Surfer SEO Review 2023, 2024 and Beyond
In today’s Surfer SEO Review, we discuss anything you need to know about this powerful tool that could bring your website and your offerings closer to its tribe.
It all started from a keyword used on the search engines that created multiple search results and SERP features, offering you some of the best results that answer your inquiries.
If Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam depicts the relationship between God and humanity, we could say the same about Search Engine Optimization. Using a keyword while browsing the internet creates connections between users, search queries, and top-ranking pages. As such, we cannot deny the power of SEO.
And what better way to ensure some of the best SEO practices, if not by using one of the most popular SEO tools on the market – Surfer SEO?
As such, in today’s Surfer SEO Review 2023, we discuss anything you need to know about this powerful tool that could bring your website and your offerings closer to its tribe.
Please stay close if you want to learn what Surfer SEO is, how to use it, and, most importantly, what benefits the Surfer SEO tool brings.
By the end of this article, you could learn how AI and content creation work together, how to improve and optimize content, upskill your overall SEO knowledge, and address the on-page SEO to get you started.
What is Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is an all-in-one SEO tool that has the potential to automate and improve your SEO efforts by offering content optimization features, competitive analysis, SERP analysis, and overall SEO recommendations to boost your presence within the search engine rankings.
Besides this, you could use this powerful tool for keyword research, keyword suggestions, and a content planner for writing and optimizing your content by using real-time metrics for word count, NLP keywords, and images to rank higher.
Furthermore, Surfer SEO aims to make search engine optimization, on-page SEO, and content optimization tools more accessible and measurable to anyone who wishes to hit the first spots on search engines, matching users’ search intent.
Additionally, the Surfer SEO ecosystem offers multiple products to get you started in your SEO journey, such as:
- The Surfer AI – Could generate content for you with just one click;
- The Content Editor – Benefit from content suggestions;
- The Keyword Extension and Keyword Research – Better grasp your search volumes & keyword data;
- Content Audit – How to optimize better your existing content if not by starting with an audit?
- AI Outline Generator – Being stuck is no good, so benefit from the power of AI to better craft your content structure to ensure it reaches your targeted audience.
But this is more than just an SEO tool that uses AI to generate content, as seen with Chat GPT, Jasper AI, or another similar tool.
Read further as we will analyze how Surfer SEO works, what are some of the essential features, and, of course, we will walk you through an extensive Surfer SEO review so you can choose the best.
How Does Surfer SEO Work?
Surfer SEO is more than a keyword research or content optimization tool; it can understand the ever-changing ranking factors and offer content and relevant keyword suggestions.
Besides internal link suggestions to improve your overall SEO score, Surfer SEO works by analyzing your target keyword against your competitor’s, providing insight on how to proceed next.
Sugar, spice, and everything nice? Most definitely, as it combines the power of keyword research and keyword difficulty score with a SERP analyzer tool, along with the content editor and the AI writer, thus offering a feasible and effective tool.
Additionally, with Surfer SEO, you can audit and measure your content creation and marketing efforts to be sure you’re on the right track. It constantly checks thousands of data points, analyzes its findings, and prioritizes tasks to help you even further.
Your Ultimate Guide Surfer SEO Review
Now that we have learned the basics of Surfer SEO, it’s time to dive deeper into this comprehensive review. Stay put as you’ll learn more about its features and benefits, as well as one of the most essential aspects of this SaaS product, the ease of use.
As mentioned, Surfer SEO is more than a content optimization tool; it’s an exhaustive ecosystem you can use. As a result, Surfer SEO includes six products alongside the Surfer Academy, the blog, the SEO writing masterclass, and the Surfer SEO certification.
Surfer SEO Key Features:
- Surfer’s Keyword Research Tool and Keyword Surfer;
- Surfer AI;
- Surfer’s Content Editor;
- Surfer SEO Audit;
- Domain Planner;
- SERP Analyzer;
- Surfer SEO Add-Ons;
Surfer SEO Pros
Time Effective
Whether you work within the content editor or in Google Docs, you can save time with Surfer SEO by working more efficiently.
From keyword and topic cluster research to optimizing the content and image to publishing, Surfer SEO could be the way for a more easy-to-use and time-efficient SEO tool.
Ease of Use
As mentioned, Surfer SEO is an easy-to-use platform that could benefit beginners, juniors, non-tech users, senior marketers, and SEO experts.
Killer Add-Ons and Other Integrations
What is nice about Surfer SEO is the fact that it can be integrated with multiple platforms, like Jasper AI, Google Docs, Contentful, and others, to offer a seamless integration.
