In today's digital landscape, most people turn to search to find information. That's why SEO for businesses is no longer a choice, it's a necessity. With a well-crafted SEO strategy in place, you can gain an edge over the competition. That's improved online visibility, more targeted traffic, and a stronger brand reputation.
Now, there are tons of SEO tools out there. But in the age of artificial intelligence, you only need the smart ones. And one such tool is Surfer SEO.
In this in-depth review, let's delve into Surfer's features, pros and cons, and everything in between. Let’s begin, shall we?
What is Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is a cloud-based tool designed to help you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website. Its AI algorithm can analyze the content on your website or your competitor’s to discover what’s ranking high on search engines. Based on that analysis, it can then give you suggestions on how to improve your content.
Used by the likes of ClickUp, Shopify, Opera, and FedEx, Surfer SEO is a popular choice in the industry.
Surfer AI
It is the content creation engine within Surfer that can auto-generate high-ranking articles. All you need to do is provide the algorithm with a target keyword. It then analyzes top-ranking content for that keyword and uses that information to craft your piece.
Surfer AI is more than just a generative AI model like ChatGPT or Jasper. Well, it doesn't just write content, it optimizes it for search engines too. This feature suggests relevant headings, questions to answer (based on Google's "People Also Ask" section), and more. Also, it ensures your content matches the reading level and length of competitors' articles.
You can also pour your own expertise into the process. Surfer AI lets you customize the article outline and tone of voice, and even include your own data sources for the AI to consider. Now, that is a lot of creative control, wouldn't you say?
Content Editor
Simply put, Surfer's Content Editor is a writing assistant. It's mainly designed to craft SEO-focused content that ranks well across all search engines. If you give it a set of instructions in the form of target keywords, it can analyze the top-ranking content and then generate yours without any hassle. Not just that, it can also work as your research assistant.
Well, instead of having to manually search through competitor content, it can give you a checklist of what to include in your content. It can be relevant keywords, headings, or some questions that need answers. The Content Editor, thus, can save you a lot of research time, ensuring your content has everything search engines look for.
Besides, it listens to real-time user feedback and has a scoring system to guide you. And yes, there is support for multiple languages including English and Spanish.
And the cherry on top? It has a built-in plagiarism checker, which is extremely important to ensure the authenticity of your AI content.
Content Audit
Analyzing your existing content for SEO errors is a great way of leveraging missed opportunities. And this is where Surfer SEO comes in handy. Its smart algorithm can analyze your previously published content and identify areas of improvement for search optimization.
Surfer SEO can check for you if a blog post written years ago can still rank higher after a few tweaks. And that's just a nice treat for the next-to-zero effort!
This tool goes beyond just highlighting issues with your content. It considers content length, relevant keywords, page speed, etc., and recommends keyword frequency, optimal content length, and internal linking opportunities.
What is really impressive about Surfer SEO is that, unlike other tools, it uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) to understand the context of keywords instead of just focusing on keyword density. This ensures the relevance of content.
Keyword Research
Manual keyword research is every SEO professional’s worst nightmare. It is exhausting and time-consuming. Thankfully, Surfer SEO has a built-in keyword research tool that can help you brainstorm ideas and build content strategies around target keywords.
It is pretty straightforward. Just type in a seed keyword and Surfer will recommend topic clusters of related keywords. These clusters represent themes that bring all the keywords together. By focusing on topic clusters you can create content around topics instead of individual keywords.
The keyword research tool also shows you additional metrics for a selected cluster such as relative keyword difficulty - perfect for allocating priority to your clusters.
On top of that, you can also connect Surfer to your Google Search Console. It can help you identify content gaps and opportunities.
App Integrations
Third-party integrations extend the functionality of a tool. Unfortunately, Surfer does not offer a lot of third-party app integrations, at least not directly. However, you can always rely on the Surfer API that allows you to access Content Editor, Surfer AI, Audit, and SERP Analyzer from within a third-party interface. You can automate query creation, create shareable links, and analyze data.
Currently, some of the most prominent direct integrations available are SEMrush and Jasper.
Pricing
Surfer offers four pricing plans - Essential ($89), Scale ($129), Scale AI ($219), and Enterprise ($399). They vary in terms of how much access you get to the platform, for example, the number of articles per month, generative AI features, number of team members, etc.
All four plans can be billed monthly and annually (savings up to $480). Also, there is a 7-day free trial.
Pros and Cons
Pros
A competent content editor
Generative AI features
Easy keyword optimization
AI outline generator
Free chrome extension
Integration with WordPress and Google Docs
Cons
Limited keyword research
No free plan
Limited third-party integrations
Bottom Line
So, the question is- is Surfer SEO worth it? Well, it is a strong choice for website owners and businesses looking for an easy-to-use tool to help them optimize their content for search engines. The excellent content editor and unique data points make it a valuable asset, but it comes with a few caveats.
As mentioned earlier, the tool offers limited keyword research capabilities. Besides, it focuses solely on on-page SEO, making it a poor contender for backlink building. Some users have even reported occasional bugs and glitches within the platform.
When it comes to pricing, Surfer SEO is quite affordable for small and large businesses alike. But if you are still on the fence about this tool, there is a 7-day free trial on all four pricing plans. Why don't you give it a try and see if it is a good fit for your SEO needs?