Internet marketing is getting more important as internet environment becomes important tool to promote businesses. Internet marketing tools are becoming increasingly popular with growing interest of internet marketing. Internet marketing tools are often categorized by internet ranking analyzer, key word auto-submitter, site traffic analyzer, webpage optimizer, and so on.

There are numerous kinds of marketing tools available today. Some marketing tools have all the functions above, but some have focused on the specific function only. It is not easy for us to find a perfect marketing tool because there are so many factors to consider. The prices of the tools vary according to functionalities of the software. Furthermore, software maintenance cost, such as software update or upgrade cost has to be considered because the maintenance cost takes a big part of the overall cost of the software. Typically, internet marketing tools are frequently updated according to internet search engines search algorithm changes.

The results of a survey of web site marketers have found that most of internet marketing experts prefer to submit manually to search engines rather than use auto-submission tools. However, the tools, so called SEO (Search Engine Optimizer), are still attractive to those who do not have enough knowledge for internet marketing and who want their websites to be listed on hundreds of search engines as quickly as quickly as possible. Even though most SEO toolkits tell they guarantee your website to be top ranked on the most major search engines like Google and Yahoo, it is still challengeable for your site to be listed on top page on major search engine results. Those who do use auto-submit tools preferred software packages over web-based services.

Some popular internet marketing software package tools based on internet ranking analyzer and keyword auto-submitter are compared in Table 1. Search Engine Commando 3.1, OptiLink 3, WebPosition Gold 2, and Trellian SEO Toolkit 2.0 are those, and they are rated relatively high in a consumer ranking site. Software functionality as well as cost for ownership is also compared.

Features	Search Engine Commando	OptiLink	WebPosition Gold	Trellian SEO Tool Kit
Price	$179	$149	- $149 (Standard) - $349 (Pro)	- $299 (Standard) - $495 (Enterprise)
Upgrade cost	- 1st year: free - $99/year after that	Life time free upgrade	- First 3 month: free - $49 for every 3 month or $99 for 1 year	- 1st year: free
Main Functions	- Multiple URLs and keywords submission (442 search engines) - Report rankings - Submission scheduling tool to avoid spam listing	- Analyze keyword density, link popularity - Report ranking - No URL submission tool	- Multiple URLs and keywords submission - Standard: up to 5 domains - Pro: Unlimited domains - Analyze keywords, pages - Report ranking - Scheduler for auto submission and report	- Standard: Single URL submission (1000 search engines): - Enterprise: Multiple URL submission. - Report ranking - Ranking Advisor - Analyze Keyword, density, link popularity, Meta tag - Track CPC (Cost per Click)
Overall	★★★	★★	★★★★	★★★★

Table 1. SEO Tools Comparison

Table 1 shows that Search Engine Commando 3.1 has reasonable initial investment and update cost. OptiLink has the lowest ownership, but does not have auto-submission function. WebPosition Gold 2 has the most critical functionalities as well as fair initial cost of software. Their ranking report is easy to read and keeps track of past ranking history. However, high maintenance cost and limited URL batch submission for the standard edition could be a weakness for those who are dealing with more than 5 domains. Trellian SEO Toolkit has the most functionality over the competitors, and its user interface is very neat and user friendly. It also contains website optimization tools and even CPC (Cost per Click) tracking tool which tracks ranks and bids on paid per click base search engine such as Overture and LookSmart. However it does not allow batch submissions. It is made in Australia, so live tech support could be limited due to time zone.