Looking at the search engine results pages (SERPs) can provide valuable clues for online marketers and business owners. It may confirm what types of sites and/or content are seen as useful to Google. The relationship between backlinks, Domain Authority, and other causes of better ranking can be assessed more readily and more accurately too. Even things like the word count for ranking articles can be examined for any commonalities too.
To get the lowdown on the SERPs, here are 7 analysis tools you might want to try.
1. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a broad analysis tool that has grown considerably from its original incarnation. Today, it offers keyword analysis, SERPs analysis for each keyword, backlink review, competitor analysis, content gap indicators, and more.
While this tool is usually one of the priciest of the bunch, it provides everything that a digital marketer or site owner could ever want.
It has recently added free access to your site’s data to provide insight into what’s available using the tool. Ownership is confirmed using HTML identifier tags or using another method. The information is limited – you cannot search for a term directly and see the results. However, it does let you see tracked search terms and the SERPs information for them. It’s also possible to compare keywords to that of competitors and then review the SERPs for keywords there.
A full subscriber account opens up far more opportunities to gain insight into the search results, dig deep into keywords, and plan your content strategy around it.
2. UberSuggest
UberSuggest used to be a simple analysis tool. Since being acquired by Neil Patel, it’s had something of a makeover with many advanced features being added. Not everyone loves the changes, but when you need something more complete including SERPs analysis, it’s a good option.
It’s possible to search for keyword phrases and see the first page of results. The data collection is useful. UberSuggest has its own keyword difficulty (KD) score which does seem to track Moz’s Domain Authority scoring pretty closely. Those people wanting to analyze the SERPs to find keywords where there are a few low KD rated sites ranking can do so here.
The tool also has browser extensions. These can show search information based on their data and are augmented with the live Google SERP results. This includes providing the keyword’s estimated monthly searches, difficulty rating, and a list of other keyword phrases that a site is ranking for as well.
There are both free and paid accounts available for UberSuggest.
3. Moz SERP Analysis
Moz was an early mover with SEO tools including SERPs analysis, but it has fallen a little out of favor of late. Nevertheless, both their Domain Authority and Page Authority ratings remain an industry-standard (with Ahref’s similar rating system gaining ground).
The Moz SERP Analysis tool provides useful information on keyword searches. Some searches can be performed on a free account, but more is available with a Pro one.
For basic SERP look-ups with some useful extras baked in, the MOZ SERP tool can provide some pointers. Also, when you have many keywords to look up, it avoids getting your IP flagged by Google for too many searches in a short space of time. The dreaded Captcha box is no longer a concern when relying on Moz.
4. AccuRanker
Dubbed as the fastest rank tracker, this SERPs tracker is often used by SEO agencies and SEO practitioners looking for new angles. There is a 14-day free trial available too.
AccuRanker lets you track keywords locally or globally. There are plenty of options to toggle ON/OFF as needed, including powerful filters to narrow the focus to only the information you’re looking to gather.
The approach here is mostly aimed at keyword searches and analyzing the SERPs from there. Approaching it this way allows a subscriber to play with ideas for different content clusters, build out a list of interesting keywords, and then analyze the current SERPs to see if they look rank-able or not.
There’s also a way to look at what an industry competitor ranks for. This can be a potential goldmine of information to mine for nuggets.
5. SERPWatcher
SERPWatcher from Mangools is one of a suite of SEO tools from this provider. They have a 10-day free trial to get to grips with the Watcher.
Whereas something like Ahrefs is a broad tool that includes SERP analysis, Mangools aims to provide multiple tools that sometimes overlap somewhat, but each has a specific area of focus. For those on a small budget, it may allow them to glean valuable SERP insights without paying as much.
The rank tracker looks predominantly at your site and what your rankings are doing in the SERPs. It tracks any changes and can highlight those search terms rising or falling recently too.
6. SERPWoo
This popular tool looks at millions of sites and tracks their ranking in the SERPS. Users can gain access to this data to plan their domination of the SERPs.
The highlight of SERPWoo is possibly the historical SERP option. For anyone who likes to dig deeper, they can get valuable information by examining how a search term looked a while ago, instead of today alone.
Using SERPWoo, it’s possible to consider what’s changed, why it did, and what might be to come. Do the changes to what sites/pages are ranking now indicate a need for a change in strategy or just the typical ‘Google Dance’ on search results?
7. SEMrush
Semrush is somewhat similar to Ahrefs in the sense that it offers broad capabilities beyond SERP analysis alone. It’s possible to look at the search results for different keywords, observe what competitors are ranking for, look for content gaps, and track backlinks too. Not everyone gets along with Ahrefs. When you want a comprehensive solution for SERP watching and more, SEMrush is another major player.
When looking at any SERP tool, the question is whether you want a complete solution or something just to get basic information on what sites are ranking today. To obtain actionable data in a decent quantity, it’s necessary to become a paid subscriber to at least one tool. The lesser-known tools are more affordable; sometimes they offer enough on their own. However, many trust the data from Ahrefs or SEMrush over other alternatives.