SEO professionals know that staying organized is key to success.
With campaigns getting more complex, the right project management tool can make or break your productivity.
This article examines various project management platforms suited for SEO teams. We’ll discuss how these tools can help plan, track tasks and time, manage resources, and report results.
We’ll compare the pros and cons of each tool, from heavy hitters like Asana to SEO-specific options like Forecast.
You’ll get insider tips on using these platforms to streamline your SEO workflows, whether you run a small team or manage large campaigns.
Let’s find the perfect tool for your needs.
Why SEO Professionals Need Project Management Tools
Project management platforms boost efficiency for digital marketers and web teams. If you’re not using one, you’re missing out on serious productivity gains.
Key benefits for SEO pros include:
Comprehensive planning: From campaign overviews to granular keyword performance.
Task and time tracking: Streamline workflows and improve billing accuracy.
Resource management: Monitor budget allocation across SEO and PPC efforts.
Reporting: Leverage data-driven insights to boost productivity.
Choosing the right PM tool can be challenging, given the wide range of options.
We’ve curated a list of the top platforms, complete with pros and cons, to help you make an informed decision.
Our Top 15 Project Management Platforms For SEO
1. Asana
Screenshot from Asana.com, August 2024.
Asana streamlines SEO project management with exceptional task organization and collaboration features.
Its user-friendly interface helps break down complex campaigns, set deadlines, and monitor progress. Custom fields allow adding SEO-specific data, such as target keywords or search volume, to tasks.
The Board view is excellent for visualizing SEO workflows. You can create columns for each stage (e.g., keyword research, content creation, on-page optimization, link building) and quickly move tasks between them, offering a clear project overview.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Task management: Using the forms feature, you can create standard workflows customized to your SEO processes.
Automated workflow: Rules-based automation can replace tedious manual tasks.
Reporting features: Asana has dashboards, charts, and graphs with real-time reporting, so you can get a high-level view or dive into the details.
Free for up to 15 users: Asana has a free tier for teams of 15 or fewer. It includes unlimited tasks, messages, projects, and 100MB of storage for each user.
Integrations: Asana plays nicely with over 100 other apps and platforms, including Microsoft Office, Dropbox, and Salesforce.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Unintuitive design: If you’ve never used Asana before, it can be challenging to figure out. However, once you’ve mastered the learning curve, it’s pretty easy to use.
No time tracking functionality: This platform doesn’t have built-in time tracking functionality, which can complicate billing clients or resource allocation.
Not ideal for small teams: Its range of advanced features and capabilities can be overwhelming for small teams or limited SEO projects.
Tips and Tricks:
Create task templates with “Forms” to capture all essential SEO data.
Use the “Timeline” view for big-picture SEO strategy planning.
Prioritize personal SEO tasks across projects with the “My Tasks” view.
Best Hack:
Add a custom “SEO Impact” field (High/Medium/Low) to tasks. Use it to rank SEO activities by potential SERP influence. Create a saved filter for “High Impact” tasks across projects to focus on top-priority SEO work.
2. Monday.com
Screenshot from Monday.com, August 2024.
Monday is a visual, flexible project management tool that adapts well to SEO workflows. Its key strengths are custom views and automation, which can reduce repetitive SEO tasks.
In practice, I’ve used it for SEO audits. I set up a board with columns for audit areas (tech SEO, content, backlinks) and rows for each page. Color-coding highlighted urgent issues, while number fields tracked progress scores.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Clean user interface: Monday.com has a clean interface that allows you to customize your dashboard and extend data in columns. You can quickly get multiple views of an SEO project, including calendars, Kanban boards, and collateral.
Templates: Monday.com offers many templates, so you will likely find one that matches your workflow.
Notifications and communication: This platform streamlines team communication. Team members can leave comments on tasks or documents, and stakeholders can be notified via email.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Steep learning curve: Like many PM platforms, Monday.com can be challenging to learn. Bigger tasks with more communication can begin to become unwieldy.
Slow dashboard loading: Your Monday.com dashboard can take some time to load, particularly on larger projects where a lot of data has to be transferred from its servers to your computer.
Client licenses not included: If you want to invite clients to participate in your workspace, you will need to buy a license for them.
