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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BrightLocal

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/ABrightLocal is a search engine optimization tool that tracks search rankings, builds citations, and monitors online reviews and stresses local search performance.

    $39

    per month

    Google Search Console

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Search Console is a search engine optimization software solution offered by Google.N/A
    Pricing
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Editions & Modules
    Track Plan
    $39
    per month
    Manage Plan
    $49
    per month
    Grow Plan
    $59
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsBrightLocal offers custom enterprise plans for businesses with more than 50 locations.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Considered Both Products
    BrightLocal
    Chose BrightLocal
    BrightLocal was the best value I found for local SEO research and reporting features at a price that worked for a startup agency. The features are surprisingly robust for the price point, and I was able to service multiple clients from my account.
    Incentivized
    Chose BrightLocal
    BrightLocal's local ranking reports are the best ones out there. For everything else, they're just "similar" to the others and don't stand out from them. BrightLocal's online client report dashboards are also nice and not matched by the competition.
    Incentivized
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    26 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    27 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    26 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    24 Answers
    Features
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of BrightLocal and Google Search Console
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    6.7
    12 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Google Search Console
    4.7
    56 Ratings
    48% below category average
    Keyword analysis7.08 Ratings7.548 Ratings
    Backlink management4.05 Ratings6.344 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking7.711 Ratings6.346 Ratings
    Page grader7.52 Ratings2.833 Ratings
    Competitive analysis7.611 Ratings1.218 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics9.98 Ratings7.848 Ratings
    Site recommendations6.64 Ratings4.644 Ratings
    Task management3.56 Ratings1.019 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of BrightLocal and Google Search Console
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    8.6
    13 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Google Search Console
    7.2
    53 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Local SEO8.613 Ratings6.337 Ratings
    Social SEO7.96 Ratings8.019 Ratings
    Mobile SEO10.04 Ratings7.349 Ratings
    Global SEO7.72 Ratings7.443 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of BrightLocal and Google Search Console
    Feature
    BrightLocal
    9.2
    11 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Google Search Console
    8.0
    53 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Multi-domain support8.59 Ratings7.947 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools9.910 Ratings8.150 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Yoast
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (14 ratings)
    9.5
    (56 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.8
    (8 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    6.1
    (8 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BrightLocalGoogle Search Console
    Likelihood to Recommend
    BrightLocal
    If you are a local business owner or marketing agency catering to local businesses, BrightLocal is a must have software. It has everything you need to track your local marketing efforts and to identify opportunities to make improvements, all at a very reasonable price point. You can also create nice looking reports to send to clients which are simple to create.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    It's suited for all use cases, but for big companies, the data might be crippling, so an add-on tool to analyse the data would be a good companion for GSC to solve this issue. Therefore, I think it's suited for any use case with some add-ons and companions needed for analysis.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    BrightLocal
    • When we use BrightLocal's citation building service, I know that we're getting quality citations done right. Their staff will email you with any questions and always double check the information before creating inaccurate citations.
    • I love that BrightLocal is very quick about making changes when requested. For example, if we can't find a city on the drop-down list, you can chat them and they'll add it. Or if a report is pulling incorrectly, they'll re-run it within a reasonable timeframe.
    • BrightLocal has a lot of different reports that are easy to send to your clients. You can even add them to a web-viewable dashboard so that your client can simply bookmark a link and view their reports when they please.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Google Search Console insights is a great feature which provides an overview of my top content, how my new content is performing, etc.
    • It gives detailed information around backlinks - who is linking to us, how many backlinks do we have, how is the internal linking within the website, etc.
    • I like the graph feature that shows how the website is performing overall in one month, three months etc. Seeing the graph can help us understand whether it is trending upward or downward and we can shift strategies accordingly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    BrightLocal
    • Up and down rankings were not always right on with the local search, but only off by one or two spots
    • It felt like it was only used for local SEO, and I know there are more features, just never got to them.
    • Didn't seem useful for every single client in the way Ahrefs or Spyfu did
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • It can be a little difficult to navigate
    • More training resources would be an asset. A beginner is given the power to completely destroy a sites search results at the push of a button. Likewise it is a powerful tool to enhance search results also.
    • An option to take care of multiple versions of the same site simultaneously would be helpful. An option to use the same validation script across all versions and administer them simultaneously would be a time save (i.e. non-www, www, http://, and https:// versions of the same site).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    BrightLocal
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    It's easy to use, but some features are lacking a clear explanation. Somethings don't always match up. For example, the Core Web Vitals often doesn't match what you would see in the Chrome Lighthouse report or the Google Page Speed Insights tool. The tool itself is a little too basic and has to be used alongside other SEO tools and other Google properties such as Analytics
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    BrightLocal
    Although their customer support has always contacted me, they have not always been helpful. Many times I've had reports or information disappear with them telling me they had no record of it, even when I had reports that the information was in there. There are times when their system did have bugs and the support was able to help me there. Overall, the support staff is there but they cannot always do much and need to wait for their development team to get back to them which often takes a long time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    As it is a free tool, you mainly have to rely on their knowledge base and forums. Google has provided in-depth guides and KB for every function of the search console. So, you can refer to it in case of any problem. You can also ask questions on their forums but direct support is not available.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    BrightLocal
    Thryv reached out to me about 3 weeks before signing up with BrightLocal. While all of their features were impressive, there were only about 3 features that I would have used. Thryv wanted $200 per month for their service, which I found to be way overpriced for what I was wanting to use it for. I selected BrightLocal because it had the features I wanted at a lower price and then add ons. After using BrightLocal for a week and speaking with Becki, a customer service executive, I have discovered more features that I would use on BrightLocal than on Thryv.
    Read full review
    Google
    SEMRush is a supplementary tool we use to provide competitive analysis. While it does, or should, provide the same data that Search Console does, but I only fully trust Search Console when it comes to basic performance in Google for the sites we develop and own. SEMRush, and other products like it, does provide much more in-depth insights that can help drive business decisions, including site performance on other search engines, along putting organic and paid search performance in one spot. However, SEMRush costs money while Search Console is free.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    BrightLocal
    • BrightLocal's ranking reports have helped us better serve our clients' SEO needs, especially local SEO.
    • Reporting is nicely accomplished with their online client report dashboards.
    • Negative: some of their software defects are glaringly obvious take forever to fix, creating a number of awkward moments when we talk our clients through their reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Given that this is a free tool, the return on investment has been particularly high - we've identified and addressed a few site issues that could have meant a reduction in search traffic.
    • Our organic search traffic has been on the rise in part due to the insights gained from the search traffic analytics provided within the console.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    BrightLocal Screenshots

    Screenshot of Location SummaryScreenshot of Local Search Rank CheckerScreenshot of Local Search GridScreenshot of Local Search AuditScreenshot of Google My Business AuditScreenshot of Citation Tracker