Is this Affordable SEO Tool Any Good?

If you’re looking to step up your SEO strategy, this SE Ranking review might scratch your itch. Using a reliable SEO tool is mandatory in 2024. This tool is characterized by affordable prices, powerful SEO features, and top-tier keyword research.

Moreover, many people use it to track their website ranking and monitor the website’s overall performance. SE Ranking is often overshadowed by superior options – Semrush is one of them. However, we discovered that this tool shouldn’t be neglected.

Our team has been using this software for well over a few years now. For this SE Ranking review for 2024, we tested it once again to bring you our “updated” thoughts on it and see how well it performs in all aspects, including SEO, content marketing, and many others.

Getting Started With SE Ranking

At the start of our SE Ranking test, we’ll discuss the start-up process, which is pretty simple. The service offers a few subscription plans that you can check using the button below. Select one, subscribe to it, and you’re all set. SE Ranking greets you with its splendid interface.

As you can see, it looks gorgeous, and while it packs features, it’s simpler than, let’s say, Semrush. Some users complain about Semrush’s slightly intimidating interface.

Visit SE Ranking website

Nevertheless, SE Ranking lets you add the website to get the machine started. Click on “Add Website.”

During the setup process, you can also select the keywords to track and even your preferred search engine. In our SE Ranking review, we discovered it supports:

Google
Google Mobile
Bing
Yahoo

After everything is set up, it’ll take a while for the app to gather information. The more keywords you add, the more it’ll take for everything to start. Regardless, that’s a 5-minute process. SE Ranking displays everything clearly, which is a huge plus.

The menu on the left houses its features that we’ll discuss in a minute in this SE Ranking test. The other portion of the screen is for graphs and other relevant information. Speaking of that, SE Ranking heavily relies on graphics instead of walls of raw text/data like Moz Pro.

It’ll undoubtedly ensure your first impression is spot-on, dragging you down into its vortex and making every SEO analysis enjoyable.

Review of SE Ranking Features

Being an all-around SEO tool, SE Ranking isn’t shy when it comes to features. It offers some basic ones and some advanced tools you won’t find in all of its competitors. After trying out and testing all of them, here’s what we think about these features.

Competitive Research

Competitive Research is the first one you’ll see. It’s great for analyzing your competitors and seeing how they perform to improve your SEO accordingly. You can discover things like domain trust, page trust, organic traffic, the number of keywords, and so on.

Analyze your competitors with SE Ranking

SE Ranking divulges even paid traffic and keywords along with total traffic cost. We like that it displays traffic distribution by country, which signals where the competitor you’re analyzing is popular. Scrolling down a bit will show you graphs of the said parameters.

You’ll see how the competitor’s traffic, keywords, and other factors changed over the year or more. SE Ranking displays organic keywords and those that have improved, decreased, or are new or lost. Another feature we like is Intent – also found in Semrush.

It displays the intent behind the search for keywords. It can be informational, navigational, commercial, local, and transactional. SERP features can also be discovered, such as reviews, featured snippets, videos, site links, and many others.

SE Ranking’s paid traffic research is basic compared to Semrush. However, there’s a Competitor Comparison where you can compare up to 2 websites to the analyzed domain. This is your Keyword Gap tool where you’ll find out more about competitors’ keywords.

Common, missing, and unique keywords can be found promptly. From here, you can implement some of them and see if you can rank higher than your rivals.

Keyword Research

What about keyword research? Is SE Ranking efficient enough? The answer is a resounding YES.

After providing the tool with the search term, you’ll be greeted by an in-depth analysis of its difficulty, search volume, CPC, global volume, keyword ideas, intent, and so forth.

Search for new keywords with SE Ranking

Its difficulty score is accurate enough and reflects the real-world situation. In some scenarios, it’s too mild, so obviously “hard” keywords become a tad “easier” in SE Ranking’s eyes. The tool will inform you if the keyword is “doable” and if not, you’ll basic advice on how to rank for it.

Keyword suggestions are handy as well. During our test of SE Ranking, we discovered a heap of them by visiting detailed keyword idea reports. You’ll find similar and related phrases, as well as keyword-related questions. Each detailed report contains more information.

