10 Best Content Optimization Tools For 2023 (Comparison)
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to bring traffic to your site and generate leads today.
But standing out on the internet is easier said than done.
Content optimization tools can help. These tools enable you to create high-quality content that is useful, crawlable, and relevant.
The problem is, with so many tools available, knowing where to start can prove challenging.
Worry not; you’re in the right place. This post lists the best content optimization tools available and covers key features, pros and cons, pricing, and more.
Let’s begin.
The best content optimization tools – summary
TL;DR:
- Surfer SEO – Best content optimization tool overall.
- Frase – Best for content optimization + AI writing functionality in a single tool.
- SE Ranking – Best all-in-one SEO tool with built-in content optimization functionality.
#1 – Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO is the best content optimization tool on our list, with easy-to-implement recommended terms and a host of other valuable features.
The content editor is particularly useful as Surfer automatically identifies the content that makes the most sense to optimize against overall. When it doesn’t, you can choose for yourself–this is a great feature not commonly found in other content optimization tools.
On top of that, Surfer offers a keyword research tool that enables you to view relevant topic clusters based on your primary keyword. You’ll be able to check search intent for your target audience, evaluate monthly search volume, and view a keyword’s difficulty.
Surfer’s SEO audit tool is also excellent and lets you see where you can improve old content, provides you with a precise list of action items based on what’s working for your target keyword, and you can gain insights on everything from missing backlinks, referring domains, and the structure of your meta tags.
For those that like to dive in and get busy, you couldn’t ask for more.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Choose which web content to optimize against | Can be pricey for small projects |
| Keyword research tool provides valuable insights | No free trial |
| Extensive competitor on-page insights | |
| Full SEO audit to see what’s working and what needs improving |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $29/month. Annual discounts available.
Read our Surfer SEO review.
#2 – Frase
Frase is best for those that need both content optimization and AI writing functionality in one place.
The platform offers a comprehensive and unified content editor that incorporates content optimization, competitor research, and AI writing. On the latter, various AI writing tools are available from within the content editing window, including generating title ideas, blog introductions, and bullet point answers.
Other dedicated AI writing tools, such as the outline generator and paragraph rewriter, are good options for those with limited time. You can also access community-built tools with new ones added regularly.
It’s worth mentioning the topic planner tool that allows you to develop a complete list of long-tail keywords through SERP analysis in a few clicks–it’s still in Beta at the time of writing, but it can give your content marketing a real boost and help you consistently rank on search engines.
I particularly like the ability to create a custom tool on top of Frase’s AI tool, enabling you to focus specifically on the areas that matter the most to you. Originally, Frase had its own AI model that it developed in-house, but it recently switched to GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), which has led to improvements.
All in all, there’s a lot to like.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Custom tool creation and community built tools | Can lack accuracy in keyword suggestions |
| Useful outline generator | The AI assistant isn’t the best |
| Easy-to-use interface | |
| Video tutorials that explain key features |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $14.99/month, there are annual discounts available. There is no free plan, however, you can get started with a 5-day trial for $1.
Read our Frase review.
#3 – Scalenut
Scalenut is a content optimization tool that offers some great content creation tools and an SEO writing assistant to help you get ahead.
With the tool, you’ll be able to analyze keywords on essential metrics such as search volume, relevance, and CPC and even automate topic-cluster keyword research. Scalenut’s AI analyzes and organizes search terms into groups for every piece of content you write.
Scalenut will help you to understand location-specific page statistics as well as customer intent and real user behavior–this includes the top SERP questions so your content is the best it can be.
Cruise Mode itself enables you to create SEO-optimized content in minutes, or you can start writing yourself with some AI-guided recommendations–you’ll receive live suggestions on keyword usage as you go.
That’s without mentioning the ability to optimize both old and new content with the SEO writing assistant, the slick AI templates and the featured snippets guidance that takes things to the next level.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Cruise Mode creates SEO content in minutes | AI does need a good deal of human input |
| Analyze competitor content and view keyword clusters | Few tutorials and a high learning curve |
| Quickly optimize both old and new content | |
| Publish content directly to WordPress |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $39/month, save 50% with annual billing. There is no free plan but you can get started with a 7-day free trial.
Read our Scalenut review.
#4 – SE Ranking
SE Ranking is our list’s best all-in-one SEO tool with valuable built-in content optimization functionality.
