BloggBuzzer

Looking for a budget-friendly SEO tool for small businesses? 

In this post, I compiled the best SEO platforms for keyword research, competitor analysis, performance tracking, content research, link building, and more — without breaking the bank. 

Let’s get started!

1. Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

Keyword Magic Tool by Semrush is the internet’s go-to keyword research tool. It will help you build a diverse list of lucrative target keywords that can fuel your SEO, be it for content creation, on-page optimization, or link building. 

After entering your seed keyword, Keyword Magic Tool will generate a comprehensive list of relevant keyword suggestions. To help you measure the SEO value of each keyword, the page includes important metrics like search volume, Keyword Difficulty (KD), and user intent. 

Keyword Magic Tool Features

• Find low-competition, long-tail keywords that are easy to rank for. Long-tail keywords are more specific, target a narrower audience, and are less competitive than broad keywords — making them easier and more profitable for small businesses in terms of SEO.
• Filter keywords based on user intent to find high-quality leads. Use Keyword Magic Tool to find “commercial” or “transactional” keywords, which are used by people who are more likely to become customers.
• Advanced filters to find the exact keywords you need. Keyword Magic Tool lets you filter keywords based on included terms, KD, user intent, search volume, and more. 

Keyword Magic Tool Pros and Cons

Pros

• Easy to use. 
• The comprehensive filters let you find the perfect keywords for your SEO.
• Switch between keyword types (questions, broad match, phrase match, etc.) in one click.
• Get keywords in multiple languages.

Cons

• Requires a Semrush account to be used (get a 14-day FREE TRIAL here). 

2. Semrush Content Marketing Platform

Also from Semrush, the Content Marketing Platform is a collection of tools that can help with important aspects of SEO content creation. This includes SEO topic research, content planning, and writing. 

For example, the “SEO Content Template” tool lets you save hours from the content planning and outlining processes. Just plug in your target keywords and click ‘Create content template’ to instantly generate an SEO-friendly content brief. 

The SEO template contains useful details like keywords, optimization ideas from competitors, recommended word count, and basic content recommendations (title, meta description, and H1 tag).” It’s like having your own SEO content specialist, but fully automated and responsive.

Content Marketing Platform Features

• Instantly identify your top SEO competitors. The Content Marketing Platform instantly reveals the top competitor pages based on the keywords you have entered. 
• Real-time optimization assistant to streamline your content creation. Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform works seamlessly with the SEO Writing Assistant — a text editor that provides instant optimization suggestions and scoring features.
• Highlight competitor keyword strategies. Skip the brainstorming step and check how competitors use your target keywords in key content elements. 

Content Marketing Platform Pros and Cons

Pros

• Ensure SEO objectives when working with a team of content writers.
• Save money by cutting the need to hire an SEO content specialist or strategist.
• Instantly export content templates as an editable Word document. 
• Accelerate content optimization with the SEO Writing Assistant.

Cons

• Similar to Keyword Magic Tool, you can only use Content Marketing Platform with a Semrush subscription.

3. Mangools

Mangools is a suite of SEO tools designed for specific tasks, like Search Engine Results Page (SERP) analysis, backlink analysis, and keyword research.

My personal favorite is SiteProfiler, which conducts an in-depth analysis of a website’s SEO performance. 

The SiteProfiler report includes crucial SEO data, including metrics like Domain Authority (DA), Facebook shares, total backlinks, and total referring domains. It also lists their most-used anchor texts for backlinks and top-performing content.

Mangools Features

• Research profitable keyword ideas with KWFinder. Use KWFinder to find profitable, long-tail keyword ideas based on your seed keyword or competitor domain.
• Analyze what works on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Using the SERPChecker, you can easily identify the most effective tactics your competitors use.
• Analyze your competitor’s backlinks to find your own link-building opportunities. Check a competitor’s website’s backlink profile and get potential link sources to elevate your search engine rankings.

Mangools Pros and Cons

Pros

• User-friendly, clutter-free interface.
• Affordable pricing (compared to other SEO tools).
• Reliable, up-to-date SEO data.
  