These include search volumes, trends, difficulty, and intent. Trends are especially valuable because they show you how popular the keyword was in the previous months. Organic results can also be found for the given keyword as they appear in Google SERPs.

Finally, we’ll briefly mention its Ads History. For every keyword you analyze, you’ll find Ads History that displays popular ads for it. However, this feature isn’t available in every plan, so if you’re into PPC Advertising, you’ll have to invest a bit more in SE Ranking.

Keyword Manager

After trying out the Keyword Manager, we found it’s decent but not overly useful. It allows you to create bespoke keyword lists and manage them in multiple ways. Those lists can be exported to XLS or updated with new keywords.

You can add a list, name it, and then enter your keywords into them. Now, you can track each keyword and keep it under your watchful eye. Nothing too exciting, really.

Keyword Grouper

The Keyword Grouper is slightly more interesting. It allows you to craft keyword clusters and group keywords based on their SERP similarity. Grouping accuracy is determined by you, from 1 to 9, and after entering the keywords, SE Ranking will promptly do the job.

Now, the downside is that you’ll pay $0.004 per query and if you’re checking search volumes for each, that’s an additional $0.005.

Index Status Checker

There’s a nifty little feature called Index Status Checker that we tested in our SE Ranking analysis. It tells you if the page has been indexed by Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Again, it’s paid additionally for some reason, so each check-up will cost $0.005.

You can do the same for free in Google Search Console, so what’s the point? If you’re looking to rank higher on Yahoo and Bing, however, this tool will be more valid.

Website Audits

So let’s discuss website audits in our in-depth review of SE Ranking. After trying out this function multiple times, we can only praise it.

The amount of data you get is unreal – from the health score to core web vitals, domain metrics, page indexation, page depth, and many others.

We appreciate that SE Ranking highlights the most pressing issues first. Clicking on them displays the problems in-depth and the tool offers solutions to fix them. Moreover, you’ll get more information about your links – external and internal.

You’ll see how many dofollow and nofollow links you have. Core web vitals can also be analyzed per device, so you can select from mobile or desktop options.

Audit your website with SE Ranking

On-Page Audits

Another handy feature is the On-Page SEO Checker, which analyzes individual pages. We’ve used this feature a lot in our SE Ranking test. It does a great job in this regard, pointing out the obvious qualities and flaws of each page. There’s the Page Quality Score.

You’ll see things like indexing, internal links, page experience, external links, SERP features, and others. On the right, SE Ranking displays SEO tasks to improve the page. This can be used to increase your Google ranking or drive more traffic.

For instance, we found that a few of our pages should be more unique. Some pages required minor fixes, such as adding the pages to the sitemap file or including keywords in the URL of the page. This stuff is easy to handle once you detect it.

We found Semrush’s On-Page SEO Checker slightly better, however. It displays things like semantic ideas, content ideas, and top-10 benchmarking.

Still, our experience with SE Ranking was positive and its On-Page SEO Checker was useful in many situations.

SE Ranking Link Building (Backlink) Features

Right off the bat, you’ll notice SE Ranking’s backlink analysis. Frankly, this isn’t the best tool for link building compared to Semrush. For one, it doesn’t have a link-building tool that lets you directly contact websites and request a backlink. Second, it’s great only for analysis.

At least in this regard, the tool shines with a huge backlink database and plentiful information. Once you provide the link to the page, the interface will greet you with data like referring domains, backlinks, and anchor texts.

We love the toxic backlink analysis, which tells you more about your backlink profile. Toxic backlinks decrease your SEO and make ranking higher slower. SE Ranking also displays your non-toxic backlinks, highlighting what you did well.

Like Semrush or Mangools LinkMiner, this tool displays new and lost backlinks. We like the top backlink anchors menu, highlighting the most prominent backlinks on your site. SE Ranking lets you analyze pages individually and examine their backlink profile.

In addition, we appreciate the ability to see the referring IP addresses of the backlinks. Finally, SE Ranking detects broken backlinks efficiently. This is another crucial factor that must be eliminated if you want to maximize your SEO scores.

Backlink Gap Analyzer

Our experience with SE Ranking led us to its Backlink Gap Analyzer which worked well for the most part. You can add up to 5 competitors and run the analysis to see which domains link to your competitors but not to your website.

