A Review of Moz: Is This Pioneer SEO Tool Still Holding Up?

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Moz has been known as the pioneer of search engine optimization (SEO) ever since the company brought it into the marketing mainstream in 2004.

With a Capterra rating of 4.5/5, Moz Pro is a popular suite of SEO tools with a reputation for bringing SEO to the masses without dumbing it down.

But does this SEO pioneer still have what it takes?

In this in-depth review of Moz, we’ll focus on its most popular product, Moz Pro, to help you decide whether this is the tool for your business’ SEO needs.

Let’s get started!

1. What is Moz?

Moz’s logo

The company behind Moz started out as a blog and online community where some of the world’s first SEO experts shared their research and ideas.

Moz is known for its marketing approach that recognizes the value of earned, rather than bought, customers — which is the essence of SEO.

It has become an all-in-one suite of SEO tools for online businesses to improve their search engine rankings and visibility to customers.

Moz delivers all the SEO-related data and metrics that online business owners need to implement better strategies and boost their SEO.

Currently, Moz offers their customers the following 4 products:

Moz Pro — An all-in-one SEO toolset focused on keyword research, link building, website audits, and on-page optimization
Moz Local — A local SEO and reputation management tool that helps you get more local customers and manage local listings
Mozscape API — Software that uses data linking and intelligence metrics to help you improve your search rankings (more on this later!)
Moz STAT — A tool for large-scale rank tracking and search analytics

Built to run from a single web-based platform, this SEO tool aims to simplify finding errors, broken links, or SEO issues on your websites, web pages, or content that needs immediate fixing.

This review touches on all Moz’s products, but we’ll focus on Moz Pro, as it includes the software’s most popular and versatile features.

Let’s dive into the features that Moz Pro has to offer!

2. Moz Pro’s features

Source: SiteChecker.pro

Moz Pro provides users with an all-in-one SEO tool to improve their website's organic traffic simply by making it more visible on search engines.

It covers keyword management, website crawling, link analysis, web page optimization, and more as an end-to-end SEO solution.

Let’s see what Moz Pro has to offer.

2.1. Keyword research

Moz Pro’s Keyword Explorer tool

Keyword research is one of the most important parts of SEO.

It’s all about finding a balance between how often a keyword is searched and how difficult it is to rank for that keyword.

Ranking for the right keywords can make or break a business’ success.

Moz’s Keyword Explorer tool takes a considerable amount of SEO data and calculates metrics that have meaning for marketers.

Here’s an overview of what you can do with Keyword Explorer:

Analyze keywords by search volume — Effectively predict how much search volume a keyword will receive with more than 95% accuracy
Generate and save keyword lists — Comprehensive scoring helps you prioritize keywords by topic that you can use as a keyword planner
Export your data — Export your keyword research suggestions, analyses, and lists into metric-rich, well-formatted CSV-files
Predictive keyword metrics — Moz predicts your ability to rank well and drive more traffic to your website based on specific keywords
Check keyword difficulty — Moz’s proprietary Keyword Difficulty score shows how easy (or hard) it is to rank for a specific keyword
Create a global SEO strategy — Easily search keyword suggestions and ranking keywords by country for international SEO strategies
Perform competitive keyword analysis — See what keywords your site ranks for, and discover your competitors' most important keywords

In essence, Moz’s Keyword Explorer streamlines your workflow and improves how you discover and prioritize the best keywords to target in less time.

Here's our favorite feature — Moz includes a Priority Score that gives you the bottom line on whether a keyword is worth chasing.

Moz calculates this score using a metric you set on how important a specific keyword is to your business, based on your expertise.

Keyword Explorer lets you find better keyword opportunities with thousands of suggestions and by comparing the keywords for which websites rank well — all from fresh search data that’s less than 2 weeks old.

While you can use this tool for free, you’ll be limited to only 10 keyword searches, and you’ll still have to sign up for a Moz account.

