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SpyFu

SpyFu

Overview

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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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

SpyFu has proven to be an invaluable tool for conducting competitor research and analysis in the advertising industry. Users have praised …
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TrustRadius Insights
TrustRadius Insights

Smooth and Easy PPC Research Tool!

9 out of 10
September 01, 2022
I use SpyFu for researching competitor PPC campaigns and keeping an eye on their strategies. I find it helpful to see what keywords they …
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SpyFu- give it a tru!

8 out of 10
May 19, 2022
Incentivized
We are looking for help with ranking our website in both paid and organic searches. SEO keyword research can be overwhelming, and we did …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 14 features
  • Competitive analysis (50)
    9.1
    91%
  • SERP ranking tracking (43)
    8.1
    81%
  • Keyword analysis (51)
    6.9
    69%
  • Backlink management (39)
    5.8
    58%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Verified User
Manager in Marketing
Investment Management Company, 11-50 employees
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Pricing

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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
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Product Demos

Using Spyfu to Find Leads for a B2B Google Ads or SEO Agency - SpyFu Review and Demo For B2B Leads

YouTube

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

YouTube

Domain Ad History Demo, Part 1 | SpyFu Domain Ad History

YouTube

Spyfu Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives (+ Demo)

YouTube
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Features

SEO

Core features related to search engine optimization

7.2
Avg 7.8

SEO Channels

Features related to optimizing your website for specific channels

7.7
Avg 7.6

SEO Platform & Account Management

Features related to scalability and integration of the SEO platform

8.7
Avg 8.4
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Product Details

What is SpyFu?

SpyFu Video

SpyFu Demo

SpyFu Competitors

SpyFu Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

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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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(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!

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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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

(1-25 of 61)
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September 01, 2023

Intuitive competitive research tool for advertisers

Verified User
Manager in Marketing
Investment Management Company, 11-50 employees
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
When you want to do competitive research based on what they are advertising, this is one of the best solutions. Say you don't know what type of text ads you are creating, or need display ad ideas, their spy tools are helpful. They also help you determine what type of keywords and targeting you should be doing.
September 01, 2022

Smooth and Easy PPC Research Tool!

Verified User
Consultant in Marketing
Marketing & Advertising Company, 1-10 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Likelihood to Recommend
I would say whenever I have to review a new website for organic traffic or historical data and map it with the Google updates (SpyFu has cool annotations), it becomes really helpful. Apart from that, whenever I have to do a PPC analysis, I have SpyFu instantly available with the best data for Google Ads (I wish they expand to other sources such as - Facebook and other Social accounts), but that's manageable. I just wish they improve at least some of the keyword databases. Once I was researching for a Yoga institute, and it found nothing but fewer than 50 keywords, whereas other tools have more than 5K keywords related to it.
June 02, 2022

Excellent tool for competitors Google Ads analysis

Verified User
Manager in Marketing
Computer Software Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
June 01, 2022

A great SEO tool at an affordable price

Verified User
Project Manager in Marketing
Marketing & Advertising Company, 1-10 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Keyword research, especially for identifying keywords that competitors rank for that your client doesn't. All aspects of competitor research include getting snapshots of the keywords they rank for, the websites that link to them, their Google ad history, and ad keywords. Simple but effective branded reports to share with clients.
May 26, 2022

Don't let your competitors know about this tool

Russell Pabon | TrustRadius Reviewer
Russell Pabon
Digital Marketing Manager
Jomsy Fashion (Apparel & Fashion, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
While I confidently give SpyFu a good recommendation, a part of me is slightly scared of what might happen if this lands in the hands of our competitors (it's the one giving us an edge over them). SpyFu is able to do most of the hard work for you so that you run successful digital campaigns. However, it all ends up in you as the user making very clinical analyses and the wisest of decisions from the pool of suggestions.
May 26, 2022

Get Sneak-Peek of the Competition in one Click!

Rohit Langde | TrustRadius Reviewer
Rohit Langde
Marketing Manager
MalwareFox (Computer & Network Security, 11-50 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
For a small company, starting out and finding directions for building organic traffic as well as gaining exposure through Paid Ads, SpyFu is a good place to start. It is a smart move to understand what peers are doing and take action accordingly. I agree that their volume, clicks, and traffic estimations are not accurate but you get real close at affordable pricing. If you compare the pricing plans with competitors, SpyFu definitely has an edge.
May 24, 2022

Very impressive. Helpful. Reasonable price and they offer free services which I mostly used.

Verified User
Director in Marketing
Health, Wellness and Fitness Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend SpyFu to novice Google ad users OR advanced users who like to see more visual data all in one place. 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! Right now I am paying another company to do my google ads, but I think that in the future I may try to do it myself and hire SpyFu to give me a leg up.
May 19, 2022

SpyFu- give it a tru!

Verified User
Executive in Marketing
Retail Company, 11-50 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
SpyFu is great at providing keyword recommendations and canning your own website to give an overall SEO health score; however, the data they provide is for the advanced SEO and paid search marketer. I could see the tool being less appropriate if a team had no one able to comprehend the data and implement it. If the latter is the case, SpyFu is another wasted data source.
May 18, 2022

A Must-Have for Paid Search & Competitive Insights

Lisa Arrington | TrustRadius Reviewer
Lisa Arrington
Digital Marketing Manager
TheeAgency (Marketing & Advertising, 11-50 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
SpyFu is a great platform for companies seeking competitive data, both for organic and paid search. It's paid search capabilities are more helpful than it's organic search capabilities, not because the tool is not powerful, but because alternative platforms like Semrush or Ahrefs are a little more thorough on the organic side. For paid search, SpyFu is one of my favorite tools!
May 18, 2022

SpyFu - A worthy competitor.

