Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that helps you optimize your website's content for search engines. With features like keyword research, content analysis, and competitor analysis, Surfer SEO provides valuable insights and recommendations to improve your website's visibility and rankings.
Surfer SEO is one of the most popular data-driven content optimization solutions currently available. With its easy-to-use interface, the solution is designed to help surface your pages in search engine rankings as quickly and effectively as possible.
It offers AI-powered SERP analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, content audit, content planning, and optimization bot. All these are integrated into a single platform. This makes it ideal for solving any issue you may have with content visibility.
In this Surfer SEO review, we look at this content optimization platform in-depth and its features to help you decide if it's your best option for SEO content optimization.
Table of Contents
What is Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is a cloud-based tool for optimizing the on-page content of a website so that it can rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Using advanced algorithms, Surfer SEO analyzes data to determine what factors make a page stand out and become more visible within the SERP results.
With this information, webmasters or SEO experts are better equipped to adjust their on-page strategies to optimize their content against competitors who may be already ranking sites even higher.
Some of Surfer SEO’s many features include a comprehensive analysis of keyword density, semantic topics, headings, content structure, readability levels, and various other insights about how well-optimized your page is.
How Does The Surfer SEO Tool Work?
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that provides invaluable insights about search engine optimization. The key to understanding how it works lies in its ability to analyze web pages using advanced data and analysis techniques.
Surfer SEO examines the top pages in the SERPS results of any query you input. It then looks into the meta tags such as the meta description, schema, etc. content for the main keyword and sub-keyword usage along with Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) or Natural Language Processing (NLP) and TF-IDF to identify relevancy and importance of relevant content used.
Additionally, it takes into account media elements like images, videos, infographics, and audio files on the webpage to determine the appropriateness of content for users and search engines.
All of this combined analysis allows Surfer SEO to observe how websites use their on-page SEO factors correctly or incorrectly as well as potential areas for improvement so your website rises in SERP rankings.
With such an intricate level of detail offered by this tool, you will get tremendous visibility into your competitors' strategies to further optimize existing content for search engines more effectively which helps formulate optimized plans better than before. As a result, organic traffic to your site increases significantly.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Surfer SEO Pricing
Surfer is a great all-in-one content optimization platform designed to help anyone easily create better, SEO-optimized content for online promotion.
It includes many features such as keyword research, plagiarism checking, document collaboration tools and even an AI-powered suggestion engine that will provide you with real-time insights into your content’s potential.
To start using Surfer you have four different plans to choose from – Essential, Advanced, Max, and Enterprise.
The Essential plan starts at only $89 per month and provides access to 15 editors within your organization per month (additional editors cost $5), as well as 2 seats for organization members and the invaluable 100/day keyword research feature. All basic features are included such as shareable links, plagiarism checker, Google Docs & WordPress integration, and more.
The AI writer is charged seperatly at $29 per article.
The other plans – Advanced, Max, and Enterprise each come with additional features to meet any type of business need or budget. Overall Surfer offers an affordable yet powerful solution for everyone looking to engage their clients with high-quality, SEO-optimized content.
Surfer SEO Features
Surfer SEO has hit the nail on the head when it comes to on-page optimization. Its content editor is specifically designed to help you increase your ranking without necessarily having to build any backlinks.
Here are some of its notable features
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Content Editor
Surfer SEO's content editor is a great tool to use for optimizing website content. It allows you to quickly and accurately determine the best keywords to include in your content while keeping it relevant to your target audience.
The main Content Editor interface gives users access to a limited rich text editor with in-depth suggestions on the right side of the page.
Here, users will be able to get an accurate assessment of content length, how Google-friendly their content is compared to other entries in the SERP, and advice regarding formatting and SEO such as the desired length of content and suggested use of images or videos.
Content editors should also pay attention to the Surfer SEO content editor's recommendations when creating content to make sure they are effectively optimizing their website and gaining quality traffic.
Using Surfer SEO’s Content Editor will prove invaluable for webmasters who are trying to rank higher in searches, as it provides all the necessary information they need at their fingertips, without spending too much time on an on-page or an on-page optimization tool.