2.2. Rank tracking

Moz Pro’s Rank Tracking tool

Moz Pro’s Rank Tracking tool lets you quickly check the real-time ranking performance of any website for the keywords you want to track.

Here’s what you can do to track your keywords’ ranking performance:

Generate instant rankings reports — Identify your website's performance for your targeted keywords
Perform competitive research — See how your competitors are ranking for your most important keywords
Spot-check prospective keywords — Discover rankings for potential keywords you might want to track without having to commit
Check search engines for data — You can choose between Google, Bing, and Yahoo for the data you want
View your progress — Each time you spot-check a keyword or URL, Moz will add your ranking to a Ranking History graph so that you can see your progress and business’s growth over time
Start tracking keywords in the long-term — You can save the most important or well-performing keywords to optimize them even more

Not only do these features help you see the progress of keywords, but knowing whether your targeted keywords are showing good organic rankings will give you valuable insight into what your customers want.

2.3. Website crawling

Moz Pro’s Website Crawling tool

Technical SEO is the foundation of any successful organic search strategy — if Google can’t crawl and index your content, it can’t return it in SERPs.

Moz Pro covers you in this aspect by offering its own Website Crawling tool that’s effective for spot checks and routine crawls.

This tool will highlight technical SEO issues on your website, including response code errors, missing title tags, and faulty redirects.

Fixing these errors can lead to a significant improvement in your online business’ SEO performance, so this tool is really valuable!

Moz Pro makes the process easier by providing links to how-to guides and recommended fixes.

This works great for users because it saves them some time in identifying basic SEO issues, and it shows them exactly what to do to fix these.

Plus, the recommendations are explained very clearly and look like this:

Moz Pro’s recommendations for fixing website crawling issues

These tips and easy solutions are definitely useful, but they can become overwhelming for SEO newbies who don’t know the lingo.

Moz Pro crawls large sites fast and keeps track of new and recurring issues.

It uses colorful charts to show the breakdown of the SEO issues, allowing you to quickly discover trends and opportunities for improvement.

Moz Pro’s Website Crawling tool is also an easy way to monitor the impact of technical SEO issues on your website’s overall SEO performance.

2.4. On-page optimization

Moz Pro’s dashboard for on-page optimization

It's important that visitors going to your website can do two things right away: know what the page they land on is about, and easily find the information that they’re looking for.

This indicates to search engines that your page is meeting customer needs, which in turn boosts your ability to rank higher and drive more traffic.

Moz Pro’s tools for on-page optimization lets you:

Get step-by-step guidance — Use a prioritized list of recommendations with steps to optimize your page’s content
Identify improvement opportunities — Determine where to start by sorting your pages by the Page Optimization Score, which rates how well each page is optimized for its target keywords
Get content suggestions — Generate ideas from a list of similar topics derived from other top-ranking sites sorted by keyword relevance

If you put effort into on-page optimization strategies, you’ll see a boost in traffic and a rise in your search presence!

2.5. Link research

Moz Pro’s Link Explorer tool

Moz Pro’s Link Explorer allows you to get an in-depth assessment of your website’s backlink profile so you know where to improve your entry links.

Here are the features included in Link Explorer:

See the links to any website — Understand why your website is ranking where it is in SERPs by reviewing and monitoring inbound links
Research your competitors’ backlinks — Compare the makeup of your competitors’ link profiles, and see how they're earning their links
Find broken links to your website — Maintain traffic from the quality backlinks that you’ve earned by easily finding and fixing broken links
Check the Spam Score of backlinks — Decrease the number of spammy links pointing to your website, and increase quality links
Discover link building opportunities — Find out who’s linking to your competitors (but not to you) with Moz Pro’s Link Intersect tool
See new and lost links — Monitor when your content is gaining or losing links, and discover the most recent links by date

An example of Moz Pro’s Domain Authority Score

This suite of link-building tools has a steeper learning curve compared to Moz Pro’s Keyword Explorer.

