Surfer SEO has quickly become one of the most popular SEO and content optimization platforms, used by over 15,000 businesses globally. But does the tool actually deliver on its promises?
In this detailed review, we‘ll provide an unbiased assessment of Surfer SEO‘s capabilities, pricing, pros and cons to help you evaluate if it‘s the right investment for your business.
Overview: What Does Surfer SEO Offer?
Surfer SEO aims to streamline on-page SEO to boost organic traffic and improve website rankings. The key features include:
- Content Editor: Optimizes existing or creates new content by benchmarking against top-ranking webpages
- Keyword Research: Discovers high-potential keyword groupings and tracks search volume/difficulty
- SEO Audit Tool: Analyzes pages to identify issues impacting performance
- AI Outline Generator: Creates content frameworks to jumpstart writing
- Keyword Surfer: Chrome extension providing keyword insights as you browse
Unlike some SEO platforms focused solely on keywords, Surfer provides robust content creation and optimization capabilities all within a user-friendly interface.
Advanced features like plagiarism checking, Google Docs integration, and AI assistance demonstrate Surfer‘s attempts at staying ahead of competitor tools.
Next, let‘s break down the pricing and plans.
Surfer SEO Pricing Breakdown
Surfer SEO offers four main pricing plans, with the option for custom enterprise-level agreements:
| Plan | Starting Price | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $89/month | Up to 30 content editors/month, 2 seats |
| Scale | $129/month | Up to 100 content editors/month, 5 seats |
| Scale AI | $219/month | Up to 100 editors, 10 seats, 10 AI articles/month |
| Enterprise | Custom Quote | Premium features, dedicated support |
Key Takeaways:
- Number of content editors and available seats scale up with each plan
- AI writing capabilities only offered in Scale AI and up
- 7-day free trial available
- Annual billing provides discounted rates
For solopreneurs or very small teams, the lower-tier options should suffice. The higher-end Scale AI and custom plans better suit larger content production demands.
Next, let‘s analyze some of the key benefits and downsides of adopting Surfer SEO.
Surfer SEO Pros and Cons
Key Pros
🌟 User-friendly content editor optimizes pages seamlessly
🌟 Robust keyword research and tracking
🌟 SEO auditing catches issues impacting performance
🌟 Specialized support team provides prompt, personalized assistance
Key Cons
💥 Expensive compared to some competitor tools
💥 Occasionally irrelevant content recommendations
💥 AI writing add-on is costly for output quality
In summary, Surfer SEO makes SEO and content creation simple through its integration, yet remains fairly expensive. The tool excels at optimizing existing pages but falters slightly on automatically generating new content.
For sites with a backlog of underperforming pages, Surfer can provide immense value. Those seeking more affordable long-form AI writing may need to explore alternatives.
Is Surfer SEO Worth The Investment?
The answer depends primarily on your business‘ specific needs and budget.
For PPC agencies, marketing consultants, blog/content sites, and commercial brands, Surfer SEO can deliver a positive ROI by accelerating organic traffic to high-value pages.
Dedicated features like plagiarism detection, automated SEO audits, Google Analytics integration, and robust API access also appeal to enterprise-level and niche use cases.
However, bootstrapped startups, solopreneurs, or companies prioritizing long-form blog content may find the rates quite steep. The AI helper still lags behind rivals like Jasper and Conversion.ai regarding output quality vs. price.
In most cases, opts for a free trial first. Testing Surfer SEO directly with your existing pages and keywords will prove more insightful than any review.
While Surfer isn‘t the most affordable tool, its specialized optimization capabilities and continually advancing feature set keep it among best SEO services year after year.
Hopefully, this transparent Surfer SEO review has better equipped you to decide if it meets your specific needs! Please reach out with any other questions.
