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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SpyFu

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ASpyFu 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

    Substack

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ASubstack is a subscription-based newsletter publishing platform.N/A
    Pricing
    SpyFuSubstack
    Editions & Modules
    Basic
    $39
    per month
    Professional
    $79
    per month
    Team
    $299
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SpyFuSubstack
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    SpyFuSubstack
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of SpyFu and Substack
    Feature
    SpyFu
    6.6
    52 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    Keyword analysis7.052 Ratings00 Ratings
    Backlink management6.040 Ratings00 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking6.044 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page grader7.829 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analysis7.051 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics7.232 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site recommendations6.031 Ratings00 Ratings
    Task management6.120 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of SpyFu and Substack
    Feature
    SpyFu
    5.8
    39 Ratings
    27% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    Local SEO5.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social SEO5.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile SEO8.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global SEO5.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of SpyFu and Substack
    Feature
    SpyFu
    7.2
    28 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-domain support6.028 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools8.518 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SpyFuSubstack
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Blogger
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SpyFuSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (62 ratings)
    8.7
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SpyFuSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Substack Inc.
    I think Substack is better for people who want to set up a personal-facing branded website vs people who just want to post random musings every so often. Monetization is better there than any other collective publishing platform as well as organic reach via email. Substack also allows you to build direct relationships with your readers via emails and own them 100% which is great long-term if you use it to pivot to another site or another form of writing/content creation. Substack would be less helpful for someone wanting to write as a part of a group, not individually, or someone who's unwilling to put their personal brand behind their content. It's less optimized for SEO (which other platforms allow you to do) and can be harder to curate content based on your interests (you really have to go in knowing what you want vs finding it on the fly).
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • Because it has a very high Domain Authority ranking relevant backlinks in a published article will help make my store more searchable.
    • Substack is very easy to work in. The toolset they provide may not be as extensive as other platforms but it is certainly enough to create a meaningful, interesting post.
    • Substack is very focused on creating a community of writers that support each other. They run an ongoing email campaign that reinforces their focus on building a community of writers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • editor is on the primitive side - it's wysiwyg, but missing some embed options
    • integrate with google analytics
    • percentage cut that Substack takes can become a burden as your revenue grows. Problems scaling.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    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.
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    Medium is not so good for running newsletter. I find the mail that a user gets is very easily readable. Also as a creator it's very easy for me to track the analytics and monetise my blogs unlike Medium. Blogger is a very old technology. The kind of integrations and the support for Markdown / different media is very great in Substack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    • I haven’t made any money from it
    • Can be disheartening when you realise you’re putting in maximum effort for minimum audience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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