5 Best On-Page SEO Optimization Tools

The 5 best on-page SEO optimization tools are Semrush, SurferSEO, Clearscope, Rank Math, and Screaming Frog SEO Spider. These tools give you detailed on-page analysis including keyword analysis, metadata optimization, and important metrics like readability, content length, and content grade.

I have tried and tested these tools and this review is an honest opinion of how they work. I have also gone through other users’ reviews to help you know how others feel about these on-page optimization tools. 

The review covers an overview of each tool, key features, use cases, pros and cons, and pricing to help you choose the best tool for your needs.

Read on to learn more about how they work and how they can help you with on-page optimization.

1. Semrush: Best overall

Top of the list of the best on-page SEO optimization tools is Semrush. It’s easy-to-use and has everything you need for on-page SEO optimization. 

Semrush is the perfect tool for keyword research whether you’re a beginner or an experienced blogger. It helps you discover longtail, less competitive keywords to start ranking easily on Google. 

In addition, it helps you compare the top 10 pages based on your target keyword so you can see your competitors’ content.

Key features

Semrush’s best features for on-page SEO optimization include:

• On-page SEO checker: It analyzes content on your website and recommends improvement areas. For instance, it checks whether your content is optimized for the target keyword and readability. It also provides semantically related keywords to improve relevance and depth. 
• SEO content template: Helps create detailed briefs based on your target keyword and a comparison of the top 10 pages on Google. All you need to do is key in your target keyword. You’ll get the list of the top 10 pages targeting the same keyword and a list of semantically related terms to enrich your content. In addition, this feature will also suggest the ideal text length based on the competitors’ content.  
• Position tracking: This helps track the position of each page on your website. It shows how each of your pages are performing so you can make improvements on low-performing pages.
• Keyword research: To find low-difficulty keywords with a decent search volume to rank easily and fast. 
• Site audit: Although it’s more of a technical SEO feature it audits your pages to help you find and fix issues related to meta descriptions, internal linking, header tags, and image optimization.
• Semrush SEO writing assistant: What I love about this feature is its four components in one. It helps check for readability, originality, and tone of voice. Moreso it has an AI paraphrasing tool to help you rewrite complex sentences. The best part, it’s free and you can use it directly on Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and WordPress as an add-on.

Use cases

With its numerous features, you can use Semrush for all your on-page SEO needs. Some of the best use cases include

• Write SEO-friendly content focusing on target keywords and semantically related terms. You can compare your competitors’ content to see what they’re missing so you can write unique and in-depth content.
• Use proper header tags, meta descriptions, and internal links to improve your content’s performance. 
• Track low-performing pages and use the on-page SEO checker to find improvement areas. For example, you may need to improve readability or use more related queries.
• Save time when creating briefs and outlines without compromising on quality. This ensures you cover the topic exhaustively to satisfy users’ intent without going beyond the target content length.
• Self-edit your work without relying on other tools. The writing assistant helps you edit, check for plagiarism, and maintain a consistent brand voice. 

Semrush pricing

Semrush has 3 pricing plans:

• Pro: USD 139.95/month
• Guru: USD 249.95/month 
• Business: USD 499.95/month

Note: You can still enjoy some of the features (although limited) like keyword research and writing assistant using a free account.

Semrush pros

• It has the best features for on-page and technical SEO for all business sizes.
• It’s easy to use hence best for beginners. You only need to sign up for an account to start using it. 
• You can use some of its features like the writing assistant and keyword research for free.
• You can use it for other tasks like social media management, paid advertising, competitor monitoring, and more.

Here’s what other users think about Semrush

Semrush cons

• Semrush is expensive hence may not be suitable for startups with a small SEO budget.
• Its comprehensive features can be overwhelming for first-time users. Although they’re well organized, there are too many of them.
• It only uses Google to get its data. So, if you want data from other search engines you’ll need another tool. 

Here are more Semrush cons according to user reviews

2. Surfer SEO: Best for real-time SERP analysis

At number two is Surfer SEO which has many features to help you create top-ranking content based on data-driven insights. It’s the perfect Semrush alternative if you have a lower budget since it’s cheaper. 

Surfer SEO is easy to use hence perfect for beginners. Once you sign up, choose your preferred payment plan and start enjoying the app.

It helps with Search Engine Results Page (SERP) analysis to show what keywords and headings your competitors have and what they’re missing in their content. This allows you to write high-quality content that matches search intent.

With Surfer SEO you don’t need an extra tool for keyword research because it comes with a keyword research tool extension that gives you important keyword metrics like search volume and difficulty.  

Key features and use cases

Surfer SEO has interesting features for on-page optimization. These include

• SERP analyzer: Surfer SEO SERP analyzer is its centerpiece. It gives you a detailed overview of the top-performing pages on Google to help you understand what makes content rank high for a particular keyword. Some of the information you get from the analysis include
  • Average content length on competitors’ pages
  • Number of referring domains
  • Long tail and partial match keywords to include in your content.
  • Meta tags and meta descriptions used by competitors.
  • H2 tags used in top-ranking pages
  • FAQs related to the keyword.

