When you learn about keyword ranking tools, you will always hear about SE Ranking since it’s among the best tools in the market. It is an excellent all-in-one tool that includes amazing features at flexible prices from an individual administrator to a fully-staffed SEO agency. Its pricing structure allows you to enjoy the sweet spot of functionality and power, and this SE Ranking review will help you learn all you need to know about this SEO platform.
SEO solutions offer a perfect way to skyrocket your traffic, but they come at a high cost, but the SE Ranking is there to change that. Below is a much-needed SE Ranking review revealing everything you need to know about this tool, including the areas that could use some improvement.
What is SE Ranking?
SE Ranking is an all-in-one cloud-based platform for SEO and online marketing professionals. As the name implies, SE Ranking started as a rank tracking tool. It has provided a complete set of tools for automated professional reporting, a comprehensive site audit, competitor analysis, backlink monitoring, website ranking, keyword suggestion and grouping. An SEO tool aims to help marketers optimize a blog or website to position well on the search engine results pages.
The tool is a haven for most marketers as it can help discover opportunities for outranking your competitors. You can also use PPC marking to push online advertisements using low-cost keywords. In addition, apart from the standard SEO tools, the system includes bonus features like White Label and Marketing Plan aimed at elevating your professional digital services to a new level.
What are SE Ranking Features?
Now that you have read about the overview of the tool and know how you should start it, it’s time to check some of its main features. The SE Ranking app packs some neat features. They include:
a). Keyword Monitoring
SE Ranking monitors all the keywords registered in real-time, and it can be done in different search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing, among others. Its also possible to limit your search geographically according to your country, region and city. The keyword research tool will get you its keyword difficulty score, cost per click and monthly search volume.
b). Keyword Suggestions
For a content marketing strategy, keyword research is where creating relevant content starts, and so it’s vital to use tools that help you discover the terms being searched for in search engines. SE Ranking can do this for you, and from one keyword, you can get many others, both long and short tail.
c). SE Ranking Competitor Research
SE Ranking offers a cheat sheet to help you get ahead of your competition. All you need to do is enter a domain name or a URL, and you will have full access to information about your competitor’s organic searches and paid promotions. Some of the things you will see include:
- Specific keywords driving traffic to the website
- Traffic estimates
- Traffic costs for the paid campaigns
You can also evaluate your competitor’s backlink profiles, including their quality and how many backlinks the competitor has. The competitor analysis feature is advanced and will allow a digital marketer to track their competition’s most profitable ads and keywords.
d). SE Ranking White Label
SE Ranking software includes a white label feature available on the Pro and Business Plan. It is suitable for independent web admins, marketing and SEO agencies, SEO-related service providers and SEO service resellers. You can come up with client accounts complete with custom:
- SEO tools such as keyword suggestions and backlink monitoring
- Performance-based invoicing
- Analytics and traffic, including traffic forecast, search visibility and average rankings
- Marketing Plan
- Website audit
- Competitor comparisons
In addition, you can create a custom login page and interface for your customers where you can offer SEO and marketing services under your brand with SE Ranking tool and features.
e). Backlink Analysis
The backlink checker goes well for link building, apart from adding the three hyperlinks for every 500 words in an article. Backlinks are a part of an off-page SEO strategy, and this is where internal and external links direct to a page on your website.
These backlinks are necessary because they assist Google in concluding your content’s quality. So, the more links point to your web pages, the better for your website so long as your source domain has good authority.
Notably, some backlinks don’t have quality, and it isn’t good to have them directed to your website. In such cases, you should tell Google you reject them. However, how will you identify such links?
SE Ranking comes through for you as it checks for backlinks and forwards the information to Google concerning any links you may have rejected. Also, the backlink monitoring tool indicates the popularity of the content from the links made on social networks.
f). Monitoring Page Changes
SE Ranking offers benefits to anyone working with a team as some professionals may make crucial changes to blog posts or pages, and one may not know about it. The issue is, in some cases, it may be necessary to have control over your content and what page change monitoring is all about.
The SE Ranking feature ensures you are in tune with all the marketing team members, which helps avoid breaks in communication between members. In addition, you receive notifications and stay informed on what is happening on your blog or website whenever the content is updated.
g). Website Analytics
The feature allows you to perform a complete website audit and search for any problems that may harm your SEO optimization and the user’s experience. On the SE Ranking website, you will find an example of the report the website audit generates. It not only points to the errors found but also classifies them according to their degree of importance and offers suggestions for how to correct them.
h). Keyword Grouper
Organizing keywords helps in planning the content that is to be created in the future, and this would be work that would be difficult to do manually, but SE Ranking will make it easy for you. It makes it possible to make combinations of words with similar meanings and synonyms, which allows you to efficiently use the semantic field of a keyword by distributing the terms by content and positioning them in strategic locations.
i). On-Page Checker
The on-page checker evaluates the optimization of certain pages in the same way Yoast SEO does. SE Ranking will consider the title, image attributes, page structure, meta tags, links, keyword density, and loading speed. From this analysis, you can improve your content and achieve a better on-page SEO rating which carries a lot of weight among search engine ranking factors.
j). Marketing Plan
This SE Ranking feature is presented in a checklist format which allows you to see everything that needs work in your marketing strategy. It points directly to the best SEO practices and clarifies what is currently getting done and what needs to be implemented.