This is because Moz developed proprietary metrics (such as Domain Authority and Page Authority), which are likely unfamiliar to new users.

These metrics reflect the SEO “strength” of a domain and its pages, based on their reputation and authority — this means that a link from a higher authority website will add more value than a lower authority link.

2.6. Custom reports

Moz Pro’s dashboard for generating custom reports

Moz Pro lets you run and export customized reports covering search rankings, links, site crawl data, and other SEO metrics for your website.

You can use Moz’s fully customizable report templates to cut down the time you spend on reporting, and you can add pre-generated charts and graphs.

You can even set up reports to be delivered automatically on a monthly or weekly basis — whenever you want.

2.7. Moz’s free SEO tools

Source: Backlinko.com

If you’re looking to improve your business’ SEO without paying for an expensive subscription, you can start with these useful tools:

Keyword Explorer — Leverage the largest search keyword database to discover and prioritize the best keywords for your website
Link Explorer — Uncover content and link building opportunities and compare to competitors for intelligent link building
MozBar — Examine and analyze important search and page metrics of any site you visit right in your Chrome browser
Online Presence Checker — See how your local business appears on local search engines, and improve it accordingly
Domain Analysis — Enter any domain into Moz’s search bar, and instantly see SEO metrics like top pages and ranking keywords
MozCast — Create reports on the "weather patterns" of Google’s search algorithms to help you track day-to-day changes

Moz’s free SEO tools are handy for anyone who’s new to SEO — and it’s something that keeps Moz true to its goal of bringing SEO to the masses.

3. Moz Local, Mozscape API, and STAT

Moz Local and STAT’s dashboards

In addition to Moz Pro, Moz has 3 other products: Moz Local, Mozscape API, and Moz Stat. Let’s have a look at what these tools bring to the table!

Here are all the features that Moz Local has to offer:

Manage business listings to help consumers find your business
Respond to reviews and manage your business’ reputation
Enhance your local listings and social media profiles by improving conversion rates through added photos, special offers, and more!

If you’re looking for link data and metrics to improve your business’s SEO, consider Mozscape API — this powerful tool uses over 40.7 trillion links to give you insight into your customers’ online activity.

Moz STAT is built for SEO experts and allows you to dig into a treasure trove of consumer research through deep search analytics to level up your game.

Now that you know all the products that Moz has to offer, let’s look at how much these SEO features will cost you.

4. Moz’s pricing

In this section, we’ll break down Moz’s price plans, so you can decide which one (if any) is best suited for the SEO aspects of your online business.

While Moz offers you a 30-day free trial for any of its plans, you’ll have to enter your credit card details along with your business information for access.

Moz’s listed prices don’t include sales tax, so you’ll have a slightly higher bill than expected when you check out.

4.1. Moz Pro’s pricing

Moz Pro’s price plans

A Moz Pro subscription will give you access to Moz’s complete SEO toolkit, and every price plan includes:

MozBar Premium as an easy-to-use SEO toolbar for Google Chrome
24/7 online support to offer you same-day help if you’re stuck
Access to Moz’s Q&A forum to connect with SEO experts
A personalized 1-on-1 walkthrough of key features and functionality
Tracking of keywords across multiple search engines
SEO insights and actionable recommendations based on your content

Let’s take a look at the pricing options of Moz Pro.

4.1.1. Moz Pro Standard plan

This plan is priced at $99/month (or $79/month if you choose to be billed annually, which will save you 20%) and includes these features:

3 campaigns to track 1 website and 3 competitors each
300 keyword rankings each for Google, Google Mobile, Yahoo, and Bing
Mobile rankings
400,000 pages crawled each month
5 on-demand crawls
150 keyword queries with 10,000 rows each
5 keyword lists with 100 keywords per list
5,000 backlink queries with 10,000 rows each
1 link tracking list with 100 links per list
200 rank checker queries per day to evaluate search performance
Unlimited on-page grader and scheduled reports

This entry-level plan only gives you 1 user seat, and it’s aimed at entrepreneurs who are entirely new to SEO or only need the basic tools.