By using their Chrome extensions, you can also benefit from this coherent and consistent workflow.
Surfer Academy, Blog, and Certification
How can they deliver such a performant tool without further sustaining the community? Surfer SEO knows the importance of educational resources, especially when having a SaaS product.
As a result, Surfer’s user could use and learn from:
- The Surfer Academy;
- Surfer Blog;
- Surfer Knowledge Base;
- Join Surfer’s Community Group;
- Take the SEO Writing Masterclass;
- Obtain the Official Surfer’s Certificate;
Surfer SEO Cons
We can only say a little about the disadvantages, except that it’s a pricy tool, even though it can deliver comprehensive results.
Another thing is that it doesn’t offer a free trial. Instead, they have a seven-day money-back guarantee, which might be a more significant commitment for others.
1. Surfer SEO – Keyword Research
The Keyword Research tool is convenient, as you can benefit from it to plan your content strategy, analyze results, and discover new topic ideas with just a few clicks. As such, you only need to input one or more keywords, and the geo-locations and Surfer SEO take care of the rest.
For example, I’m looking for other clusters based on my main keyword, “wedding.” As you can see, Surfer provides the Monthly Search Volume and the Keyword Difficulty and categorizes the topic clusters by the search intent. Additionally, it offers a sorting option based on the search volume.
You’ll have more details inside each topic cluster, such as the exact keywords, search volume, and total traffic.
Surfer’s Keyword Research could be an excellent addition to your SEO tools since it can help you plan your monthly and quarterly content planner.
*Note: If you connect your Google Search Console with Surfer SEO, you can find missing clusters and other keyword ideas to set up your content planner better.
2. Surfer AI – Write Your Content in Just a Few Seconds
From Surfer’s content editor, choose the AI writer option. Just input your preferred keywords and let Surfer AI take the lead! All you need to do afterward is content optimization to ensure you reach the desired score.
From the content editor dashboard, you’ll see the tab for inputting the given keyword, choosing to write it yourself or with the help of AI.
From now on, things are self-explanatory, as you can customize the content before Surfer AI writes it.
Moreover, you can select from multiple content formats, such as blog posts, product roadmap, or product descriptions. Pretty helpful, right?
Furthermore, why not change the tone of voice and test the waters for more leads? At this point, you could also perform A/B testing and choose the right tone of voice that speaks best to your target audience.
3. The Content Editor That We All Need
You’ve settled that you wish to create your content from scratch, and as such, you’ll need a performant content editor that can boost your SEO content score.
You ensure the content structure is on point and relevant to the search engines through content optimization recommendations, related keyword ideas, word count, keyword density, and other SEO guidelines.
To start with the Content Editor feature, input a seed keyword, select your country and device preferences, and click “Create.” We recommend using the mobile crawler option as this is a preferred choice by Google.
Surfer Dashboard Explained
Once you’re in your Content Editor, you’ll see a dashboard bar on the right side with guidelines, an outline, a brief, the overall content score, details about your content structure, and the related keywords.
So, Surfer SEO analyzes the search outcomes for your given keyword, looking for what other relevant terms were used better to predict your seed keyword and different LSI keywords. Adding more of the suggested terms ensures that your Content Score ranks higher.
Primarily, you’ll be working on the guideline section of the content editor, as it offers the related keywords to your subject, as done in the first part – the keyword research.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to see the optimal keyword density, meaning how many times you need to use it to be relevant, the word count, and other key features.
However, if you’re still figuring out where to start, ask Surfer SEO to create your outline from the content editor.
Also, check the FAQs section to improve your chances for your content to be in the People Also Ask section of search engine results pages, as this can boost your traffic even more.
As we all know, Google determines which questions are the most frequently asked and favors the pages that answer them. Moreover, you can craft your SEO titles and meta descriptions around these questions to boost your organic traffic.
Want to see what your competitors wrote? In the top right corner, you’ll see the brief option, which is usually used for note-taking, but it also shows some competitors pulled from Google’s search results from the internet so you can get inspired.
Also, check the Natural Language Processing (NLP) keywords, as they could make a difference in your writing by optimizing content. Moreover, by using NLP keywords, you show Google that your content is appropriate to the relevant keywords and matches users’ search intent.
Also, you can select your competitors and benefit from the AI content detection feature before you generate your draft.
4. The Surfer SEO Audit Feature
Want to see how your overall SEO efforts perform for the existing pages? Then, using the Surfer SEO Audit feature, you can run a report over an individual page. Ultimately, you’ll have all the necessary details to improve your content.
From overall content score to internal linking and missing common backlinks, your used terms, word count, target keyword, page structure, and all the meta-details are at your disposal.