It’s known as a rank-tracking tool but offers a full suite of SEO tools as well, including dedicated keyword research, backlink analysis, complete site auditing, and a powerful on-page SEO checker. On the latter, you’ll get a priority indicator–high, medium, or low–depending on how each task can improve the overall quality score.
The keyword rank tracker enables you to see how your website stacks up against competitors, and you can find out what keywords and pages bring the most traffic to your site, see spot ranking drops, and quickly identify pages competing for the same keyword. You can even check site rankings on a country level or specify your target location down to ZIP code.
On top of that is a content optimization tool that allows you to check the total number of words, headings, paragraphs, and images, and you can view how many times you used each keyword, allowing you to tweak things until they’re perfect. There are also tools to format your text and a handy SEO tab with the requirements you need to meet.
Overall, the value on offer here is hard to beat, given the array of features on offer.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Full-suite of SEO tools, including dedicated keyword research | Keyword database needs expansion |
| Easy-to-use content optimization tool | Lacks 24/7 customer support |
| Keyword rank tracker that delivers valuable insights and a helpful grouping function | Not as well built out as competing tools |
| Clean and straightforward UI |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $49/month, save 20% with annual billing. No free plan, however, you can get started with a 14-day free trial.
Read our SE Ranking review.
#5 – WriterZen
WriterZen is a top tool for SEO enthusiasts and offers keyword research, topic discovery, and more.
Using the content optimization software, you’ll be able to screen through the top 20 URLs ranking for a given seed word, access relevant insights from Google Search, and extract the top keywords that help to drive traffic to your business–you can even build SEO-optimized outlines that get generated from the trends of your competitors.
The keyword explorer can generate keyword lists, classify search intents, and detail the average number of monthly searches of a particular keyword over 12 months. Each keyword has a difficulty level, so you can decide which are worth tackling, and you can quickly categorize seasonal keywords.
For new content ideas and the hottest topic suggestions, WriterZen gives you access to ranking topics and headlines from the top 100 competitors for a single seed word, in addition to valuable Google Search insights and an advanced filtering system to screen through the best content ideas for your marketing strategy.
You’ll be able to easily store headlines, topics, and keyword lists all in your personal database. It’s a great tool for those wishing to go in-depth on their SEO.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Polished and intuitive UI | There can be a steep learning curve |
| Insightful topic suggestions for new content | The topic discovery tool could be better organized |
| Top-notch user support | Lacks backlink information |
| Advanced plagiarism checker tool |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $39/month, save 30% with annual billing. Get started with a 7-day free trial.
#6 – Outranking
Outranking is an AI-powered content optimization tool with assisted workflows, SERP research, and detailed SEO-optimized outlines.
Outranking uses intelligent AI that guides writers so they can communicate brand value, product features, or services in their writing–it’s fair to say that for detailed SEO content briefs, few do it better. The tool auto-generates SEO-optimized outlines using entity analysis, SERP research, and related searches, meaning you write better content in a shorter amount of time.
On the content optimization front, you’ll receive complete SEO scoring of crucial on-page SEO factors, including featured snippet optimization, semantic keyword suggestions, and Google NLP (Natural Language Processing) topics. That’s not to mention the AI internal link suggestions for pages with semantic relationships, helping you create and build up the best content possible.
Outranking uses automation to generate everything from titles and descriptions to outlines utilizing a mixture of ranking data and AI–it’s a fantastic way of giving your writers the information they need to create content that will rank and stay relevant.
With AI templates to create posts, service, and product pages, it’s a tool that most users will quickly find essential.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Makes use of GPT-3 technology | Search results are not real-time |
| Excellent SEO-focused features | Can be expensive |
| Easy to use and clear UI | No free trials |
| AI-assisted workflows with step-by-step guidance |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $49/month with 2 months free with annual billing. There is no free plan or trial, however, they offer a special first month introductory price of $7.
#7 – Dashword
Dashword is a content optimization tool with automated keyword reports, a rank tracker, and a content brief builder.
The content brief creator allows you to add (and edit) new content in a few clicks and contains all of your competitor’s outlines in a single location, as well as allowing you to share your brief with an entire team of writers.
When it comes to content optimization, there’s almost everything you could possibly need, from keyword suggestions, frequently asked questions, and a content scoring system that provides you with a good idea of how strong your content is and whether it’s ready for the web.