4.1.2. Moz Pro Medium plan

This is Moz Pro’s most popular plan, and its main edge over the Standard plan is that it includes full access to the keyword research tools.

Priced at $179/month (or $143/month if billed annually), this plan includes everything from the Standard plan with some increased monthly limits:

10 campaigns
1,500 keyword rankings for each search engine
2 million pages crawled each month
30 on-demand crawls
5,000 keyword queries with 30,000 rows each
30 keyword lists with 500 keywords per list
20,000 backlink queries with 40,000 rows each
30 link tracking lists with 500 links per list
Unlimited branded reports
Unlimited report templates

While this plan offers you 2 user seats, there’s no account manager included.

4.1.3. Moz Pro Large plan

This plan is aimed at businesses that are serious about their SEO and have in-house SEO teams and experts.

It’s priced at $249/month (or $199/month if you pay yearly) and includes everything from the Medium plan with these additions:

25 campaigns
1,900 keyword rankings for each search engine
5 million pages crawled each month
60 on-demand crawls
15,000 keyword queries with 50,000 rows each
60 keyword lists with 750 keywords per list
70,000 backlink queries with 50,000 rows each
60 link tracking lists with 750 links per list

This plan increases the limits of the lower plans quite a bit, and it offers you up to 3 user seats — but you still can’t have an account manager (which is only available if you subscribe to the Enterprise plan).

4.1.4. Moz Pro Premium plan

This plan is priced at $599/month (or $479/month if you bill yearly), and it’s designed for companies with large in-house SEO and marketing teams.

It includes everything from the Large plan with some extra features:

50 campaigns
4,500 keyword rankings for each search engine
8 million pages crawled each month including speed crawl
100 on-demand crawls
30,000 keyword queries with 100,000 rows each
100 keyword lists with 1,000 keywords per list
100,000 backlink queries with 75,000 rows each
100 link tracking lists with 1,000 links per list

This top-level plan offers you 5 user seats, and for every additional user seat you want to add, it’ll cost you $49/seat regardless of your chosen price plan.

If you need higher limits, you can also opt for a custom plan (Moz Enterprise) for which you’ll have to contact Moz to get an estimate based on your needs.

Let’s have a quick look at the price tags of Moz’s other products.

4.2. Moz Local’s pricing

Moz Local’s price plans

Moz Local offers you 3 price plans to choose from:

Lite plan ($129/year) — This entry-level plan will let you manage your listings, monitor reviews, and distribute your location data
Preferred plan ($179/year) — Get all Lite features plus the ability to respond to customer reviews and engage on social media
Elite plan ($299/year) — You’ll get all the features of the Preferred plan, plus you can manage your location listings and reputation with directories like Nextdoor and the Yellow Pages

As with Moz Pro, sales tax isn’t included in the listed prices, and the ultimate price you’ll pay is affected by your region.

Plus, if you want to purchase a plan for more than 100 locations, you’ll have to get a custom quote from Moz’s sales team.

With Moz Local’s Preferred and Elite plans, you can also opt for the Data Aggregators add-on for $40/year.

This gives you expanded local data distributions to improve your online listings for your local business.

4.3. Mozscape API and STAT pricing

If you’re considering using Mozscape API, have a look at its 4 price plans:

Mozscape API’s price plans

In addition to these plans, if you’re a free user of Mozscape API, you’ll only be able to send 1 request every 10 seconds, up to 2,500 rows per month.

Moz also has more extensive Enterprise plans available, and they’ll give you a custom quote based on what features and data you need.

If you’re interested in Moz STAT, you’ll have to directly contact Moz’s sales team because there are no pricing plans available.

You can also book a free demo to see if this product is for you.

