At HeyTony, we’ve tested nearly every SEO tool under the sun. From overhyped dashboards to ultra-niche Chrome extensions, our tech stack has been through a lot of trial and error. But the tools we use today? They’re the ones that actually drive results.
In this post, I’m breaking down the full list of SEO tools we use to get our clients ranking higher, faster, and explain why we use each one, when we use them, and how they fit into our strategy.
Our Go-To SEO Tools
Here are the tools that are open in our browser every single day:
Google Search Console
This is our non-negotiable, can’t-live-without-it SEO tool. Google Search Console gives us the most honest, direct view of how your site is performing in Google’s search results — straight from the source.
It shows us what keywords are driving traffic, how many people are seeing and clicking your pages, and where you’re ranking. At HeyTony, it’s the first thing we check when measuring progress — because if it’s not improving here, it’s probably not improving at all.
We rely on GSC to tell us:
- What’s being indexed (and what’s not)
- Which pages & keywords are climbing the ranks (and which need help)
- Where to double down next
We use it daily for:
- Tracking keywords
- Spotting trends
- Reporting performance
Semrush
This is our go-to tool for keyword research and competitive analysis. It’s how we uncover opportunities — from spotting content gaps and low-competition keywords to figuring out exactly what your competitors are ranking for. When we’re mapping out your SEO strategy, Semrush is where it starts.
It also lets us monitor keyword rankings over time and dig into backlink profiles when needed. And while no third-party tool is perfect, Semrush gives us a solid directional view that’s consistently proven reliable — especially during onboarding, when we need a clear snapshot of the SEO landscape you’re walking into.
We rely on Semrush to tell us:
- What keywords competitors are targeting
- Where the biggest content opportunities are
- How your rankings are trending over time
We use it daily for:
- Keyword research
- Competitor analysis
- Backlink audits
ChatGPT
We use ChatGPT as a creative assistant to speed up content production without sacrificing quality. It helps us refine rough drafts, polish final edits, and even draft blog posts from scratch. But what really sets it apart is how we train it to understand our clients’ industries — so we can write with authority, even if we’re not experts (yet).
By feeding it the right prompts, transcripts, and background info, we turn ChatGPT into a research assistant, an editor, and a writing partner — all in one. It doesn’t replace strategy or creativity, but it helps us work faster and sound smarter.
We use it daily for:
- Drafting blog content
- Brainstorming ideas
- Polishing and refining copy
- Learning client industries faster
Stock Image Sites (Unsplash, Pexels, etc.)
Original visuals are always our first choice, but when we need to fill in the gaps — especially for blog posts and web pages — stock image sites come to the rescue. Unsplash and Pexels are our go-to platforms for high-quality, copyright-safe visuals that don’t scream “stock photo.”
We also use them to grab backgrounds and textures we can remix into custom graphics in Canva, giving stock a more branded, on-point look.
We use them regularly for:
- Blog and website visuals
- Backgrounds and design elements
- Quick placeholder content
Looker Studio
This is where we build live dashboards for our clients. Instead of only sending static PDF reports, we give clients access to their own real-time dashboard — so they can check in on performance whenever they want (without digging through spreadsheets or analytics tools).
We pull in data from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and more — all in one place. It’s how we turn raw data into something visual, digestible, and actually useful.
You can grab our looker studio template here, and watch the tutorial here.
We rely on Looker Studio to tell us:
- How key metrics are trending month-over-month
- What’s working (and what’s not) at a glance
- Where we should shift focus based on performance
We use it monthly for:
- Client reporting
- Visualizing SEO wins
Google Business Profiles (GBP)
For local businesses, your Google Business Profile is what gets you listed in the map pack — those local listings that show up above the regular search results. It’s often your first impression, and in most cases, it drives more clicks than your website.
We optimize, track, and manage GBPs to help our clients show up in the map pack and the organic results. That means uploading fresh photos, posting updates 3x per week, and placing keywords in all the right spots. We also use BrightLocal’s geo-grid tools to track exactly where you’re ranking across your city or town.