This feature solely aims to identify any on-page SEO issues that impact the performance and give details on how to fix them.
Additionally, by performing the on-page SEO audit, you ensure that your webpage content answers users’ queries, thus more traffic to your website.
For example, Surfer SEO could tell you what missing common backlinks you could tackle next in your link-building strategy and other keyword ideas, page structure, content length, meta title, and meta-tags structure details.
5. Surfer SEO Domain Planner – The Ace in Your Sleeve
Domain Planner is another excellent feature that Surfer SEO offers, as it is a valuable tool that could upskill your existing content. It works like the Audit tool but runs through your entire domain instead of only a one-page SEO.
As a result, you’ll be prompted with all the changes you must address, identifying quick wins and other SEO possibilities.
Moreover, it will list the top best-performing pages, including all the necessary details, such as monthly search volume, ranking position, and traffic.
6. SERP Analyzer
SERP Analyzer could be another powerful addition to your SEO toolkit, as it offers another significant way to dive deeper into the competition, but from a content-first point of view.
Additionally, you could learn more about the average word count, keyword density and frequency, the number of uses of keywords regardless of their type, page speed, alt text, and more.
SERP Analyzer Benefits:
- Identify potential organic clicks available;
- User search intent and insights;
- Identify link and domain authority;
- Identify the required content types for achieving top-ranking pages;
Surfer SEO | Ease of Use
Surfer SEO’s beauty lies in its ease of use and clean design; from our experience, it’s a no-brainer. We have often used or tested digital and SaaS products with many great features, but they took a lot of work from the usability and overall user experience standpoint.
As such, Surfer SEO knows how to deliver a seamless experience, bringing a fresh design that alleviates the whole SEO process. Moreover, having an intuitive design with a colorful UI improves everything.
Surfer SEO Review | Benefits and Why It’s Worth It
If you’ve read up until now, you could have seen why we consider Surfer SEO a practical and effective tool that could kickstart your SEO marketing strategy.
And if you still ask yourself, Who is Surfer SEO best for? We could say that everyone can benefit from it. Regardless of your marketing experience, Surfer SEO’s beauty lies in the ease of use.
As a result, any business owner, junior or advanced marketers, content writers, and SEO professionals could see the significant potential of such a tool.
Also, to better grasp Surfer SEO potential, many testimonials and case studies showcase the efficiency, only to shine a new light on the many domains in which such a tool can be used.
Some of the most notable benefits are:
- Ease of use;
- Improve organic visibility in SERPs;
- Drive organic traffic to your website;
- Boot your content quality;
- Boost your ranking;
Surfer SEO Review | API and Add-Ons
Another excellent reason Surfer SEO is worth it is its integrations with third-party platforms. You can choose from WordPress to directly export your content, marketing platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Contentful, Jasper AI, and others.
Keyword Surfer | Chrome Extension
You can use the Keyword Surfer to research your keywords within the Google Chrome browser and export them to Google Docs.
Uncover with ease some of the most important aspects of keyword research, such as search volume, CPC, keyword suggestions, related terms, visibility metrics, and on-page data.
Once you install it, when you perform a Google search, you’ll be able to see on the right side the Keyword Surfer box with all the related keywords for your search. As such, you can thick-box them and save them to the clipboard without leaving the browser.
7 Benefits of Using a Keyword Research Tool:
- Keyword ideas;
- Improve your website’s traffic;
- Generate leads;
- Improve search engine ranking;
- Increase brand awareness;
- Cost-effective ads;
- Data-driven decision-making;
Surfer | Chrome Extension for Google Docs
If you prefer writing directly in Google Docs, no worries, as Surfer SEO allows you to integrate these two for better workflows.
As such, just head to the Chrome Web Store and search for Surfer. Once you’re done, you can simply open the Google Docs, and then you’ll be able to see the Surfer SEO sidebar.
Source: SurferSEO.com
Surfer’s WordPress Plugin
Undoubtedly, Surfer SEO aims to streamline the process of creating optimized content, from keyword research to publishing. As such, they offer a WordPress plugin that allows you to publish without leaving Surfer’s interface.
Moreover, the plugin is free, so check it if WordPress is your platform of choice.
Also, the plugin allows us to create new articles, edit old ones, and, most importantly, take care of your visual aids by transferring them to WordPress.
So, be sure to download, install, and test the WordPress plugin, and don’t bother with the plugin updates, as you’ll be able to see them within the WordPress admin panel.
How Much Does Surfer SEO Cost?
