Are you tired of guessing which keywords will actually get your content seen?
Do you feel stuck trying to pick the right SEO tool when there are so many options out there? We get it.
Choosing between powerful platforms like Surfer SEO vs SE Ranking for your keyword research can feel like a huge decision.
You want to make sure you’re investing in the best tool to help your content rise to the top.
Overview
To give you the clearest picture, we didn’t just look at features on paper.
We put both Surfer SEO and SE Ranking through their paces, running multiple tests on different types of content and keywords.
So you can see how they really perform in action.
Surfer SEO helps you write content that ranks higher. Users have seen up to a 30% increase in organic traffic.
Pricing: 7-day money-back guarantee. Plans start from $79/month.
Key Features:
- Content Editor
- SERP Analyzer
- Topical Map
Over 5,000 agencies worldwide trust SE Ranking! Boost your SEO with their all-in-one platform for rankings, website audits.
Pricing: 14 Days Free Trial. Plans start from $52/month.
Key Features:
- Comprehensive site audit tool
- Backlink monitoring and analysis
- Rank tracker with competitor insights
What is Surfer SEO?
Okay, let’s talk about Surfer SEO.
It’s a tool designed to help you create content that Google loves.
Think of it as your guide to writing articles that actually rank.
It looks at what’s already ranking high for your keywords and gives you tips.
Also, explore our favorite Surfer SEO alternatives…
Surfer SEO helps you write content that ranks higher in search results. In fact, users have seen up to a 30% increase in organic traffic after using Surfer SEO.
Key Benefits
- Real-time Content Editor: Get live feedback on your content as you write, telling you exactly what to add or change based on the top 50 ranking pages.
- Keyword Research Tools: Discover related keywords and long-tail variations to expand your content strategy. Find hundreds of keyword ideas quickly.
- SERP Analyzer: See a detailed breakdown of the top 10 (or more) ranking pages, including word count, keyword density, and common backlinks.
- Content Planner: Get a content outline with suggested headings and keywords to cover for specific topics. It helps you create comprehensive articles.
- Audit Feature: Analyze your existing pages and get a clear list of actions to take to improve their rankings. See exactly what’s holding you back.
Pricing
- Essential: $79/month
- Scale: $175/month
- Enterprise: Contact them for pricing.
Pros
Cons
What is SE Ranking?
Let’s talk about SE Ranking. This tool is like a Swiss Army knife for SEO.
It brings together a lot of different features into one easy-to-use platform.
You can track your keyword rankings, check out what your competitors are doing, and even audit your website for issues.
Also, explore our favorite SE Ranking alternatives…
Join over 1 million SE Ranking users who track 10M+ keywords daily and save 3.6B+ positions yearly.
Key Benefits
- Uncover Hidden Opportunities: SE Ranking’s comprehensive keyword research tools help you find valuable keywords with low competition.
- Track Your Progress with Ease: Monitor your website’s rankings across multiple search engines and track your progress over time.
- Boost Your Website’s Performance: Identify and fix technical SEO issues with SE Ranking’s in-depth website audit tool.
Pricing
SE Ranking offers a variety of pricing plans to suit your needs & budget, with discounts available for annual subscriptions.
- Essential: $52.00/month. 1 manager seat, 5 project, Rank Tracker.
- Pro: $95.20/month. 3 Manager seats, 30 projects, On-page and SERP analysis, Share of voice metric.
- Business: $207.20/month. 5 Manager seats, unlimited projects, Maximize data reach, Team Training, Data Insights.
Pros
Cons
Feature Comparison
It’s time to dig into the nitty-gritty of what each SEO software brings to the table.
We’ve spent a lot of time with both Surfer SEO and SE Ranking.
Let’s break down how they compare in the key areas that matter most for your search engine optimization efforts.
1. Keyword Research Tool
- Surfer SEO: Its keyword research tool focuses on finding relevant terms for content creation. It helps identify content clusters and provides search volume data. However, it lacks a robust keyword difficulty score, which can be a drawback when prioritizing.
- SE Ranking: This keyword research tool offers a more comprehensive approach. It provides not only search volume but also a clear keyword difficulty score, CPC, and offers various keyword grouping options like similar, related, and question-based keywords. This makes it a stronger keyword research tool for the overall strategy.
2. Content Creation and Optimization
- Surfer SEO: This is where Surfer SEO excels. Its Content Editor provides real-time feedback and a content score as you write, guiding you to optimize your article based on what search engines prefer. It analyzes top-ranking pages to give you precise recommendations for word count, headings, and keyword usage.
- SE Ranking: While SE Ranking has a Content Editor, it’s generally considered less intuitive and hands-on than Surfer’s. It offers AI-powered optimization tips, but the workflow for detailed content creation and real-time feedback isn’t as central to its design as it is with Surfer.
3. SERP Analysis
- Surfer SEO: The SERP Analyzer is a core strength. It lets you dive deep into the search engines results pages, showing you what factors the top-ranking pages have in common. This includes word count, backlink profiles, and keyword density, giving you a clear roadmap for your content optimization.
- SE Ranking: SE Ranking’s SERP Checker also provides valuable insights into the top-ranking pages. You can analyze various on-page and off-page parameters and visualize data side-by-side. It offers a solid competitive analysis view.
4. Website Audit Tool
- Surfer SEO: Surfer SEO includes a Content Audit feature primarily focused on optimizing existing content. It identifies content gaps and provides suggestions for improvement based on its analysis of content score and entities.
- SE Ranking: SE Ranking offers a more comprehensive Website Audit tool. It crawls your entire site to identify a wide range of technical and on-page SEO issues, from broken links to meta tag problems. This makes SE Ranking a more robust audit tool for overall site health.
