Here’s my SE Ranking review, one of the popular SEO tools in the digital marketing industry.
As the SEO and content head of DemandSage, I make use of many SEO tools on a regular basis. In fact, I have been using SE Rankings for a while — mostly using it for site audits and rank tracking.
In this post, I’ll drop my super in-depth review of SE Ranking and my experience using the tool for over a year now.
After trying all the tools, here’s what I found out:
- Affordable SEO solution (complete suite) compared to other popular SEO tools
- Real-time rankings for specific countries (but no daily updates)
- Allows collaboration with teams at no additional cost
- Provides a broad backlink report of competitors’ websites
- The TF-IDF tool is still in the beta version
- Helps create fresh online content that generates traffic
Not enough? Read the complete review to explore in more detail.
Who is SE Ranking For?
SE Ranking is best suited for:
- SMBs (Small and medium-sized businesses)
- Freelancers
- Digital Marketers
- Growing Agencies
- Competitor Analyst
SE Ranking Pros & Cons
Let’s check some pros and cons of SE Ranking:
Pros
- SE Ranking offers high-value for money
- Offers in-depth analysis of competitors’ keywords and domains
- In-build content marketing and social media features
- Easy to use and navigate.
- 360-degree data for your project and high accuracy in metrics evaluation
- AI-assisted automation features
- In-depth automated website audit
Cons
- No free plan (but the two-week trial is available)
- The amount of data they provide can be overwhelming for beginners
SE Ranking SEO Toolkit Review
Founded by Valery Kurilov in 2013, SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO tool.
SE Ranking’s recent update brought up many improvements in its services and tools. Now, it provides more in-depth metrics and insights on keyword research, competitor analysis, backlinks, and many more.
The best part is that the platform is extremely easy to navigate and provides an in-depth, accurate database. This tool is also known for its pocket-friendly pricing plans compared to its rivals and world-class customer support.
Here is a detailed review of what SE Ranking offers in its SEO toolkit.
Rank Tracker
SE Ranking is broadly used for rank tracking of specific keywords. Let’s how accurate their rank-tracking reports are.
To get access to SE Ranking’s Keyword Rank Tracker, you have to simply click on the “Rankings” option from the left-hand sidebar menu on the Project dashboard, and that’s it.
When you scroll down, you will find all the keywords that are ranking for the website you are searching for. With that, key metrics such as search volume, content score, URL, and current ranking are added to the list.
You can check historical ranking in terms of 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. The only downside of this feature is that longer versions are only available with the Pro and Business plans.
However, you can share the data with your staff and teammates through a guest link or export the data on Excel, or Google Sheets through a CSV file.
Keyword Research
Not the biggest but SE Ranking claims to have a keyword database of 7.3 billion keywords.
The platform includes thorough keyword parameters (newly updated), including:
- Keyword Difficulty Score (how difficult it’d be for you to rank your site to Google’s page one)
- Monthly Search Volume (how many monthly searches that particular keyword has)
- Global Volume (distributed keyword search volume of top countries)
- CPC (the price you have to pay in a PPC Google’s Marketing campaign)
I searched for the keyword “camping gears,” and SE Ranking came up with the above parameters and a list of top keyword ideas.
Keyword ideas include similar keywords and related keywords with their search volumes. The list contains single keywords and long-tail phrases that target users’ intent precisely.
You can also add URLs of top competitors to get your hands on their ranking keywords. The keywords are distributed in organic and paid, so you will know which one to pick for your SEO.
Competitors’ paid campaign history that would help you determine which of them turned out to be the most profitable. Keyword Manager functionality that helps you grab and monitor any keyword you have put your eyes on while researching.
Bonus: If you are in search of the best keyword research tools, then I have got your back with the list of the top tools, which you can check here.
Competitor Analysis
SE Ranking gives you a detailed overview of competitors’ main domain metrics. Data on their traffic, including estimated clicks per month, the most popular pages, and so on.
With each search, you will get access to extensive insights on keywords your rivals rank for, both in organic and paid results. You can also evaluate the number of backlinks and referring domains the rival websites have and acquire their quality.
With SE Ranking’s Backlink Gap Analyzer, you can also get a complete report on the backlink gap between your website and competitors.
You can view the number of backlinks and their referring domains (from where they source backlinks) separately. For better analysis, you can apply filters.
Backlink Checker
One of the most notable tools integrated by SE Ranking is its Backlink Checker, which I really like. With this tool, you can analyze the backlink profiles of any website or page (including yours).
The tool instantly provides insights on new and lost referring domains, backlinks, and their anchor text distribution.