Cons

• There’s no way to purchase the tools separately.
• There are not as many keyword research and website analysis features.

4. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool designed to guide website owners through the technical aspects of SEO. It provides a detailed view of SEO factors like performance, user experience, indexability, and more. 

The performance page underlines top-level SEO metrics, like impressions, average Click-Through Rate (CTR), and average organic position. Google Search Console lists down your most effective keywords/queries in terms of getting clicks and impressions.

Google Search Console Features

• Submit a sitemap to speed up the indexing process. You can add your website’s sitemap to Google Search Console, which helps the search engine discover and index your pages.
• Fix issues that affect page indexation. Google Search Console reports issues that prevent your site or page from being indexed — as well as provides actionable tips on how to deal with them. 
• Optimize your content for Google rich results. Make your website stand out in search engine results by optimizing for rich results (sitelinks, recipes, breadcrumbs, etc.), and that’s something Google Search Console can help you with under the “Enhancements” menu.

Google Search Console Pros and Cons

Pros 

• It’s 100% free.
• Tons of actionable information to improve on-page SEO.
• Track and improve the user experience on mobile and desktop with Core Web Vitals.

Cons

• It can be confusing for first-time users.

5. Google Trends

As the name suggests, Google Trends is specifically designed to help you spot trending topics and queries in search results. 

Just enter a topic and click ‘Explore’ to find topics that will get you some search traffic.

You’ll get a trend chart along with a list of related topics and queries. These are useful for creating SEO content that will attract the online audience’s attention.

If you want a more powerful tool for spotting trending topics, consider looking into Exploding Topics. In addition to accurate search demand growth tracking, this tool helps branch out your SEO research with categories and related topics.  

Google Trends Features

• Compare two or more search terms to gauge popularity. If you can’t decide between two SEO topics, use the comparison feature to measure them side-by-side in terms of popularity. 
• Check the demand by region to identify local SEO opportunities. For local businesses, check the region breakdown data for local SEO keywords on Google Trends to find topics that will intrigue potential customers. 
• Find trending queries for image search, news search, Google Shopping, and YouTube. Google Trends will also help you find trending topics not just for organic search SEO but also for YouTube, Google Shopping, images, and news queries.

Google Trends Pros and Cons

Pros 

• It’s 100% free.
• Very easy to use.
• It can quickly help you find trending topics for a quick boost in SEO traffic.

Cons

• Only useful for discovering trends (doesn’t include keyword metrics).
• Not useful for creating content with evergreen value. 

6. SpyFu

SpyFu is an SEO and PPC analysis tool fine-tuned to help you leverage the performance data of competitors. You can analyze competitor keywords, PPC keywords, SERPs, backlinks, keyword rankings, and more. 

A great way to use SpyFu for SEO is to use the “Kombat” tool, which lets you find gaps between your and your competitors’ strategies. 

SpyFu Features

• Consolidate your link-building efforts into one tool. After finding potential link sources, SpyFu also helps you run and manage your outreach campaign with the website owners’ contact information and prospecting tools (notes, priority ratings, and labels). 
• Create instant lists for actionable SEO planning. SpyFu automatically creates lists of top domains, keywords, and business leads to speed up your SEO planning. 
• Instantly reveal the top target referring domains for keywords. Skip hours of SEO research and use SpyFu’s massive database to identify high-quality backlink sources.

SpyFu Pros and Cons

Pros

• A competition-focused database filters out “junk” keywords and backlink sources. 
• It is one of the best competitive SEO analysis tools with an affordable price tag. 
• The in-depth keyword research tool is on par with Semrush.

Cons

• Not as many features as Semrush.
• Lack of SEO content tools. 

7. RankIQ

RankIQ is a lightweight SEO content tool that will help you turn keywords into outlines and optimize content (old and new) for maximum rankings. 

It’s purposefully built for bloggers, so every feature you’ll find in RankIQ caters to content-related tasks. Start by building your keywords list and RankIQ will walk you through each step of creating a top-performing piece, including topic research, title creation, and keyword optimization. 