We rely on GBP to tell us:
- How visible you are in local search
- What kind of content is driving results
- Ranking opportunities
We use it weekly for:
- Local map pack rankings
- Visibility reporting
- Ongoing profile optimization
BrightLocal
BrightLocal is our go-to tool for local SEO tracking. It helps us visualize how a business is ranking across different parts of a city or region — which is critical for brick-and-mortar locations and service-based businesses.
We use it to build and track citations, run local SEO audits, and monitor directory consistency. It also lets us schedule posts and updates to Google Business Profiles, keeping everything active and optimized without needing to log in manually.
We rely on BrightLocal to tell us:
- How rankings vary by neighborhood
- Where local visibility is strong (or slipping)
- Which directories need updates or cleanup
We use it weekly for:
- Local keyword heat maps
- Google Business Profile post scheduling
- Citation tracking and submissions
- Local SEO audits and reporting
Google Analytics
While Google Search Console shows us how people find your site, Google Analytics tells us what they do after they land. We mostly use it to track overall site traffic and — more recently — how many visitors are coming from AI tools and large language models (LLMs).
Instead of obsessing over vanity metrics, we focus on the insights that matter: Are people engaging with the site? Are they converting? Are we attracting the right traffic? We then pull that data into Looker Studio to give clients a clear, visual breakdown.
We rely on Google Analytics to tell us:
- How much traffic is coming from LLMs
- What pages users are interacting with
- Where visitors are coming from and how they behave
We use it weekly for:
- Website traffic insights
- Tracking AI-sourced visits
- Feeding real-time data into Looker Studio
Custom Tools We’ve Built In-House
We’ve also built some of our own tools to fill in the gaps where traditional tools fall short:
The Site Audit Tool by HeyTony
This in-house website audit tool gives us a clear health score and highlights real on-page issues at scale — things like missing meta tags, weak title tags, orphan pages, thin content, and more. It cuts through the noise and gives us only the info we need to improve rankings. And yep, we’ve made it public so anyone can run a quick check on their site.
We rely on our SEO Audit Tool to tell us:
- What’s holding a site back from ranking
- Which on-page issues to prioritize
- How a site’s SEO health is trending over time
We use it weekly for:
- On-page site audits
- Tracking and fixing issues
- New client onboarding
- Reporting and education
Watchdog SEO by HeyTony
This is our one-of-a-kind competitor monitoring tool — and we mean that literally. No other tool does what Watchdog SEO does.
It keeps a constant eye on your competitors’ websites and flags any changes they make. New blog post? We see it. Swapped a headline or updated pricing? We know. Removed a service page or reworked their homepage? Caught. This lets us move fast and stay ahead — before those changes impact your rankings.
We rely on Watchdog SEO to tell us:
- What your competitors are doing (before you even notice)
- Which changes might affect rankings or positioning
- Where we need to react, adjust, or outdo them
We use it weekly for:
- Monitoring title tags, headings, and meta descriptions
- Tracking new or removed content
- Staying ahead of pricing and positioning shifts
Why Tools Don’t Win SEO- Strategy Does
We love our tools. We’ve got dashboards, trackers, crawlers, and AI assistants running behind the scenes. But here’s the truth most agencies won’t admit: tools don’t win SEO. Strategy does.
No matter how advanced the platform, it can’t tell you what matters most to your customers. It won’t prioritize what to fix first, or decide which keyword is worth chasing — and it definitely won’t write content that sounds like a real human with something valuable to say.
That’s where we come in.
At HeyTony, tools help us move faster, spot trends quicker, and scale smarter. But everything runs through an actual person – here in Canada or the USA. We still do the heavy lifting of:
- Understanding what your audience actually wants
- Making informed decisions based on competitor activity
- Choosing where to focus for the biggest SEO wins
- Editing content so it sounds clear, confident, and brand-aligned
We don’t blindly follow data; we interpret it. We ask better questions. And we use that to build strategies that actually work.
Want to see how that plays out in real life? Here’s what it’s like working with HeyTony.
Originally published . Last updated .
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