Howdy dude! So…Is it possible to get a powerful SEO tool for just $19? That’s the question on everyone’s mind. There is a tool that promises the moon: rank tracking, competitor analysis, keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis, all for a low price. But does it live up to the hype? Or is this another too-good-to-be-true situation? Let’s dive deep and uncover the truth!
The All-In-One SEO Tool: Is It a Myth or a Miracle?
RanksPro positions itself as an all-in-one SEO solution, an alternative to giants like Ahrefs and Semrush. It claims to be the perfect fit for small businesses and marketers. Let’s break down what it offers and if it’s worth the investment:
- Keyword Research: The heart of any SEO tool. RanksPro allows you to see keyword competition levels and provides an SEO score. But, is it accurate? We’ll get to that shortly.
- Rank Tracking: The ability to see how your website ranks for specific keywords over time. This is a crucial feature for understanding your SEO efforts.
- Competitor Analysis: RanksPro allows you to spy on your competitors, seeing their keywords, and strategies. Knowledge is power, right?
- Site Audits: RanksPro can crawl your website and identify technical issues that could hurt your rankings. A great feature to ensure your site is healthy.
- Backlink Analysis: RanksPro will show you who is linking to your site, so that you can determine the value of the site that is giving you the backlink.
The Good, The Bad, And The Downright Ugly: A Deep Dive into RanksPro
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty and see how RanksPro performs in real-world scenarios.
User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): A Breath of Fresh Air
RanksPro’s UI and UX are modern and intuitive. The buttons are logically placed, and the whole experience feels fast and responsive. The use of bright colors and clear visuals make it easy to navigate and digest data. The dashboard is well-organized, making it simple to add new projects and competitors.
Rank Tracking: The Saving Grace?
RanksPro’s rank tracking capabilities might be the best reason to consider buying the tool. The rank tracking tool is easy to use, and you can see previous positions of your keywords. You can also check trends for the past two weeks, and the user interface is clean. There’s even an option to use an AI writer for any keyword you’re tracking.
One of the most impressive things about the tool is that the keyword rank tracking gives you a lot of data. RanksPro provides a domain rank metric, which is their own proprietary score. The tool offers a clear look at your backlinks over time with a chart and includes anchor text data.
One issue to be aware of: Rank tracking data might not update if you’re on a free plan. If you switch to a paid plan, your tracking should start working.
Keyword Research: The Achilles Heel?
This is where RanksPro starts to show some cracks. The tool provides keyword search volume, SEO difficulty, cost per click, and more. You can see the volume trend for keywords, cost per click, keyword difficulty, average backlinks, average clicks, impressions, and more.
However, the main problem lies in the limited number of keywords returned. In one test, the tool returned only 500 keywords for the search term “keto diet,” while other tools like Sheer SEO can return 10,000 keywords. This is a huge limitation for in-depth keyword research.
Furthermore, the filtering options are severely lacking. You can’t filter by search volume or keyword difficulty. The only way to filter keywords is by tags, which you have to add manually. This makes it difficult to sort through the data and find low-competition keywords.
Another major concern is the accuracy of the keyword difficulty scores. In one instance, a keyword with almost 3,000 search volume was given a zero difficulty score, which is highly unlikely.
Competitive Research: More Limitations
The competitive research tool allows you to see your competitors’ keywords, backlinks, and traffic data. You can also connect your Google Analytics and Search Console data.
Unfortunately, the competitive research tool suffers from the same limitation as keyword research: a maximum of 500 keywords. This means you only get a fraction of the data available. Also the competitive analysis tool does not include the data that the keyword research tool gives.
You can’t filter the competitive data, and the information provided isn’t as detailed as other tools. You have to manually add tags to filter the keywords. The tool does offer a backlink gap analysis, allowing you to see which backlinks your competitors have that you do not.
Site Audit: Does it Find the Issues?
RanksPro’s site audit tool is still in beta, but it does work. It crawls your website for issues. A site audit will provide on page SEO information, including character counts for meta descriptions, title, readability, and word count. The tool is easy to use and gives results in about 10 minutes.
AI Blog Writer: A Glorified Chatbot?
RanksPro comes with an AI blog writer, but it’s not groundbreaking. The tool doesn’t give you much control over the output. You can’t adjust the writing style, tone, or knowledge base. The articles generated are basic and often include repetitive phrasing that screams “AI-written”. The AI writer’s output isn’t something you would want to directly use on your website without serious editing. Also, at the highest tier level, you are only given 60 articles a month, which is not that many.
Backlink Analysis: Is It Comprehensive?
The backlink analysis tool is another area where RanksPro falls short. It only pulls a small percentage of the actual backlinks to a domain. For example, for a site with 800,000 backlinks, it may only show you 200 backlinks. This limited data makes the tool less helpful for a comprehensive backlink analysis. It does, however, show referring domains.
Is RanksPro a Must-Have or a Must-Skip?
After thoroughly examining RanksPro, it’s clear that this tool has strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s the good:
- Affordable price: The entry-level pricing is tough to beat.
- Clean UI and UX: The tool is easy and intuitive to use.
- Great rank tracking: The rank tracking tool is accurate and easy to use.
- Generous Usage limits: The keyword tracking limits are generous for the price, even if they update monthly.
Here’s the bad:
- Limited keyword data: The keyword research tool returns only 500 keywords.
- Poor filtering: The lack of filtering options makes it hard to find relevant keywords.
- Questionable keyword difficulty scores: The keyword difficulty levels are questionable.
- Limited backlink data: Only a small fraction of backlinks are shown.
- Weak Competitive Analysis: Only shows 500 keywords, and does not include important data from the keyword research tool.
- Unimpressive AI writer: The AI writer is basic and lacks customization.
Conclusion
RanksPro is NOT a replacement for more established tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. If you’re looking for in-depth keyword research, robust competitor analysis, and a comprehensive backlink analysis, you’ll be disappointed.
However, RanksPro could be a good option for:
- Small business owners and marketers who need a basic SEO tool that won’t break the bank.
- Those who need an affordable rank tracker with generous usage limits.
- Users who want a simple tool that is easy to use
In conclusion, RanksPro is a decent rank tracking tool with a basic suite of SEO features. It’s not perfect, but it can be valuable for those with a budget in mind who don’t need the advanced features of more expensive tools.
FAQs
Is RanksPro accurate? The rank tracking is fairly accurate, but the keyword difficulty scores are questionable. RanksPro might not be the most accurate tool for keyword research.
Can RanksPro replace Ahrefs or Semrush? No. RanksPro is not a replacement for more established tools like Ahrefs or Semrush because it is lacking in too many areas and doesn’t provide as much information. RanksPro lacks the depth and accuracy of these advanced tools.
Is RanksPro worth the money? Yes, if you are buying it mainly for the rank tracking features and are looking for a simple to use platform. If you expect to use it as a full-featured SEO tool, then it is probably not worth it.