Regarding Surfer SEO pricing, indeed, we could say that it is a bit pricey but has its plans divided so anyone can enjoy the tool. The paid plans for big organizations and solo and small teams are on the official website.
Medium to Big Organizations Pricing
Solo or Small Teams Pricing
And if you didn’t know until now, Surfer SEO has a “7-day Money-back Guarantee” that you can benefit from. If you have purchased a specific package, such as Essential, Essential AI, Advanced, Advanced-AI, Max, or Max-AI, and it’s not your cup of tea, you have seven days to request a refund.
Surfer SEO Alternatives
If you’re searching for other SEO tools, read further; in the next paragraphs, we will discuss some of the most essential Surfer SEO alternatives. As such, other tools include:
1. Frase | Smart AI SEO
Frase is another good option for an easy-to-use SEO content editor that works similarly to Surfer SEO, from keyword research to outlining your content structure and headlines to generating automated content and optimizing your existing content for better ranking pages.
Frase Pricing:
Solo – $14.99/month
- 1 User Seat;
- Write + Optimize 4 Articles/month;
Basic – $44.99/month
- 1 User Seat;
- Write + Optimize 30 Articles/month;
Team – $114.99/month
- 3 User Seats ($25/mo per extra);
- Write + Optimize Unlimited Articles;
2. Ahrefs | The All-in-One SEO Toolset
Ahrefs stands out as the all-in-one SEO tool that offers anything from on-page SEO tools to off-page SEO.
Since it’s a similar tool, Ahrefs emphasized the URL analyzer offering additional metrics like Domain Rating, top pages based on traffic, domain backlinks, and many others.
However, please note that Ahrefs lacks the content editor and content optimization dashboard we’ve familiarised with until now from Surfer SEO, but it is still a robust tool.
Ahrefs Pricing:
Lite – $99
- This package is advised for small businesses as it offers essential data;
Standard – $199
- If you’re an SEO freelancer or marketing business consultant, then this package is for you;
Advanced – $399
- This package is suitable for in-house marketing teams to boost your SEO efforts;
Enterprise – $999
- Ideal for marketing agencies and enterprises;
3. NeuronWriter | An Easy Way to Create Ranking Content
NeuronWriter is an AI-powered SEO tool similar to Surfer SEO since it has the same features, a content editor, keyword research tools, and similar integrations, such as Google Docs.
At this point, we could not say which one is best since they are both pretty similar.
Yet, choosing what works best for you is subjective, based on what other apps you’ve tested, what UIs impressed you the most, and overall, what expectations you have about the price you pay for such an SEO tool.
NeuronWriter Pricing:
Bronze Plan – $19/ Month
- 2 projects/folders;
- 25 content writer analyses;
- 15.000 A.I. credits*;
- Content plan;
- Content sharing (Read only);
Silver Plan – $37/ Month
- 5 projects/folders;
- 50 content writer analyses;
- 30.000 A.I. credits*;
- Content plan + New ideas;
- Content sharing (Read only);
Gold Plan – $57/ Month
- 10 projects/folders;
- 75 content writer analyses;
- 45.000 A.I. credits*;
- Advanced AI templates;
- Content plan + New ideas;
- Content sharing with unlimited team members (Create, Edit, Read);
- 75 Plagiarism checks;
- Integrations: GSC, WP, Shopify;
- Content management;
Platinum Plan – $77/ Month
- 25 projects/folders;
- 100 content writer analyses;
- 60.000 A.I. credits*;
- Advanced AI templates;
- Content plan + New ideas;
- Content sharing with unlimited team members (Create, Edit, Read);
- 100 Plagiarism checks;
- Integrations: GSC, WP, Shopify;
- Content management;
Diamond Plan – $97/ Monthly
- 50 projects/folders;
- 150 content writer analyses;
- 75.000 A.I. credits*;
- Advanced AI templates;
- Content plan + New ideas;
- Content sharing with unlimited team members (Create, Edit, Read);
- 150 Plagiarism checks;
- Integrations: GSC, WP, Shopify;
- Content management;
Surfer SEO Review Conclusion
Overall, we think Surfer SEO could be the way to go if you wish to boost your content organically and you’re looking for content optimization tools. It could be better, but the ease of use, clean design, and overall workflow do a pretty good job.
Surfer SEO uses its research abilities to scan your content across your entire site and can identify growth opportunities for you to explore further besides the classic optimized blog post everyone is doing.
Also, even though Surfer SEO is a bit more expensive than other tools, they emphasized its product power through its 7-day money-back guarantee.
As such, all we can say is check their complete offerings, review their case studies and testimonials, try it yourself, and check the results to ensure you’re on the right track.