5. Competitive Analysis
- Surfer SEO: While Surfer SEO’s SERP Analyzer gives you insights into top competitors for a given keyword, its competitive analysis is primarily content-focused. It helps you understand what content attributes are working for rivals.
- SE Ranking: SE Ranking provides a more holistic competitive analysis. You can analyze competitors’ organic and paid search strategies, backlinks, and keyword portfolios, giving you a broader competitive edge across various marketing tools.
6. Workflow and User Satisfaction
- Surfer SEO: Surfer’s workflow is highly geared towards content writers and SEOs focused on on-page optimization. Its direct feedback in the content editor streamlines the content creation process. User satisfaction is high for those prioritizing content.
- SE Ranking: SE Ranking offers a more all-in-one SEO software experience, which means its workflow covers a wider range of SEO tasks beyond just content. While versatile, some users might find its content tools less specialized, but for overall search engine optimization, it provides a very good user experience.
7. Integrations and Ecosystem
- Surfer SEO: Integrates well with Google Docs and WordPress, making its content editor accessible within common writing environments.
- SE Ranking: Offers integrations for various marketing tools and platforms, and a more comprehensive suite that can manage multiple aspects of SEO, which means SE Ranking might be a better fit if you need a wider ecosystem for your SEO efforts.
What to Look for When Choosing a Keyword Research Tool?
When you’re trying to pick the best keyword research tool for your needs, here’s what truly matters:
- Accuracy of Data: Does it provide reliable search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitive metrics?
- Comprehensive Features: Beyond basic keyword ideas, does it offer SERP analysis, content optimization guidance, and competitive insights?
- User-Friendliness: Is the interface intuitive and easy to navigate, even for beginners?
- Integration with Workflow: Can it seamlessly fit into your existing content creation and SEO processes?
- Pricing Structure: Does the cost align with your budget and provide good value for the features offered?
- Support and Resources: Is there good customer support and helpful guides available if you get stuck?
- Database Size and Freshness: Does it have a large, regularly updated database of keywords and trending topics?
Final Verdict
After comparing SE Ranking vs surfer seo, we believe SE Ranking is the stronger option for most users.
It’s a comprehensive set of optimization tools.
Offering robust keyword research, website auditing, and competitive analysis all in one place.
Surfer SEO is excellent for content creation and its content score.
SE Ranking provides more overall value and covers a wider range of SEO tasks.
More of Surfer SEO
We’ve compared Surfer SEO with the following alternatives, highlighting their standout features:
- Surfer SEO vs Ahrefs: Ahrefs excels in backlink analysis and extensive keyword research, a comprehensive SEO suite.
- Surfer SEO vs Semrush: Semrush offers a full marketing suite, including PPC research and broader competitive analysis.
- Surfer SEO vs Content Raptor: Content Raptor tracks traffic gains from optimizations, validating changes through A/B testing.
- Surfer SEO vs Moz: Moz specializes in link building and site authority analysis, with strong site audit features.
- Surfer SEO vs Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest provides budget-friendly keyword suggestions and basic site audits for beginners.
- Surfer SEO vs SpyFu: SpyFu is strong in competitor PPC analysis and uncovering rivals’ exact ad strategies.
- Surfer SEO vs Similarweb: Similarweb focuses on market intelligence, competitor traffic analysis, and industry benchmarking.
- Surfer SEO vs Raven Tools: Raven Tools offers robust reporting features, ideal for agencies managing client SEO campaigns.
- Surfer SEO vs Mangools: Mangools stands out for its user-friendly interface and straightforward keyword research (KWFinder).
- Surfer SEO vs Ranktracker: Ranktracker offers comprehensive keyword rank tracking and broad backlink monitoring.
More of SE Ranking
We’ve compared SE Ranking with the following alternatives, highlighting their standout features:
- SE Ranking vs Ahrefs: Ahrefs is renowned for its vast backlink database and in-depth link analysis capabilities.
- SE Ranking vs Semrush: Semrush offers a broader digital marketing suite, including strong PPC and social media tools.
- SE Ranking vs Content Raptor: Content Raptor focuses on A/B testing content changes for measurable traffic gains.
- SE Ranking vs Moz: Moz provides strong domain authority metrics and comprehensive link-building analysis tools.
- SE Ranking vs Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest is a very affordable option for basic keyword research and content ideas.
- SE Ranking vs SpyFu: SpyFu excels in competitor keyword and ad spending analysis for both organic and PPC.
- SE Ranking vs Similarweb: Similarweb specializes in website traffic analysis and market intelligence insights for any site.
- SE Ranking vs Raven Tools: Raven Tools offers robust client reporting and integration capabilities, often for agencies.
- SE Ranking vs Mangools: Mangools is known for its user-friendly interface and simple, effective keyword research.
- SE Ranking vs Ranktracker: Ranktracker focuses on highly accurate, real-time keyword rank tracking across locations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which tool is better for content optimization?
Surfer SEO excels at content optimization, offering real-time feedback and a content score as you write. It’s highly focused on guiding your content creation to align with search engine preferences.
Does SE Ranking offer a comprehensive SEO solution?
Yes, SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO software. It includes keyword tracking, site auditing, competitive analysis, and more. It provides a broader set of tools compared to Surfer SEO.
Can I track keyword rankings with both tools?
SE Ranking offers robust keyword rank tracking, allowing you to monitor keyword positions over time. While Surfer SEO assists with keyword research, it doesn’t provide dedicated rank tracking like SE Ranking.
