When it comes to improving your website’s search engine rankings, you need a tool that helps you analyse your content and optimise it to meet search engine requirements effectively. Surfer SEO is one of the top tools that claim to provide just that, and in this review, we’ll examine its features, use cases, pricing, and alternatives to determine if it’s worth using it in 2023.
What is Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is a cloud-based SEO tool that helps website owners audit their content, analyse their competition, and optimise their pages to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). The tool’s primary objective is to help you improve your website’s rankings by ensuring your pages meet search algorithm requirements.
One of the key features of Surfer SEO is its content editor, which provides real-time recommendations for optimising your content. By analysing the top-ranking pages for your target keyword, Surfer SEO can suggest changes to your content that will help you outrank your competitors.
In addition to its content editor, Surfer SEO also offers a range of other tools to help you with your SEO. These include a keyword research tool, a SERP analyser, and an AI-powered outline generator tool.
What Surfer SEO Can Be Used For?
As an SEO specialist, I can appreciate the depth and range of functionalities that Surfer SEO offers to optimise content and improve search engine rankings.
This flexible tool can serve individual freelancers, small businesses, or large organisations with complex websites.
Here are 5 key applications of Surfer SEO that I’ve personally found particularly useful:
- Create keyword-optimised content
- Conduct keyword research and establish topical authority
- Optimise existing content
- Create content outlines
- Get content suggestions
1. Crafting Keyword-Optimised Content
Surfer SEO streamlines the process of creating perfectly optimised content for targeted keywords. By analysing the competition and offering precise keyword recommendations, this tool allows you to develop articles that balance keyword usage and readability, ensuring better rankings in search engine results.
2. Conducting Keyword Research and Building Topical Authority
One of Surfer SEO’s most powerful features is its ability to perform comprehensive keyword research. By assessing competitors and identifying underutilised keywords, it helps you uncover valuable opportunities for targeting. The tool also provides data on search volume, keyword difficulty, and related keywords, empowering you to establish a strong topical authority and improve your website’s overall search engine performance.
3. Optimising Existing Content
Surfer SEO proves to be an invaluable asset when it comes to enhancing the performance of your current content. The platform’s content audit functionality analyses existing articles and provides actionable recommendations for optimisation, such as fine-tuning keyword density, enhancing readability, or incorporating relevant headings. This allows you to boost your content’s search engine visibility without having to rewrite it entirely.
4. Generating Content Outlines
The AI Outline Generator feature in Surfer SEO simplifies the content structuring process by providing a well-organised outline based on your targeted keywords and competitor analysis. This saves time and ensures that your final output is comprehensive, focused, and primed to rank higher in search results.
5. Getting Content Suggestions
Surfer SEO goes beyond offering keyword and content optimisation advice by providing content suggestions derived from user input and market trends. This feature enables you to identify new content opportunities, helping you stay ahead of your competitors by creating fresh, engaging articles tailored to your audience’s interests and needs.
Surfer SEO Key Features (with Use Case Examples)
Surfer SEO is an all-in-one SEO tool that helps you improve your website’s search engine rankings. It comes with a range of features that enable you to optimise your content, analyse your competition, and track your progress. Let’s dive into some of Surfer SEO’s features and how they can help with SEO:
Content Editor
The Content Editor feature is one of Surfer SEO’s most powerful features. It allows you to analyse your content and suggest improvements based on the algorithm’s demands. This feature looks at things like word count, keyword density, and overall on-page optimisation.
For example, let’s say you’re creating a new blog post about “best cryptocurrency exchanges.” Naturally, you want the post to rank higher for that keyword, so you run the post through the Content Editor. The tool identifies that your post lacks subheadings, so it suggests adding more headers with relevant keywords. This can improve the overall structure of your content and make it more appealing to both search engines and readers.
In addition to subheadings, the Content Editor feature can suggest changes to your meta description, title tag, and other essential on-page elements. This can help ensure that your content is fully optimised for the search engines and is more likely to rank higher in the search results.
Content Audit Feature
The content audit feature of Surfer SEO is an essential tool for any website owner who wants to improve their website’s search engine ranking. With this feature, users can analyse their pages and posts to identify areas that need improvement. The content audit performs a detailed analysis of the page or post, including meta tag analysis, keyword density, and word count. This analysis helps users understand how well their content is optimised for search engines and what changes they need to make to improve their ranking.
One of the benefits of Surfer SEO’s content audit feature is that it provides users with actionable insights. Instead of simply pointing out areas that need improvement, the tool offers specific recommendations for how to optimise the content. This makes it easier for users to implement changes and see results quickly.
AI Outline Generator
The AI outline generator is one of Surfer SEO’s most innovative features. It uses artificial intelligence to create a framework for the website’s content that meets the ranking criteria of the targeted keyword. The tool suggests headlines, sub-headings, and topics for users to cover in their content. This feature saves time on brainstorming ideas and research for content production.
