Top 3 Technical SEO Tools You Should Be Using in 2025

In this blog post, we will cover the top three technical SEO tools we recommend and use daily at PaperStreet. These tools serve a variety of purposes, ranging from site crawlers to reporting platforms. By using a combination of them, you will stay informed about your website’s performance, uncover any existing issues, and identify areas that may require further optimization.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

This application provides comprehensive site crawling and on-page auditing. With the click of a button, Screaming Frog crawls every accessible page on the site. From there, it becomes easy to identify any underlying issues from a technical SEO perspective.

It is our preferred desktop crawler for detecting broken internal and external links, redirect chains, missing meta tags or alt text, and other common on-page issues. The tool also helps ensure that title tags and meta descriptions stay within recommended character limits so they display correctly in search results.

In addition, it allows for the review of heading tag structure. For example, it can identify when multiple H1 tags appear on a page, which may create confusion for search engines attempting to determine the primary focus of the content.

For more in-depth analysis, we integrate Screaming Frog with both Google Analytics and Google Search Console. This integration makes it possible to identify potential orphan pages. These are pages that have recorded visits in either platform but were not discovered during the crawl, which typically indicates that the page is not properly linked within the site.

Google Search Console

We consider this tool to be a direct line of communication with Google. It provides essential notifications about technical or indexing issues that Google has identified with a website, many of which might otherwise go unnoticed.

One of the most valuable sections is the Indexing report. This allows you to review which pages Google has successfully indexed and identify any issues preventing certain pages from appearing in search results. You can filter the report by all known pages, submitted pages, specific XML sitemaps, or only unsubmitted pages. This section highlights problems such as redirects, 404 errors, pages excluded by a “noindex” tag, redirect errors, or those blocked by the robots.txt file.

Equally important, it reveals URLs that Google has crawled but chosen not to index, labeled as “Crawled, currently not indexed.” These are particularly noteworthy because they indicate that Google has visited the page but opted not to include it in the index, despite no apparent technical issues.

The Performance section provides insights into the keywords for which your website has received impressions and clicks. It includes key metrics such as average click-through rate and average ranking position, offering a clear view of how your content is performing in search.

If your pages include structured data, the Search Enhancements section will indicate whether those pages meet the requirements for enhanced search features. For instance, it can confirm whether a video thumbnail is eligible to appear in the search results for a particular page.

Another important feature is the Core Web Vitals report. This section provides real user data to assess how your website performs in terms of speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. These metrics help ensure that the site delivers an optimal user experience.

Google Search Console also serves as a security checkpoint. It will alert you if your website has received a manual action penalty or has experienced any security issues, such as a hack.

Lastly, the “Change of Address” tool is essential during a domain migration. It allows you to notify Google directly when your website is moving to a new domain, which helps accelerate the reindexing process and maintain search visibility.

Ahrefs

This tool is highly effective for backlink monitoring and competitor analysis. By entering any domain name, you can access a variety of metrics, including backlinks, referring domains, anchor text, organic keywords, top-performing pages, and organic competitors.

Ahrefs is especially useful for identifying opportunities based on competitor performance. By examining the backlinks and referring domains of a competing site, you can gain insight into their overall SEO strategy and uncover areas where your own efforts may be falling short.

For example, a competitor may be publishing multiple press releases that are syndicated across a network of authoritative websites, resulting in additional backlinks. The tool also assists in broader link research, such as identifying relevant business directories where your website could benefit from being listed.

For your own website, the platform provides visibility into the current status of your backlink profile. This includes newly acquired backlinks, as well as links that are broken or have been removed, often due to changes in URL structure.

Ahrefs also offers data on both organic and paid keywords for which a site is ranking or generating traffic. This provides a valuable perspective when evaluating your competitors and planning your keyword strategy.

Finally, the platform includes a Site Audit feature that performs a full technical crawl of your website. Upon completion, it generates a report highlighting any errors or warnings that may require attention. These issues can range from broken internal links to XML sitemap problems and other technical concerns.

Building a Stronger SEO Foundation

When it comes to technical SEO, having the right tools in place makes all the difference. Each of the platforms covered above serves a specific purpose, whether it is identifying crawl issues, monitoring search visibility, or uncovering backlink opportunities. Used together, they provide a well-rounded view of your website’s health and performance. By staying proactive and regularly checking in with these tools, you can catch issues early, track progress over time, and continue building a strong foundation for long-term SEO success.

If you have questions about any of these tools or would like assistance implementing them into your SEO strategy, feel free to contact the team at PaperStreet. We are here to help you improve your website’s performance and visibility.