Item: Moz Pro
Rating: 8
Author: Alex Fusman

Overall Satisfaction with Moz

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Moz is being used by one individual who handles SEO/SEM efforts at the company. The toolbar is used for site stats, OSE is used for backlink research. We don't currently use the PRO version, though I have used that in the past with other companies and clients. The primary business problem it addresses is that it aids in decisions related to competitive data.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The toolbar is a great way to see site stats directly in the SERPs
The ability to create campaigns within PRO is a good way to monitor competitors and keep things organized
The page grader tool helps to create a checklist for basic on-site SEO factors that need to be addressed

Cons

I believe that the Open Site Explorer (OSE) tool is not as complete or up to date as it could be. Competing tools, such as Ahrefs.com, do a better job of showing all the backlinks for a site, along with more historical data.
In the past, I've had issues with the Moz toolbar staying logged in to my account. It would always get logged out in between browsing sessions and was difficult to stay logged in consistently. This seems to have been resolved in the current version.

Return on Investment

The primary impact Moz has had is in the saving of time spent researching competitive metrics such as page/site authority and backlinks.
The user-friendly reporting within Moz has also been useful in an agency setting when generating reports for clients.

Alternatives Considered

Ahrefs Site Explorer

I prefer Ahrefs Site Explorer to Moz's Open Site Explorer. It has much more data on current and historical backlinks, as well as useful charts. The UI is easy to navigate and there are options for exporting the data, which I find useful as well.

Likelihood to Renew

As an individual with SEO-related side projects, it may be hard to justify the annual cost of the Moz PRO membership. However, for a company, it is a relatively low cost, especially if the Moz toolset is being used by multiple individuals within the company.

Likelihood to Recommend

I think that the Moz toolset is better suited for individuals and organizations that are not conducting SEO efforts at an expert level. A full-time SEO expert doesn't need tips on fundamental on-site SEO, uses a more extensive backlink analysis tool, and doesn't use the Q&A credits. The toolset does provide some time-saving features, so it may still be worth the monthly subscription fee, but the total feature set is much better suited for those who need help with understanding how to implement SEO rather than those who are already doing it at an expert level.

Comments

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Moz is a useful tool for most, but less useful for experts.

Software Version