RankIQ Features

• A curated list of profitable keywords for small-medium brands. RankIQ curates up-to-date keyword lists for a comprehensive collection of niches, so you don’t have to worry about keyword research. 
• Lightweight and precise SEO content writing assistant. The RankIQ writing assistant provides actionable suggestions that can boost the SEO-friendliness of your drafts. 
• Squeeze value out of old, underperforming blog content. RankIQ works just as well with old posts in your blogroll, unlocking opportunities to increase organic traffic quickly. 

RankIQ Pros and Cons

Pros

• Skip a lot of number-crunching and dive straight into producing quality SEO content.
• Intuitive UI design allows for speedy SEO content development. 
• More affordable than other tools in this category.

Cons

• It is not meant for in-depth SEO keyword research. 
• Lacks other features outside of content optimization (backlink analysis, domain analysis, etc.).

8. Surfer

Surfer is also another SEO tool that focuses on content creation. However, unlike RankIQ, it also has a lot to offer in terms of keyword research and SEO domain analysis. 

The centerpiece of Surfer’s toolset is the Content Editor, which also works as a Google Docs extension. This allows you to get real-time feedback and actionable SEO suggestions for your content, like word count, images, keywords, headings, and more.

Surfer Features

• Content-oriented keyword research. Surfer’s built-in keyword research tool automatically translates keywords into content ideas.
• Run advanced site audits for on-page optimization. Get an actionable checklist of on-page suggestions to boost the SEO of specific pages.
• Analyze SEO tactics that work for your keywords. Use the SERP Analyzer to reveal how your top competitors rank for valuable target keywords. 

Surfer Pros and Cons

Pros

• Generate a content plan within minutes. 
• Works great if you use Google Docs for content creation.
• Surprisingly powerful site audit and keyword research tools.

Cons

• You need to use Google Docs to take full advantage of the Surfer Content Editor.

9. Google Analytics 4

Finally, Google Analytics 4 is a must-have tool for every website owner who wants to excel not just in SEO, but in all aspects of digital marketing.

Google Analytics 4 gives you a bird’s-eye view of your website’s performance. This includes your website’s traffic performance, conversions, audience demographics, traffic sources, and advertising campaigns. 

Google Analytics 4 Features

• Real-time insights for quick and agile decision-making. Google Analytics 4 offers real-time reporting on metrics that affect SEO, like pageviews, session duration, and bounce rate. 
• Get to know your audience with in-depth audience demographics. Analyze your audience on a deeper level with data like users by age, gender, interests, and location. 
• Make data more readable with explorations. Google Analytics 4 simplifies data analysis with ready-to-use data visualization templates or “explorations.” 

Google Analytics 4 Pros and Cons

Pros

• 100% free to use.
• A whole range of performance analytics data to improve user experience.
• Gathers real-time data.

Cons

• Can be difficult to set up without the help of third-party plugins.
• Doesn’t offer tools for backlink analysis or keyword research.

Final Words

As a small business, you have a budget disadvantage against competitors who can outspend you in the SEO game.

A great, cost-effective SEO tool levels the playing field by providing crucial features without charging a hefty price.

In my personal experience, Semrush, Surfer, Mangools, and SpyFu — along with free Google products (Trends, Analytics, and Search Console) — are more than enough to give small businesses the lift they need to become relevant in SERPs. 

Don’t forget to use my links to get exclusive benefits and discounts! 

Wondering how much it costs to start a blog? 

The short answer is, it depends.

This article covers the essential and optional blogging expenses, why they matter, and tips to manage your blogging budget.

Let’s go.

Why Do You Need To Know?

So, you want to be a serious blogger?

Is it possible to turn blogging into a full-time business?

When my blogging journey started 13 years ago, I asked the same questions. I tinkered around the backend of my school’s website, taught myself how it worked, and ultimately dedicated my life to pursuing blogging success. 

Early on, I found out that in order to make money blogging, you need to spend money first. 

