The other day I ran into a post on DP about which software was the best for seo. In the past 4 years of seo, I’ve only started using seo softwares for about a year. Today, I’d like to share my views as to how software can improve your seo strategy. In terms of seo software, there are 2 schools of thought. Some feel that it’s best to not use software because, as a talented optimizer, your hands-on experience is all you need. Others rely on software to do the work for them. Well I’m here to tell you that a software is only as good as the seo expert who uses it. After 4 years of experience, I’m very good at getting good rankings; however, in the previous year I saw the power of software in the application of analyzing data. Let’s face it, no one will ever figure out google’s algorithm (unless you work for Google); however, I’ll share you the power of software in seo. When trying to rank a site, most people analyze the top 10 sites for whatever keywords they want to rank. You look at a site’s backlinks, keyword density, and you research the keyword with wordtracker, overture, or DP’s tools to try to figure out how much traffic relatively the keyword is getting. It can be time consuming, but often times, the data that you get isn’t very strong. You can’t tell how many links you will need by just looking at the backlinks or PR. Often time, trying to compare the on-page optimization tactics of a top ranking site is a waste of time in my opinion. Well your mother was right because it’s about what is hidden in the inside that counts the most. The true meat of a site’s ranking is hidden deep within the algorithm of a search engine; however, wait a minute, an algorithm is just a software. Google will never tell you the number of anchortext a site has for a particular keyword; however, the data is there. You simply need a good seo software to extract that information. Most search engines will show you backlinks, but a good seo software will list all of a sites links from multiple search engines and provide the page title, pr, and anchortext used. A good seo software will even tell you whether or not the link is oneway or reciprocal. That is pretty powerful stuff if in the hands of a good seo expert. The best seo software will never replace a good seo expert; however, seo softwares can reduce work loads and provide information that can help you rank faster and higher. In a way, allowing you to peek deep within the insides of a search engine.