Item: SpyFu
Rating: 10
Author: George Louvis

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SpyFu is used primarily by me. Although my marketing team has access to it, I tend to be the one that uses it the most. We use it to find good keywords to use for our clients, as well as checking out what competitors are using and looking at their ads. Being able to see what ads specific competitors have been running, when they run them and their budget is a tremendous advantage for us in putting together plans for our clients.

Pros and Cons

Gets info on competitor's websites. Simply putting in a domain name allows us to see what keywords they rank for organically, how much they spend on PPC and what their ads look like.
Finds the best keywords for our clients. By showing what keywords are going to cost, how many searches per month, etc. it allows us to plan budgets more accurately.

Obviously, not every website can be tracked. They add as many as they can, but sometimes a keyword or specific site just isn't being tracked yet.

Return on Investment

SpyFu pays for itself the first year. We save so much money on our PPC ads. Plus we get more leads and sales with the ads we create. Any company that spends more than $5,000 per year on Google PPC ads needs SpyFu.

Alternatives Considered

I haven't checked any competitors. SpyFu was the one I found first and it works so well that I never needed to look for an alternative. I can't imagine trying to do my job without it. It's that good.

Support Rating

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.

Key Insights

Do you think SpyFu delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SpyFu's feature set?

Yes

Did SpyFu live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of SpyFu go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy SpyFu again?

Yes

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.

Why I love SpyFu and you will too.

Overall Satisfaction with SpyFu