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SpyFu has proven to be an invaluable tool for conducting competitor research and analysis in the advertising industry. Users have praised …
Starting at $39 per month
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What is SpyFu?
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…
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Popular Features
- Competitive analysis (50)9.191%
- SERP ranking tracking (43)8.181%
- Keyword analysis (51)6.969%
- Backlink management (39)5.858%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
Basic
$39
Cloud
per month
Professional
$79
Cloud
per month
Team
$299
Cloud
per month
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
Using Spyfu to Find Leads for a B2B Google Ads or SEO Agency - SpyFu Review and Demo For B2B Leads
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Jeff Demo 07 - Using SpyFu for Local SEO YouTube
YouTube
SpyFu Review Video Demo - Excellent or Scam?
YouTube
Domain Ad History Demo, Part 2 | SpyFu Domain Ad History
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Domain Ad History Demo, Part 1 | SpyFu Domain Ad History
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Spyfu Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives (+ Demo)
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What is SpyFu?
SpyFu Video
SpyFu Demo
SpyFu Competitors
SpyFu Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
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 keyword areas vis-a-vis rival actors in the same or contiguous marketing space.
Published pricing starts at $79 per month with the Basic plan, for Google, Yahoo & Bing research, 6 years of historical access, unlimited access to SpyFu's tools, but somewhat limited access to leads and domain contacts keyword rank tracking. The $139 Professional plan gives full access to UK data and doubles the rank tracking of keywords from 400 to 800, and provides custom branded (white label) reports and API access. the $999 Agency plan gives team access (10 user logins) and unlimited tracking and reporting capabilities.
Moz Pro and RavenTools are common alternatives for SpyFu.
Reviewers rate Competitive analysis highest, with a score of 9.1.
The most common users of SpyFu are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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(132)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
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SpyFu has proven to be an invaluable tool for conducting competitor research and analysis in the advertising industry. Users have praised its ability to provide strong directional insights for evaluating search advertisers, allowing them to understand their potential clients' past PPC efforts and identify opportunities for new campaigns. With its keyword research capabilities, users have been able to optimize their AdWords campaigns and allocate budgets effectively, ensuring that they are targeting the right keywords and avoiding spending on ineffective ad campaigns. SpyFu's SEO insights have also been highly beneficial for users, enabling them to assess the effectiveness of their SEO efforts and identify areas for improvement. By analyzing competitors' backlinks, users have been able to enhance their own backlink profiles, improving their website's authority in search engines.
The software has matured over time and added new elements, making it an integral part of users' arsenal for competitor research and baseline SEO analysis. Users have particularly praised SpyFu's ability to deliver a domain's ad history, which has helped them remain competitive in paid search. By identifying profitable keywords and uncovering low-hanging fruit through keyword tracking and competitor analysis features, users have been able to drive successful SEO campaigns. SpyFu's impact on search marketing ventures cannot be overstated, as it provides users with a powerful edge over their competitors in the search engine space.
In addition, SpyFu has become widely utilized for SEM and SEO business intelligence. Its comprehensive insights into competitors' monthly spending, ad copy, keywords, and SEO rankings allow users to gain valuable information for strategic decision-making. The tool has proven effective in pivoting campaign strategies quickly based on the insights provided by SpyFu. Users have found it instrumental in competitor analysis and strategizing marketing programs, helping them understand the competition landscape and assess viability within given budgets.
Furthermore, SpyFu has been used for various purposes such as analyzing potential keywords, conducting SEO data research, gaining insights into how search engines perceive websites, establishing baselines, conducting competitive analysis, and performing marketing and brand audits. Its advanced competitive keyword research capabilities have allowed users to collect thousands of keywords for themselves and their competitors, providing a wealth of data for analysis and optimization. SpyFu's auto-generated SEO reports have also been vital to the success of SEO efforts, providing users with comprehensive insights into core keywords and identifying new opportunities or challenges. Additionally, the estimation of competitors' monthly AdWords spending by SpyFu has provided valuable information in highly competitive fields.
With its interface and growing catalog of advantages, SpyFu has met users' needs
Intuitive User Interface: Many users have praised SpyFu for its highly intuitive and easy-to-navigate user interface. They appreciate the straightforward design and layout, which allows them to quickly access the information they need. This user-friendly interface has been mentioned by several reviewers, making it accessible to employees of all experience levels and easy for anyone to use and navigate.
Competitor Analysis: The ability to analyze competitors' advertising strategies and tactics is highly valued by users. Several reviewers have expressed their appreciation for being able to see what advertising has been done in the past. This feature allows them to gain insights into their competition's strategies, stay informed about their industry, and make data-driven decisions for their own campaigns.
Keyword Insights: Users find the keyword tool within SpyFu to be a great resource for understanding their website's performance as well as comparing it to their competitors'. Many reviewers have highlighted how this tool helps them identify top-performing keywords and compare them against their competitors' keywords. By optimizing SEO strategies based on these insights, users are able to stay ahead of the competition in search engine rankings.