• Content editor: Similar to the SERP analyzer, the content editor analyzes competitors’ content giving you detailed insights on how to make your content match search intent. For instance, it gives you latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords you need to include in your content and in what frequency.
• Keyword research: Surfer SEO has a keyword research Chrome extension that gives you keyword ideas related to the search terms your target audience are using. It also shows their search volume, competition, and cost per click (CPC). Once you install the extension it automatically gives you this data as you research your keyword on Google.
• Integration with AI tools: Surfer SEO is integrated with Jasper, an AI tool that helps you create detailed briefs and outlines within minutes. This makes it great for content managers or anyone in charge of bulk content production.
• You can also use Surfer SEO’s AI tool to bulk-produce articles and edit them to improve quality. It’s therefore essential for solopreneurs like bloggers or small digital agencies. 
• Content audit: This feature allows you to audit your website to check for any on-page issues. It helps you identify problems with meta descriptions, internal linking, title tags or any missing information based on the top performing pages. Further, it provides suggestions on how to fix the problems to improve your rankings.

Surfer SEO pricing

Surfer SEO has four payment plans depending on the features you want.

These include:

• Essential: USD 89/month
• Scale: USD 129/month
• Scale with AI: USD 219/month
• Enterprise: This is a custom package you pay depending on the customized number of articles you want to optimize.

Surfer SEO pros

• Easy to use.
• Has great features such as a SERP analyzer for competitive benchmarking.
• Its results are data-driven and hence highly likely to give you the desired results.
• A free keyword research Chrome extension.

Here are Surfer SEO positive user reviews

Surfer SEO cons

• It’s expensive and lacks a free trial. So you can only rely on the 7-day money-back guarantee to test it.
• It has limited features compared to other tools like Semrush.

3. Clearscope: Best for matching search intent

Featuring at number 3 is Clearscope, a great on-page optimization tool that shows you what keywords to include in your content and the frequency. It’s good for freelance writers, digital marketers, and SEO specialists. 

Like other on-page content optimization tools, Clearscope is easy to use. Once you sign up and choose your plan, the features are displayed on the dashboard.

This tool helps you analyze the top 30 pages on SERPs to identify important insights so you can cover the topic in depth. 

For instance, it provides related terms used by competitors and suggests how many times you should include them in your content based on their importance. Further, it recommends where to use the terms to make your content search-engine-friendly.  

Key features 

Clearscope has several unique features to help you write content that matches search intent. These include:

• Content grader: Clearscope’s content grader is a great feature especially if you manage a team of writers. It assigns a letter grade from A+ to F. The grades are based on how well your content covers related terms that Google considers important when ranking content for your target keyword. The grader guides writers to use the suggested terms to produce comprehensive content.
• Word count suggestion: Clearscope gives you the ideal word count of your content based on the first 30 pages ranking for the same keyword. It helps you determine how long your article should be without compromising on the quality.
• Readability score: Clearscope automatically assigns a readability score on your content based on the Flesch–Kincaid readability tests. 

Use cases 

• Keyword research: Clearscope helps you narrow down to specific keywords and queries using the keyword discovery feature. Although it doesn’t work as well as a keyword research tool, it helps you identify long-tail keywords and their variations. You can also sort the keywords depending on the most searched, most competitive, or depending on their Cost-Per-Click.
• Batch-produce content reports/briefs: Produce multiple content briefs simultaneously. All you need is to type in your keywords to produce comprehensive reports of related terms you should include in your content to get a high grade. The reports also indicate the ideal word count based on the top-performing articles on Google.
• Generating outlines: Clearscope analyzes competitors’ content and suggests subheadings to include in your article. In addition, it has a research section that gives you questions that searchers use.
• Google Docs and WordPress integrations: Clearscope has a browser extension that allows you to use it directly on Google Docs or the WordPress text editor. 

Clearscope pricing

Clearscope offers 3 pricing plans including:

• Essentials: USD 189/month
• Business: USD 399/month
• Enterprise: custom pricing.

Clearscope pros 

• It’s easy to use.
• The grading feature helps you cover all relevant keywords.
• It’s easy to share reports with team members using links. 
• The Google Docs integration helps you monitor the writing process. 

Here’s more on Clearscope pros

Clearscope cons

• The suggested terms may feel repetitive while some don’t make sense.
• The tool is expensive hence may not be ideal if you have a limited budget.
• Clearscoscope lacks comprehensive keyword research features.

More Clearscope cons based on user reviews

4. Rank Math: Best on-page SEO plugin for WordPress 

Rank Math is one of the best on-page optimization plugins for WordPress users. 

Once you install the plugin you only need to set up easy settings and you can start optimizing your content immediately. 

You can use Rank Math to identify and fix issues with SEO titles, meta descriptions, heading tags, and keyword distribution in the content.

