Likelihood to Recommend It is helpful if you are trying to understand where a site stands in terms of the links coming to it from different websites. It is less helpful in terms of providing specific actions or steps to take to get more links. However, it is a part of a larger Moz package so other areas provide information that can help there.
Read full review 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.
Read full review Pros Moz Link Explorer has a straightforward and easy to use interface. It’s very simple to navigate and understand the data. The anchor text tool gives you an idea of the most widely used anchor texts other websites use when linking to your site. It can raise a red flag when too many sites are linking to you using exact match keyword anchor texts. Read full review 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 You need to subscribe to Moz Pro to get all features, which is pricey if you aren’t using the tool regularly. I’ve found that competitor tools give larger lists of inbound links. You’ll need some understanding of how SEO works to maximize the tool. Would non-SEO specialists understand the difference between domain authority and page authority, or the difference between follow back, and non-follow backlinks? Moz offers lots of training resources, but it takes time to learn what you need. Read full review 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. Read full review Likelihood to Renew No renewal is necessary with the free version!
Read full review 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.
Read full review Support Rating I put a middling score here because of the difference in support between the free and premium uses. The Free tool was a great service, but there wasn't much support. It was tool that was intended to have a skilled SEO utilize it and save time. The Premium version has great support, but also offered more information so that skilled SEOs and novices alike could benefit from the tool.
Read full review 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.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Ahrefs is much more comprehensive than Open Site Explorer. If you are in need of a deep backlink analysis there are better options out there for your money. If you need a quick look at the state of a client's backlink profile than OSE is for you. It will give you the top metrics you are looking for and then some. I find OSE to be more user-friendly than competitors
Read full review 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.
Read full review Return on Investment This has allowed me to bring more traffic to our website. This has increased our clients. This has increased our Domain Authority over 10. Read full review 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