When it comes to on-page optimizations, I’ve been using Surfer SEO for several years now. Before big-box AI models started coming out in November 2022, it was really good. Today? Is it worth it?
No.
Honestly, if you’re going to spend money, get Rankability. It’s a better product, albeit high-priced.
If you want to cut down on costs, I suggest using ChatGPT Plus rather than any other on-page SEO software.
The caveat? You’ll need to train your AI model to know exactly what you want. Then, and only then, can it repeatedly output what you want.
Why I Use ChatGPT Instead of Surfer SEO
COST: $20 per month vs $99 per Month
ORGANIZATION: Projects Folder Allows for Unique Workflows
WORKFLOW: Integrates with Other Apps and Software (Canva)
ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini App are both LLMs (large language models). They know and understand semantic relevance and meaning.
As a result, these LLMs can do the job that Surfer SEO does.
Here’s What Surfer SEO Actually Does
Writing and optimizing. It scans the top-ranking URLs and gathers a list of the core semantically related keywords.
Research and outline. It also helps you form content templates by pulling the top-ranking competitor URLs for the key term.
Internal links. If you connect your domain to their software, they scan your URL structures and decide what pages are best to link to/from for your new article.
Publish to WP. By connecting your WordPress site to the software, Surfer helps you publish the content directly from their internal editor to your blog/page. You can also download an HTML copy of the content, or a plain text copy.
Very convenient.
The Brutal Truth Laid Bare: The Real Value of Surfer SEO
ChatGPT can do ALL of the above-listed features, save for publishing directly to your WordPress site.
Sadly, you’ll still have to do the time-consuming and hellish task of clicking “copy,” and then clicking “paste.”
I know. I know. It’s something you’ll just have to live with.
The Biggest Downside of Surfer SEO (After Using it for Years)
In so many cases, I would optimize a page with Surfer SEO and experience a pleasant dopamine hit after seeing my on-page score move to “green” thanks to all of my NLP keywords being precisely inserted where they needed to be. Ah…
However…the page would decrease in rankings and visibility.
It would actually perform WORSE than before!
Surfer is a lot like the well-known Yoast SEO plugin, popularized by countless WordPress bloggers for years.
Just because the software gives you a green-colored SEO score, doesn’t mean that the page is well optimized.
Why does this happen?
Surfer SEO doesn’t actually incorporate “buyer intent” for those searching on the internet.
Rankability actually does a better job at optimizing for the intent of the user’s search.
Instead, Surfer heavily focuses on NLP keyword insertion.
Google Search Has Changed, Surfer Hasn’t Caught Up
The ranking game has changed. This no longer works.
#1. Google has changed. Due to algorithm shifts and Google’s transformation from a search engine to an LLM (thanks “AI Overviews”), simply adding more keywords to a page won’t help it rank on Google.
#2. Google values uniqueness. Your content should be different than what is already dominating SERPs. These tools grade you on how similar your NLP keyword placements are to the top-ranking domains.
Now, with so many more competitive AI-fueled SEO products on the market, why doesn’t Surfer SEO lower their price to stay a bit more competitive?
Truthfully, I have no idea.
If you still want to buy a Surfer SEO subscription, that’s your choice.
In my opinion, the price is far too high for the value. You can accomplish the exact same tasks simply by using ChatGPT.
I’ll show you how – briefly!
Create a New Project Work Folder in ChatGPT
Get organized. Generate a new project and title your folder.
Inform this GPT about your business (avoid sensitive information like financial details, please), what customer problems you solve, your core service/product, target customer, consumer profile demographic, and top-selling products or services.
How to Use ChatGPT + Google Search for NLP Keyword Creation
Identify your target keyword(s) you wish to rank for.
Type it into Google & copy the “People Also Search For” section keywords in bold.
Paste it into ChatGPT.
Request that ChatGPT identify the most “semantically relevant” keywords that incorporate consumer purchase intent and the target KW.
Copy the list that it generates and save it for later.
Use ChatGPT for an SEO Content Outline
Copy and paste the on-page copy from the top-ranking websites for your target keyword.
Ask ChatGPT to identify ways in which to optimize these pages, find unique content angles, and list their strengths and weaknesses.
Copy some of the optimization tips and strengths/weaknesses and save them for later.
Insert the Target URL of your website that you are attempting to optimize.
Request ChatGPT generate an optimized SEO content outline based on the NLP keywords [ paste the keywords ], incorporate these strengths [ insert strengths ], and avoid [ insert weaknesses ].
Comb through the outline and edit it down as needed if it’s too long or excessive.
Use ChatGPT to Research Topics In-Depth & Give Sources
An AI-agent can be setup to perform Deep Research on any given topic for your niche/business.
Use this feature! Let it gather up research, ask it to analyze it, and provide the top takeaways.
Then, ask it to give you some unique content angles that solve your customer’s problems.
As it researches information, it’ll give you the sources from where it gathered it. These can potentially serve as backlink opportunities.
Use ChatGPT for Internal Link Strategy
Go into Google Search Console. Find your pages. Export these into a CSV file. Upload the file to your ChatGPT project folder. Ask it to analyze the links and identify the best pages to add internal links for your new page/blog based on semantic relevance and consumer intent.
Done.
Use ChatGPT to Optimize Your Meta Data
You can get ChatGPT to optimize your URL slug for readability, and your meta description, SERP title, and more.
Once done, ask it to generate some JSON-LD Schema markup in HTML. Insert this directly into your post/page.
You Can Do On Page Optimization Without a Hefty Price Tag
You did it.
You’ve covered all the bases, having created unique, engaging (well-optimized) content without spending hundreds of dollars a month!
ChatGPT can do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to on-page SEO tasks. I hope this helps you out. If you need someone to do the nitty-gritty work of optimizing and maintaining your website pages, gathering links, and generating unique content, give me a call.