Tips and Tricks:
Leverage the “Formula” column for auto-calculated metrics. Combine page speed and content quality to create custom SEO health scores.
Use “Time Tracking” to gauge task duration. It helps with resource planning and client invoicing.
Organize SEO docs (keyword research, content briefs) in the “Files” view for quick access.
Best Hack:
Automate task creation in your “Content Calendar” board when “Keyword Research” tasks are completed. Pull in key details like target keyword and search volume. This streamlines the workflow from keyword discovery to content production.
3. GanttPro
Screenshot from ganttpro.com, August 2024.
GanttPro excels at visualizing SEO project timelines. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to adjust task durations and dependencies, which is vital for adapting to SEO campaign fluctuations.
In practice, I found GanttPro useful during a site migration. Setting task dependencies (like “Update Internal Links” after “Create 301 Redirects”) helped avoid critical errors during the process.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Readily understandable: You don’t have to have a project management certificate to track tasks with GanttPro. It gives you status information in an easy-to-understand visual format.
Undo functionality: A simple mistake doesn’t have to derail your project because this tool saves your history and lets you undo actions with CTRL + Z.
Customizable fields: You can create custom fields for every task.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Not as many integrations: Unlike other PM platforms, GanttPro is light on integrations with other apps.
No billing or invoicing tools: You will need an outside program to generate invoices for your SEO services.
Manual date input: Changing dates for benchmarks and project completion must be input manually, which some users find tedious.
Tips and Tricks:
Use “Critical Path” to spot key tasks for on-time project completion. It helps prioritize and keep you on track.
Balance team workload with resource management tools.
Compare progress to the initial plan using “Baseline” for better future estimates.
Best Hack:
Make a template Gantt for common SEO projects (audits, link building, etc.). Include standard tasks, durations, and dependencies—clone and tweak for new projects to save setup time.
4. Trello
Screenshot from trello.com, August 2024.
Trello excels in simplicity and adaptability. Its Kanban boards are ideal for SEO workflows, from content to link building. Power-ups boost functionality for specific SEO tasks.
In practice, I’ve used Trello for content optimization. Cards moved through lists like “To Optimize” to “Published,” with labels for content types and checklists for SEO best practices.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Free basic plan: Your entire team can try Trello for free. If you like it, premium plans that add integrations, automation, and other functionality are available.
Intuitive Kanban boards: Trello’s drag-and-drop card system makes it easy to track the status of any project.
Useful for campaigns of all sizes: Trello is just as effective for complex campaigns as it is for simple projects.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Kanban-reliant: If you dislike using Kanban boards, this is not the PM tool for you, as most of its functionality is built around them.
Upload sizes limited: Trello restricts free users to 10 MB of online storage and paid users to 250 MB. This probably won’t be a problem for most SEO teams, but you may differ.
Timeline relationships are not always clear: Trello doesn’t allow users to manipulate relationships to better understand how they work together.
Tips and Tricks:
Use “Calendar” to visualize the content schedule.
Add SEO info to cards with “Custom Fields.”
Set up recurring tasks with “Card Repeater”
Best Hack:
Connect Google Sheets to Trello via Zapier. New rows in your team’s “Content Ideas” sheet will auto-create cards in Trello, streamlining idea collection.
5. Teamwork
Screenshot from teamwork.com, August 2024.
Teamwork is a solid project management tool for SEO teams, perfect for big, complex campaigns. It handles multiple client projects simultaneously and has features for time tracking, task management, and team collaboration.
I used it for a content marketing push across several client sites. Using the project template feature, we created a standard workflow for content creation, from keyword research to publication. This kept our process consistent and saved loads of setup time.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Unlimited users: You can add users to a single task.
Clear vision of scope: Teamwork’s board view makes it easy to understand what is going on with each project.
Repeating tasks: Teamwork lets you copy any task, which is especially useful for SEO professionals.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Can be overwhelming: Teamwork has many features. The downside is that all those features can get confusing, especially for new users.
No in-platform chat functionality: You’ll need to use an outside app to “chat” with your team and/or stakeholders.
Tips and Tricks:
Use “Board View” for daily tasks and “Gantt Chart” for long-term planning.
Leverage “Workload” to balance SEO team efforts.
