Picking SEO software is a bit like finding your favorite chef. You can’t quite figure out what’s happening behind the curtain, but you keep coming back for more of those tasty dishes.
SEO is always a long-term game, and every tool just gives you their take on “content quality.” So before you commit to a tool and its SEO score, it’s necessary to understand what your tool of choice can deliver. Today, we’ll have a look at one of the celebrity chefs in the competitor analysis world — Clearscope.
We’ll discuss basic features, how we use it and valuable alternatives.
The Basics of the Clearscope Tool
The best thing about Clearscope is that you don’t need to remember a bunch of menu items or branded tools. Instead of overwhelming you with features, Clearscope focuses on providing a few essential tools aligned with search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
- Google Search Console integration: Track existing site content’s performance by setting specific pages or automatically importing new content upon publication.
- Report details: Clearscope offers an overview of each page, including SEO value, impressions, orphaned pages notices, top search terms, clicks, internal linking opportunities and average SERP position.
- Filtering options: Filter pages by notice, tag or content grate. This is ideal for reoptimizing website content, especially on pages with crawl errors or outdated content.
- Add-ons: Seamlessly integrate with Google Docs, WordPress and Microsoft Word, allowing your team to pull live data directly into drafts.
- Keyword discovery: A simple interface for discovering latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords or analyzing URLs, currently limited to local Google variants.
- Striking Distance feature: See which assets are close to improving their SERP rankings with just a bit of tweaking.
- Content decay report: Identify content that has lost the most clicks and address those weaknesses.
- Content brief templates: Create templates to help SEO strategists and writers align on content objectives.
When considering Clearscope, it’s useful to understand the basic features before diving into pricing, given that plans depend on proprietary features. The good news: All plans include unlimited users, projects and artificial intelligence (AI) content outlines.
Now, let’s talk numbers. Clearscope pricing breaks down into three main tiers.
- Essentials: $189/month for the basics, including 100 content inventory pages and 50 keyword discoveries. You can add more pages at $25 per additional 100 pages.
- Business: Adds advanced features like a dedicated account manager and 300 content inventory pages, with upgrades available at $15 per 100 pages.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for large-scale needs, with tailored features and options like single sign-on or crawler whitelisting.
Our Clearscope Experiences: Pros, Cons and Optimization Insights
Asking a marketer about their favorite SEO tool is a bit like asking a marathoner about their favorite shoes. Why not do another run with the blue ones? Before we go into the other tools, though, let’s discuss where Clearscope shines.
At Brafton, we’ve mostly used the content optimization features for our content localization strategy. While other tools like MarketMuse may provide similar features, they often don’t supply data for many international markets.
So far, the outcomes have been impressive. Of course, it’s gimmicky for a tool to actually grade your content A+ or B-. Unlike in school, though, those grades translated to real-world results. In our past experiments, we’ve seen our English blogs increase their click traffic 83.7% on average.
While it’s not the only tool we’ve used in our German strategy, Clearscope has helped us to increase Brafton’s organic clicks 721%.
Overall, Clearscope comes with some impressive features (and results). Its UI is super intuitive and gives writers a clear path to naturally weave relevant keywords into the copy. So from the content writer’s POV, there’s not a lot to ask for, especially considering the sometimes clunky interfaces of online editors.
However, that doesn’t tell the complete SEO story. Unfortunately, Clearscope doesn’t provide any features to track backlinks, which is a core component of modern content strategies. If you do opt in, you need to be aware that it’s not an all-around SEO tool. Another con is that there’s no free trial, which is a bit annoying considering that the pricing structure depends on Clearscope’s own feature sets.
Then again, you don’t need to look far to find a story of happy customers raving about the fast support.
Your team structure and business goals will play a big role in determining whether Clearscope is right for you. Especially for smaller teams and beginners looking to scale, it’s a great choice, as long as they’re aware that it can’t do everything straight out of the box.
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Need Another Tool? Our Top Clearscope Alternatives
Thought we’d just leave you hanging, didn’t you? Why do that if we can pretend we run marathons to cover our SEO obsession? In case you’re intrigued by Clearscope but uncertain what else you’d need or you’re already outgrowing its capabilities, here are some other search engine marketing (SEM) tools to consider.
Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO is a standout option for those who want an optimization tool that digs deep into keyword research while supporting multiple languages. Its “Auto Optimize” feature goes beyond just keyword discovery, pulling over 500 factors into their overall rating to suggest the optimal number of headings, images, word count and overall outline for your content.
