In this article we look at 3 of the top rank checking tools and provide our insight into what we’ve found about these 3 ../../products.
Today we look at Web CEO, Agent Web Ranking, and Webposition Gold.
Over all, we felt all 3 programs offered great benefits but also suffered some shortcomings. For example, while Webposition offers some of the most comprehensive reporting of the three it also has features which date back to the “wild west” days of the web and are no longer useful.
Since we’ve already introduced you to Webposition, let’s start with our review of the product.
First, a little history of WebPosition. This is probably the oldest and most well known rank checking software. Not too long ago it was bought by another well known company – WebTrends – and they do work together, kinda. It has many great features and some not so great features.
For example, the “page builder” is nothing more than a glorified doorway page generator and using such a feature could get you penalized or banned in a search engine.
Similarly, the “page critic” is a somewhat useful tool that can provide novices with some useful information. While it’s database of engine facts is somewhat dated it can help some people who don’t understand all the nuances of search engine positioning.
It’s integration with WebTrends is ok, however I feel they have a long way to go. When I heard that WebTrends was going to buy this company I expected them to own the analytics/reporting market. However they were unable to capitalize on this product marriage soon enough and it hurt them.
If I were to buy a reporting software, I would probably buy this one if it met my needs. I wouldn’t buy it for the page generator or page critic however as a reporting tool it’s quite adequate.
It is easy to use and offers a variety of reporting types and has seemingly unlimited options. While I do find the product a little expensive, it does a pretty good job of reporting overall.
You can find out more about WebPosition on our product page.
The second product to review is AgentWebRanking.
Like Webposition, this product has its strengths and weaknesses.
When you first launch a freshly installed version of this program, the first thing it does is go through the time consuming process of updating its search engine database. While this is important, I feel this is a step which could have been done later.
This program isn’t as intuitive as Webposition was. It took me a bit to figure out how to start a rank checking mission to run. One of the first selections with WP is to start/run a mission. This isn’t the case with Agent.
Another less-than-intuitive part of it is when you are actually creating your reports. There isn’t a lot of help to walk you through this process as with Webposition.
Overall, I found this to be a “middle of the road” kind of package. While it does have some good ideas, like providing many links to various SEO resources, I find the real purpose of it – the rank tool – lacking in usability.
You can find out more about this product on our product page.
The final product to review today (and my favorite) is Web CEO.
The company that makes this product offers a free full version of the program for you to use.
One of the first things I noticed is that I had the option to update the program, rather than it being a requirement as with Agent Web Ranking. Not only that but the update happened a heck of a lot quicker.
Another thing I liked with this program is that it is a lot more intuitive than the other two. It lays out your options in a very logical manner. For example, in the keyword analysis module, it starts by helping you find phrases with which you can optimize your website simply by entering a single word or phrase. From there it walks you through the process of analyzing the terms for traffic, and checking out your competition.
But one of it’s best features is the rank checker. While it seems a little “light duty” when compared to the other applications tested here today I found it quite adequate for monitoring the most important engines for my most important terms.
After all, I don’t really care how well my site does in some obscure themed engine that only gets 1000 visits per month. But I do care how well my site is doing in the “big 3” and this program does that quite well.
Now I know I said that this article was going to be about rank checking tools. And if all you are interested in is a hard core rank checking program, then I’d suggest Agent Web Ranking. (You can find more information about this product on our product page).
However, if you are looking for something that can help manage your total SEO effort, then I’d have to say that WebCEO is for you. In addition to rank checking it can help you choose keywords, analyze your competition, and optimize your web pages.
Now, if you don’t want to pay that much for a rank checking software, here are some good inexpensive alternatives:
jarrod says...
on 31/10/06This is a TEst