We at SEMpdx have been working on a free research tool, and we thought today was the perfect day to turn it loose to the public.
With this one tool, you can enter any key phrase, and determine the top 10 competitors on Google and Yahoo, along with an “SEO score” based on title, description, keywords (optional) H1 & H2 tag, keyword density, site structure, page count, and cache date for each of their domains.
Then, it analyzes all of their inbound links (current limit 1000), and provides a detailed report, including PageRank and anchor text, as well as the URL for each backlink they have.
Finally, it provides you with the exact quantity of backlinks (based on PageRank) that you will need to obtain for your own domain, in order to outrank them on each search engine. Pretty sweet.
While the bugs have not quite been worked out 100%, we are ready today, to open it to public testing, and would appreciate any feedback you might provide. As Todd mentioned in the previous post, it’s all about giving back to the community…
***Update April 2nd***
Thanks to those that participated – The tool (which some people see no value in) has gone back underground and has been removed from this location.
Scott Hendison is the CEO of Search Commander, Inc. and a recovering affiliate marketer. He is also one of the founding board members of SEMpdx. Find out more about him at his website, SearchCommander.com.
I just wish it wasn’t April Fool’s Day, or I’d be really excited about this tool. I can only guess what it will do when I try to download it. 🙂
Hi Scott, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and is my opinion, but you state this is what search marketeers need?
I’m thinking the SEO industry is in dire trouble. Sorry.
Hi Doug, and let me say that it’s an honor to have you visit the blog. I remember your Alta Vista banning…
I guess an old schooler like you really enjoys doing your competitive analysis by hand, and I do too, to a degree, but I’m just too busy.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by…
Yes Scott; not sure what my being banned in 1998 when brand new to SEO has to do with your tool though. 🙂
Do you really use a tool for clients? Do they know this?
You talk about keyword density and h tags. I have not used either one of those in years for SEO, nor have I figured out percentages for either one in years. I also don’t really care what the competition is doing or how they are doing it. It doesn’t help me with sites and raising their sales. After all; SEO is all about the ROI and sales in the end.
I guess I could see someone new to SEO using a tool for their own site as they are new, but I certainly can not see an experienced person using a tool like this. Sorry. 🙂
The banning mention was merely to point out your long term standing in the industry, and I meant no disrespect. I really DO think it’s an honor to have you visit our blog.
Umm… yes, I use tools, lots of ’em, and yes, my clients know it. Hand sliced pasta might be better too, but most professional chefs use a pasta maker so they can feed more people with uniformly presented meals.
Is this part an April fools joke?
– “I also don’t really care what the competition is doing or how they are doing it” and
– “I certainly can not see an experienced person using a tool like this”
I really can’t imagine anyone in the industry saying either of those things seriously, again, no disrespect intended, Doug.
I’d be willing to wager that quite a few more SEO’s use tools than not (like perhaps 20 to 1?) to evaluate sites and competitors for their clients.
Plus, I strongly suspect that if you gave it a quick try, you’d understand much more clearly what we’re trying to accomplish with this tool, and see it’s value.
Thanks again for coming by…
Windows Defender shows this file as a Trojan Win32/FileDelete.
Hi Scott; Ok; thanks for the compliment but I’m just a D-lister with A being the highest.
The only tools I need are my log files or stats for client sites, a bad link checker, a header checker, hm, that’s about it.
The problem I see with all tools is that for some reason they all measure this and that…like something called keyword density. What is that anyway? I can show you a page in one market with 1% density and another market with 15% density for a comparable phrase. In my mind each tool has it’s very own way of measuring all the stuff with none of them ever right. I just don’t get how you can use a tool when each site is very different and has different needs?
Scott; this is not about “your” tool at all. I blast any tool out there when our industry claims this and that. That Hamlet person has a tool as well and I blasted his tool. That Wall person has one, and I blast that silly tool as well. So does that Fishkin person. They all have tools. In my opinion, all the tools blow big time.
Rank checking? Why does anyone need that? My client and I can be on the phone with both looking at a serp position with one of us saying the site is on page one and the other saying they see it on page 2. So how exactly is some rank check tool benefiting either one of you? A client can check his own rank by going to the se and typing in the phrase if he so desires.
You state that most SEO’s use these tools. I would like to know how you come to that conclusion? If you are simply looking at people who post and promote at places like sphinn, etc, then you are not looking at the real seo’s. You are looking at mostly bloggers and social media types. Those people might be your target market as well as anyone new to SEO. I can tell you for a fact that many of us do not use the type of tool you are describing here. It’s just that the people I am talking about would never criticize anyone and their tools as I do. For some reason, our industry has a hard time with constructive criticism. Many, many articles in SEO blogs out there are just flat-out bad information but yet are promoted all over the place within the industry. I’m not in this industry to make friends in order to get voted up. For me it’s always been about education. Tools don’t educate anyone in my opinion.