More importantly, you must find ways to ensure you’re pulling more money than you spend. 

Web hosting, WordPress themes, content writing tools, and premium plugins—these things quickly add up in terms of costs. 

By calculating your blogging expenses, you can manage and optimize your budget accordingly. This will help you achieve a positive cash flow and transform your blog into a profitable business. 

What are the essential expenses of starting a blog?

Here’s the kicker: You can get a website up and running with just around $10 in your bank account. 

We’re talking about the bare minimum services and tools that you need: domain registration and web hosting. These two things, along with a free Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, allow you to get a blog up and running. 

Domain registration ($0.99 to $10+)

Registering your own domain is the first step to building a functional blog. 

A domain or “domain name” is the unique identifier for a website. 

Think of it simply as your website address.

Next to a domain name is the Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as “.com,” “.org,” and “.net.” 

The price of your domain depends on the domain service provider you choose. Your TLD of choice also greatly affects your domain’s price tag. 

For example, on Hostinger, domains can cost as little as $0.99—but only for TLDs like “.online” and “.shop.” But for popular “.com” and “.net” domains, the price can climb up to around $10. 

Web hosting ($1.99 to $280+ per month)

After registering your domain, the next step is to get it hosted.

The cost of a web hosting plan depends on the features and hardware resources you need. 

For a basic website, look for an economic “shared hosting” plan that lets you share server resources with other websites. 

On Hostinger, a shared hosting solution costs as little as $1.99 per month (48 months). For a smaller overhead, you could go for the monthly plan at $9.99 per month. 

I know what you’re thinking—Hostinger prices are crazy affordable. 

It’s about to get even crazier. 

If you sign up for a “Premium Web Hosting” plan, you get a domain for free. This bonus is capped at $9.99 (in domain value), so choose wisely. 

You can sweeten the deal even more with a special 10% discount here—only for Master Blogging readers!

Other factors that affect the price of your web hosting service: 

• Number of websites: The more websites you want to host, the more expensive your hosting plan will be. 
• Additional tools: Add-ons like website builders and professional email tools may require separate fees. 
• Security features: You also need to spend extra cash if you want additional security features like SSL certificates and daily backups. 
• Dedicated IP address: Some web hosting companies offer dedicated IP addresses for a fee—providing an incremental performance boost and better stability. 

Free platforms for starting a blog

What’s more affordable than budget-friendly hosting and domain registration services?

Easy answer: free blogging platforms. 

A popular example would be WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org, which is a full-fledged CMS). 

WordPress.com has everything you need to start a simple blog. You can use free themes, publish unlimited posts, protect your website from brute-force attacks, and more—without spending a single cent. 

Pros of a free blogging platform

• Spend your money elsewhere: With the money you save from starting your blog, consider picking up other tools for content marketing. Some examples are writing assistants like Grammarly, social media schedulers, and graphic design tools. 
• Just focus on writing: Since everything you need to start a blog is already provided, you can jump straight into writing posts within minutes. This is a huge advantage, especially if you have zero experience in website development. 
• Beginner-friendly: All-in-one blogging platforms are fine-tuned for a seamless user experience. In addition to the user-friendly interface, most blogging platforms also offer truckloads of learning resources—from “how-to” guides to informative video tutorials. 

Cons of a free blogging platform

• You only get a subdomain: A subdomain is simply a small piece of an existing domain. Blogging platforms let you purchase and use your own domain name, but that will defeat the purpose of starting a “free blog.” 
• Less flexibility: Self-hosted websites are vastly more customizable than free blogs. A self-hosted website (dedicated hosting plan with a custom domain) offers full autonomy over your backend, including the server-side control panel and CMS.

Other components of a self-hosted website are also more accessible and configurable. For example, once you install a theme on a self-hosted site, you have unrestricted access to all its files through the control panel. 

Other WordPress.com alternatives

• Weebly
• Blogger.com
• Tumblr (microblogging)

Maintaining your blog: Recurring expenses you should know about

The cost of maintaining your blog is normally just the same as your startup overhead. But there are two things you need to know first. 

