As the search engine marketing industry grows, there continues to crop up various web-based apps and tools for rank monitoring. But the simplest – and perhaps most talked-about – of these is a service called AuthorityLabs, developed in Phoenix, AZ, by a developer named Chase Granberry.
“Rank monitoring should be effortless,” so goes a line on the AuthorityLabs website, and it’s one echoed by small businesses, enterprises, Internet marketers, and agencies everywhere. Indeed, there’s a great deal of demand for a simple, easy-to-use, and affordable solution that allows customers to track and analyze their ranking performance on search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing) without wallowing in confusion on how to use the tool, or squandering their resources just to pay for a premium service.
It’s to no surprise, then, that AuthorityLabs positions itself as a service for “rank monitoring made easy”. The question is, does it deliver on its promise?
Pricing: AuthorityLabs readily admits that its service is more expensive than the usual desktop rank monitoring solutions. After the 30-day free trial that comes with signing up, users can select one of four “risk-free” plans (risk-free because one can downgrade, upgrade, or cancel anytime): Basic at $24 monthly, Plus at $49 monthly, Pro at $99 monthly, and Enterprise. While these aren’t exactly cheap, users can generate savings from the time it takes to interpret and use the data on AuthorityLabs – which is presented in a way that doesn’t necessitate rocket scientists or SEO Einsteins.
Features: The data compiled by AuthorityLabs should give users the feedback needed to perform better in search. One can track up to as much as a thousand keywords for a domain, and one can add as many domains as the subscription plan allows. Once these domains and keywords have been entered, a user can trust AuthorityLabs to do the job automatically. Yes, it’s fully automated rank checking at its best and simplest. This, furthermore, is conducted daily, which allows users to see fluctuations in their ranking data from day to day. Instead of the usual 10 results that one will see from the SERPs, the data pulled by AuthorityLabs is displayed 100 results at a time. While no tool can deliver 100 percent accuracy in data reporting, AuthorityLabs is pretty close to when rankings are checked manually.
Other excellent features include international support (so users can specify the locations from which they want AuthorityLabs to pull data); tagging and grouping (for easier segmentation of data); unlimited number of users (so that users can share data to as many people as they like); generation of suggested keywords (via Adwords API and based on the content of domain tracking); and the availability of competitive data that allows users to analyze SEO rankings easily and instantly – without having to install complicated codes onto their sites.
Data presentation: The ranking performance that AuthorityLabs tracks from Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are presented in a number of ways – each of which is simple and easy to understand. Trending graphs give users a visual representation of how their brands, products, services, and sites are being represented in search. Dashboard E-mails, meanwhile, are delivered straight to a user’s inbox. There’s also an option for exporting selected data as a CSV file.
One of the most unique features of Authority Labs is the ability to customize the way tracked progress is presented. This makes SEO reporting effortless. With the service’s white label functionality, users can add custom logos while masking accounts to their own domain and hiding any references to AuthorityLabs. This basically allows marketers and agencies to show clients data that looks as though it came from their own software.
Support: AuthorityLabs doesn’t support unscheduled phone calls, but the contact information (E-mail and Twitter) of its founder, Mr. Granberry, is provided on the website. Nevertheless, custom demos are set up for users, making the process of learning and leveraging the system so much easier and smoother. E-mails on how to get started and what to look for are delivered as soon as a user signs up: another extra that’s missing from most other rank monitoring services.
Overall, AuthorityLabs is a flexible rank monitoring solution that sets itself apart from the pack by packing plenty of extra features and providing excellent ease of use. It’s also pretty reliable at delivering the daily data and feedback that users of all kinds and sizes need to rank better and drive more traffic.