On March 28, 2019, [Kevin Indig](https://twitter.com/Kevin_Indig), VP of SEO & Content at [G2.com](https://www.g2.com/), tweeted a question that sparked some good discussion on how to find the best SEO tools to use.

![How do you choose which SEO tool to use and buy from Kevin Indig's tweet](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7ocntSw64U4MFmrlZiRJ0g/b6813e89d8256486c9dbc856871ace98/How_do_you_choose_which_SEO_tool_to_use_and_buy_from_Kevin_Indig_s_tweet.JPG)

With 45 replies and dozens of sub replies, we were able to compile a great list from a host of digital marketers and SEOs. 

__These are the sources people said they use to find SEO tools:__
- Peers/Network/Co-workers/Mentors (17 mentions) 
- SEO articles, blog reviews and case studies mentioning SEO Tools (13 mentions)
- Twitter (9 mentions)
- Event/Conference speakers and sponsors (5 mentions)
- Google (4 mentions)
- Webinars, youtube videos (3 mentions)
- [@G2CrowdReviews](https://twitter.com/G2CrowdReviews) (2 mentions)
- [Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/) (2 mentions)
- Linkedin
- [AppSumo](https://appsumo.com/)
- [Detailed.com](https://detailed.com/)
- [Ahrefs blog](https://ahrefs.com/blog/)
- [Backlinko blog](https://backlinko.com/blog)
- [Moz blog](https://moz.com/blog)
- Google trends
- Forums
- [Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/)
- Magazine articles
- Reddit
- Github

__And then this is how they determine whether or not to use/buy the tool they find:__

[David Iwanow (@davidiwanow)](https://twitter.com/davidiwanow) suggested the following:
- CS support and post sales service
- Willingness to improve the product and fix issues/bugs (not shrug them off)
- Aggressively adding to and improving the product
- Proactive support

[Alexandra Tachalova (@AlexTachalova)](https://twitter.com/AlexTachalova) looks to the source:
- Try to understand the {SEO Tools} data source. There are a HUGE number of tools simply reselling someone else's data.

[Arnoldo Cabrera (@spanskseo)](https://twitter.com/spanskseo) looks for the following:
- It is scalable multilingual, geographies, data set
- provides api connectivity not only to your data but to your toolbox
- time saving, e.g. reporting time
- it has good support and product managers listen to the user feedback
- enable cross collaboration outside seo team

[Matt Ramage (@ramagetime)](https://twitter.com/ramagetime)
- Cost and ease of use. And of Course the data.

[Hardik Oza (@Ozaemotion)](https://twitter.com/Ozaemotion) lists the following:
- Freshness of data
- Quality of data rather than quantity
- Number of users
- Support

[Kelly Stanze (@KellyStanze)](https://twitter.com/KellyStanze) offers:
- Similar clientele and their happiness
- The tool features itself, and how data for those tools is supplied/supported
- Support - do we get an account team? What’s included?
- Pricing structure (don’t nickel and dime me)
- Innovation

[Seb Adler (@seoseb)](https://twitter.com/seoseb) advises:
- Does it state to be the all-in-one solution → skip it
- Do a trial, test it on a real life project, check against existing workflows. Does it automate workflows oder provide additional insights? If so:
- Does it integrate well in our data warehousing.

[Damien Anderson (@echwa)](https://twitter.com/echwa) suggests you:
- Understand and document needs
- Ask select vendors to demonstrate to needs

[Willow Colios (@willowcolios)](https://twitter.com/willowcolios) puts forward these thoughts:
- Can you align the tool with team processes and workflow?
- Is it usable for those that use it every day/week?
- Is it a good fit for the organisation
- Right spec at the right price?

[Adam J. Humphreys (@Making8)](https://twitter.com/Making8) offers some great insight:
- Features, UX (time savings, compatibly with other platforms, easily exported reports, actionable data summaries), price compared to others (this really matters as some are 2500 a month per client)
- The best way to engage with us is letting influencers in search test it then blog about it on a main journal.
- One can’t really win over our industry without letting us test it out and given our time constraints we often don’t get to use it right away so capping amount of uses vs time is also best."

__Biggest Takeaway:__
Use your network to find tools that they love and would recommend. If at all possible, sign up for a trial run to find out if it can solve your needs and will be compatible with your processes and workflows. 

It may be cool but is it the right fit?
<div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:90%;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/6klKY9ggNR744" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></div>

Learn how dozens of marketers find SEO tools and decide which ones to use/buy.

Dozens of Marketers Share How They Choose Which SEO Tool to Use and Buy

A coworker stumbled upon a tweet yesterday from [@BrittanyZerr](https://twitter.com/BrittanyZerr) which showed a funny featured snippet mistake that the great Google machine made.

![Brittany Zerr Tweet Image of Featured Snippet Gone Wrong](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6VEnaQ54z7a4keKYC8XfTJ/9631d42512feed28e4a06a6fe4fe1f97/Brittany_Zerr_Tweet_Image_of_Featured_Snippet_Gone_Wrong.JPG)

If you search for "How to make the best risotto", you'll see the featured snippet from the image above at the top of the SERPs. But if you head on over to the [bonappetit article](https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/how-to-make-the-best-risotto-and-avoid-these-8-common-mistakes), you'll see that it's subtitle is, "Here are the 8 most common mistakes people make when cooking the beloved Italian rice dish, so you can avoid them".

As you scroll down you'll see that each numbered item is crossed out as it is something you should avoid if you want to make the best risotto.

![crossed out numbered items as things to avoid](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6l4xlYvdyxw9eiERIoXwZv/1000c18c49f20bea86503e32eced2535/crossed_out_numbered_items_as_things_to_avoid.JPG)

To be fair, it is a useful list of things that can help you make the best risotto if you avoid doing them but the featured snippet doesn't point out that fact which is where the failure lies. Obviously a human being wouldn't feautre a list of things to avoid doing and present them as things to do. Even the great Google machine can make mistakes and isn't quite human--yet. ;)

__What we can learn from this:__

Google likes to display numbered list snippets when the query implies the searcher is looking for a list of steps to accomplish a specific task.

So if you rank for queries that have this intent, make sure to list the tasks to be performed in an html numbered list.

Furthermore, add a bulleted list to any post or article where it makes sense. People love them because they are skimmable and Google loves them too. 

Your numbered or bulleted lists may not become the featured snippet for a query but they absolutely will not if they do not exist. As they say, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take--so take them!




Funny featured snippet mistake that Google made that implies the exact opposite of what was intended.

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Dozens of Marketers Share How They Choose Which SEO Tool to Use and Buy

Google Featured Snippet Mistake and Lesson