in results pages on this search engine.
- Google Analytics. It’s a great choice if you want to learn more about your site visitors.
- Hotjar. The tool offers heatmaps that detect the most attractive web page elements and you can watch recordings of actual visitor sessions.
- GTmetrix. It focuses on technical SEO issues related to site performance and speed.
- PageSpeed Insights. A free tool that provides separate website speed and performance reports for mobile and desktop devices.
- Pingdom. The tool can help improve user experience by offering synthetic and real-user monitoring options.
- Ahrefs. It has the most active web crawler and looks for over 140 SEO issues.
- Surfer SEO. The platform has an audit that detects existing page issues, and an AI-powered content editor to create new texts.
What Factors We Considered When Choosing the Best Website Optimization Tools
While checking the tools for website optimization, we paid special attention to the following factors:
- Functionality and features. How can the tool help optimize your site? Does it improve the user experience or look for technical SEO issues?
- Integration capabilities. Is the tool compatible with other platforms, and what integration options are available?
- Cost and budget considerations. Apart from the overall pricing details, it’s important that the platform offers a good value for the money.
- Customer support. Most platforms have reliable customer support, with some providing onboarding training and other useful extras.
- Reports and analytics. What are the options for creating reports, and can you white-label them? Which analytics can you check and include in reports?
- User-friendly interface. Is it easy to use the tool, or there’s a learning curve? How easy is it to find your way around the menus?
1. SE Ranking
SE Ranking tops the list of SEO website optimization tools for both the wide range of features available and their in-depth functionality. The platform has a fast crawler for site audits – it can gather data from 1,000 pages in less than two minutes.
The tool looks for over 120 metrics, which ensures no issue goes unnoticed. Whether it’s an HTTP or HTTPS issue, speed-related or a localization problem, SE Ranking will track it and show its details. You can compare results with previous audits to get a clear idea about your progress.
SE Ranking sorts data well and features all critical metrics in a single dashboard. It’s also possible to adjust crawler settings to fit your needs, including adjusting scanning rules and excluding irrelevant checks.
The On-Page SEO checker tool is powered by AI, and it’s a great choice for fixing existing content. It will provide a current grade of your page while providing suggestions on how to improve anything from internal and external links to user experience and media files.
SE Ranking offers extensive rank-tracking with daily updates and localized searches. You can use a backlink checker and a keyword research tool and create and optimize content with the AI-powered editor. SE Ranking offers integrations with Google Looker Studio, Zapier, and many other platforms.
Customer support is reliable and the staff is knowledgeable and responds quickly. Subscribers of certain plans receive priority support, as well as an onboarding call and team training.
Pros
- A fast site audit with comprehensive results
- User-friendly interface suitable for beginners
- AI-powered on-page SEO checker
Cons
- Some tools cost extra
Pricing
Here are the pricing details:
- Essential. It costs $55 monthly, and you get up to ten projects and a single manager seat.
- Pro. For $109 monthly, you get unlimited projects and three manager seats. You can pick from two options to customize keywords to track.
- Business. The price starts at $239 monthly, and you get five manager seats, unlimited projects, and customized keywords to track.
You can save with annual payments. SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial that doesn’t require card details.
Use By Agencies
SE Ranking has the so-called Agency Pack, which includes unlimited white-label and scheduled SEO reports, along with a lead generator widget. You also have local marketing tools that allow tracking ranks and monitoring reviews from a single dashboard, making SE Ranking a good choice for agencies.
Verdict
SE Ranking has a powerful site audit that can crawl pages quickly, and it analyzes over 120 pre-defined technical issues. Combined with the on-page checker powered by AI, a powerful content editor, and other features, it’s undoubtedly one of the best SEO website optimization tools out there.
2. Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog developed a downloadable SEO Spider Tool, which collects and presents information that could be useful to website owners and managers. The tool goes to incredible depths while gathering data. If you are a beginner, it takes time to figure out how everything works.
The crawler is fast when analyzing your website. It can find server errors and broken links, identify redirects, and discover duplicate content. Analyzing metadata and page titles will ensure you immediately know which descriptions are missing or don’t have a suitable length.