Let’s take a look at whether Moz is worth its expensive monthly fees.

5. Pros and cons of Moz

To make it easier for you to decide if Moz is the tool for you, we’ve compiled a list of pros and cons (from real customer reviews) to help:

Pros

Research keywords easily in just a few clicks!

Immediately spot crawlability issues and fix them with Moz’s useful recommendations

Easily generate SEO reports to help you improve your search engine rankings

Has an abundance of useful features for everything SEO-related

Accurate metrics for search volume, keyword research, and checking backlinks

Offers a few free SEO tools (although they’re limited)

Cons

Can become expensive with pricing aimed at large enterprises with SEO teams

Moz targets US markets, causing a lack of data for foreign customers

Limited customization options for SEO reports

There’s a steep learning curve to use all its functionalities, and it’s not suitable for newbies

Requires significant time to set up Moz Pro before you can start using it to improve SEO

Gets more expensive when you track more competitors

Moz’s complex navigation structure makes it hard to find what you’re looking for

You need separate subscriptions for each of Moz’s products, including Moz Pro

The bottom line: Moz Pro is a really handy suite with all the SEO features that you’ll need for your online business — but its navigation is complex, and it’s not suitable for SEO beginners. It also gets really expensive really quickly.

5.1. Recommended if . . .

We recommend using Moz Pro if:

You’re looking for a dedicated all-in-one suite of SEO tools without the need to use third-party integrations
You want to use an SEO tool that’ll give you recommendations on the issues you need to fix to rank better in search results
Your business has dedicated in-house SEO teams that will use Moz Pro’s features regularly and over a long period to get its full value
You’re already highly experienced and familiar with SEO lingo
Your business is based in the United States so that you can make full use of Moz’s database across all of its products (including Moz Local)

5.2. Not recommended if . . .

We don’t recommend using Moz Pro if:

You’re a newbie at SEO or you’re not too tech-savvy because there’s a decent chance that you’ll feel overwhelmed by Moz’s features
You run a small to medium-sized online business
You’ve got a limited budget to spend on SEO tools
You don’t have time to dedicate to setting up all the nitty-gritty aspects of Moz Pro — even though they offer personalized 1-on-1 walkthroughs, you’ll have to wait for a future appointment after you’ve signed up
You’re looking for an all-in-one platform that’ll take care of more than just your business’ SEO aspects

Read on to find out why you should rather be using systeme.io for your SEO needs — for a fraction of Moz Pro’s price!

6. Systeme.io as an all-in-one solution

systeme.io’s logo

Systeme.io is a simple and affordable business-building tool that’ll cover your SEO needs and everything else you need to run your online business.

Our most expensive plan only costs $97/month which is cheaper than Moz Pro’s most basic plan!

If that doesn’t convince you, we even offer a completely Free plan that you can keep for as long as you want.

There are just six tools you need to launch, grow, and scale your online business, and systeme.io has them all:

A website builder and editor to create professional landing pages
A sales funnel builder to convert your visitors into paying customers
Tools for email marketing to get the right product to the right person
Tools to create and sell online courses and digital or physical products
Tools to automate your marketing, so you can sit back and relax
A tool to manage your affiliate programs to increase your revenue

As a bonus, there’s no learning curve, making systeme.io the perfect solution for you regardless of whether you’re a newbie or an experienced marketer!

What are you waiting for? Get started with systeme.io now!

7. Conclusion

So, what’s the verdict?

Moz Pro has been the leading SEO tool for a long time — and it’s packed with almost too many useful features to improve your search rankings.

Unfortunately, it comes with a pretty steep price tag, and tax isn’t included.

In today’s competitive world, you really can’t afford to shell out hundreds of dollars for a tool that offers just SEO — you need an all-in-one platform that has everything your business needs.

Not only will our forever Free plan cost you nothing, but you also won’t ever need to enter your credit card details to get started.

It’s time to switch to systeme.io!