Implement a “Risk Register” to monitor potential SEO roadblocks (e.g., algo updates, competitor moves).
Best Hack:
Create a custom dashboard with widgets showing key SEO KPIs across client accounts, such as keyword rankings, organic traffic growth, and backlink acquisition. This will give you a quick performance snapshot of your SEO campaigns.
6. Zoho Projects
Screenshot from zoho.com, August 2024.
Zoho Projects integrates with the Zoho ecosystem, which is ideal for SEO pros using other Zoho tools. It offers features like Gantt charts, time tracking, and issue management, which are suitable for SEO projects of any scale.
I’ve used it for a global SEO expansion. Multilingual support was vital for cross-region coordination. We leveraged milestones to track phases like multilingual keyword research and localized content launches.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Communication tools: Zoho Project has real-time chat and forum pages, so you can quickly and easily share information with your team.
Timekeeping: If you bill your SEO clients by the hour, this platform is a good choice because it has excellent time-tracking functionality.
At-a-glance-info: Zoho makes it easy to spot delays, lags, and bottlenecks.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Features can be overwhelming: Because it offers so much functionality, this PM platform may intimidate some users. It also has a steeper learning curve.
Inflexible: It can be challenging to customize projects to your needs with this platform.
Tips and Tricks:
Use “Task Dependencies” for proper sequencing, especially in technical SEO.
Monitor “Resource Utilization” to balavital workload and prevent burnout.
Use built-in chat for quick task discussions, keeping emails clutter-free.
Best Hack:
Set up “Automation Rules” to streamline workflow. Example: Auto-assign content optimization when organic traffic dips below a set threshold (integrate with analytics for tracking).
7. Wrike
Screenshot from wrike.com, August 2024.
Wrike is a flexible PM tool with deep customization options, which is ideal for SEO teams with unique workflows.
Its reporting and real-time updates keep stakeholders informed about SEO progress. The platform offers multiple project visualization options, including Gantt charts, workload views, and custom dashboards.
I’ve used Wrike for a large-scale e-commerce SEO audit and implementation. The custom workflow feature allowed us to track SEO fixes from discovery to completion through stages like “Issue Identified,” “Fix Proposed,” “Implementation,” and “Verification.”
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Task prioritization: With Wrike, you can push critical tasks to the front to ensure you don’t miss deadlines.
Natural workflow: Wrike is structured in a way most people find logical and easy to use.
Advanced features: Functionality for task management, Gantt charts, and real-time newsfeed are built-in.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Pricier than some options: A free version with limited functionality is available, but premium plans with more functions are more expensive than other PM tools.
Difficult onboarding new users: Adding new users and assigning tasks must be done manually, which can be time-consuming.
Can be challenging to navigate: Users unfamiliar with Wrike may have difficulty navigating projects.
Tips and Tricks:
Use Custom Fields for SEO metrics like SERP positions or Core Web Vitals scores.
Monitor team capacity with Workload View, especially during algo updates.
Leverage Wrike Analyzecreating and implementing communication plans easy
Best Hack:
Build an SEO Health Dashboard using Wrike widgets. Integrate key metrics from your SEO stack (traffic, rankings, backlinks) for a unified performance and project data view.
8. Smartsheet
Screenshot from smartsheet.com, August 2024.
Smartsheet blends spreadsheets with project management tools, which is ideal for SEOs moving from Excel. Its automation and integrations streamline workflows and consolidate data from various SEO tools.
I’ve used Smartsheet for ongoing tech SEO maintenance to track tech elements (speed, mobile, schema) across site sections. Conditional formatting flagged issues, while automated alerts notified the team of subpar metrics.
Why It’s Good For SEO:
Robust communication and collaboration: Smartsheet makes it easy to create and implement communication plans.
Adding tasks and dependencies: Smartsheet’s intuitive design makes it easy to add tasks and dependencies.
Custom dashboards: Set up your dash to display the information you want.
Potential Drawbacks For SEO:
Doesn’t support detailed documents: Users are only allowed to upload 10 documents per ticket, which can be troublesome for highly specific campaigns.
May be too simple for larger teams: If you’re overseeing a big team with many stakeholders, you may find this platform doesn’t include all the functionality you want.
Tips and Tricks: