With hundreds of different options, choosing the right On-Page SEO tool can be almost as complicated as the search engine optimization itself. To help you out, I’ve gone through and compared three of the most popular correlational SEO tools: PageOptimizer Pro, and Cora SEO tool and Surfer.
PageOptimizer Pro (POP) is brought to you by Kyle Roof (High Voltage SEO), the SEO guru most famous for getting his site on “Rhinoplasty Plano” to rank #1…even if the whole thing used only lorem ipsum text. Roof created POP using the same techniques he used on the site, called the Scientific On Page Method to optimize your content for SERPs.
Cora SEO Software was created by Ted Kubaitas, a veteran of the SEO game for over a decade. Cora analyses 540 different factors from the top 100 search results for the chosen keyword. Cora will provide you with a roadmap and shows you where your deficits are based on a correlation study.
Surfer is a full suite of SEO software which analyzes 500+ on-page factors giving you a lot of useful data to analyze for higher ranking in Google search. Surfer offers On-Page real-time comparison tools, statistical correlation, and backlinks analysis to find your site’s weak spots.
According to Search Engine Journal, Pageoptimizer Pro prioritizes 29 on-page ranking factors to determine your SEO score. Meanwhile, Surfer covers between 100 and 500+ SEO factors, depending on which plan you get. Cora SEO includes more than 500 ranking factors that you can optimize for.
Surfer has a modern and minimalistic user interface – easy to digest, overwhelming on page factors. Not only designed for SEO specialists but for SEO Junior in-house or even Marketing Managers. It has an interactive chart that displays all the data in visual form.
POP is quite similar in that respect; plus, they also have an overall optimization score that makes it easy to track your progress.
Cora SEO can be difficult, especially at first. You may need to toggle some settings and spend time with it before you can make the most out of its detailed insights.
Both Surfer and POP have simple, clear instructions for use, even for people without any SEO expertise. Reports are easy to understand and interpret. Cora also automatically generates a list of recommendations, but it outputs its findings into a large and very detailed Excel file. Unless you have a lot of SEO knowledge, this format can be overwhelming to go through.
Cora SEO tool is a desktop program that you need to download and install. As it takes a lot of processing power to crunch out their numbers, it can eat up a lot of your computer’s space and RAM.
On the other hand, both Surfer and POP are browser programs—no special tools necessary, and all of your information is stored on the cloud.
Cora and POP use TF-IDF analysis to make sure your content is optimized for relevant searches. Surfer uses the different formula which picks out contextual keywords and phrases related to your topic that are found on your competitors’ sites.
TF*IDF is an equation that combines two measurements – the measurement of how frequently a term is used on a page (TF), and the measurement of how often that term appears in all pages of a collection (IDF).
Surfer is in the process of upgrading their system from estimating the traffic for URLs and domains for the UK and Poland-based clients to roll it out to the rest of the world. Other two SEO tools currently do not offer organic traffic prediction and visibility analysis for your website.
POP and Cora only analyze on-page content, but the latter does integrate with Ahrefs for backlink analysis. Surfer has its own crawlers and has backlink analysis built into the program. It’s currently only available in Poland and the UK, but other countries will be able to enjoy link building research soon as well. Ahrefs provides more data, but you need to hook your own API key.
All three tools are capable of outputting complex analyses for SEO experts. POP offers the smallest portion of data. Cora, in particular, provides an unparalleled amount of information for advanced-level optimization. Surfer is more comprehensive, but Cora with its scientific methodology has a really strong analytical backup.
POP only analyzes up to 10 of your competitors, and you have to manually enter which ones. This could skew your results if you enter the wrong data. Cora automatically analyzes the top 100 search results, while Surfer looks at the top 48+ pages from the results page—both on-page content and custom URLs. Cora is an indisputable winner here thanks to the number of analyzed pages.
POP is $39/month for access to the tool, but you have to do the data analysis on your own. If you want it to be automated, plans start at $219 per target page. Cora is a subscription-based model that runs for $250 a month. Surfer has a wide variety of plans that you can choose from Besides the free plan, you can get a monthly subscription for $29/mo or take a 7 days test drive for $1.
PageOptimizer Pro | Cora | Surfer | |
Ranking factors | 29 | 540 | 500+ |
UX | Easy to use | Difficult to use | Easy to use |
Simplicity | Clear instructions | Excel file | Sharable audit |
App type | Web app | Desktop | Web app |
Semantic analysis | TF-IDF | TF-IDF | Prominent words and phrases |
Traffic estimation | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✔️ |
Backlinks | ✖️ | Ahrefs API | Own crawler |
Complex analysis | ✖️ | Detailed excel | Charts in app |
Analyzed pages | Manual 10 pages input | Top 100 results | Top 48 results from chosen localization |
Price | $39-$219/mo | $250/mo | $29-$99/mo |
As you can see, the best data-driven SEO tool depends on a lot of factors according to Viola Eva article on Search Engine Journal.
If simplicity is your main priority, then consider PageOptimizer Pro. If you’re looking for a scientific analysis for expert-level SEO, then we’d highly recommend Cora SEO. But, in my opinion, if you’d like a tool that packs a lot of power without sacrificing usability, then Surfer is the best choice for you.
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