Google Trends vs. SpyFu

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Trends
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Google Trends is a search engine optimization software solution offered by .N/A
SpyFu
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
SpyFu is the eponymous SEO and PPC research platform from the company in Scottsdale, Arizona focused on "spying" on competitors, or basically using their behaviors to refine your own through keyword and content analysis, and backlink poaching. This positional search engine optimization and paid listings management platform touts the ability to lower costs and raise rankings via a Kombat-oriented approach... basically a cute way of saying "it makes comparisons" of how well your site does in niche…
$39
per month
Pricing
Google TrendsSpyFu
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic
$39
per month
Professional
$79
per month
Team
$299
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google TrendsSpyFu
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google TrendsSpyFu
Considered Both Products
Google Trends
Chose Google Trends
Google Trends tends to be slightly more accurate than the other products, because Google has access to more user data for the algorithm to take into consideration when providing trends and information. We like this tool because it also aligns better with the Google tools we use …
SpyFu
Chose SpyFu
SpyFu is a good tool and it certainly provides a good starting point for any basic PPC or SEO campaign. I dont believe it has the comprehensive features that a tool like Ahrefs has, as it doesnt have the granular data these tools possess. However, it is still well worth using …
Chose SpyFu
They both give me great value, I use them together to get the best results. SimilarWeb gives me a holistic view of a website's traffic - it includes both organic and paid traffic, while SpyFu gives only organic traffic results.
Chose SpyFu
SpyFu is definitely a lower-cost, more simplistic, easier-to-use, less robust tool compared to SEMRush. However, they provide similar information in similar ways. I would say for the serious, large business looking to invest in a hardy tool, SEMRush is great. For the smaller …
Features
Google TrendsSpyFu
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.0
35 Ratings
24% below category average
SpyFu
6.6
52 Ratings
15% below category average
Keyword analysis8.533 Ratings7.052 Ratings
Backlink management5.08 Ratings6.040 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking5.013 Ratings6.044 Ratings
Page grader5.09 Ratings7.829 Ratings
Competitive analysis8.021 Ratings7.051 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics5.08 Ratings7.232 Ratings
Site recommendations5.09 Ratings6.031 Ratings
Task management6.24 Ratings6.120 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.5
24 Ratings
15% below category average
SpyFu
5.8
39 Ratings
26% below category average
Local SEO6.221 Ratings5.033 Ratings
Social SEO6.215 Ratings5.028 Ratings
Mobile SEO6.216 Ratings8.029 Ratings
Global SEO7.224 Ratings5.035 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.0
11 Ratings
34% below category average
SpyFu
7.3
28 Ratings
15% below category average
Multi-domain support6.05 Ratings6.028 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools6.011 Ratings8.518 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google TrendsSpyFu
Small Businesses
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google TrendsSpyFu
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(33 ratings)
7.0
(62 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(10 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(6 ratings)
7.6
(13 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google TrendsSpyFu
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google Trends is great for research and planning, to analyse keyword demand and associated costs. It really does help plan to capture consumer demand. It can be a little tricky to use, as the UX design isn't brilliant, so you'll need to learn how to navigate the website.
Read full review
SpyFu
If you have a Google ads PPC campaign and then I would say this is more or less essential if you want to know what your competitors are doing. You can get very useful data out of it even if you subscribe for one month. And the pricing is very reasonable. Even if you don't use Google ads, I would say this is still useful for your SEO/SMO team since it gives you a great idea of what keywords and traffic your competitors are working on.
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Pros
Google
  • I love how Google Trends presents the popularity of a specific query by location. For example, my product may be more popular or more "searched" in a specific state or city. This helps a lot for direct mail campaigns or any sort of in-person marketing efforts like events or pop-ups. You could use the information from Google Trends to decide what locations will be more receptive of your product/industry or you could see where people have little to no interest and build a brand awareness campaign focusing on those areas.
  • Another great feature within Google Trends is that it shows "Related Queries", which are basically suggestions of better keywords or phrases to incorporate into your content. If you search for data on a keyword you're using that's too broad (your content won't stand out among other web pages) or too narrow (not many potential customers are searching that keyword or phrase), Google Trends will suggest a related keyword or phrase that is more appropriate or trending at the moment. You could go back and incorporate these phrases into your content so that it's more likely to be found on search engines.