By leveraging Surfer's Content Editor, webmasters can easily create optimized content that contains their chosen keyword and their content score ranks higher than sincerer competitors on search engine results pages.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
SERP Analyzer
Surfer SEO's SERP Analysis is a great tool to gain insight into how competition is playing out for a particular keyword from a content-first perspective.
The main report the app generates gives users a graph of the average word count about their average position over time, making it easier to track changes in the rankings.
Furthermore, users can customize the metrics they want to be shown on the graph from a list of more than 500 factors such as character, titles, score, multimedia, and page speed metrics.
Here are some of the
- Average content length
- Keyword density and frequency
- Number of headings
- Above-the-fold content
- Use of ‘hidden content'
- URL structure
- Average page speeds
- Image alt texts
- And much more
Another awesome feature that this tool provides is comparing your website with all the first 48 SERP entries which will allow you to directly compare your website's performance with that of your competitors.
This data can help create insights into an effective content strategy that would give you an edge over others in terms of organic search ranking results and provide valuable user engagement.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Content Audit
Content audits are an essential part of optimizing your website for search engine ranking. Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that makes this process much easier and more efficient.
It takes an in-depth look at any URL you provide and provides detailed information on what needs to be improved based on its analysis of the SERP of the keyword associated with that URL.
The content audit feature allows you to filter by competitors as well, so you can compare the changes you need to make against what they’ve done. This gives you the ability to optimize your page even more precisely than before.
Surfer SEO also works hard to eliminate any useless entries that may otherwise clutter up the audit results, resulting in fast and accurate reports every single time.
Content audit services from Surfer SEO have been highly beneficial for many businesses who wish to keep their rankings high regardless of age or competition level, making it an indispensable asset that everyone should be using regularly.
The auditor's in depth audit give you access to technical SEO and on page SEO details of your site.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Content Planner
A content planner is great for any website owner wanting to publish substantial, targeted content that ranks well. Surfer SEO has come up with a solution for just that.
It provides users with an easy content planning process with keyword clusters and individual editors to assist in creating high-quality content.
To begin, all you need is to provide a broad keyword and Surfer SEO will generate several clusters of related content topics for you.
Not only does this provide an instant list of ideas but so too can you review the monthly search volume and the keyword difficulty score associated with seed keywords along with each cluster.
This reveals vital insight into which topics have the potential to be favorably ranked amongst search engine results.
To further optimize your chosen topics, finish by creating an individual content editor that factors in all keywords and related keywords used to such an AI-generated content cluster.
Surfer SEO's user-friendly platform makes it simple to craft enticing, relevant pieces of content quickly.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Keyword Research Tool
Surfer SEO Keyword Research tool is a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool for discovering relevant keywords and topics in your chosen field.
With just a few clicks you can generate clusters of exact keyword matches with detailed information about monthly search volume and keyword difficulty and level.
Not only that, but the tool will also give you access to search intent data so you can create content tailored to your target audience.
To get started, simply click on ‘Keyword Research’ at the top of your dashboard. On the next screen, enter your primary keyword then choose where you want the search results from and click ‘Create Keywords’.
Surfer will make relevant target keywords for suggestions and then generate a set of topic clusters associated with that target keyword.
You can view them by clicking on the keyword under ‘Keyword Research History’ to gain invaluable insights into which keywords are trending among web users, what their average volume is, and how competitive they are in terms of difficulty ranking.
Surfer’s Keyword Research tool is a smart way of becoming an SEO expert with minimal effort.
Surfer SEO can be a great tool for improving SEO rankings, but its keyword research feature can leave something to be desired.
While it's not outright terrible, it doesn't measure up to the quality of the other Surfer SEO applications or compared to other popular keyword search tools. The main issue with the researcher tool is its lack of depth when it comes to low-volume keywords.
