Should I pay for SEO software?
 

Is SEO software/research worth the expense? Like Majestic or Semrush...

Yes, trying to do SEO without tools is like working in the dark.

Any recommendations?

Websites that provide analytics and data that finds you keywords, backlinks and other relevant data, for sure its worth having the edge over the competition.
WG

I think SEO Powersuite is pretty awesome.

Should a mechanic own a wrench? :)

I use sem rush. Worth it to me.

My favorite is sistrix.com

yes if you know what to do

I prefer Majestic.com. IMO ahrefs gives too much spam links in their reports, which doesn't make it useful. Majestic's TF/CF ratio helps filter spam links from real links.

SEO Spyglass is a joke. It'll give you 5% of a site's total backlinks.

SEMRush is OK as an all around tool but too expensive. Also, for backlink reports, the reports are not as thorough as Majestic or ahrefs.

If it makes you money...

YES

data is crazy important - not just your own but also your competitors.

(edit: get keyword ideas, volume of searches, competitor pages, content, backlink sources, tracking rankings the whole lot)

ive used the big ones moz, sem rush, ahrefs.

personally ahrefs is the only one ive stuck with for 5+ years, they are adding some really powersul features, their data is the most robust in my experience and its just full of great opportunities.

Now, in terms of is it worth it that you ahve to ask yourself; if youre just getting started, search console (free from google) and a free account on ahrefs which will give you some ideas is a good place to sxtart.

then you take a $7 7 day trial on ahrefs. get as much data as you can do something with it. Now you can decide if its worth spending the full amount.

with ahrefs the lowest pricing plan is not worthwhile IMO - because you dont get to see the top 100positions that a site ranks from in keywords. meaning you can potentially miss out on a fuckton of keyword opportunity. so if its worth it, can you justify $179/month, if you have clients its easy to do so, of if your revenue is enough then also easy. but if youre just starting maybe not - so, you can always take a nother $7 trial on a new email address as much as you need on demand.

anyway thats my 2cents

the TF metric on majestic is nice, but they miss so many links.

just use filters in ahrefs - for DR/UR its basically the same as CF/TF but with more data points

end of they day, personal preference really there isnt a right answer if it givers you what you need and helps you do better SEO!

I would be interested to do a head to head with majestic and SEO Spyglass on a random site.
I'm not doubting. It's just that I only use the free plan and I never got much from it.

I decided to do my own Head-to-Head research. These are the results:

Domain to be analysed: livesexchat18.com

Number of External Backlinks:

Majestic Results: Fresh Index 2,334 Historic Index 19,634
SEO Spyglass Results: 141,439

Referring Domains:
Majestic: Fresh Index 577 Historic Index 935
SEO Spyglass: 949

Based on this. It seems SEO finds more backlinks than Magestic

No, you should steal it... :2 cents:

As my nana used to say: "A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned"...

SemRush is good, but it is expensive in my opinion.

Even their basic plan was built for companies. If you are a company where a lot of people are going to use the same SemRush account on a daily basis, then the price is perfectly fine.

But if you are just one guy who's going to do some research from time to time, it really makes no sense to pay that much every month.