Screaming Frog is compatible with Google tools to provide more insights about your site. It can generate sitemaps and visualize your website architecture. You can schedule crawls and compare them to track any progress made. Another reason why this is one of the best website optimization tools is that it uses Chromium WRS to crawl sites rich in JavaScript. Screaming From offers free technical support for paid users, and you can use the email address on the support page to contact the team.
Pros
- The best downloadable site optimization tool
- Reliable metadata analysis
- Compatible with multiple Google tools
Cons
- It takes a while for beginners to figure out how to use the service
Pricing
Screaming Frog has a free and paid version. The free subscription places a crawl limit of 500 URLs. It includes features like finding broken links and errors, analyzing page titles and generating XML sitemaps.
The premium version removes the crawl limit. It also includes additional options like crawl configuration and scheduling, JavaScript rendering, and integration with PageSpeed Insights, Search Console, Google Analytics, and Link Metrics. The paid version of Screaming Frog costs $259 yearly.
Use By Agencies
Screaming Frog is among the top website optimization tools for agencies. The company has a team that can assist in different areas of boosting your online visibility, such as developing a content strategy and enhancing your social media presence.
Verdict
If you prefer downloadable services, Screaming Frog is the best website optimization software to try. It can generate comprehensive data to help optimize your site and understand its specifics. The free forever version is a nice touch, but the paid version is necessary to use the Screaming Frog’s potential, especially for agencies and teams.
3. Google Search Console
Google has a set of website optimization tools, with the Search Console being among the most popular choices. GSC focuses on keeping track of your site’s visibility and presence in results pages on this search engine. It takes a while to get used to the interface, but the platform is bug-free and everything loads quickly.
For starters, Search Console will confirm that your website is visible to Google. The software confirms its crawler can collect information about your site pages. It will also indicate if there are any problems regarding indexing and re-indexing any refreshed content.
You can check different data on Google, such as the search queries you rank for, how frequently users click on your pages through those queries, and other metrics. Search Console is among the tools for website optimization that also shows sites with a link to your website. That can be useful to identify potentially harmful links that could harm its authority.
Pros
- Completely free to use
- Excellent to understand how Google sees your website
- Receive alerts regarding detected site issues
Cons
- Doesn’t support other search engines, but Google
Pricing
Search Console belongs to free Google tools. It’s only necessary to have a registered Google account and add the website as your property to the platform. From there, you can immediately start using this service.
Use By Agencies
Search Console is a great choice for agencies managing websites that aim to maintain or boost traffic via Google. The tool will warn you if the Google crawler has any collection issues regarding the site you are working on, which can be crucial to improving overall website visibility and page rankings. As expected, GSC is compatible with other Google tools like Analytics.
Verdict
Google is the leading search engine, making website optimization tools focused on it worth considering. Search Console is free and made by the company itself. Although it’s best to combine it with other SEO platforms, GSC can be a vital component of your site’s success.
4. Google Analytics
Analytics is also a part of the Google Marketing Platform, indicating anyone with a Google account can use it for free. This website optimization software solution monitors site performance and gathers insights about visitors. Integrated technical support is a part of the GA platform.
Google Analytics offers real-time reporting options. You can learn how each visitor reached your website, whether it’s an organic or paid source. The platform offers engagement reports with useful metrics like an average session duration and pages per session. You can also see the bounce rate, which shows how many users left your site after seeing only a single page without any interaction.
The company released Google Analytics 4 in 2020, and its main advantage is the addition of AI-based technologies. GA4 uses machine learning for predictive insights and improved data accuracy.
Pros
- A huge value for a free tool
- Numerous real-time reports are available
- In-depth information regarding your site visitors
Cons
- The interface isn’t user-friendly, especially for beginners
Pricing
Google Analytics is a free tool, including its latest fourth iteration. You can use this website optimization software without limitations. It’s worth noting there’s a Google Analytics 360 premium version. That option is only suitable for large companies that need scalable tools with in-depth customization. The price is $12,500 monthly.