The plan guides the user through important steps like keyword research, on and off-page optimization, SEO strategy development, and social media management.
k). SE Lead Generator
SE’s lead generator is a welcome addition, and it’s not something you see every day from an SEO tool, but you can tell that this product was made with marketing in mind and not only SEO. The lead generator is a widget where visitors fill out a form on your website, and SE will automatically assess their website. The potential client then receives a detailed report of on-page optimization.
The potential customers will then exchange their contact details for getting a free on-page audit, and you won’t have to waste time chasing cold leads. You can be sure that your prospects who contact you are warm leads already. Finally, customize the widget with your colors and logo to give a personalized touch.
Why is Keyword Tracking Important for SEO?
As of 2021, the search engines focus on search results for sites that offer a good experience on their page. This means factors like security, responsiveness, loading time and absence of intrusive elements such as advertisements, pop-ups and any objects that prevent navigation will have weight.
This means that you need to mind your website’s SEO to allow your content to continue having a great position on Google, and this could involve making adjustments to your strategy. In addition, by doing great backlink monitoring, you can take action if some are low quality, and it may be necessary to eject links that point to posts that no longer exist since they may affect your site’s search engine rating.
Lastly, careful monitoring allows you to discover the keywords that are on the rise, and by using them well, you’ll be able to keep up with your competitors and even manage to stay ahead of them.
SE Ranking Pricing
Now that you know what SE Ranking offers and it is a great keyword rank tracker, you may be curious to know the price and if it will give you maximum value for money. Unfortunately, there is no fixed price for any plan, and it changes depending on the number of keywords you want to rank track.
SE Ranking has three pricing plans, and the pricing for each plan varies depending on how many keywords you would track.
a). Essential Plan
This plan costs $18.72 a month, and it tracks up to 250 keywords. After that, the price rises to $25.92 for tracking 500 keywords and will rise again for tracking 750 keywords for $33.12 per month. The Essential Price Plan allows you to monitor up to 10 websites and perform a website audit on over 70,000 pages. It also offers keyword analysis and backlink management.
However, this plan will have some features missing, and some of them include:
- Historical data on keywords/domain
- Lead generation
- White label
- Keyword database expansion
- API
Nonetheless, the essential plan has enough features and power to handle most small to medium-sized businesses since sometimes more features are not beneficial, especially if you cant use them. Therefore, for a beginner, it’s wise to start with this plan, and after you master how to use SE ranking, you can move up to the higher plans.
In addition, the essential plan also works well for solopreneur handling several websites, and it’s also scalable enough for people who often handle digital marketing and SEO for client sites. Notably, it only offers one seat.
b). Pro Plan
The Pro Price Plan is the most popular option in SE Ranking, where the price starts at $42.72 for rank tracking up to 1000 keywords, but you can increase your keyword limit to 1750 keywords if you pay $71.52 monthly. In addition, this plan allows users to check unlimited websites, an upgrade from the Essential plan.
Unlike the Essential plan, it has three seats, which means three people access the platform as administrators. Therefore, it is a perfect plan if you want to allow access to other users, such as the SEO or marketing staff and clients.
However, the Pro Plan doesn’t include the API feature. Still, you can expand your keyword research database with up to 10,000 keywords and get notifications of up to 100 changes to your web pages which is not on the Essential plan.
Lastly, the White Label feature allows you to use SE Ranking to create your SEO service, and you will be free to use branding on your reports. Also, you can mail out reports using the SMTP server. It makes a perfect plan for anyone with small to medium-sized marketing agencies.
c). Business Plan
Lastly, the Business Plan starts at $90.72 per month for rank tracking up to 2500 keywords, but you can pay to track more keywords every month.
- 5000 keywords: $167.52 per month
- 10000 keywords: $263.52 per month
- 15000 keywords: $359.52 per month
- 20,000 keywords: $431.52 per month
This plan is a serious upgrade from the Pro Plan, where you can perform website audits for up to 450,000 pages, and your daily backlink checks can increase to 300 from 100 with the Pro Plan. In addition, it is the only plan offering API, and if you have developers, this is a beneficial feature for integrating SE Ranking into your existing systems.
The Business Plan is ideal for large organizations that handle huge amounts of data and many clients, but otherwise, it may be overkill for most users.
Rank Check Discounts
It’s important to know of the rank check discounts as they will help you save on the costs of using the SE Ranking SEO audit tool. On SE Ranking’s plans and prices page, there is a calculator that allows a user to create a plan in an interactive way where after checking all the options depending on your needs, you can get the price.
The tool works by measuring the frequency you plan to check your rank, and your subscription model can be either one month, three months, six months or annual.