  • Within the Google Trends "Related Topics" section, you can choose whether you want to see topics that are "Top" or "Rising". I like this feature because looking at a "Rising" topic can help you create content that's more likely to be seen - especially if you're a beginner. Most topics that are in the "Top" category can have thousands of web pages that you're competing against and you can feel like your content is drowning. But the topics in the "rising" category can be great for newer sites that haven't developed authority online yet. You can write on one of these topics and be one of the first sites to create content on that topic, which gives you a head start over other sites.
  • Google Trends "Categories" is also a great feature. If you don't have any content ideas for your website, you can easily find inspiration by selecting a category that's relevant to your industry. The top keywords or topics will come up and you can create content on those topics to increase your number of web visitors. For example, if you work in the fashion industry and you don't have content ideas, you can have Google Trends generate data for the "Beauty & Fitness" or "Shopping" categories to see what's trending. Google will tell you if a specific brand, person, or event is trending and you could write an article based on one of those trends. Since people are searching for that topic, your content will be seen. This is a great way to create timely content even if you're new to an industry or simply haven't kept up with it.
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SpyFu
  • Keeping a tab on competitors organic and inorganic activities
  • Helps identify where the competitor is getting the backlinks from.
  • Identify competitors top content and the keywords that's bringing them traffic
  • Get proper information of their current and past ADS run on Google.
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • It would be nice to have breadcrumbs available so that I can go backward in a particular search. One I click a topic and then click the related terms two or three times, I find that I'm so far down the rabbit hole that the "Back" button in my browser is a really inconvenient way to find my way back to a certain stage of my search. If there were breadcrumbs I could jump directly back to a particular stage and chase another rabbit from there.
  • It's easy to get lost searching in here for an extended period of time. I would be nice to be able to print a report of my whole session when I have finished.
  • It would be nice to have a Top Tends board of job searches or other information related to jobs that are currently popular Google searches.
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SpyFu
  • As with any database, their keyword database has limits, so the data returned is relative to their database, not necessarily the full picture.
  • When SpyFu database or scoring chances, the data provided can spike, thus causing confusion among stakeholders, we're reporting to.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
No answers on this topic
SpyFu
Love this tool but would like insights from all 3 major search engines not just Google. I would also like deeper understanding of the placement for local businesses on Google Places/Maps. Insight into mobile search rankings and best landing pages per industry would also help :) Overall, SpyFu is a necessity for serious search marketers.
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Usability
Google
Google Trends is very easy to use. you just search for a certain keyword or phrase, and it tells you how often that keyword or phrase is searched, where in the world it is searched, and over the last decade, how often it is per year.
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SpyFu
SpyFu is an easy to use tool, and has a self -explanatroy dashborad to generate the data needed to provide insights into any B2B SEO and PPC campaign. It is not comprehensive, but it certainly provides good enough insight to make it a valuable part of any agency tool stack
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Support Rating
Google
I haven't needed to use any support for Google Trends. However, I've used Google's support in general and it's a hit or miss. Usually, there's a long wait or they don't understand my problem. They are the only ones that can help, so sometimes I feel stuck. They prioritize paying customers for sure.
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SpyFu
SpyFu comes with a link to tutorial videos. I recommend you watch them. The software is capable of so much you really need to watch the videos and learn how to get the most out of it. When I have a question 90% of the time it's there. When it isn't, and I reach out to them, support is always quick and concise.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
Google Trends is a great place to start in the content curation, content research, blog post writing, and resource page creation process. It is not, however, a place to do serious SEO optimization. Tools like Moz, or Analytics SEO would be a better place to go after you do initial research on Google Trends to dial in your keywords, and optimize content for search engines.
Read full review
SpyFu
I was surprised to find I preferred Semrush when it comes to keyword research. SpyFu is great (and less expensive than Semrush), but I felt the data Semrush provided was vaster than SpyFu. I was able to get more competitors spending insights in Semrush than SpyFu. Overall, I liked the ability to use both in our keyword research for both paid and organic marketing.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • Google Trends has shown me when a keyword is no longer working for my website so that I can adjust the content accordingly.
  • It shows me seasonal differences so I can adjust my PPC budgets to be on pace with the trends.
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SpyFu
  • Helping us track our ranking.
  • It helps solve the problem of ambiguity when it comes to Google Ads. It makes the strategy more clear.
  • You can sift through lots of different online analytics to find the information, but it takes way too long. SpyFu has it all in one place!
Read full review
ScreenShots