Use By Agencies
You can use advanced customizations to explore data and find the information you need. GA4 offers data visualization tools and extensive reports regarding site performance and visitors. It’s also compatible with Google-made online marketing solutions and other website optimization tools.
Verdict
Google Analytics tops the list of the best website optimization tools for learning more about your customers and understanding their behavior. You can assess useful metrics and organize data by country and city, age group, browser type, and other parameters. Combined with the extensive reports regarding user acquisition, engagement, and monetization, this free tool is a must-have online marketing asset.
5. Hotjar
Heatmaps are the trademark feature of Hotjar website optimization software. The tool will visualize each page of your site, showing which elements attract the most attention and which parts get ignored.
Hotjar features recordings, which allow observing actual user sessions. That’s great for discovering potential layout improvements that prevent you from getting a higher conversion rate optimization.
Similar to some other website optimization tools, Hotjar recently implemented some AI features. AI can help create user surveys based on the desired goals. You can also use Hotjar to ask users for feedback on using the site and even discuss things to improve in 1-on-1 meetings.
The interface is modern and easy to navigate. You have the ability to export and share heatmaps, but creating customized downloadable reports doesn’t seem to be an option. You can contact the Hotjar team via the contact form or use the digital assistant, and priority support is secured for members who sign up for the Scale subscription.
Pros
- Heatmaps are a great way to analyze specific pages
- Experience your website from a visitor’s angle with recordings
- Excellent integration options
Cons
- Expensive premium plans
Pricing
Hotjar has free and premium website optimization software versions, and here are the pricing details for heatmaps with recordings:
- Basic. You get up to 35 daily sessions in this free forever plan.
- Plus. The cost is $39 monthly for up to 100 daily sessions.
- Business. You pay $99 monthly for 500 or more daily sessions, along with extra features like the traffic channel filter and engagement zones in heatmaps.
- Scale. For $213 monthly, you get 500 daily sessions, all features from the Business plan, and Trends and Funnels functions as extras.
You can save 20% with annual payments. It’s necessary to buy separate plans for surveys and user interview features.
Use By Agencies
Hotjar has the option to analyze all sites via a single account. Unlimited user seats ensures that sharing data across all team members is simple. The tool helps you avoid multiple procurement procedures by making various research tools available via a single platform to ensure you get a total overview about a particular website.
Verdict
Hotjar focuses on user experience, and it’s one of the best tools for website optimization in that area. It helps detect issues with the customer experience and discover how to adjust page layouts to improve CRO. Hotjar is compatible with Google Analytics, Zapier, and other tools.
6. GTmetrix
GTmetrix is among the online website optimization tools that focus on page loading speed and performance. The platform will assess core web vitals, including the Largest Contentful Paint, Total Blocking Time, and Cumulative Layout Shift. These focus on page loading times, interactivity, and visual stability.
You can see the overall page performance in a single grade. Detailed results feature speed visualization information and numerous performance metrics. The structure section is a simpler version of an audit that you see in some other website optimization tools. It will list the problems by the impact they have on your site speed and performance and also tell you which URLs have this issue and how to fix it.
GTmetrix has the option to send a message to the customer support, and you can also get in touch with them on social media. As for integration, the creators developed an API, which ensures developers can utilize the platform’s performance testing service.
Pros
- The free version is quite useful
- Detailed information about page loading speeds
- Recommendations on what to improve are sorted by priority
Cons
- Business-oriented plans are expensive
Pricing
Here are the plans and subscription costs for GTmetrix:
- Basic. You get a single monitored slot and 25 weekly on-demand tests for free.
- Solo. For $13 monthly, you get three monitored slots and 175 weekly on-demand tests.
- Starter. The cost is $25 monthly, and you get six monitored slots and 200 weekly on-demand tests.
- Growth. You receive 300 weekly on-demand tests and 12 monitored slots for $50 monthly.
Yearly plans secure a 15% discount. You can also pick special business subscriptions, which cost from $75 to $530 or more monthly.
