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 It's best used for small to mid-sized businesses that need to track a modest number of keyword phrases - perhaps 100 to 500 - across multiple search engines, in a limited number of geographies, against three or fewer competitors. It's less useful for large enterprises or small businesses that need multiple SEO functions handled by a single tool.
Tom Pick Independent B2B Digital Marketing Consultant
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 Keyword tracking (large volumes) Keyword insights Competitor Keyword tracking 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 The interface is very rudimentary, it is not an interface that we would be comfortable adding clients the ability to access. All results must be pulled into other programs for inclusion in monitoring reports. Adding separate keyword targets for mobile and non-mobile is cumbersome and results must be tracked separately. Read full review Likelihood to Renew No renewal is necessary with the free version!
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 This is an area where AuthorityLabs really shines. It's one of the few Martech or SEO tools vendors about whom I can honestly say I've never had a complaint about their customer support. The team there consistently responds to any questions I've had or issues I've encountered quickly, helpfully, and in a way that feels personal.
Tom Pick Independent B2B Digital Marketing Consultant
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 Very comparative as far as price [goes]. Some of the competitors have different features but you get trade-offs depending on who you are comfortable using.
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 We did not any process in terms of reporting on ROI in regards to SEO, but we only paid a very small monthly charge so it was a no-brainer to use it. It definitely helped our business. Read full review ScreenShots