Number one, domain registrations are billed annually. If you want to continue using your domain name, you have to pay the annual renewal fee. 

Number two, most web hosting platforms offer introductory prices to hook new customers. 

For example, if you subscribed to Hostinger’s Single Web Hosting plan for 48 months, your plan renews at $3.99 per month after your initial subscription. 

If you signed up for monthly billing, expect to pay around $10 per month for your hosting service. That’s $120 a year in addition to the price you pay for domain renewal. 

Optional blogging expenses

Let’s face it, you’ll need a budget for additional tools to improve your blog’s design and functionality. 

If you want the full blogging experience, you should seriously consider investing in the following:

Professional email (around $3 per month)

The coolest thing about a professional email plan is, you get to use your domain name in your email address. 

For example, if your domain name is “AwesomeSauce.com,” your professional email address can be “spicy@awesomesauce.com.” 

Professional email plans start at around $3 per month, which is a good price since it enhances your blog’s credibility. 

Writing assistants (free or around $10 per month)

Although word processing apps like Google Docs and Microsoft Word have built-in spell checkers, they’re notoriously known for missing some errors. In my experience, they also tend to generate false warnings if you use a conversational writing style. 

Grammarly is perhaps the best alternative to these built-in tools. It is an AI-based writing assistant that can accurately detect errors, provide correction suggestions, and tailor its algorithm to your unique writing goals. 

Although Grammarly offers a free plan, the Premium version costs a minimum initial fee of $30 per month ($12 per month if you choose annual billing). If you need a cheaper alternative with a built-in AI rewriter, check out QuillBot instead. 

Premium themes ($100+ per year)

Premium themes for CMS like WordPress do more than just give your website a new look. Most premium themes are also designed specifically for plugins, which often come bundled. 

Kadence Themes, for example, include starter templates, a WooCommerce add-on, premium fonts, and a homegrown page builder. All this comes with the Essential Bundle, which starts at $129 per year. 

Other, simpler themes only require a one-time payment for unlimited use. One-time purchase themes typically cost up to $60 on marketplaces like ThemeForest. 

Premium plugins

Lastly, you may want to use premium plugins to incorporate unique and useful features into your blog—without writing a single line of code. Here are some examples: 

• Booking systems
• Opt-in forms
• Social sharing buttons/analytics
• Calculators
• Message boards
• Online shops

The price of premium plugins widely varies. Some can be purchased with a one-time payment, while others require a monthly or yearly subscription. 

To give you an idea, Social Snap is a premium social sharing plugin that starts at $39 per year. For that, you get features like share counters, advanced statistics, link shortening, and Twitter cards. 

Costs of promoting a blog

Creating a nice-looking blog with high-quality content is just part of the story. 

If you want to grow your blog audience, you’ll need the right assets. 

You have two options here: 

Going DIY 

Doing everything yourself gives you complete control over your blog promotion budget. For example, you can adopt a zero-cost approach and leverage free content distribution channels. 

Here are some free blog promotion tactics you can try right now: 

• Share your posts on social media.
• Join social media groups and share links to your content.
• Participate in Q&A websites and offer your posts as solutions. 
• Join online communities like Reddit and talk about your topics. 
• Submit guest posts to relevant websites. 
• Re-publish your posts on content syndication websites like Medium. 

Alternatively, you can allocate a budget to accelerate your blog promotion efforts. 

Semrush is a great, one-stop solution for digital marketing. It can help you with everything, including content research, social media scheduling, link building, and competitor analysis. 

Semrush is a paid, subscription-based tool that starts at $119.95 per month. 

It’s definitely not cheap. But since it eliminates the need to purchase multiple tools, it can actually save you a lot of money down the line. 

Another blog promotion strategy you can explore is advertising. 

Again, the amount you’ll spend on ads depends on the level and type of exposure you want to achieve.

For example, on Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads), you may choose from different campaign objectives like sales, awareness, traffic, engagement, or leads. You can also set a daily recurring budget for ads—or, you can specify a set budget for the lifetime of your campaign. 