These are often needed by smaller sites or sites that are just starting, and they simply don’t appear as frequently as higher-volume words. This leaves them without some of the crucial elements needed for a successful SEO campaign, making it hard for smaller sites to get their ranking off the ground.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
AI Outline Generator
The AI outline generator offered by Surfer is an incredibly useful tool for those struggling to come up with content ideas. By simply typing in a few words, users can generate an entire content outline within minutes.
This rough outline can then be adjusted, rewritten, and edited according to the needs of the user. It serves as a great starting point for creating a full piece of content, and it might save you some valuable time when you’re in a rush.
The AI technology used by Surfer is also the same as that found within their Content Editor. This ensures that your results will be accurate and relevant when using the AI outline generator to come up with ideas for your pieces.
And with results delivered so quickly, this frees up more time for you to focus on optimizing your content and getting it published.
You do this without having to spend ages brainstorming the perfect topic or title. Plus, best of all, you can try out this free tool on the official site if you’re curious about how it works.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
SEO Audit Tool
Surfer’s SEO audit tool is an invaluable resource for any website looking to optimize its SEO performance.
This tool makes it easy to quickly go through and find errors on pages such as missing headings, wrong length content, insufficient keyword density, bad NLP entity coverage, or even improper meta-tags.
Not only that but the sentiment analysis of the page will be accurately assessed and signaled out. Furthermore, external links can also be analyzed with this tool to make sure everything is properly in order with search engines.
Getting started with Surfer’s SEO audit tool is straightforward – simply click on “Audit” on the dashboard and you'll be taken to a simple user interface where you can commence your review process.
From there, you can conveniently go through all the elements like titles, content, NLP entities, or whatever else wasn’t right about the page previously and fix them up with ease. You definitely won't regret investing time in this super helpful tool.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Surfy AI Assistant
Surfer's AI Writing Assistant is a great tool for those who want to improve the quality of their content without having to read through hundreds of pages of guidelines. This assistant will take your text and compare it against a database of over 1 billion web pages, providing you with feedback on how to improve your writing style for maximum SEO success.
The AI assistant can even suggest alternative words that you can replace with, giving you a more natural-sounding text. It also checks for any errors or typos that may have been missed in the initial write-up.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Customer Support
Customer support is an integral part of any successful business and Surfer excels in that regard. We have found the customer support from the team to be prompt and professional, which has helped us solve our queries with ease.
Even better, it only takes a couple of clicks once you’re logged into the dashboard to access their amazing customer service so you can get help without any delays.
An additional bonus to the outstanding customer service is that it feels personal; each reply is tailored specifically to answer your query in a friendly and understanding manner.
But if needed, you can always find further information on training videos or post questions in the Surfer Knowledge Base.
The knowledgebase is a great place to dive deeper into pre-existing answers about particular search queries and other tools that might be useful for your research.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Plagiarism Checker
The Plagiarism Checker is an extremely useful tool that helps SEO professionals detect copied content on their sites. This way, you can make sure that all text content is unique and won’t be penalized by search engines.
The Plagiarism Checker scans through text on your page and flags any duplicated phrases or sentences from other sources. You can then take the necessary steps to either remove or properly cite the copied content in order to remain compliant.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Surfer SEO Connections/ Integrations
Surfer and Semrush offer a powerful integration that allows users to take advantage of all the tools and features of both platforms.
This combination provides an easy way to create and track keyword strategies, optimize content for SEO, and access competitor data quickly.
With the free integration, Surfer users can easily harness the benefits of both tools, making for an unbeatable way to boost organic visibility on search engines.
Surfer also offers integrations with leading systems including Salesforce and HubSpot. These integrations make it easier than ever for businesses and marketing teams to keep track of their customers' activities.
That way they can build custom reports on valuable data points, and manage even large databases with ease.
By connecting Surfer with your preferred system, you can maximize efficiency across all your operations while keeping everything neatly organized in one place.
Surfer also integrates with the following third-party platforms:
Salesforce
HubSpot
Google Sheets
Google Docs
Zendesk
Amazon S3
Xero
Facebook Marketing
Shopify
Integrating with Surfer SEO has become increasingly popular as of late, offering users access to a variety of different document editors that can help enhance their reports and online presence.