Use By Agencies
GTmetrix has subscriptions specifically designed for businesses. Teams can use them to monitor multiple sites and benefit from data retention for 12 or 24 months. Together with white-label PDF reports and all the features it essentially offers, GTmetrix is a good pick for agencies.
Verdict
GTmetrix is a website optimization software solution that focuses on technical issues and performance. Visitors don’t have patience, and even a single second longer to load the site might cause them to leave it. That makes GTmetrix a potentially essential tool for all site owners and marketing professionals.
7. PageSpeed Insights
Google designed this free utility to help analyze website speed and user experience. The great thing about PageSpeed Insights is that it provides separate reports for mobile and desktop devices. They both include core web vitals assessment with six different metrics, including but not limited to the Cumulative Layout Shift, First, and Largest Contentful Paints. You’ll also see a simple estimation of whether your site passed or failed the test.
PageSpeed Insights is among the top free online website optimization tools for a fast diagnosis of performance issues. They are divided into four categories: performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO ratings. PageSpeed Insights will display the issues it encountered and even sort them by priority.
You can use the PageSpeed Insights API for your website. As for customer support, there’s no direct option, but you can use the general Google support to receive assistance about this service.
Pros
- The tool is completely free
- Multiple website performance scores
- Core web vitals metrics for desktop and mobile devices
Cons
- It takes a while to generate a report
Pricing
Google PageSpeed Insights is free, but it comes with a few restrictions. For example, if you use the API, the limit is 400 queries per 100 seconds or 25,000 queries daily.
Use By Agencies
As a reliable and free utility, PageSpeed Insights belongs to tools for website optimization that can be a perfect addition to the default SEO platform that your agency uses. It can provide a fairly detailed and fast assessment of site speed and performance, but it isn’t a comprehensive solution on its own.
Verdict
PageSpeed Insights delivers just what it promises – an analysis of loading and performance speed for your site. It’s free, and you can learn about core web vitals details for desktop and mobile devices. Although it doesn’t belong to all-around website optimization tools, it’s a neat, free solution and a useful utility for all user types.
8. Pingdom
SolarWinds is the company that designed the Pingdom end-user experience monitoring platform. Its idea is to provide useful insights that can help optimize UX to boost your traffic or conversion rates. Even if you are a beginner, you’ll immediately feel comfortable with using the platform due to its user-friendly interface.
Pingdom monitors site uptime, and it can do that from over 100 locations around the globe. It can test user registration, shopping cart checkouts and other processes. Pingdom is among the website optimization tools that provide page speed analysis and point out issues to improve in this area.
Real User Monitoring (RUM) software can help learn more about the experience of visitors from different devices or locations. Pingdom interacts or integrates with various services, such as BigPanda, VictorOps, Slack, and Zenduty. You have multiple ways of contacting the company, including submitting a ticket or calling their office.
Pros
- Separate synthetic and real-user monitoring options allow customers to pick what best fits them
- Excellent for monitoring uptime and page speed
- Customizable alerts
Cons
- Basic programming knowledge is necessary to use transaction monitoring to its fullest
Pricing
Pingdom offers two different monitoring packages; here are the details:
- Synthetic. You get ten uptime checks, a single advanced check, and 50 SMS alerts for $15 monthly.
- Real User. For $15 monthly, you get 100,000 pageviews on unlimited sites.
You can also pick more expensive options and apply for both subscriptions simultaneously. Annual payments secure a discount, and Pingdom has a 30-day free trial.
Use By Agencies
Agencies will benefit from the unlimited user option since you can easily add all team members and share information. You can share reports with the staff, and it’s also possible to set alerts for different team members.
Verdict
Pingdom deserves its place among the best website optimization tools since it offers reliable uptime monitoring and customizable alerts for different events detected. The real-user monitoring features can provide useful insights, and Pingdom can help to improve the website end-user experience overall.
9. Ahrefs
Ahrefs has the most active web crawler in the SEO industry. The website audit crawler is also fast, and you can adjust the parameters to focus only on certain sections. You can see details in the crawl log, including the number of crawled URLs, duration, and statistics by URL types.
