SpyFu Review: Intel on Competitors & Their Online Popularity

SpyFu Review: In-Depth

Here is a tool that lots of online businesses may not be aware of. This software grants users the opportunity to see content and domain rankings for their competitors. Not only that, but it’ll show what ads their rivals are using, and insights into how they’re generating leads.

Key Features

SpyFu Review: Background Information

The company originally went by the name GoogSpy since they searched through Google rankings. Today, SpyFu is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is coming into their 15th year in business. It continues to be made up of a relatively small group, with less than 100 employees.

The search analytics team has been featured in The Washington Post and Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Work Week. Besides helping Internet software clients, the brand provided crucial rankings reports to the media during the 2008 Presidential election.

Interesting Stats & Facts

The company uses dozens of other online products to help them find rankings and statistics. One of its prized techniques is borrowed from Velocityscape and involves harvesting data from websites.

• It reviews numbers via web scraping
• Its estimated annual revenue is $3.8 million
• Uses over 60 different technology services to achieve its marketing analytics

Features & Technical Details

SpyFu is an SEO tool that offers Web and cloud-based solutions. Clients can find info on competing buzzwords and phrases, how to drive organic traffic, and more. There are three pricing tiers available, perfect for businesses of all sizes. The primary user is a team that needs help with marketing and ad copy as well as search analytics.

Provided Networks: Cloud, WebType of Support: Live chat, phone, request ticket

Free Version: Yes

Free Trial: Yes

Type of Payment: Credit card, PayPal

Price Plans: Basic ($33/month), Professional ($58/month), Team ($199/month)

Devices Supported: PC

Below are more insights into the different ways that the company gathers information and how it helps customers.

SEO Tools: Reach Higher on Results Pages

Clients can get in-depth reports on what ads their rivals are using, as well as how their domain name is ranking on Google. Being able to track multiple metrics allows for a closer look at how the business can improve.

Search engine optimization is just the start for this brand. They have several other tools and functionalities for their customers. Below is a closer look at each one and how it benefits clients’ businesses.

Spyfu SEO Tools and Benefits

The software could not be easier to use. It’s as simple as opening the webpage and typing in someone’s domain name. This will pull up all kinds of charts and tables to review.

Competitor Analysis: See What Rivals Are Doing

This tool shows clients where their online rivals are ranking in terms of their keywords, if any. Part of this report is the monthly visitors and key phrases or words that are giving them search engine hits. It will also show SEO gains and losses.

Keyword Research: Real-Time Findings

This is an awesome tool for people who want to find out which buzzwords they need to include to get more hits and traffic to their site. It’s also a way to challenge competitors and get onto their playing field. By seeing what a rival’s domain ranks for, clients can adopt those strategies and get more site visitors.

Competitor Backlinks: Get Insider Tips

These types of links bring more organic visitors to a website and boost overall growth. Therefore, learning what other successful businesses are using for their backlinks can help clients driving more traffic to their site. Again, it’s all about incorporation the right buzzwords.

Domain Comparison: Get More Organic Visits

SpyFu’s Kombat tool is in charge of tracking different domains and seeing which ones are driving the most traffic and ranking the highest. Clients can type in their web address to get some insight into which keywords they should keep and which ones are hurting their chances of getting noticed.

Rank Tracker: Automate the Analysis

Knowing the right words and phrases to use and being aware of how to use them are two different things. Fortunately, this tracker tool makes it easy to save and export keywords. In the meantime, people can also get weekly updates on their SEO and PPC ratings with Google and Bing.

PPC Research: Reviews the Hard Numbers

To find out how much another provider is making per click, it’s as easy as searching for their domain name. Again, the software takes care of all the research and data points. PPC analytics work in a similar way to the SEO tools, and below are some examples.

AdWords Competitors: Learn From the Pros

This tool eliminates the need to search for the best AdWords strategies. Simply by seeing what the top-ranking sites are doing, clients can borrow those practices for their success. This feature looks at ad spend history, copy, and keyword groups.

PPC Keyword Reviews: Find the Top Phrases

This function searches the most profitable buzzwords and includes several filter options. This does wonder for a customer’s advertising campaigns and can even help them save money. They can also see how long a domain has been paying for a specific term in AdWords and how much money it’s bringing in.

PPC Keyword Suggestions: Save Time With Recommendations

This tool can feel like a personal buzzword fortune teller. In reality, it’s a feature that provides instant advice on where to spend AdWords dollars on an advertising campaign. It uses the findings it gets from competitors and their success to kickstart a client’s PPC strategy.

PPC Keyword Grouper: Reduce Silly Mistakes

This convenient service joins different words and phrases in a group and makes it easy to categorize them for future AdWords use. This helps to prevent double bidding and to waste money by using the same buzzword multiple times.

AdWords Templates: Choose Wisely

The SpyFu database looks at over 7 billion search results across 96 million domains. This helps in the creation of preset templates for ad groups based on competitor data. Clients just have to add their specific product keywords, and they’re all set.

Ad History: Optimized Marketing Writing

This is a prime tool for optimizing ad copy, and it saves companies loads of time. Otherwise, they would be using trial and error. Here, they can see what works and drives better results, as shown by competitor performance.