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Lack of Clarity in Explanations: Some users have found that certain aspects of SpyFu are not well explained, leading to confusion and difficulty in understanding their purpose.
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Irrelevant Keywords: Several reviewers have mentioned that the keywords provided by SpyFu can be irrelevant to the selected business, which compromises the accuracy of the data.
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Graphs Difficult to Work With: The graphs in SpyFu have been described as challenging to navigate at times, indicating that they may not be intuitive or user-friendly.
The user suggests trying the free trial of SpyFu first and utilizing the on-boarding support provided. They highly recommend using SpyFu for SEO and PPC, considering it a great tool for competitive keyword research. Utilizing the help section and video tutorials is recommended. SpyFu is seen as worth the money, offering numerous features at a reasonable price. It is suggested to use SpyFu to stay competitive in advertising and to target specific issues with the help of the provided videos. For small businesses unable to afford SEO and PPC agency prices, SpyFu is considered a great investment. Trying SpyFu and upgrading are recommended, as it is easy to use, particularly for SEO purposes. Tracking competitors' ads, keywords, and spending using SpyFu is also advised. To improve digital marketing efforts, it is suggested to take advantage of SpyFu's capabilities. The tutorial videos provided by SpyFu should be watched for better utilization of the tool. For PPC professionals, SpyFu is considered a must-have. Running reports often and leveraging the information provided by SpyFu for informed business decisions are recommended practices. Taking advantage of reduced pricing for the trial period and the guided tour offered by SpyFu are additional suggestions. SpyFu is highly regarded as a great tool for competitive research and SEO analysis in online marketing. Considering SpyFu for gaining valuable insights and ensuring competitiveness online is suggested. Reviewers find it fast, easy to work with, and reasonably priced. For paid search analysis, utilizing SpyFu is recommended. The competition section of SpyFu can also be used to expand prospect pipelines with more companies.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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June 01, 2022
A great SEO tool at an affordable price
I use SpyFu as part of my SEO work for both competitor research and keyword research to inform SEO strategies for my clients. I also use their reporting tool to provide monthly snapshots for my clients to show the progress we are making during the implementation phase of their campaign.
- The filtering options in the keyword tool are super helpful
- The multi-competitor keyword tool makes identifying keyword gaps so easy
- Their branded reports are easy to use and save us from having to pay for a different reporting service
- They provide real value at an affordable price
- I honestly can't think of anything I dislike or would change about SpyFu
May 24, 2022
Very impressive. Helpful. Reasonable price and they offer free services which I mostly used.
I used the free version of SpyFu and was very impressed. It made me want to dig deeper into SEO and Google ads because, with tools like this, even a novice can become an expert. My favorite thing is that you can see the strategy of other successful dental practices and copy them.
- It is very accurate in ranking and showing value for SEO.
- It seems to be a market leader as it was one of the first to come up with Google.
- It is especially good for competitive markets.
- Integration with more software like Dentrix or other dental.
- Nothing else, it's pretty good.
SpyFu has been very helpful for compiling competitor data and identifying opportunities with this research. The usefulness in regards to using it for Paid Search is great! Specifically, SpyFu's capability to deliver a particular domain's ad history is very helpful in seeing what changes were made and how we can remain competitive.
- Competitor Insights
- Paid Search Ad History
- SERP comparisons
- Organic search data
- Integrating more content-creation tools for ad copy
- Allowing more free features
May 17, 2022
Clean, comprehensive Competitor insights
At our full-scale marketing agency, we use SpyFu for SEM and SEO business intelligence. SpyFu helps us get an idea of our clients' competitors' monthly spending, ad copy, keywords, SEO rankings, and much more, allowing us to present findings and pivot campaign strategies quickly. A tool like this can take the "guessing" out of competitor conquest, or even defend our own brand name against competitor bids.
- Provides competitive intelligence
- Provides SEO ranking history
- Suggests negative keyword additions
- Accuracy of competitor PPC spend could be improved (we have proven this against our own URLs)
- Relevancy of Google Ads keyword "Buy recommendations"
- More complete (far-reaching) view of Ad Histories
January 30, 2020
The Best Competitor Research Tool Out There
We use Spyfu to see what kind of competition our clients are facing and for what keywords their competition is targeting. It's also a good measure to see what our client's viability is with their given budget before we launch their campaign. We'll primarily use it to assess keyword rankings before we have enough data in Google Search Console.
- Free feature
- Accurate data
- Paid portion may seem a bit steep.
- Free version is very limited with what you're able to see.
January 18, 2020
SpyFu Search Analytics Review
SpyFu is being used by my organization in a variety of ways. We are an agency that works with various businesses to solve numerous business issues in a number of different markets. SpyFu has helped to save time and to make overall marketing efforts more structured and strategized backed by validated data.
- Keyword research.
- Keyword groupings.
- Additional paid media analytics.
November 07, 2019
Accessible and easy to use
SpyFu is mainly used by our paid media department and SEO department for competitive research. However, it is also a great tool for us to better understand how search engines are perceiving our clients' sites and marketing initiatives and allows us to have a better understanding of the digital marketing landscape.