What sets Surfer SEO’s AI outline generator apart from other content creation tools is its ability to analyse the competition. The tool looks at the top-ranking pages for a given keyword and uses that information to suggest content topics that are most likely to help the user’s page rank higher. This makes it easier for users to create content that is both relevant and optimised for search engines.
Grow Flow: Surfer’s AI Growth Management Platform
Grow Flow is a feature of Surfer SEO that provides a user-friendly dashboard for managing website optimisation. It offers detailed insights into daily traffic, keyword ranking, and on-page optimisation. Based on these insights, the user can draw conclusions on how to improve search engine rankings.
One of the benefits of GROW FLOW is that it uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised recommendations for improving website performance. The tool analyses the user’s website and provides specific recommendations for how to optimise it based on the user’s goals and objectives. This makes it easier for users to make data-driven decisions about how to improve their website’s search engine ranking.
API and Integrations
Surfer SEO provides full API support, allowing users to perform custom analyses based on their requirements. This means that users can integrate Surfer SEO with other tools they use in the SEO industry to create a more comprehensive optimisation strategy as well as streamline your SEO process.
Thanks to its API support, Surfer SEO can integrate with several popular SEO tools, including Jasper AI, Semrush, WordPress, and Google Docs. This makes it easy for users to work with the tools they are already familiar with and streamline their optimisation process.
Plagiarism Tool
The article plagiarism tool is an essential feature for bloggers and content creators who want to ensure that their content is unique and not plagiarised. This tool allows the user to check the unique percentage for their content, helping to avoid content duplication, which can result in Google penalising the website.
The tool compares the user’s content to other web content and identifies any similarities. If the tool finds that the user’s content is too similar to other content, it will flag it as potentially plagiarised. This allows the user to make changes to their content before publishing it, ensuring that it is unique and optimised for search engines.
Surfer SEO Pros
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that offers a range of benefits to its users. In addition to the features we’ve already discussed, here are some of the pros of using Surfer SEO:
Comprehensive feature set for content optimisation: Surfer SEO offers a wide range of features that cater to various aspects of content optimization, including keyword research, content structuring, and on-page SEO enhancement. This all-in-one approach makes it an invaluable tool for content creators and SEO professionals alike.
Time-saving AI-powered tools: Surfer SEO leverages artificial intelligence to streamline content creation and optimization processes. Features like the AI Outline Generator and Grow Flow help users save time and effort by automating tasks, making creating high-quality, search engine-friendly content easier.
Data-driven insights for keyword research and content suggestions: Surfer SEO excels in providing users with data-driven insights that inform keyword research and content suggestions. By analyzing competitors and identifying gaps in the market, the platform empowers users to make informed decisions about the best keywords to target and relevant content to create.
Seamless API and integration capabilities: Surfer SEO’s API access and integration capabilities allow users to effortlessly connect the platform to their existing tools and workflows. This feature enhances productivity by enabling users to streamline their SEO processes and maintain a consistent approach across different applications.
Built-in plagiarism tool: The built-in plagiarism tool in Surfer SEO ensures that your content is unique and free from duplication. This is essential for maintaining your website’s credibility and avoiding potential penalties from search engines, which can harm your site’s rankings and overall performance.
Surfer SEO Cons
So far, we have seen Surfer SEO pros. However, every tool has its flaws, and Surfer SEO is no exceptions. Here are a few to take note of when using it:
- Intensive learning curve: While Surfer SEO is user-friendly, it still takes time to learn the ropes of the platform entirely.
- Occasional glitches: Similar to other cloud-based software, Surfer SEO gets occasional glitches that are hard to predict.
- Limited to 30 credits for their basic plan: only 30 credits for their Surfer SEO’s basic pricing can be a bit too strict for some users and can easily be used up
- Pricing: Surfer SEO’s pricing can be a bit steep for some users, especially those who are just starting with SEO and don’t use it at scale. However, the platform does offer a free trial, so you can test it out before committing.
- Limited integrations: While Surfer SEO integrates with popular tools like Google Docs and Semrush, it has fewer integrations than other SEO tools on the market.
It’s important to remember that no SEO tool is perfect, and each has pros and cons. Ultimately, deciding if Surfer SEO is the right tool for your needs is up to you.
Surfer SEO Pricing Plans
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that can help you optimise your website’s content and improve your search engine rankings. The tool has three pricing tiers that cater to different business needs and budgets.
- The Basic plan: This plan costs $59/per month or $49/per month if billed annually. It’s ideal for small businesses or individuals just starting with SEO. With this plan, you get access to all the essential features of the tool, including content editor, outline AI generator, keyword research, and more. The Basic plan allows you to use the content editor feature for up to 10 articles per month and audit up to 20 pages per month.