After analyzing further against some key backlink metrics, you will get Dofollow/Nofollow proportion, Domain and page Trust factors, IP addresses, and subnet data.
The real deal of this tool is its real-time backlink status checker. With this advanced feature, you will be able to analyze additional backlink metrics such as found/not found status, Google Index Status, UGC/Sponsored, etc. (But you have to pay extra for it.)
Website Audit
A website’s technical issues can’t be improved without a website audit. It has a dedicated Website Audit tool that would help you check your site’s SEO performance and show the scope of improvement if needed.
It scans every page of your site thoroughly and calculates its health score. However, it can take a few minutes to scan (depending on the website).
What’s more, it audits the site’s technical SEO health in areas including but not limited to: Core Web Vitals and mobile optimization, website security, HTTP status codes, internal and external links, redirects, page titles and meta descriptions, and other reasons that may be hindering your site from ranking higher.
You can also set up automated reporting and get audit results to your email address.
On-Page SEO Checker
SE Ranking offers a world-class On-page SEO tool that is quite effective if you want to optimize your page content to satisfy search engines and help it rank higher. For example-
- Check how well a page is optimized for a particular search query.
- Compares your page against top-performing search competitors and gives you ideas on how and what to improve.
- Provides you with a detailed report including all important on-page metrics and keyword data (like density, how many times they are mentioned in the main/secondary content on the page, etc.), content parameters (title, meta description, headings, and content structure), and technical metrics (URL length, number of inbound/external links, Core Web Vitals) and more.
- Automatically compiles a prioritized list of tasks for your page improvement.
To use SE Ranking’s On-Page SEO Tool, all you have to do is enter a URL, your target location, and 1 primary and up to 30 secondary keywords. Then it will show you an in-depth analysis of your on-page SEO performance.
SE Ranking Content Marketing Module Review
Content Marketing is a new addition to SE Ranking’s feature box. Currently, it consists of two tools–Content Editor and Content Idea Finder, and the company already working on developing new ones.
Content Editor
SE Ranking simplifies the process of content creation with its built-in Content Editor tool.
It creates an in-depth structured article brief and speeds up the whole process at any step, from preliminary research to text writing, by using AI and NLP technologies.
You can access the Content Editor tool from the “Content Marketing” menu. To generate a new article, click on the New Article.
Pro Tip: For best practices, you can use the Content Editor tool as an add-on to Google Docs. The tool will assist you in writing short and long-form content.
To get started, you can add up to 5 keywords or phrases that match the search intent of the content you want to write. You can also choose your preferred search engines, language, country, and region.
After adding the article name, you can add URLs of top competitors and hit Create Article.
Within a few seconds, the screen will display competitors’ information, including metrics like content score, page trust, domain trust, traffic, total words, and visibility score. These indicators will help you optimize your content quality, length, and trustworthiness.
Once your content brief is ready, you can generate an SEO-optimized article that will rank in your preferred search engine.
However, it is recommended not to use the complete AI-generated content. Instead, follow the optimization guide on the right side of the page to get a decent content score.
Content Idea Finder
It’s a pretty useful tool if you are running out of content ideas and looking for some inspiration. Just enter a keyword, and it’ll show you results in clusters – each having up to 50 results.
Clusters are followed with data on the topic potential, search volume, keyword difficulty, and top-performing search results. Depending on what works best — you can switch between the list and mind map display modes.
Local Marketing Tool
SE Ranking’s Local Marketing Tool is designed to help businesses improve their online visibility and local search rankings. The tool allows you to track keyword rankings across multiple locations, see how customers find and engage with your business online, and identify issues with listings on Google and other directories.
Its key features include location-based rankings and search tracking, auditing of Google Business Profile and listings, reputation management with review insights and response tools, and clear dashboards to analyze location data.
You can add unlimited locations, manage listing info, monitor competitors, and integrate with other SE Ranking tools. The tool aims to centralize local SEO efforts by providing robust analytics and easy management of local business profiles, listings, reviews, and rankings.
With customization and historical data, this tool gives localized insights to optimize online visibility and reach more customers.
Tools For Agencies
SE Rankings provides a robust suite of tools specifically designed to help digital marketing agencies efficiently manage SEO campaigns, reporting, and operations across multiple clients.
Agency Pack
The Agency Pack allows agencies to manage projects, access rights, and workflows for all clients from a single SE Rankings account. This consolidated view and control over multi-client campaigns enables optimized efficiency and productivity.