Suggested Buzzwords: Save More Time

Several dashboard features pertain to finding the right buzzwords and key phrases. These functions provide superb assistance in optimizing a business page or website.

Keyword Research Tool: Get Prime Overviews

Sometimes it’s just the difference between one word that makes a competitor’s domain much more successful. With this functionality, businesses don’t have to play the guessing game. The research database will show overviews of all-time rankings, search volume, daily clicks, and more.

Keyword Grouper: Organized Suggestions

This is where customers can add their key phrases or words and organize them based on various data points. This might include cost per click, daily hits, or estimated search volume. Clients can also export these findings to an Excel spreadsheet or PDF.

Backlink Checker: Get ClearAnswers

No more mysteries are surrounding inbound links. This checker is updated on a routine basis and helps people improve their social outreach by ramping up the quality of their backlinks. For those who need to start from scratch, the database will find which specific keyword or backlink will provide the greatest return.

Extra Features

There are additional tools on the user dashboard, and these give clients deeper insights and analytics. Special PPC or SEO reports show rankings based on clicks and values and pinpoint the weaker keywords that are wasting ad dollars. These findings go a long way in boosting campaigns and AdWords strategies.

SEO Reports: See the Big Picture

This makes it easy to see which words are duds and aren’t contributing to the overall traffic on a business site. It also saves valuable time that would be spent researching so that teams can work on more important projects.

Keyword Rank Checker: Get Quick Insights

This visually reviews how a company’s keyword usage rose and fell over time. With these charts, customers get a better idea of where their rivals soared past them and where they fell short. In short, these are invaluable insights.

SERP Checker: A Must-Have Time-Saver

Here is where teams can see search engine results pages and the ensuing research that would normally take them hours to compile. This includes things like the strength of a rival’s domain name, estimated monthly clicks, and the ads they’re currently running.

Domain Overview: Accurate Traffic Analysis

This includes real-time insights into a specific website’s successes. For instance, how much organic and paid traffic they are bringing in each month. Teams can also see where they rank on the different search engines and how old their content history is.

Tutorials: A Range of Topics & Suggestions

The SpyFu site is full of how-to articles and blog posts so anyone can get started right away. Topics include how to improve ad history over time, how to generate more sales leads via outreach efforts, optimizing backlinks, and more.

SpyFu Plans & Pricing

While there technically is a free account option, it does not provide the kinds of deep analytics that people come to SpyFu for. Fortunately, there are three tiers of pricing packages so that everyone can find a plan that suits their budget.

Basic: Great for Smaller Clients

This plan provides 10 each of small domain SEO and AdWords Advisor PPC reports per month. It also allows for sales leads filters ad placement trackers, and the ability to add in custom keywords.

Features: 250 sales leads, 5,000 weekly tracked keyword rankings, 10,000 top list results, Unlimited search results, data exports, and domain overviews.# of Users: 1

# of Accounts: 1

Price: $33/month

Professional: For Teams That Want Extra Assistance

White labeling is included in this plan, as well as 30 small domain and 10 medium domain reports. There is also more room to play with custom searches and analytics, making this a good package for larger enterprises and teams.

Features: 500 sales leads, 10,000 API rows, 15,000 weekly tracked keyword rankings, 50,000 top list results, Custom reporting, Unlimited search results, data exports, and domain overviews# of Users: 1

# of Accounts: 1

Price: $58/month

Team: For Large Multi-Account Clients

This is the largest plan and comes with unlimited small domain reports, plus 30 medium and 10 large. AdWords advising is also limitless, and it’s the only package that allows for multiple users. It has the greatest customization, but it’s also expensive.

Features: 2,000 sales leads, 10,000 API rows, 40,000 weekly tracked keyword rankings, 75,000 top list results, Custom reporting, Unlimited search results, data exports, and domain overviews# of Users: 5

# of Accounts: 1

Price: $199/month

Terms & Conditions

The policies are laid out on the brand’s policy page. This includes info about security, third-party data, and password protection. This is also where individuals can find subscription information. For instance, plans renew automatically, so it’s up to the user to cancel their account. The terms also state that only one person may use a profile at a time unless specified otherwise. Be aware that SpyFu links to third parties on occasion, either for software downloads or other services.

Privacy Policy

Updated policies regarding privacy are on their separate page on the website. The company makes it clear that they collect certain information from users to help improve the overall experience on the interface. Credit card details are processed and stored via a third-party provider that operates offsite. Only aggregate info is shared with other businesses, partners, and advertisers. This includes things like browsing history. SpyFu employees have restricted access to client details.

Refund Policy

According to the terms and conditions, all purchases are non-refundable. The only exception would be if a refund guarantee was provided in writing. A limited-use version of the service is available for free, so it’s advisable to try that out before committing to a subscription.

SpyFu Customer Support

Fortunately, there are a few ways to contact the service team, whether it’s by phone or online.

Telephone

The service team is available to U.S. customers at 888-201-0422. International clients can call 480-779-3955. Be aware that there may be additional charges when communicating via telephone.