As for the actual expenses of an ad campaign, it can be anything from $5 per day to thousands of dollars—it’s entirely up to you.

Hiring an external team to manage your blog promotions

If you don’t have the time to manage your blog promotions yourself, consider outsourcing someone else to do it. 

A sensible choice is to hire a freelancer who can help plan, execute, and manage your marketing strategy. 

On websites like Fiverr, digital marketing freelancers charge anywhere between $50 to upwards of $2,000. 

Another option is to hire a full-service digital marketing agency. 

These are companies with teams who can address several areas of your blog marketing at once—letting you achieve marketing objectives faster. 

The drawback is, hiring marketing agencies may cost thousands of dollars. As such, working with agencies doesn’t make sense for new bloggers on a small budget. 

Tips to reduce your blogging costs

To sum it up, starting a blog doesn’t have to be expensive. 

$10 per month can go a long way. But if you want fast, measurable results, you need a decent monthly budget for tools and services. 

Before you know it, you could be spending thousands of dollars per month to grow your blog. 

Relax—there are several things you can do to keep your blogging costs down. 

Check them out:

• Take advantage of free trials and free versions: A large number of essential blogging tools, including premium marketing platforms like Semrush, come with free versions. Use them to grow your small blog and simply upgrade to a paid version once you start making money. 
• Look for discounts: If you can buy it online, there’s a good chance someone has a coupon code you can use. Click here to check out my list of special offers for a variety of blogging tools.
• Focus on the essentials first: You don’t need to go all-in on your marketing during your first month. Build your blog from the feet up—start with the essentials, focus on creating quality content, and scale your business from there. 
• Consider annual plans: Subscribing to annual plans may require higher upfront costs, but it can lead to huge savings in the long run. If you have the capital, consider using annual billing when purchasing blogging tools. 

Offsetting blog expenses: 5 monetization strategies you should try right away

Want to know the best way to manage your blogging expenses?

Make money and let your blog pay for itself. 

Here’s a tip: check out my ultimate list of 89 blog monetization strategies. But if you only want the best blog income streams, refer to the list below. 

1. Affiliate marketing: Promote another company’s products in exchange for a commission whenever you make a sale. 
2. Sell your own information products: Develop online courses, eBooks, and premium content your readers will be happy to pay for.
3. Offer professional services: Promote your professional skills for a price. 
4. Become a consultant for hire: Offer your deep knowledge, expertise, and experience to help clients on a strategic level. 
5. Leverage your authority to grow on other channels: Once you gain some visibility and authority on your blog, promote other channels with straightforward monetization programs like YouTube, Twitch, or Patreon. 

Does your niche affect your blogging expenses?

Yes, your niche can affect your blogging expenses—but not always. 

It depends on the costs of resources you need for content creation, as well as the features your website needs. In certain niches, you’re looking at a variation of anywhere between $50 and over $2,500 per month. 

Travel bloggers, for instance, may spend more money than most bloggers to produce content. A survey revealed that travel bloggers spend around $2,415 per trip.

The same can be said for bloggers—but to a lesser degree—in the following niches: 

• Food 
• Tech reviews
• Photography
• Construction/DIY home renovation
• Cars

It’s true that you can still create blogs around these niches without investing a lot of money in content creation. However, you’ll be at a serious disadvantage against other bloggers who commit their time and money to producing original, meaningful content. 

Certain blog niches may also depend on the additional software you need. 

Food bloggers, for instance, may buy recipe plugins when writing about cooking. That alone adds an extra $50 to $150 to a blogger’s expenses column. 

Final words

There you have it—the expenses you should expect when starting a blog. 

If you want to keep your blogging costs down, focus on essentials like domain registration, web hosting, and a reliable content marketing tool. Once your blog gains traction, consider scaling up with additional solutions like writing assistants, premium themes, professional email services, and manpower for your marketing.

Feeling overwhelmed? 

Don’t worry—we’ve all been there.

Just take baby steps and be mindful of your spending. Explore investments one at a time and your blogging dream might be closer than you think!