SEO Report Generator
The SEO Report Generator is an impactful client reporting tool that automatically creates customized, branded monthly reports that demonstrate campaign progress, keyword rankings, traffic metrics, and ROI. These professionally formatted reports help agencies showcase the value delivered to clients.
Lead Generator
Lead Generator integrates robust email marketing and landing page capabilities to help agencies attract and convert new business leads more effectively. Customizable forms and templates ensure messaging is tailored to each lead source.
API
Leveraging the SE Rankings API enables seamless integration with an agency’s own dashboards, analytics, or other tools. Data can be synced and analyzed as needed to provide enhanced visibility through an agency’s customized systems.
White Label SEO Software
White-label options allow agencies to brand and customize the SE Rankings platform with their own logo, colors, and messaging. This provides a more tailored, premium SEO toolset and reporting experience to impress clients.
Some Other Notable Features of SE Ranking
SE Ranking doesn’t stop here. It has tons of extra handy features to elevate your SEO game. Let’s have a look at them.
SERP Checker
With this tool, you can check top-ranking sites for a particular keyword and analyze their SEO metrics and content structure. You can follow their strategies to strengthen your site or find gaps to outrank them.
Page Changes Monitoring
This tool is perfect for analyzing and tracking page changes. For example, when you set your own web page or competitors’ page to monitor, it notifies you regarding any tiny changes, including title, meta description, keywords, H1-H2 tags, HTTP response codes, internal and -external links, robots.txt, crawl and index statuses, and many more.
The page Changes monitoring tool is extremely useful, especially if you have issues regarding traffic drops and unauthorized changes.
Backlink Monitoring
This tool helps you monitor backlinks and get notified automatically when their status changes. The tool keeps an eye on backlink parameters like found/not found status, indexed/not indexed, and first and last seen. You can connect your Google Search Console to a project and configure backlinks import from there.
Backlink Gap Analyzer
With this tool, you can investigate your competitors’ backlink profiles – what domains/URLs are linking out to them but missing on your website. You can also check backlinks in common if you need to. Thus, it is undoubtedly a great tool for building high-quality links and outperforming your competitors.
Keyword Grouper
SE Ranking’s Keyword Grouper tool helps you cluster keywords based on the top-ranking results in Google for them. Let’s say some keywords bring the same pages in SERPs, this tool will automatically group those keywords. In a nutshell, it saves lots of time when researching any niche or planning a website structure.
Lead Generator
SE Ranking has gone the extra mile by adding Lead Generator, a widget that helps you generate qualified leads. When you add it to your site, it lets your visitors audit their sites (for free) in return for their contact information. You can then use their contact details in the future to nurture and convert them.
(Remember, It’s only available in the Pro & Business Plans).
Search Engine Autocomplete
It helps you generate keyword suggestions based on data from Google, Yahoo, and Bing autocomplete.
Social Media Management Software
SE Ranking is also for social media management. You can auto-schedule posts and monitor your Facebook, and Twitter pages performance statistics from one single dashboard. You can also check the engagement rates, best-performing posts, the best time to post, and many more.
SE Ranking Pricing Review: How Much Does It Cost?
SE Ranking offers three different plans to its users: Essential, Pro, and Business. Each plan comes with different access to tools and limitations.
1. Essential ($55/month)
- Rank Tracking for 750 Keywords
- Up to 10 projects monitor 5 competitors per project
- Website audit for 100K pages
- Monitor up to 17,500 backlinks
- 50 backlink check reports per day
- 20 on-page audits
2. Pro ($109/month)
- Rank tracking for 2000 keywords
- Unlimited number of projects, monitor 10 competitors per project
- Website audit for 250,000 pages
- Monitor up to 30,000 backlinks
- 100 backlink check reports per day
- 30 on-page audits
- 3 user seats
- White label
- Page changes monitoring
3. Business ($239/month)
- Rank tracking for 5000 keywords
- Unlimited number of projects, monitor 20 competitors per project
- 700,000 pages website audit
- Monitor up to 80,000 backlinks
- 300 backlink check reports per day
- 100 on-page audits
- 5 user seats
- White label
- Page changes monitoring
You can get a flat 20% discount on monthly plans if you subscribe to the annual plan.
If you are a new user, there’s a 14-day free trial available on every SE Ranking plan. You can choose your preferred plan and use it for 14 days without needing to add credit card details. This trial period is enough to test all the advanced tools.
Which SE Ranking Plan Is Suitable For You?
As per my research, I would recommend the Essential Plan to solopreneurs, SEOs, bloggers, and freelancers. If you are running a small/medium digital agency with a team, go for the Pro plan.
The business plan is suitable for bigger enterprises and SEO agencies. They can benefit from the SE Ranking API access and in-depth historical data and domains.