With automated keyword reports generated weekly, you can re-evaluate your content based on the most up-to-date results and track the rankings of your pages to keep content fresh and desirable. There’s even automated page import functionality where a web crawler monitors your site and adds pages automatically.
It’s a great all-around package that gives you more than enough search engine optimization to complete the job.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Affordable and easy to use | Reports take some time to generate |
| Real-time content editor feedback | UI can get cluttered easily |
| Relevant search terms and frequently asked questions | |
| Generate multiple reports and share them for quick collaboration |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $99/month, save 20% with annual billing. First report is free.
#8 – NeuronWriter
NeuronWriter is a content optimization tool that features an advanced content editor, Google SERP analysis, and easy document management.
Of particular note is the option to upgrade your content with NLP terms–this is the ability to derive insights from unstructured data using machine learning technology. What it means for you, in other words, is the suggested words and phrases found from your top-ranking competitors in Google, including topic-relevant terms that keep your content ranking and in great shape.
The tool will actively help you to research articles related to a chosen niche with easy-to-follow recommendations. It will analyze competitors’ top-rated content, YouTube content, or any preferred Google SERPs. You can also add content generated via GPT-3 AI technology which makes things quicker.
Finally, there’s a content repository that will enable you to set priorities based on market trends, tag and group key data, and mark content as complete in a few clicks–when you’re done, you can export the data and share it with your team of copywriters.
A content marketing tool that’s well worth a look to boost your organic traffic and search engine rankings.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Great content analysis features | Interface could be clearer |
| AI text generation tool | Lots of features still to come |
| Support for over 170 languages | Complicated plans and no free trials |
| Google NLP semantics |
Pricing
Paid plans start at €19/month. No free plan or trials available.
#9 – Clearscope
Clearscope is a content optimization platform that provides reliable keyword research and suggestions to help upgrade your content.
The tool enables you to optimize content in the text editor, which is easy enough to use, and features suggested keywords on the right-hand side. As these keywords appear in the editor, the content grade in the top left corner will change accordingly. There’s also a readability grade to help you keep your content accessible and web-friendly.
Aside from the text editor itself, Clearscope also provides valuable insights such as the number of times the keyword is searched on Google each month and the competition and CPC; in other words, the competitiveness and cost-per-click in Google for paid advertising campaigns.
Rounding off the package are some welcome integrations for both WordPress and Google Docs. The WordPress integration allows you to optimize your content inside the CMS, and you can publish then and there without leaving. As you might expect, the Google Docs integration embeds Clearscope directly into your Google Docs as you write.
Overall, it’s a great optimization tool, but it offers far less value for money compared to some of the other SEO content optimization tools on our list.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Keyword and competitor analysis | Not the best value for money |
| Great customer support on all plans | Few additional features |
| WordPress and Google Docs integration | The keyword search tool’s data is limited |
| Simple UI that’s easy to use |
Pricing
Paid plans start at $170/month. No free trials or plans are available, however, you can request demos on higher plans.
#10 – MarketMuse
MarketMuse is optimization software with keyword research, content clusters, and full competitor analysis.
The tool analyzes your content and shows you where you have authority with customized views that reveal easy wins, topics with little or no content, and pages at risk due to competitor activity. Essentially, you’ll find out what Google considers topically relevant for a given keyword.
On top of that, we have personalized difficulty scores, so you know how easy or hard it is for your site to rank for a given topic and the ability to sort and prioritize existing clusters–this gets backed up by a 5 billion strong keyword database across 90 locations and languages.
The content briefs on offer can quickly give a team of writers the structure and related topics that will make your content sing, and you can assign generated briefs to your content marketers in a few clicks.
It’s a good tool, if not the best value for money.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Valuable competitor analysis | Expensive plans and not the best value for money |
| Personalized difficulty scores | Sharing features are a bit weak |
| Successfully streamlines the creation of content briefs | |
| Upgrade old content and easily identify gaps |
Pricing
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $149/month, yearly discounts are available.
Finding the best content optimization tools for your business
That completes our list of the best content optimization tools this year.
You won’t go far wrong with any of the content writing tools on our list, although it’s best to think about your specific SEO strategy needs and decide from there.
Our top three picks are as follows:
- Surfer is the best SEO content audit and optimization tool overall. It’s got everything you need.
- Frase is the best for those that need content optimization and AI writing functionality in a single tool.
- SE Ranking is the best all-in-one SEO tool with built-in content optimization functionality and on-page SEO audits.
That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission if you make a purchase.