In July 2022, Surfer announced its partnership with SEMRush, enabling users to connect their accounts to Surfer for some additional insights into backlinks, specifically designed for the new Grow Flow feature.
Of course, one also needs to integrate Search Console for this feature to be enabled which provides further detail and an even deeper analysis level.
Aside from the various integrations available, many are also drawn towards Surfer’s “hype” tactics of promoting the tools at their disposal.
While the possibility is there to work wonders, the reality may be much less impressive than the initial sales pitch would suggest.
Ultimately, it’s wise to investigate all options before choosing and arrive at a decisive outcome that will best benefit your website and brand.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
Surfer’s Pros and Cons
The Upside to Using Surfer SEO
The Surfer SEO content editor is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, which assist in ensuring comprehensive content and facilitate the creation of high-quality content for your entire website.
This platform offers both keyword and content optimization, which is a convenient solution. Unlike most keyword tools, it also includes content editors, eliminating the need for an additional tool. It provides great value for money.
We have received prompt and problem-free support for both customer and technical queries. The support is friendly, professional, and timely, with a personal touch.
It is complemented by helpful training videos, a comprehensive knowledge base, and the opportunity to seek assistance from the community.
The Keyword Surfer SEO Chrome extension is highly recommended for its convenience, as it is free and can be installed quickly.
It provides valuable insights, including search volume, cost per click, and estimated traffic, all accessible directly from your browser.
Intuitive and easy to use
The best for those who want a simple tool to optimize their content for search
The Downside to Using Surfer SEO
Occasionally there are some suggestions that may not be relevant. Some of Surfer SEO's suggestions may not be entirely relevant, including the internal linking aspect of this blog post.
The accuracy of these is expected to improve over time. It can be stated that the internal link suggestions are superior to other content optimization tools that have been tested.
There is no free trial available. Surfer previously provided a complimentary trial, but it is no longer accessible.
AI writing can be costly. Surfer has released their own AI writer, but it is considered too expensive to be a practical choice, particularly when compared to other AI writers available in the market.
The AI writer goes for $29 an article.
Surfer SEO Alternatives: Surfer SEO review
Cora
Cora is a powerful tool for any online marketer, offering incredible insights into on-page optimization. One of the main advantages of using Cora is its comprehensive crawl sites and uncovering optimization faults and successes.
It also offers an in-depth look at backlinks to determine where you stand with each link and if there are any possible problems or opportunities.
Interestingly, over the years, the costs associated with Cora have dropped massively while still maintaining all its capabilities. This makes it a good consideration when looking at alternatives to Surfer SEO.
The value that Cora presents cannot be underestimated as it offers real-time performance tracking which allows you to watch how your pages fare against competitors and better understand how your content strategy changes affect rankings.
Frase
Frase is a content optimization tool that offers useful SEO on-page keyword suggestions. It has expanded into AI writing, but its primary function is still to boost search engine rankings through keyphrase tracking and keyword use.
The on-page keyword suggestions are compiled by analyzing the first 20 results from a page's SERPs.
In this way, Frase can filter and order keywords with the greatest chance of earning organic search traffic.
In comparison to other AI writing tools, Frase uses GPT-3 for its optimization strategies. This makes it stand out from other competitors in terms of accuracy and precise automation capabilities.
While it may at times produce inaccurate or irrelevant keywords, users continually report excellent performance when using Frase IO for optimizing web pages for more organic search traffic and higher rankings in general.
Website Auditor
Surfer SEO and Website Auditor are two vastly different products when it comes to researching and analyzing websites for SEO purposes.
While Surfer SEO is cloud-based, requiring no download or installation, Website Auditor is a single component of the SEO Powersuite platform that must be downloaded and installed onto one's computer.
Because of this, Website Auditor may be a much more cost-efficient tool than Surfer SEO, with components in the SEOPowersuite being available for $299 per year.
Comparatively, for similarly comprehensive services as those provided by Surfer SEO, one would typically only be able to pay for its service plan for three months before needing to upgrade their subscription.
