If you're looking for a new addition to your SEO toolkit, Surfer SEO is a compelling option, especially if you're tired of expensive software or haven't yet found one that aligns with your website's needs.
This tool assesses your site in comparison to those ranking at the pinnacle of search engine results, providing insights to enhance your content effectively.
The critical question: does it justify the cost? In this Surfer SEO review, we'll delve into all that Surfer offers. Keep reading to discover more.
What Is Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is a cloud-based platform designed to assist you in planning, writing, and optimizing SEO content, including blog posts and website pages. Its primary aim is to enhance your organic visibility in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) to drive increased organic traffic to your site.
In essence, Surfer enables you to identify keywords, devise your content strategy, and generate outlines or briefs for individual posts. Subsequently, as you compose your content based on these outlines, Surfer analyzes it against numerous on-page SEO ranking factors. This analysis involves a comparison with the first-page search results for your target keyword.
Surfer provides real-time scoring for your content, indicating necessary changes and suggesting terms to add for improved ranking prospects. The underlying concept is that emulating the structure and topic/keyword coverage of the first-page results increases your likelihood of ranking alongside them, given their established success.
You can use Niche Finder's Website Audit to find out more detailed information:
What Features Does Surfer SEO Offer?
Surfer SEO is a comprehensive tool that amalgamates numerous features into one platform, addressing various aspects of SEO strategy.
Here are some key features it provides:
1. SERP Analyzer
The SERP Analyzer feature allows you to gain insights into the competition for your chosen keyword. It provides a visual representation of the results page, showcasing what Google considers the best content for the query.
This understanding is crucial for creating content that can surpass existing competitors.
2. Keyword Research
Surfer SEO offers a dedicated Keyword Research feature, eliminating the need to input your content into the editor to discover keyword suggestions. It provides a list of relevant keywords to consider during the optimization of each page.
Additionally, you can customize the location focus of your keyword search, obtaining suggestions based on search habits in specific countries.
3. Content Editor
The Content Editor is a vital tool for adhering to essential SEO rules, especially the inclusion of multiple keywords with similar meanings.
This feature assists you in incorporating such keywords seamlessly as you write your content, ensuring that search engines accurately understand the page's focus and topic.
4. SEO Audit
Surfer SEO includes an SEO Audit tool that allows you to assess the SEO metrics of your page.
By entering the main keyword and the URL of your page, you can conduct an audit that compares your page to the targeted keyword, providing valuable insights into your page's performance and areas for improvement.
Surfer SEO Pros & Cons
After exploring Surfer SEO's features and pricing options, let's delve into what we consider to be the platform's significant pros and cons.
Surfer SEO Pros
Rank Faster and Save Time: Using Surfer for over two years has proven to be a time-saving asset. It streamlines the process of creating briefs, writing content, and optimizing it, resulting in improved rankings.
Fantastic Content Editor: The Content Editor stands out as a remarkable feature, surpassing other platforms. Its user interface is superior, and the suggestions it provides effectively contribute to enhancing your organic ranking position.
Flexible Content Editor Customization Options: Surfer offers the flexibility to choose the top-ranking content against which you want to optimize your article. The Content Editor customization options allow for a tailored approach, letting you hide terms during the optimization process.
Seamless Integration: Surfer SEO impresses with its seamless integration of various tools and features. The interconnected nature of the platform allows for efficient workflow, such as directly adding topic suggestions from a keyword research report to the Content Editor.
Integration with WordPress & Google Docs: Integration with popular platforms like WordPress and Google Docs is seamless, enhancing the editing and writing process. The browser extension facilitates a one-click connection between Surfer's Content Editor and blog posts or documents.
Easily Export Content into WordPress: Writing content in Surfer's Content Editor can be effortlessly exported directly to WordPress, providing a user-friendly experience.
Topic Clustering: Surfer excels in clustering keywords into broader topics, allowing for the targeting of multiple related keywords in a single post. This approach aligns with an effective content strategy.
Excellent Support: Surfer's support team has garnered positive feedback for being responsive, friendly, and adept at swiftly resolving even complex queries.
Surfer SEO Cons
Expensive Compared to Competitors: In terms of cost, Surfer SEO is comparatively expensive, with alternatives like Frase and Scalenut offering better value for money.
No Free Trial: Unlike many competitors, Surfer does not offer a free trial, limiting users' ability to explore the platform before committing.
SERP Analyzer UI Needs Improving: The SERP Analyzer feature is criticized for its abundance of unnecessary data points that may not be utilized by most SEOs. While Surfer's overall UI is excellent, the SERP Analyzer's interface is deemed less user-friendly.
Domain Planner Limited to Top 100 Pages: The Domain Planner tool, while effective, only supports the top 100 pages of a site. Expanding this capability to include all site pages would enhance its utility, especially for improving underperforming content.
Minor Bugs: Users have observed minor bugs, such as the Content Editor not recognizing hyperlinked suggested terms. Additionally, occasional delays in loading reports have been noted.
Final Words on Surfer SEO Review
Overall, SurferSEO stands as a potent tool capable of enhancing your search engine rankings and boosting traffic to your website.
Through a thorough analysis of on-page SEO, backlinks, and user experience on your competitors' websites, Surfer SEO offers valuable insights for optimizing your content effectively for search engines.
Furthermore, leveraging Surfer SEO to enhance the overall user experience of your website can lead to increased engagement, reduced bounce rates, and ultimately, a higher conversion rate.
If you are looking for other tools like SurferSEO, read our guide on Surfer SEO alternatives.