- The Pro plan: This plan costs $119/per month or $99/per month billed annually. It’s ideal for growing businesses or agencies that require more features and analysis. With the Pro plan, you get access to all the features of the Basic plan, plus additional features such as inviting up to 3 users. The Pro plan allows you to edit up to 30 articles and audit 60 pages per month.
- The Business plan: This plan costs $239/per month or $199/per month if billed annually. It’s ideal for large businesses or agencies that require more credits and users. With the Business plan, you get access to all the features of the Pro plan, plus additional features such as API access, team management, and more. The Business plan allows you to edit up to 70 articles and audit 140 pages per month.
Choosing the right plan depends on your business needs, the number of articles you produce per month and the need for API support or not. It’s best to test the waters with a monthly subscription or start with the basic plan as you gauge your needs with the tool.
Surfer SEO offers a 7-day free trial for all its plans, so you can try it out and see if it’s the right fit for you.
Surfer SEO Alternatives
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool for optimising your web pages, but it’s not the only option available out there. Here are the best 9 SurferSEO alternatives to consider:
SEMrush: Similar to Surfer SEO, the SEMrush Writing Assistant helps you create SEO-optimised content, but it also offers a more comprehensive suite of tools for keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor tracking. This makes it a great option for those looking for an all-in-one SEO solution.
Frase: While Frase shares Surfer SEO’s content optimisation focus, it goes a step further by leveraging AI to conduct research and generate content briefs based on user queries. This can save significant time and effort in content planning and research.
SEOClarity: SEOClarity is a comprehensive SEO platform that includes content optimisation features alongside a robust set of tools for keyword research, site audits, and rank tracking. Its scalability and customisability make it an ideal choice for large businesses and agencies.
WriterZen: WriterZen is a content optimisation platform that focuses on keyword research, topic discovery, and content planning. Its strength lies in its ability to uncover long-tail keywords and provide in-depth insights into keyword clusters, making it a valuable tool for SEO-driven content strategies.
Content Harmony: Content Harmony is another content optimisation tool that offers keyword research, content grading, and optimisation suggestions. Its unique selling point is its ability to generate content briefs and provide a collaborative platform for content teams, making it an excellent choice for larger organisations.
Topic: Topic shares Surfer SEO’s content optimisation focus, but it differentiates itself with a streamlined user interface and an emphasis on simplicity. It’s an excellent choice for those looking for an easy-to-use content optimisation tool without sacrificing functionality.
Marketmuse: Marketmuse is similar to Surfer SEO in its content optimisation capabilities but stands out for its AI-driven content planning and research features. It helps you identify content gaps, generate outlines, and develop a comprehensive content strategy.
Clearscope: Clearscope specialises in content optimisation through its keyword analysis and content grading system. It focuses on helping writers create content that is both relevant and authoritative, giving it an edge in terms of content quality assessment.
Page Optimizer Pro: Page Optimizer Pro is another content optimization tool that provides detailed recommendations for improving on-page SEO. Its emphasis on data-driven insights sets it apart, as it provides actionable suggestions based on competitor analysis and scientific testing.
That being said, Surfer SEO does have a unique focus on on-page optimisation that sets it apart from the competition. By analysing individual web pages and providing actionable recommendations for improvement, Surfer SEO can help you achieve higher rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
Remember: Whether you choose Surfer SEO or one of these alternatives, investing in a high-quality SEO tool is essential for any website owner looking to improve their online visibility and drive more traffic to their site so make sure to choose the one that best fits your needs.
So Does Surfer SEO Really Work, And Is It Worth Your Money?
Surfer SEO has been making waves in the SEO industry since its launch and for good reason. The tool promises to help businesses improve their website’s ranking in SERPs, and it does so by analysing top-ranking pages for any given keyword and providing detailed insights on how to optimise your content to rank higher.
One of the key benefits of Surfer SEO is its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for even beginners to navigate and understand. The tool provides a wealth of information, including keyword integration into your content, word count, and even the optimal number of headers and images to include in your content based on other top-ranking articles out there.
But does Surfer SEO really work?
My short answer is yes.
Surfer SEO has helped me countless times to improve rankings from the sites I’ve worked on and drive more traffic to these sites.
By analysing top-ranking pages and providing detailed recommendations, the tool takes the guesswork out of SEO and ensures that your content is optimised for success.
Of course, like any tools out there, Surfer SEO isn’t a magic solution that will instantly boost your website’s ranking. It’s important to use this tool in conjunction with other SEO tactics, such as building high-quality backlinks, ensuring an awesome UX and creating engaging content.
That being said, Surfer SEO is definitely worth the investment for businesses looking to scale up their content game.
So why not give it a try and see the results for yourself?
————————–
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full privacy policy.