SE Ranking allows you to check your rankings weekly, every three weeks or daily, and the platform rewards a user when they review their keyword rankings less frequently. This is perfect for beginners who cant manage with weekly checks, and they won’t have to pay for an unnecessary rank check.
For the three-day option, you get 20% off and 40% off for the weekly option, and you will enjoy more discounts depending on your subscription period. For instance, you get a 5% off with the three-month subscription, 10% off with the six-month subscription, 15% off for nine months and 20% off with an annual subscription. The discounts will add up, so opt for the combination that offers you the best price.
Pros of SE Ranking
- Easy to use and set up
- It has an organic SEO and paid PPC data
- Let’s track your keyword rankings down to the postcode level
- Website audit shows how one can eliminate SEO problems
- Attractive and affordable pricing plans
- It contains multiple SEO tools in a dashboard
- Integrates with Google Search Console & Google Analytics
- API offers the ability to give extra value to your clients
- Marketing checklist that enables you to stay on top of your marketing campaigns
- A huge competition research feature
Cons of SE Ranking
- The social media management tool is weak
- Getting data for a new site can be slow
- The tools seem fragmented
How Does SE Ranking Compare to its Competition?
1. SE Ranking vs. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an SEO powerhouse, and it has a unique internet crawler. Unlike SE Ranking, Ahrefs doesn’t depend on search engines for data and has promising results. However, Ahrefs keyword ranking software is the third-largest globally, and its database has over seven billion search queries. This is over twice what you will find on SE Ranking’s app.
In addition, Ahrefs takes pride in the massive pool of referring links and has a 15-minute refresh frequency, but unfortunately, SE Ranking backlinks feature will take about three days to update. The quality of reporting is also outstanding, and it shows the crucial information of domains without digging deeper it needs some work, but you need to open links in different windows to view the stats.
On the other hand, SE Ranking is an affordable tool with pocket-friendly prices, and you can also customize your spending based on your usage, unlike its rival, where you will need to spend thrice more. Also, Ahrefs doesn’t support white label services, but its peer’s customizations are suitable for impressing your clients.
Both SEO tools are great solutions, and they work perfectly for different areas. For example, SE Ranking tool is excellent for SEO beginners, while Ahrefs scores highly regarding reporting quality. Also, Ahrefs is recommended for analyzing search engine results page changes in real-time.
2. SE Ranking vs. SEMrush
SEMrush is another alternative that advertises itself as an all-round marketing suite, and the SE Ranking keyword research tool cannot compare. So let’s get into details.
SEMrush’s local SEO can assist a user in ranking better in their area as it offers listing management which works for indexing businesses in the regional directories. In addition, the feature tracks your SEO performance against the daily rivals, and it has an on-page checker for homegrown keyword optimization.
An advertising manager is also not present on SE Tracking tools for the search engine ranking. However, with SEMrush, you can manage Google Ads directly from your dashboard, and it also includes a toolkit that optimizes your budget and tracking spending. Notably, SE Ranking cannot get to this level since its social media monitor doesn’t have a tracker for competitors. However, using SEMrush’s SEO tools, you can snoop on rival profiles, including their coverage on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Linked In.
On the flip side, SE Ranking software is simple to use and will take less than a day to teach you how to navigate, but for SEMrush’s feature-rich platform, it may take some days to understand the tools.
Lastly, SE Ranking makes its operations a breeze by providing support via a chat during business hours, but most competitors have a 24/7 customer support team. However, SE Ranking offers a few quick tips to address the issues.
Frequently Asked Questions on SE Ranking Review
1. What Will I Get with the Free Trial for SE Ranking?
The free trial has everything you need to get a feel of using the SE keyword rank tracking, including Keyword Rank Tracker, Backlink Monitoring, Page Changes Monitoring, up to 250 keywords and 5 websites, SEO/PPC Competitor Research, On-Page SEO Checker, website audit, sub-accounts, keyword suggestion tool, SEO potential, report builder, social media management and analytics, Google analytics and search console integration.
Some features are limited, and if you want to use the features such as backlink checker, index status checker, search volume checker, parameter checker and keyword grouper, you will need to contact the SE rank tracking team directly, and they can arrange this for you.
2. Can I Upgrade my Subscription Anytime?
Yes, you can upgrade your subscription any time and from your account. All you need to do is click “Subscription,” Within the user settings, you will see “Upgrade Account” click it to choose the plan you want to upgrade your plan. The extra amount you need to add will be automatically generated, and you will see the new price on your checkout page.
3. Can I Customize my SE Ranking Account?
Yes, as long as you use a plan with white-label features, you can easily customize the logo, colors, header and footer of your SE account. In addition, you can customize your reports to allow your clients to see only the data you want them to see.
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Jacky Chou is an electrical engineer turned marketer. He is the founder of Indexsy, Far & Away, Laurel & Wolf, a couple FBA businesses , and about 40 affiliate sites. He is a proud native of Vancouver, BC, who has been featured on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes, Oberlo and GoDaddy.