Email

The company does have an email address available to consumers, although it is mostly used for questions related to payment. It is [email protected]. Alternatively, there is a request ticket available on the help page where individuals can reach the sales or support agents.

Online Chat

A live chat option is available to consumers between the hours of 7 am and 8 pm, Monday through Friday. The agents usually respond within a few minutes, and there are even preset questions to initiate contact.

Support Center

There are several resources on the service website. One is the blog, and the other is the video tutorial page. There is also a contact center where individuals can search for a specific topic or article. There is advice as well as information about everything from data to navigate the site to billing.

Quality of Service

This is a trustworthy service used by many SEO experts around the globe. Even though the enterprise is based in the United States, they still work with groups and individuals in other countries. Since this provider has been around for 15 years, it has had the chance to develop and expand with other Internet technologies. This makes it a quality resource for lots of businesses and freelancers.

Customer Types

Here is a look at which clients would be best suited to work with Spyfu’s services. Since different people have varying needs depending on their business size, it’s important to look at how a provider stacks up.

Small Businesses

A lesser-known company or one with minimal experience would get a lot of use out of these tools. There is a lot here that would save smaller teams massive amounts of time and energy. Overall, this would be a resource worth checking out.

Mid-Size Companies

Even businesses that are a bit larger would find lots to do with these features. After all, there is always room for improvement. This provider’s toolkit could be a great alternative for a company that doesn’t have an SEO unit.

Large Enterprises

Bigger corporations may also want to check out this tool. There are many great benefits for those who buy the largest subscription. They can take advantage of white labeling, custom brand reports, and more.

Freelancers

This would be a wonderful freelancer tool, providing they can afford it. Even the smallest paid plan is $33 a month, which can get expensive. If anything, an entrepreneur could try out the free version to get a feel for the software.

Spyfu Alternatives

Of course, there are other possibilities for tracking things like search engine optimization and lead generation. Below are just a few other options that consumers might look into.

SEMRush

This service is a mixed bag of auditing tools, position tracking, brand monitoring, and more. It also does some undercover work to evaluate companies and see how they’re using buzzwords and advertising to generate more leads and sales.

Serpstat

This is a younger enterprise, but it comprises most of the top tools that other providers have. This includes site audits, rank tracking, ad analysis, backlinking, and more. Its lowest plan is twice the price but includes more benefits and features.

Ahrefs

This provider shines the most in terms of backlinking. It has one of the highest-quality web crawlers out there as well as a massive database of inbound links. Other features include SEO checkers, ranking trackers, and social media info.

Majestic SEO

This is a trusted resource for backlink checks and ranking results. It also comes with an SEO toolbar extension for Google Chrome. It’s not the most visually appealing, but its pricing and functionality are on par with others.

iSpionage

This is a worthwhile choice for rival research and things like comparing PPC budgets, average ad position, clicks per day, and more. They’ve been in business for 15 years and have an intuitive and detailed user dashboard.

SEO PowerSuite

Lots of industry experts know about this software, and they recommend it to others. That’s because it has trustworthy capabilities like an SEO SpyGlass, link assistant, and website auditor. A free version is available with limited functionality, and the next plan up is $299 per month.

Alternative Services Comparison Table

This chart shows the basic prices and capabilities for each provider listed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SpyFu?

It is an intelligence tool for search engine optimization experts and market researchers. It is simple to use in that consumers can type in any domain name to pull up a report of their SEO and AdWords stats. For instance, it’s possible to see money spent each month on ads, where the keywords rank on Google, how many clicks per day a site is getting, and much more.

How To Check An SEO Ranking?

This can be as simple as going to the provider’s website and typing in a company’s URL in the search bar. This should show insights like which keywords and phrases are ranked the highest on the search engines. Different service providers highlight rankings from places like Yahoo!, Google, Bing, and more. Besides SEO rankings, it’s possible to see how successful the ad campaigns were in driving traffic to the site and generating leads.

Is SpyFu Good?

Yes, and its pricing is on the lower end compared to other service providers. There are a few different areas that they focus on. First, there are SEO research features. Secondly, there are tools for PPC insights. There are also keyword reports and SERP checkers, and that’s just the beginning. The site also has video tutorials and blogs full of advice and information on how to make the most of these capabilities.

Is There a Free Trial?

Yes. It can be difficult to figure that out since it isn’t apparent on the website. However, a free trial is available, and it’s a good idea to use it before committing to a real purchase. Payments are not refundable, so check out the unpaid version and get a taste for what this brand has to offer. There isn’t a whole lot of functionality with the no-cost version, though, so it may be worth trying a subscription for a month. There is supposedly a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The Final Say: Who Should Try This Out?

Out of the other providers out there, this one stands out for its superior pricing and its wide range of tools and features. Every function on the dashboard is focused on improving a brand’s sales, marketing, and ad revenue. Best of all, a person doesn’t need to be an SEO genius or spend hours studying the data to make use of this product. Overall, it’s one of the prime choices out there for gaining deeper insights into Google AdWords, keyword research, and backlinking tracking to get ahead of the game.