This function is overly simple and doesn’t contain much information. Yes, you’ll find all the referring domains and backlinks, which is handy. But Semrush is much better, offering the option to see weak, strong, shared, and unique backlinks.

It also lets you access its link-building tool directly from here, as you can send the displayed prospects to it. As said, SE Ranking will “inadvertently” improve your backlink profile but not directly like Semrush, which is the #1 SEO tool in this case.

Visit SE Ranking

Content Management Features of SE Ranking

SE Ranking has two excellent content management tools we tested. These tools are paramount for improving your content, ensuring better keyword optimization, and providing better readability to increase dwell time.

Content Editor

SE Ranking’s Content Editor is the tool we liked a lot in our review. It lets you write articles directly or copy them to the empty page and let the tool analyze them. We love the fact that it’s a full-fledged writing tool where you can format the article the way you want.

Moreover, the right-hand side is handy for getting more info about the text. Under “Improvements”, you’ll see the content score based on factors like text length, headings, and used terms (keywords). SE Ranking will list the keywords you need to use too.

The main keyword is displayed first and the software advises using it in the first 100 words, for example. In the Quality tab, you’ll find metrics like your grammar, stop words, and punctuation. The readability score is also here, indicating how accessible your article is.

Of course, SE Ranking lets you check for plagiarism, alas, only in more expensive plans. We’ll address that later in our SE Ranking test. The Outline tab is also handy. It analyzes content structure, competitors, links, and keywords for a better overview of the article.

Perhaps the most useful tool is the AI Writer, similar to the one found in Semrush. It lets you generate content based on your needs. For instance, we like its FAQ Section option. We used it to fill our guides with answers to frequently asked questions.

In addition, AI Writer supports a few tones of voice, such as conversational, authoritative, informational, and a few others. Its AI Writer goes a long way in creating bespoke content without hassle, which can be helpful for faster, yet more efficient content creation.

Content Idea Finder

This feature is exactly what it sounds like. We discovered its usefulness when brainstorming content ideas for our few websites. To use it, you need to enter the seed keyword and select the country you’re aiming for. SE Ranking will then create so-called clusters.

These clusters contain keywords based on the seed keyword you provided. For the “SEO Software” seed keyword, there’s an “SEO Engine Optimization” cluster. When we click on it, we get numerous cluster ideas with their CPC, difficulty, volume, and competition.

Clicking on Titles gives you ideas you can use to title your article – as you can see below, they’re pretty sensical and good-looking. For a more graphical explanation, SE Ranking includes the Mind Map of clusters you generate.

In the middle is your seed keyword, while the lines originating from the center are clusters. Clicking on one displays cluster keywords on the right and lets you explore the possible titles. In terms of content management, SE Ranking did a splendid job in our analysis.

However, it’s still a tad underwhelming compared to Semrush. Semrush includes the SEO Content Template, which comes with data like semantically related words, advised backlinks, the readability score you should aim for, and the needed word count for the given term.

Local Marketing

SE Ranking offers excellent Local Marketing that aids the improvement of local SEO. It’s a great Ahrefs alternative in this regard, based on our experience with both. We found it pretty simple to use. You can target multiple locations, again, depending on your subscription.

You can choose from 1 to 50 locations from $7 to $181 a month respectively. Local Marketing is an optional add-on, so if you don’t need it, you don’t have to pay for it. If you do, you can add a location and track your ranking in it.

Furthermore, we like the Local Marketing Audit tool. It gives you a score and displays possible issues that harm your local SEO. SE Ranking can also track your Google Business Profile and display views, searches by keywords, and total searches.

We love that you can see Search and Google Maps views from desktop and mobile platforms separately. If you have a phone line, you can even examine the number of phone calls and messages over a specific period. Reviews can also be tracked.

You’ll see the reviews from Google, Facebook, and other websites. SE Ranking shows all of them, with the rating date, and the review content. It’ll display if you’ve answered the review as well, ensuring you’re always in touch with your customers, which adds to your local SEO.

SE Ranking Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?

Unlike Semrush and Mangools, SE Ranking doesn’t have a free plan – quite a shame. Perhaps, you could read our free SEO tools guide if you have no money to pay.

Discover SE Ranking’s offers

However, SE Ranking is very affordable, and in this review, we’ll see it costs way less than its many rivals.