But again; this isn’t about your tool, but mostly about the SEO industry.
At the moment, I’m packing to leave for Elite Retreat in San Francisco, and I’ll be sure to show “that Aaron person” this thread for a good laugh.
And if you ever want to get off that D list, try looking at some of your clients competitors backlinks.
Review both where they come from and what the anchor text is… although it can be quite tome consuming without using some tools.
In the mean time Doug, I respect your opinion, and wish you the best of luck.
Tool removed for further testing – and don’t worry, Ryan, it was not a virus, but since it had similar characteristics (it could not be stopped once initiated), some AV’s detected it as such.
Oh, that wall person knows he’s been caught for spamming google very recently, and he also cannot get many of his sites indexed by directories such as “joeant” because of quality problems. It’s nothing new that the seo industry loves to promote blackhats Scott, and also promote their tools.
D-list as in “social media” type people who call themselves SEO’s as well.
I’ve never had to check a competitor’s backlinks. No reason to do so. Sorry to disagree with you about most everything SEO-wise. 🙂
I also note that you did not answer my questions about something called keyword density, etc. I also see this tool checks pagerank. I thought most people understood by now that toolbar pagerank was next to useless. I don’t understand how some tool can measure things that it has no idea about. IE: PageRank Google knows what the pr is for pages, but a tool that google does not own cannot know what the pr is.
Scott; I’m simply one of the very few in this industry who will disagree with most anyone in this industry if warranted. Please do not take it personal at all. I do this with anyone I disagree with. It makes no difference who they are.
Doug,
1. This was an April 1 post – when downloaded, a script ran that giving the user an animated graphic of your C:/windows folder being deleted, file after file, for about 20 seconds, then popping up with a “joke” message. I’ve removed it now, so this post doesn’t cause me time loss.
2. When I was coming up with the “features”, kw density popped int my mind as something some people think matters. I agree with you (and most people) that it doesn’t, but it seemed like an easy and logical addition to the features, so there’s no need to debate the merits of checking kw density on a page for a given phrase.
3. I’m sorry to waste your time on this, but I
do find your comments intriguing, especially this – “I’ve never had to check a competitor’s backlinks. No reason to do so.”
I would guess that most experienced search marketers would disagree with that entirely – At least those who are dealing with clients in competitive industries, and that don’t own older well established domains.
hehe very interesting thread. I have to vouch for Doug that he hates all tools. I remember back in 2004 I was working in Maryland for a company that runs instantposition.com. The owner asked me one day (about Doug) “who is this a-hole and why does he hate tools so much!?!”
I have grown to respect Doug for his opinions over the years, and he certainly is not someone that brings a bad name to our industry by being a fake expert.
I wish I could have seen the April fool’s joke…great idea!
LOL thanks Chris. I “do” respect you as well. Is that site still alive?
Yep; it sure is. This is an example of what I mean by these tools. instantposition has an online page checker for a term you type in with a url to check. I checked a term for one of my clients on a two word phrase that has some high quality sites competing for the same phrase.
My client is currently ranked #4 in google on the phrsse. “as of today”.
This is what the instantposition checker told me about the exact page that is ranking high for the two word phrase:
“Results: Poor
You scored a total of 14 points out of a possible 40 for this keyword! See Details below.”
I could stick this particular page/site along with my phrases into “any” so-called SEO tool out there and each one of them will tell me my page is poorly optimized…..
So now; ya all tell me. 🙂
BTW Chris; Do you live in Cleveland? Too cool if you do.
Yep I am in Cleveland – do you have history here? I think you are in FL right?
Sounds like the SEO Doctor may need a little updating. :p In all seriousness, I hate to sounds Swiss but I think you really are both right here.
As off-base as a tool like IP’s can be, such as the toolbar PR for example, these tools can still offer illustrative examples of an issue existing with a site or page that should be looked into. No tool will ever be able to do much on its own, but in my experience someone using a shovel to dig a hole may dig a little faster than someone using only their hands.
I was in S Carolina, but I’m from Ohio…near Mansfield… near Cleveland. My Dad is not good so I’m back in Ohio. Go Indians. Go Browns. Go Cavs. I use to live in downtown Cleveland as well. Seen many a professional game in Cleveland and love it there.
Chris; Yes, and that’s why I say that tools might be OK for a newbie to SEO. No tool I’ve ever seen even comes close to how I do things. They would be a huge time waster to me, and not a time saver at all.
The instantposition tool said my title tag was poor. My description tag was poor, and my keyword density was 0%. Oh, but it did say my keyword tag was “good”. lol
According to that tool, I have no clue in the world about how to optimize a page. 😀
Damn, missed the beta. Are you still working on it?