Key features

Rank Math best features for on-page optimization include:

• Integration with Google search console. This helps you monitor your content’s performance from a single dashboard. 
• Image SEO: Rank Math automatically generates keyword-based alt tags for images that have none to improve their SEO. 
• Other features include:
  • Modular design: This feature allows you to deactivate the features you don’t need. This keeps the plugin fast which is good for your website.
  • Role manager: Perfect if you have a team. It allows you to control which users have access to various settings to avoid constant changes in settings.

Use cases

• SEO score: Rank Math gives you an SEO score to show you how well your content is optimized for SEO. The score is based on important on-page SEO metrics like:
  • Keyword usage and placement
  • Readability
  • Internal and external links
  • Image optimisation
  • Meta title and meta description
• Content analysis: Check your content for readability, sentence and paragraph length, and use of passive voice.
• Keyword usage and placement: Rank Math helps you optimize your content for your focus keywords. In addition, it guides you on where and how to use the keyword to enhance rankings. For instance, it suggests the usage of your keyword on important places like the SEO title, headings, and meta descriptions.
• Internal linking suggestions: Rank Math helps improve link structure by suggesting internal linking opportunities.
• Meta Descriptions and SEO title customization: Rank Math lets you edit and customize meta descriptions and SEO titles for each post. It gives a score for the same ensuring you write SEO friendly titles and meta descriptions. The pro version of this feature has AI integration that suggests possible SEO titles and meta descriptions that align with your focus keyphrase.

Rank Math pricing

Rank Math has three pricing plans including

• Pro: USD 7.99/month
• Business: USD 2499/month
• Agency: USD 59.99/month

Rank Math pros 

• It offers lots of features for free. You can comfortably use the free version of rank math since it has most of the important features.
• Rank Math is lightweight hence doesn’t slow down your site. You can deactivate the features you don’t use to make it even faster.

Positive user reviews on rank math pros

Rank Math cons

• It’s only limited to WordPress users.
• Some users have reported slow response from support.

Here are more cons from user reviews

5. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Best for Full Website Crawls

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is your go-to tool for website crawling and SEO audits. It helps you identify and fix all types of SEO issues within your content and website. This tool is perfect for small or large teams since it helps crawl multiple URLs simultaneously. 

Therefore if you need a tool that saves you time when performing SEO audits, Screaming Frog is the tool for you. It shows you internal and outbound links to each page, anchor texts used, indexing status, headings used, meta description and seo title used, and more. You can use the tool to look at all links in your domain or a competitor’s domain. 

WithScreaming Frog, you need to download and install it on your computer to start using it. 

Screamingfrog is available for Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, and Fedora. But before you download you need to check the specifications to ensure your operating system supports the tool.

The tool is more of a technical SEO app and decoding the data can be daunting especially if you have limited technical SEO knowledge. That said, you can still use it comfortably to find and fix on-page SEO issues.

Key features

• Custom reports: You can export crawl reports and share them with team members. 
• Compare crawls: Compare current and previous crawls side by side to see whether previous issues have been fixed.
• Integrations with other tools: Screaming Frog has API access for  tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Page Speed Insights.
• Batch crawling: Perfect for agencies managing multiple websites. You can schedule and batch-crawl websites simultaneously to save time.

Use cases

• Full website crawl: Screaming Frog is an excellent tool for a full website crawl to get data for every page on your website. It works the same as a search engine like Google crawling both internal and external links, images, and scripts. You can choose to crawl all the URLs on your website or use filters to select the ones you need to crawl. Alternatively, you can upload the specific URLs you want to crawl.
• Content analysis: Use Screaming Frog SEO spider to analyze your content. The analysis gives you important information related to metadata. It helps you identify and fix missing, duplicated, or poorly optimized meta titles and descriptions.
• Header tags: Screaming Frog helps you confirm whether header tags are properly used to avoid duplicates or excessive use of headers.
• Alt text: Use Screaming Frog to get alt attributes ensuring images are well-optimized for SEO.
• Content length: Find and fix pages with thin content to improve user experience.

Screaming Frog pricing

Screaming Frog has a unique pricing strategy. You can use the tool for free but you can only crawl up to 500 URLs.

To crawl more URLs and get more customisations you can buy a license for USD 259 per year.

You can get a discount depending on the number of licenses you purchase.

Screaming Frog pros 

• Extensive website crawl to get detailed SEO insights.
• Perfect if you have a small SEO budget because you can use the free version.
• Easy to use.

More on Screaming Frog pros

Screaming Frog cons

• It requires download and installation
• Its on-page analysis is not comprehensive. For instance, the data doesn’t cover content quality, keyword usage, or relevance.

Screaming Frog cons based on user reviews

Publish with confidence using on-page optimization tools

On-page SEO optimization is crucial if you want to improve search rankings and click-through rates. While you can do it manually, an on-page SEO optimization tool like Surfer SEO gives you precise data helping you publish click-worthy content while saving you time. 

With Surfer SEO you’ll get detailed insights to ensure your content is well-optimized for SEO to improve search intent. You’ll also get your competitors’ analysis to know what content to produce and when. Sign up for a Surfer SEO account today and start outranking your competitors.