The Essential plan starts at $44/mo for the annual plan, so it’s super affordable. To remind you – Semrush starts at over $100/mo! The Essential plan buys you 1 user seat and up to 5 projects. It includes almost all tools from this review of SE Ranking.

However, it lacks API access and historical data on domains and keywords. Its Agency Pack, which includes white label reporting and lead generator, can’t be purchased. The best-value plan is in the middle. It’s a Pro plan at $87.2/mo for the annual deal.

It excludes API access but includes everything else. Local Marketing can be bought and so can the Agency Pack, which can only be paid manually a whopping $600! The Pro plan analyzes 2,000 to 3,500 keywords daily compared to the Essential plan with 750 keywords.

Finally, there’s the Business plan at $191.2/mo. Instead of 3 user seats in the Pro plan, it allows for 5 seats and unlimited projects. It can also track from 5,000 to 15,000 keywords daily, in which case, the price increases to $456/mo.

Price Review of Other Features

SE Ranking’s monthly plans are there if you don’t want to commit for a year. However, they’re 20% more expensive per month, so they’re likely not an option. As said in this SE Ranking review, the service includes a few optional extras.

For instance, its Content Editor is always paid extra and costs from $29/mo to $99/mo, while the Content Idea Finder is a standard feature. The price of the Content Editor depends on several factors displayed below.

The Agency Pack, as said, costs $600 annually and it’s the only way of paying for it. An upfront payment of $600 is significant and we dislike the lack of monthly payments for it. If you need to work on your local SEO, here are the packages:

We also mentioned in this in-depth review that the service charges you extra for some features. These include Keyword Grouper, Parameter Checker, Index Status Checker, Search Engine Autocomplete, and Search Volume Checker.

These features cost from $0.001 to $0.005 per query/request/keyword/URL. SE Ranking has a 14-day free trial without a credit card. However, the service is non-refundable, which isn’t a deal breaker considering a generous free trial for testing purposes.

SE Ranking Pros

SE Ranking offers extensive keyword research and tracks up to 3,500 keywords (Pro plan). It also comes with other keyword-related features like the Keyword Gap, suggestions, and the Keyword Manager.
This tool is excellent for Website and On-Page Audits. It’s efficient at detecting bottlenecks and errors preventing your SEO improvements. Simultaneously, its bits of advice solve the detected errors promptly.
SE Ranking’s Content Editor is one of the best around. We like this feature in our SE Ranking test because it’s handy for improving content quality, optimization, and structure.
The Basic plan is extremely attractive at $44/mo, yet, offers plenty of features for newcomers. Even its Essential plan at under $88/mo is a banger, making SE Ranking one of the best, if not THE best cheap SEO tools you can get.

SE Ranking Cons

This tool has no dedicated link-building solution like Semrush. While its backlink analysis is efficient enough, there’s no CRM-like menu from Semrush’s Link-Building Tool that lets you get in touch with other websites and request a backlink.
SE Ranking’s PPC analysis isn’t the best around. It offers basic functions and data unlike Semrush’s equivalent, which provides the most information for PPC experts who capitalize on advertising-driven SEO.
SE Ranking includes plenty of optional and paid-additionally extras. They can bump up the price, especially if you opt for Content Marketing, Local Marketing, or even the notoriously expensive Agency Pack at $600 a year upfront.
There’s no free plan, which you’ll find in Semrush or Mangools that we reviewed not long ago. It does have a few free SEO tools but they’re far from the tools you’ll often need. We prefer Semrush’s free plan which loosely resembles the premium experience.

Verdict

After testing SE Ranking extensively for years, we can conclude it’s one of the best SEO tools to try out. It has plenty of things going for it and is more adorable than many of its rivals. SE Ranking is cheaper than Semrush but not better. It is, however, a close second, which is great.

This tool works well for many purposes. Competitive research, keyword analysis, content marketing, and local SEO – all of these will be covered by this tool. With an easy-to-use interface and flexible pricing, we think you’ll end up more satisfied than you expect.

Its downsides are minor, especially at this price point. If you want more advanced features and SEO-related data, consider using our Semrush coupon. If you’re an average or even slightly above average user, we’re confident that SE Ranking will be sufficient.

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