SurferSEO is an all-in-one SEO tool developed by a group of dedicated individuals who built and managed KS, a Polish agency that changed the SEO industry in Europe. The tool was initially developed as an in-house solution to simplify daily operations, but has since grown to become a well-known brand with a presence in more than 140 countries. With SurferSEO, businesses of all sizes can now conduct keyword research, optimize their website and rank higher in search results, using data-driven insights backed by AI and NLP-powered algorithms.
This review will analyze SurferSEO's features and benefits in-depth, offering potential users an overview of the tool and what it can do.
TLDR
SurferSEO is an all-in-one SEO tool aimed at democratizing organic traffic by offering website owners data-driven recommendations on how to improve their website's ranking. Developed by a core team from KS, the tool ensures that SEO is accessible to everyone, providing website owners with personalized and accessible data insights to help them rank higher in search results.
SurferSEO offers features such as real-time content optimization, keyword optimization, and an efficient workflow, all backed by AI and NLP-powered algorithms. With its suite of tools, SurferSEO allows you to create and rank pages faster, optimize existing pages for search engines, and improve your online presence.
SurferSEO offers affordable plans, catering to freelancers or mid-sized SEO/content agencies, and caters to large organizations through custom plans. Alternative tools to consider include GrowthBar, Frase.io, Clearscope, Topic, and Ahrefs.
Company Overview
SurferSEO began as an in-house tool at KS, a Polish agency that changed the SEO industry in Europe. It was created to simplify the agency's daily operations by offering an all-in-one platform for keyword research, content creation, optimization, and SEO management. Today, SurferSEO has become a well-known brand trusted by world-renowned companies and individuals worldwide.
SurferSEO is now used in over 140 countries and has garnered the trust of over 15,000 businesses and counting. The core team behind SurferSEO includes Sławek Czajkowski, Lucjan, Michał Suski, Tomasz Niezgoda, and Kazik Piętka, who have all worked tirelessly to build, break, and rebuild the tool since 2017. They cover different departments including Product Development, Design and Marketing, Data Science and AI, Customer Support, Sales, SEO, Operations, Finance, and HR.
At its heart, SurferSEO aims to democratize organic traffic with data-backed, on-page search engine optimization that is accessible to everyone, irrespective of their educational background, or location. The team behind the tool believes that SEO should be available to all, and has developed a user-friendly solution that helps businesses to rank higher in search results.
Through SurferSEO, businesses can seamlessly optimize their website, research topical content, and complete keyword research. The AI tool leverages data-driven insights to provide website owners with personalized recommendations on how to improve their website's ranking. The tool simplifies the optimization process and offers insights that help businesses grow their online presence.
Features
Real-Time Content Optimization
Content Score
With Surfer’s Content Score, you can receive real-time feedback on overall on-page optimization while working on your content. This feature provides specific suggestions for improving the content's structure, such as the title tag, meta description, header tags, and more. Surfer’s Content Score helps improve your content and increase your rankings.
Content Editor
Surfer’s Content Editor goes one step further by providing you with relevant keywords while focusing on writing amazing content. With the built-in Outline Builder, structure your content into a detailed outline complete with unique potential headings and questions. This feature lets you write with confidence and precision while getting a real-time measure of optimization.
Multiple Language Support
Surfer provides language support beyond English and Spanish. You can write and optimize simultaneously in any language and in any geographic location. The real-time metrics for structure, word count, NLP-ready keywords, and images ensure that you can rank high anywhere in the world for your target query.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword Planning
Optimizing for up to 20 main keywords is easy with Surfer. You can separate each keyword or keyword phrase with a comma [,] or by pressing the shift + enter key together. The Content Planner helps you identify topic clusters that you can build Content Editors around.
Keywords in a topic cluster share relevance to each other, and you can confirm that they serve the search intent you’re targeting too.
NLP-Based Algorithms
At Surfer, we use NLP-based algorithms to extract entities such as relevant words and phrases related to your main keyword. These guidelines help you understand which terms you should use, where to use them, and how often. The NLP-based guidelines help Google know your content is relevant to your target query and improves your ranking.
Organic Competitor Insights
Surfer looks to your “Organic Competitors” for insights on what type of content ranks. Organic Competitors are pages that rank in the top 10 of Google for the Content Editor’s chosen SERP location.
This feature helps you review your Organic Competitors and only select those that share your search intent and have a Content Score of 68+. This feature ultimately helps you produce content that is relevant to your target audience and ranks high on Google.
Efficient Workflow
Shareable Content Editor Link
With Surfer, you can generate a shareable link in any Content Editor, useful for multiple reviews and editing by yourself or others, directly in the tool. You can also download the GoogleDocs extension for Chrome browser or use our WordPress integration. The guidelines overlayed on either platform help you create a new SEO-optimized workflow that is both efficient and productive.
Payment Options
Surfer accepts payments via debit and credit cards for all subscription types. Payment via bank transfer is also possible when purchasing an annual plan.
Unfortunately, Surfer does not accept payments via PayPal. Choose a plan, see Surfer in action, and fall in love with your new SEO-maximized workflow.
Surfer Dashboard
The Surfer dashboard is only available in English. However, you can get keyword optimization in any language. All you have to do is choose an appropriate SERP location and create a query in a matching language, and Surfer will automatically understand what to use.