One of the latest AI writing features harnesses the power of ChatGPT-4 to generate not only content reports but also fully optimized articles with just a single click, making it ideal for teams aiming to streamline their content creation process. Additionally, Surfer SEO provides tools for rephrasing, keyword volume analysis and comprehensive content audits, offering a well-rounded solution for those serious about content optimization.
Phrase
If competitive research is at the heart of your SEO strategy, Phrase might be the AI tool for you. It has a strong focus on visualizing key Google SERP metrics such as word count, domain rating and heading count.
Phrase also shines in its ability to generate full-length, optimized content briefs using AI, saving teams time and effort in the planning stages. Its collaborative tools make it easy for teams to manage projects, create content briefs and even use custom AI prompts, all of which can be a huge timesaver in fast-paced environments.
Semrush
For those who need an all-in-one SEO solution, Semrush is a solid choice. It covers everything from keyword research and local SEO to link building and social media management. Beyond that, it also offers tools for paid ads management, making it a comprehensive digital marketing tool. If you’re in search of a platform that can do it all, Semrush provides an extensive range of features that go beyond what Clearscope offers, especially in areas like backlink tracking and competitive analysis.
Dashword
Dashword is ideal for teams that want to create content briefs without missing any important topics competitors have covered. It allows you to organize and edit content efficiently and share it with team members for seamless collaboration. The content scoring feature within Dashword’s editor is similar to what you’d find in Clearscope or MarketMuse. It’s a great alternative for content-focused teams looking to ensure they cover all necessary SEO bases.
MarketMuse
At Brafton, MarketMuse is our go-to for English content optimization. It offers a range of tools for keyword optimization, content decay monitoring, identifying lost top rankings and discovering growth opportunities. One of MarketMuse’s coolest features is its recommended workflows, which make it easy to get started and make the most out of the tool. Its clear interface is comparable to Clearscope’s, but with a few more advanced features that can be appealing for English-only teams looking for a little extra.
Page Optimizer Pro
Page Optimizer Pro is a comprehensive tool for on-page SEO analysis. It provides detailed suggestions for variations and LSI keywords, much like Clearscope. The interface is user-friendly, and there’s even a Chrome plugin available that integrates with Google Docs, though it doesn’t provide real-time feedback. If you need a tool to fine-tune your on-page elements, Page Optimizer Pro is worth considering.
Content Harmony
Content Harmony excels in creating extensive visual content briefs that include primary intent, content and link difficulty as well as media usage. Most of its analysis workflows are very visual, making competitive analysis more straightforward for beginners. While it currently only supports international results for the United Arab Emirates, more regions are expected to be added soon, making it a tool to watch if you operate in international markets.
GrowthBar
Powered by ChatGPT-4, GrowthBar offers an editor as extensive as Surfer SEO’s. Its AI Content feature generates SEO-optimized outlines that include headings, keywords, word counts and internal links, making it a great choice for content teams looking to streamline their workflow. GrowthBar also features tools for collaboration, writing assistance and content strategy, including difficulty scores and revenue metrics, providing a robust package for any content marketer.
SimilarContent
SimilarContent supports an impressive 83 languages, making it a strong choice for international SEO efforts. Its long-form AI writer suggests ready-to-use, SEO-optimized sentences during the writing process. Additional features like a headline analyzer, content rewriter and question analyzer help ensure that your content is not only optimized but also engaging and relevant.
SE Ranking
SE Ranking offers a full suite of tools, including Keyword Rank Tracker, Keyword Research, Backlink Checker, Competitive Research and Website Audit. It also features an On-Page SEO checker, Page Changes Monitoring, Local Marketing tool and a Content Editor. For agencies, SE Ranking’s Agency Pack and Report Builder are particularly useful for managing client work. If you’re in search of a more comprehensive tool that covers all aspects of SEO, SE Ranking is worth exploring.
TL;DR: Is Clearscope Worth It?
So, is Clearscope worth the investment? The answer depends on your specific needs and team structure.
If you’re looking for a tool that excels at content optimization with a user-friendly interface and powerful content grading features, Clearscope is a great choice.
However, it’s important to remember that Clearscope is not an all-in-one SEO tool. It lacks features like backlink tracking, which are crucial for a well-rounded SEO strategy. For teams that require a more comprehensive tool or need additional functionality like backlink analysis or competitive research, exploring Clearscope alternatives might be the best move.
But if content optimization is your primary focus, Clearscope’s streamlined and effective approach is hard to beat.