In terms of features, both Surfer SEO and Website Auditor offer very comprehensive analyses of sites ranging from on-page analysis including keyword research and technical optimization advice to off-page analysis such as backlink auditing and competitor comparison.
However, because Website Auditor is directly plugged into the SEO Powersuite suite, if you're looking for an all-in-one software solution offering a variety of services dedicated to the betterment of a website's ranking without any caps on usage type stands out among its competitors like Surfer SEO.
Scalenut
Scalenut is an AI-powered content research and copywriting platform that can drastically reduce the time it takes to write a blog post or article.
With Scalenut, users can get a comprehensive guided workflow that provides them with key insights into topics and top search terms to use in their copy.
By leveraging powerful artificial intelligence tools along with advanced analytics data, Scalenut helps users craft engaging copy that will stand out and attract more eyes.
From custom keyword suggestions tailored around the specific topic at hand to help articles rank higher in SEO results. Scalenut has features that can help any blogger or content writer create effective content without spending too much time doing so.
It also shares many similarities with popular, content creation and marketing software Surfer but comes at a more affordable price point while offering additional AI writing features.
So if you're looking for a way to save time when it comes to your writing endeavors, Scalenut may just be the perfect solution for you.
In Summary: Surfer SEO Review
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool with many features that can help you optimize your website for better visibility in the search engine results pages.
It allows you to compare and analyze your content against competitors’, identify areas for improvement, and take advantage of the best practices for on-page optimization.
With this type of insight, you will be able to make informed decisions about your SEO strategy and ensure your website is always performing to its highest potential.
Surfer SEO is a must-have tool for anyone who wants to increase their organic rankings. Despite its flaws, it can be a great asset when trying to optimize website content.
Although the keyword research offered by Surfer SEO may not be up to par, its data and content editor features are highly effective in helping people boost their search engine ranking.
The ability to rank checker, analyze page elements, or even compare two pages makes the program advantageous for any digital marketing team.
Users should also note Surfer SEO is not affordable. This makes it difficult for those with small budgets to experience the same level of success as those who have more access to funds.
Regardless, people looking to securely optimize their online presence and rank higher in SERP will benefit from having this software available at their fingertips.
Frequently Asked Questions: Surfer SEO Review
Does Surfer SEO work?
Surfer SEO can be effective in improving your on-page SEO efforts by providing data-driven recommendations for optimizing content.
However, its effectiveness depends on how well you use the tool and how you implement its suggestions. It's not a magic solution, but it can be a valuable addition to your SEO toolkit if used correctly.
Is Surfer SEO better than SEMrush?
Whether Surfer SEO is better than Semrush depends on your specific needs and preferences. Surfer SEO specializes in on-page SEO optimization and content analysis, while Semrush offers a broader range of SEO tools, including keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor analysis.
The choice between the two depends on your specific SEO goals and requirements.
In our opinion, SEMrush is superior in overall SEO and content marketing but Surfer SEO is a better choice for content optimization. It has more options to optimize and is more specific than Semrush's content editor.
Is Surfer SEO paid?
Yes, Surfer SEO is a paid tool. They offer different pricing plans based on your needs and the number of websites you want to analyze and optimize.
Is Surfer SEO free to use?
Surfer SEO does not offer a free version of their tool. They have a paid subscription model, and you'll need to choose a plan and pay for access to their features and data.
How does Surfer SEO work?
Surfer SEO works by analyzing various on-page SEO factors of a webpage, such as keyword usage, content structure, word count, headings, and more.
It compares your page to top-ranking pages for a specific keyword and provides recommendations for optimizing your content to match or exceed the top-ranking pages. It aims to help you create content that aligns better with search engine algorithms, potentially improving your rankings.
What is the Benefit of Surfer SEO?
The primary benefit of Surfer SEO is its ability to help you optimize your website's content for search engines. By following its recommendations, you can potentially improve your on-page SEO, which can lead to higher search engine rankings and increased organic traffic.
Surfer SEO provides data-driven insights that can guide your content creation process and optimization efforts, making it a valuable tool for SEO professionals and content creators.
