SEO Software: Is It Worth the Money?

When I search for ?SEO software,? Google comes back with 40,000,000 results. Even if only 1% of those results are unique SEO software product pages, that leaves me with 400,000 SEO software options to choose from! Some of those options can be downright expensive too. A while back, I had been considering giving an SEO software like SEOMoz or Link-Assistant a try, but I always found myself unable to pull the trigger and actually make the final purchase. I just couldn?t justify the cost of SEO software for my company.
As an SEO Professional?
Let?s take a step back for a second and lay the ground rules for what constitutes an SEO professional. I?m going to cast a wide net and just say it applies to anyone who calls themselves an SEO expert/guru/mogul/maven/consultant/freelancer/etc. It will also apply to those that work in SEO firms/agencies/companies/business/corporation/etc but don?t get a fancy New Age title.
I have had the opportunity to test and review some really great SEO software tools over the course of my 12 years in the industry?I?ve also come across some pretty bad ones. Most of them make running a link audit or ranking report or a competitive analysis (one of the favorite tasks of any SEO professional) a breeze. I just drop in whatever URLs I need data on; let the software chug and POOF, out comes a shiny report for my client that looks very impressive. I know the data is reliable, which helps guide my decisions for the SEO campaign. Whenever I need an update on what is going on with that particular client?s site, I just boot up the software and wait for the finished report to download. The software does the heavy lifting, the client is pleased and I look good?what more could an SEO professional want?
Here is where you have to get into cost-benefit analysis. I run a small SEO agency. We have a good amount of long term clients and I?m hustling as best as I can to drum up new business, but I?m not pulling in 3 new clients every week. And as much as I would like to see growth like