This feature helps you get the best out of Surfer regardless of what language you speak or the geographic location of your target audience.
Pricing
SurferSEO offers a range of plans to suit different needs and budgets. For freelance copywriters, the Basic plan is recommended.
This plan allows you to connect 1 domain to Grow Flow, with the option to purchase more as add-ons. You will also have 10 Content Editor and 20 Audit queries per month plus unlimited use of other tools for in-depth SEO.
The monthly cost is lower compared to the yearly billing system, but upon registration, you will be charged for the whole year.
For medium SEO and/or content agencies, the Pro plan or higher is recommended. With the Pro plan, you can connect up to 5 domains to Grow Flow, with the option to purchase additional domains as add-ons.
You will also have 30 Content Editor and 60 Audit queries per month plus unlimited use of other tools.
Do you need an Enterprise plan? SurferSEO offers solutions for large organizations in need of a personalized Surfer experience. You can contact them and discuss a custom plan.
Payments can be made via credit or debit cards for monthly and yearly subscriptions, and bank transfers for yearly subscriptions only. Unfortunately, PayPal is not supported. Your credits reset yearly or after upgrading to a higher plan.
While using Surfer does not guarantee a number 1 ranking on search engines, it does guarantee that your pages will have the highest possible quality, which maximizes your chances of high rankings. With Surfer's suite of tools, you can go in-depth and take control of your on-page SEO and content marketing efforts. Guidelines based on SERP competition, machine learning algorithms, and NLP will help you create a content plan, prepare accurate content briefs, and audit your existing pages in a user-friendly and SEO-oriented way.
Surfer saves you time you'd otherwise spend on research and increases the accuracy of your work by providing relevant data.
In summary, SurferSEO provides affordable plans for freelance copywriters, medium SEO and/or content agencies, and solutions for large organizations. No matter the plan you choose, you'll have access to tools that help you create and rank your pages faster than ever.
FAQ
What is SurferSEO?
SurferSEO is an all-in-one SEO tool that helps businesses optimize their website, research topical content, and conduct keyword research. The AI tool uses data-driven insights to provide website owners with personalized recommendations on how to improve their website's ranking.
Who is SurferSEO for?
SurferSEO is for anyone who wants to improve their website's ranking on search engines. It's particularly useful for businesses that want to increase their online presence and drive more organic traffic to their website.
How does SurferSEO work?
SurferSEO works by analyzing why top pages are ranking well for your keyword. Based on that information, you'll be able to figure out what you need to do to create content that will help you outrank your competitors. Surfer helps in two ways: creating/outsourcing new optimized content and optimizing existing pages.
What features does SurferSEO offer?
SurferSEO offers a range of features, including:
- Content Editor: Helps you write high-quality, targeted content that is optimized for search engines
- Keyword Research: Provides you with personalized keyword suggestions based on your website's content and goals
- Competitor Analysis: Helps you identify your competitors' strengths and weaknesses so that you can improve your own strategy
- Site Audit: Analyzes your website's technical and on-page SEO to identify areas for improvement
- Content Planner: Helps you organize your content strategy and identify content clusters that can increase your website's topical authority
How accurate is SurferSEO?
SurferSEO is an extremely accurate tool that uses data-driven insights to provide personalized recommendations. The tool uses AI and machine learning to analyze millions of data points and provide users with actionable insights that can help them improve their website's ranking on search engines.
Alternatives
While SurferSEO is a great content optimization tool, you might be looking for alternatives that fit your particular use case or business. Here are a few Surfer alternatives that you might want to consider:
GrowthBar
GrowthBar is a new competitor to SurferSEO that is both affordable and feature-rich. Its keyword research tool lets you find long-tail keywords with high commercial intent and it also has an AI writing feature that incorporates SEO best practices into the content you write. GrowthBar's optimization score helps you best position your content for your target keyword.
Frase.io
Frase.io is one of the best SurferSEO alternatives. It uses AI to generate briefs and suggest topics based on the content you already have.
Frase helps you optimize your articles for maximum visibility in search engines. It generates a SERP overview of existing competition and a robust content outline that helps you effectively structure your writing.
Frase does it all, from the initial outline to the actual content generation and optimization.
Clearscope
Clearscope is an SEO tool and content optimization software that reverse-engineers search results pages for a given keyword and gives you suggestions for how to rank your content for that keyword. It gives you suggested keywords to include in your content and grades your content according to its optimization score. It integrates with Google Docs and Wordpress, and also simplifies proactively updating old content so it doesn’t fall in ranking and traffic.
Their competitor map feature shows you the Clearscope scores of your competitors.
Topic
Topic is an alternative to SurferSEO that is focused on serving agencies. Its core feature is to create content briefs quickly, which can speed up the writing and editing process significantly. A content brief is akin to a content outline on steroids and Topic incorporates related keywords and SEO suggestions into the briefs.
The tool is straightforward and easy to use, and its Starter Plan is affordable too.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs, a full-suite SEO tool, is an excellent alternative to Surfer SEO. Its Keyword Explorer tool enables you to find related keywords and keyword ideas, and it also shows which feature snippets you need to rank for. It shows other potential ranking factors for the existing competition, such as domain rating or number of backlinks.
While Surfer SEO focuses on helping you optimize content, Ahrefs helps you with the broader SEO aspects.