What Do Customers Say About SE Ranking?
As I mentioned above, SE Ranking is getting all the praise from real customers. However, some users do not totally agree with others. Here are some reviews from existing customers.
Good: “I’ve been using the platform for over a year now, but I decided to write a review only after checking out the latest update. The thing is, SE Ranking is currently the only tool that has announced the development of a feature for working with the SGE snippet. Considering this is the biggest update in Google in the last five years, I believe the developers really have the right approach to SEO. The platform is user-friendly and straightforward. The interface is clear, and the data quality is at a high level. I can recommend this tool to marketing and SEO teams.”
– Martin Miles
Bad: “Very misleading information when signing up for a paid plan. Paid £89 per month for access to historic keyword data as it clearly stated I would receive. Upon completion, I noticed I did not receive access to this historic keyword data, and “Oleg,” the live chat assistant, told me that I would need to further upgrade to their most expensive plan to access this data. Really disappointing when a company tries to deceive the customer, immediately lost their integrity.”
– Ben Ryman
(Source: Trustpilot)
SE Ranking Alternatives
SE Ranking is a complete SEO tool but only suitable for beginners and SMBs. That means it has some limitations too. So you might want to explore other options with advanced and industry-level features.
Here are some SE Ranking alternatives you can try:
| Features | SE Ranking | Semrush | Ahrefs | SpyFu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $55/month | $129.95/month | $99/month | $39/month |
| Free Trial | 14 days | 14 days | No | Free plan |
| Keyword Database | 7.3 billion | 25.4 billion | 19.2 billion | Undisclosed |
| Competitor Analysis | Website audit, backlink analysis | Detailed insights, organic/paid keywords | Keyword strategies, deep backlink profile | Historical data, PPC campaign analysis |
| Rank Tracking | Local SEO, competitor tracking | Historical data with global database | Excellent SERP features | PPC competitor tracking |
| Content Marketing | Content Editor, Idea Finder | Content calendar tool | Content ideas, AI-assisted research | PPC Ad insights, competitor content analysis |
Semrush: Semrush is a powerful SEO toolkit preferred by medium-sized and larger businesses. The platform offers a huge keyword and backlink data, as well as more advanced features compared to SE Ranking. However, SE Ranking still provides better organic keyword research and backlink analysis. You can also read my detailed Semrush review here.
Bonus: I have done a detailed comparison between Semrush and SE Ranking. Check out now to see which tool is better than the other one.
Ahrefs: Ahrefs excels at providing necessary recommendations to get more traffic and rank higher on the SERPs. The platform has the biggest index of live backlinks (more than 15 trillion). Compared to SE Ranking, Ahrefs is more advanced and complex. SE Ranking aims to be easier to use with more built-in workflows and collaboration.
Know everything about this popular tool in my detailed Ahrefs review.
SpyFu: SpyFu specializes specifically in keyword and competitive research for SEO and PPC. It tracks competitors’ paid and organic keywords, ad spend, ad copy, and landing pages. It is affordable and has almost no learning curve.
Conclusion: SE Ranking Review (2024)
After using all the tools thoroughly, I find SE Ranking pretty useful for my specific SEO needs. The website audit, keyword research, and competitor analysis were to the point, as most of the queries were related to my website.
On top of that, it’s very easy to navigate – even those who haven’t tried their hands out on SEO yet can use this platform very smoothly. The collaboration tools make the research process much easier.
However, I would recommend going through the free trial before investing in one of its plans. It will help you evaluate all the tools and capabilities by yourself.
FAQs On SE Ranking
Yes, SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial which will give you limited access to all the features of SE Ranking. To start the free trial, you don’t need to give out your payment information, so there is no need to cancel it if you don’t want to continue with SE Ranking.
SE Ranking does not offer any refunds. But in case of some special cases, you can request a refund, and still, there is no guarantee that they will refund your money.
With SE Ranking, you get access to a complete suite of SEO tools to grow your website’s organic traffic. It also offers tools like PPC research and social media management. You can also generate white-label reports and add your own branding to them. It is also affordable compared to other SEO tools, so I would say it is definitely worth it.
There are many good alternatives to SE Ranking available, and some of them are Semrush, Moz, Ahrefs, SpyFu, Serpstat, etc.
Yes, SE Ranking offers multiple add-ons, which you can buy with its plans. The agency pack add-on costs $50/month, billed annually, the pricing range of the content marketing add-on is from $29/mo to $99/mo, and the pricing range of the local marketing add-on is from $7/mo to $181/mo.