Verified User
Professional in Marketing
E-Learning Company, 1-10 employees
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited if you want a software with a clean UI with less confusions and distractions. Spyfu does a great job in supporting you in your digital marketing activities be in SEO or be it PPC. It's good if you want a single software to cater to different marketing verticals without spending a lot of capital on a software.

On the other hand, the data isn't always accurate when compared to other softwares in the same category, although these softwares could be a lot expensive that SpyFu.
May 17, 2022

Great tools for a great price

Verified User
Director in Marketing
Real Estate Company, 1-10 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited for people trying to identify how to improve their SEO and compare their PPC with competitors. It is not well suited for things outside of the realm of SEO. I have seen better tools for page improvement recommendations from other products, SpyFu does a great job at looking at your entire site.
May 17, 2022

The best keyword research tool on the market

Tyler Heaps | TrustRadius Reviewer
Tyler Heaps
Director of Marketing
Rain Retail Software (Computer Software, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I have used SpyFu for a long time and it is one of the best tools I have used to conduct competitive research and keyword analysis. I have recommended this tool to each company I have worked with because it continues to produce high-quality results. As long as you can do your own keyword analysis this is a great tool to collect the data.
May 17, 2022

Clean, comprehensive Competitor insights

EV
Elias Van Son
Sr. Paid Search Specialist
Butler/Till (Marketing & Advertising, 201-500 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
As a Paid Search specialist, SpyFu has helped me provide my clients with metrics for their direct and indirect competitors: average monthly spend, lists of competitor keywords, examples of ETA and RSA ad copy, and even this new "K6mbat" feature where we can position ourselves head-to-head against any competitors to see how we stack up in the market.
May 04, 2021

Agency evaluation of SpyFu

JK
Jonathan Kagan
VP
9Rooftops | Cogniscient Media (Marketing & Advertising, 201-500 employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Overall Spyfu isn't to shabby of a platform. Is the best? No. Is it the worst? Also no. But it is a good option for any ad agency that does search engine marketing, whose client focus is larger than small medium businesses. However once you get to the major enterprise size advertisers, you may have outgrown the platform.
January 30, 2020

The Best Competitor Research Tool Out There

Jake Hundley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jake Hundley
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
Evergrow Marketing (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
SpyFu has worked extremely well for us when we assess a prospect's market competition to see how competitive we need to be as a marketing agency, as well as what we should expect when launching ad campaigns as far as impression share goes. The data we're able to pull to show prospect's the climate of their market really impresses them. Once we have acquired that client, we focus less on what the competition is doing and more on how we can better optimize the keywords we're aiming for. In this instance, SpyFu isn't as applicable to us since we use another SEO/PPC tool for existing clients.
January 30, 2020

Why I love SpyFu and you will too.

George Louvis | TrustRadius Reviewer
George Louvis
Owner
MySocialMediaUSA.com (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
One of my clients owns a seasonal company. He is relatively small in an industry where he goes against national franchises. His annual budget is $100,000 per year. The national franchise spends that in one month. However, by looking at their ads and their keywords we can plan the best way to market against them and the best time to run specific ads with specific keywords and targets. It also helps us to optimize our site so that we rank organically for keywords they are paying for.
January 28, 2020

SpyFu comes through

Frank Watson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Frank Watson
CEO
Kangamurra Media (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you need insights into the competitive landscape of any online space this tool is excellent. It also finds competitors via keywords both for paid and organic search. This provides an opportunity to see what keywords may have been overlooked or what terms should be looked at for organic - knowing that the rankings and traffic volume warrants it.
January 27, 2020

Straightforward competitive keyword tool

Verified User
Employee in Marketing
Marketing & Advertising Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
  • SpyFu is excellent at identifying big wins among competition or competitive gaps in organic and paid search results. If you are looking to get competitor data for comparison's sake (understanding that the data is useful but not the entire picture), it is well suited for that.
  • If you are trying to compare your web analytics data to SpyFu data for your competition, that is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Traffic figures are an estimation.
January 24, 2020

SpyFu- Under the mask

BM
Bill Martin
Director of Search
BigWing Interactive (Internet, 11-50 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are looking for exact traffic numbers from various channels, not so good. Privacy concerns prevent this and keep accuracy in the sub-50% area. However, if you need some research on a website, it's one of the better ones and is an excellent way to augment Google's keyword planner
January 24, 2020

SpyFu Review

Ruben Diaz | TrustRadius Reviewer
Ruben Diaz
SEM Campaign Manager- Independent Contractor
SERVIZ (Marketing & Advertising, 11-50 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
SpyFu is well suited to spy on your competition. See what they're bidding on and what they're not. How much they're spending. How long of a history they have with Ad words. In most situations, it gives you a better understanding of the whole Keyword search realm.
January 24, 2020

SpyFu is a great tool for agencies and marketing teams

Verified User
Partner in Marketing
Marketing & Advertising Company, 11-50 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
SpyFu is great for agencies and internal marketing teams. It's easy to use by all people in a marketing role. Senior-level executives may not be interested in greater detail within reports and research. Still, those details are helpful for the marketing person running PPC campaigns or SEO related types of activities.
January 18, 2020

SpyFu Search Analytics Review

Verified User
Consultant in Marketing
Marketing and Advertising Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Personally, I love using SpyFu in both the paid and free versions. It is one of the best free versions that you can get online for a search analytics tool. It helps to group keywords in various ways and find analytics around specific keywords and research similar ones to help improve your search engine strategies. It also offers great analytics and overviews on the activity on your web domain.
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