Item: Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Rating: 10
Author: Jeff Smith

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Screaming Frog is our go-to audit tool when first looking at a potential new project. Even the free version of Screaming Frog is quite useful. It is used company-wide and it the fastest way we have found to get a good "look" at the on-page health of a site. And with the paid version it allows integration with Google Analytics and Search Console (WMT). With SF and Google Sheets you can build a fairly comprehensive overview of metas, alt tags, image size, titles, H tags, etc. in a very short amount of time.

Pros and Cons

A solid crawler with a lot of options.
Allows one to see the core SEO elements of a site very quickly.

The paid version is a bit pricey but for what it does it's worth it.
The UX can see a bit confusing at first, but once you begin to use it the learning curve is quick.

Return on Investment

For what it does it is fast and efficient.
It helps to determine projects we should and should not take on.

Alternatives Considered

I use several tools that can do much of what Screaming Frog can do - SEMRush and SEO PowerSuite. However, for what we use Screaming Frog for, it is the best tool. During a 15-minute phone call with a potential new client, I can crawl the site and determine what shape the site is in. The other tools require a bit more set up. With Screaming Frog, you can just open it and toss in a URL and crawl.

Support Rating

I left the slider sitting on the 1 only because I have never had to contact support. I just have not run into a situation where I needed to have a question answered. I guess after 4 years of using it, that does say something about the ease of use. Considering the capabilities it really is pretty easy to use.

Key Insights

Do you think Screaming Frog SEO Spider delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Screaming Frog SEO Spider's feature set?

Yes

Did Screaming Frog SEO Spider live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Screaming Frog SEO Spider go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Screaming Frog SEO Spider again?

Yes

Other Software Used

SEMRush, SEO PowerSuite, GTmetrix

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are doing SEO audits, I think Screaming Frog is the best first-line tool for looking at a site. I have not found another tool that is capable of doing what Screaming From can in a very short amount of time. I do not use it for Looking at the technical side of a site, there are better tools for that. But for getting a feel for how well a site has been maintained as far as core on-site factors and being able to pull that data to build spreadsheets, SF is the best I have found.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is no toad!

Overall Satisfaction with Screaming Frog SEO Spider