- Affordable price point compared to other similar tools.
- An easy-to-use interface that makes it accessible to most of our employees regardless of experience level.
- Strong information for us to reference in our marketing research.
- SpyFu's data could possibly be a little more specific; compared to some other similar platforms, it's slightly simplistic.
- SpyFu could consider providing more competitor information outside of search, and delve into other platforms like social, as this data is becoming more widely available.
- SpyFu's user interface - while easy to navigate - also takes away a lot of customizations and levers you might be able to pull in other platforms.
December 17, 2018
SpyFu is a must-have for businesses!
SpyFu is a great tool to get an overview of your competitors' keywords they are ranking for, estimated ad spend on Google Ad words, samples of their ad copy and allows you create projects to help you track your SEO and marketing efforts. My main use for SpyFu is to gain insight on keywords and links that my competitors and my clients' competitors are using.
- Easy to navigate. The user interface is pretty straightforward and easy to use.
- Projects: Create projects for your own company or for clients you are managing to track your efforts.
- Insights on ad spend, keywords and impression share.
- Price - I was a user for several years and trying out another platform, I canceled and was quickly offered the same platform I had used for years at half the price.
- I know the ad spend for Google Adwords is estimated - It would be helpful if it was a little more accurate - maybe not a doable feature of SpyFu, but would be helpful.
September 27, 2018
Good SEM Competitor Tool
The ad agencies I've worked at have used SpyFu to gain competitive intelligence. This is something SEM vendors partially provide and SpyFu helps fill in the gaps to work on a holistic SEM strategy.
- Estimated cost per clicks by competitor. SpyFu provides deeper intel than the engines b/c the data is segmented by domain and is not masked
- Estimated monthly traffic volume & costs associated with higher spending competitors. SpyFu provides deeper intel than the engines b/c the data is segmented by domain and is not masked
- The cost per click information is not terribly accurate but can usually be used directionally. Obviously, with a paid product, people want exact data
- The free tool has limited data that mainly show vague feedback on your competitors. Def need paid version for any useful info.
June 04, 2018
SpyFu the best on competitor analysis.
SpyFu was used for me to do competition analysis on our direct competitors regarding Adwords. It gave me ideas about the Adwords Keywords our main competitors were buying and what their most successful Adwords ads were. SpyFu also estimates how much your competitors spend on Adwords monthly which is valuable information when you are in a very competitive field.
- Gives you the most popular Ads for each month.
- Shows you the keywords your competitors are using.
- Spyfu will show you an estimate of what they believe your competitor is spending and this number is always low. They should evaluate the keyword prices more to give a more relevant estimate.
- Free version only gives you around 20 keywords for each competitor. I wish it was larger.
- Must sign in to see any SpyFu information even for the free version. This is a new thing and I liked it better when it was anonymous for free.
March 19, 2014
Why SpyFu needs to be a part of your SEM Arsenal.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It is currently being used by the Online Marketing Division to restructure PPC accounts, audit competition, create strategies for organic and paid search initiatives and generate leads. We also use SpyFu for independent consulting along with a few other tools. Spy Fu's interface is fantastic and their growing catalog of advantages continues to meet my teams needs as we grow our current accounts and look for new opportunities.
- The Organic SEO dashboard provides insight into how your site is doing in search across all variables and suggests competitors to keep an eye on. I use the SEO dashboard to bring to attention what clients should focus their efforts on. The low hanging fruit that SpyFu brings to light is a breath of fresh air.
- The Kombat Tool in Spyfu is worth the price of admission as it helps me view keywords and ad copy that competitors use to get the best bang for their buck. By viewing what ad copy competition has been using for the longest along with what keywords they keep high bids on is a great launching point for any new adwords campaign
- When taking over Adwords or SEO accounts, failed vendors get bitter. Being able to download all Adwords and organic keywords allows you to focus on pushing the plan forward..
- Cover Binga nd Yahoo PPC
- Cover Ad networks (Display Placements!) like Ad GooRoo or Ad Spy and other such services
- Allow users to host a white label SpyFu dashboard on their domain using API or some such technique
- Give users a place to edit Adwords campaigns right in SpyFU!
February 19, 2014
The one stop shop for understanding ALL digital marketing efforts
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
SpyFu is currently being used in our plan and prepare stage of the sales cycle, specifically to analyze daily PPC budget and SEO traffic value. We utilize both the Kombat tool and the main tool to assess competition and current media spend for PPC and SEO compared to top businesses in the industry. This information allows us to determine the quality of digital advertising this company has already utilized and enables us to better position our sales presentation.
- Monthly PPC/SEO Budget
- Organic/Paid keyword results
- Ad Results
- Ad Copy Preview
- Organic and Ad Competitors
- More up-to-date list of keywords
- More accurate range of PPC budget and SEO value
- Provide descriptions of the information provided
- Industry averages that can be compared to current data for the company