The graphics are polished and, although Ahrefs keeps that retro look, everything is well-organized and it’s easy to access the desired tool. The site audit will look for over 160 SEO issues. From detecting slow pages and missing HTML tags to low word counts, duplicate pages, and link-related issues, you get all-around information regarding the technical problems of your website.
Many parameters available and detailed customization options ensure you can explore data any way you see fit. Ahrefs also allows crawling a mobile website and executing JavaScript during the audit. As for other SEO features, the platform offers everything you might need, from a rank tracker to a site and keyword explorer.
Ahrefs has an API that secures seamless integration with the websites you use. If you have any questions, you can use the chatbot to find the desired info or contact support, or send an email to the team.
Pros
- A site audit detects a comprehensive range of issues
- Extensive reports for each site optimization area
- Many parameters are available for customizing results
Cons
- Subscriptions are quite pricey
Pricing
Ahrefs offers the following plans:
- Lite. The price is $99, and you get 500 user credits monthly.
- Standard. For $199, you get 600 credits monthly.
- Advanced. The cost is $399 monthly and includes 750 credits.
- Enterprise. It starts at $999 monthly, and you get a customized number of credits that fits your preference.
Annual payments secure a discount.
Use By Agencies
Ahrefs has a specially designed plan for enterprises that also includes API. The depth of its database and the extensive list of technical issues that the site crawler looks for also make this website optimization software suitable for teams. On top of that, you can use other SEO features like keyword research and rank tracking.
Verdict
With the most active web crawler and comprehensive site audits, Ahrefs is suitable for industry professionals and experienced users. The tool is pricey, but you do get other SEO features, too, and that includes content explorer, rank tracker, and keyword research.
10. Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO is essentially an SEO tool that helps create better content. It offers an AI-powered content editor that can help create outlines or entire articles. The integration options include Google Docs, WordPress, and Jasper.
The SEO audit add-on is an excellent choice for repurposing old content. The insights you get include assessing the content length, page speed, keyword density, missing backlinks, meta tag structure, and other useful metrics.
Surfer SEO is surprisingly intuitive, and you can easily find your way to the desired option. Everything works smoothly, so there’ll be no performance issues while working on the platform. If you have any questions, you can contact customer support via the digital assistant or use the email provided.
Pros
- AI-powered content writer and editor
- An add-on that helps optimize existing pages and content
- Automatic internal link suggestions
Cons
- The audit costs extra since it’s available as an add-on
Pricing
Here are the pricing details for Surfer SEO:
- Essential AI. The cost is $139 monthly, and you get five AI articles monthly.
- Advanced AI. The price is $279 monthly, and you get ten AI articles monthly.
- Max AI. You receive 20 AI articles monthly for $499 monthly.
Yearly billing secures discounts, and you also have a custom package that can be tailored to your needs. The audit is available as an add-on, and you receive 100 audits monthly for $49. SERP analyzer, white-label reports, and API are also other add-ons.
Use By Agencies
Surfer SEO offers a different number of organization seats for each plan, with the custom plan providing an unlimited number of seats. Custom branding is also a part of some subscriptions, and you can even get a dedicated account manager, who can assist with tailored advice and strategies on how to boost SEO success.
Verdict
Surfer SEO primarily focuses on content creation and optimizing existing pages on your website. The audit for existing content, however, is only available as an add-on. The tool is easy to use, although there are limitations on how many articles you can use with the content editor and AI writer.
Conclusion
The best website optimization software is the one that fits your marketing agency needs. SE Ranking can be an excellent choice if you need a reliable crawler that works fast, along with comprehensive SEO features, ranging from AI-based on-page SEO checker and content editor to keyword research and rank-tracking.
Those who prefer working with downloadable software should pick Screaming Frog. Pingdom can be great for improving user experience, while GTmetrix offers technical issues analysis on site performance and speed. Google has a set of free tools that can help any webmaster or industry professional. Ultimately, we suggest trying different tools and finding the choice that best meets your expectations.