When the question of marketing comes up, the immediate answer is to focus on content marketing. In 2021, it’s universally agreed that high quality, long form content packed with lots of juicy SEO (which drives search traffic) is the way to improve your ranking, attract customers and set you up as a thought leader in your industry.
Great idea but, what if your writing skills aren’t up to snuff, you don’t know much about Search Engine Optimization or, you simply don’t have the time to focus on your content to this kind of level? You’re in luck as, these days, there are a few tools out there which can help you to put together quality, SEO rich content and, today, we’re going to be talking about one of them – Clearscope.
While Clearscope is mostly utilized by large companies with an expansive budget for content strategy, small businesses and website publishers can still find it useful. Some of the tasks that Clearscope excels at are keyword research, SEO writing, and content marketing.
What in the blue blazes is Clearscope?
San Francisco based Clearscope was founded in 2016 and is an online keyword research optimisation tool that helps content marketers to optimize content. It does this by providing a key list of terms, ideas and relevant keywords as well as giving you an idea of how long the piece should be in terms of average word count.
How does it work?
Clearscope is a 100% online content optimization tool and is really simple to use. Once you’re signed up, you simply input the target keyword and then run a report which will net you your list of words as well as those used by your competitors. The tool also assigns a content score to your piece of work in terms of word count and readability and, if that’s not enough, it’ll even tell you how you rank in comparison to the competition.
Who is Clearscope for?
You, of course! OK, I’ll be more specific – Clearscope is for individuals and businesses who rely on good quality relevant content with supersized SEO in order to get their message across. Clearscope is used by hundreds of businesses across the world including Adobe, Optimizely, Kettle & Fire, Backlinko and Bench. Why? Because it’s so much more than a simple keyword optimization tool.
How do I get started with Clearscope?
Great question. Getting started couldn’t be easier:
- Click on over to Clearscope‘s seo content optimization platform
- Click onto the yellow ‘View Pricing’ button in the middle of the screen
- You’ll now be presented with three options – Subscribe to the Essentials Package, Request a demo of the Professional Package or request information about the Enterprise Package (you can also choose to request a demo by using the black button at the top right hand side of the page)
- If choosing the Essentials Package, you’ll be asked to input your details, including payment information
- Once complete, you’ll be asked to verify your email address and, then, you’re all set
What’s Clearscope pricing?
Clearscope offers three different price packages – and these go something like this:
Essentials Package £170 per month
What do you get for your cash?
- 20 report credits
- Three user seats
- 100 keyword credits
- Google Docs and WordPress integrations
- Support for five languages
Business Package £1200 per month
What’s included?
For your £1200 a month, you’ll get everything from the Essentials Package, plus:
- 100+ report credits
- Unlimited user seats
- 200+ inventory pages
- SAML single sign-on
- Custom onboarding
Enterprise Package Price on request
This is a bespoke package which is created to suit your needs – so you’ll need to get in touch with Clearscope to find out details and pricing.
What are Clearscope’s features?
This is where things get interesting. Clearscope has a robust offering, bigger than you can shake a stick at and, some of the main ones are:
Topic and keyword research
Clearscope’s star attraction is, without a doubt, its general keyword research tool. Ideal for content marketers, this feature makes light work of finding topic ideas and intuitive keyword suggestions to use in your content creation. For anybody who spends a lot of time trying to drum up content ideas, this feature will save you tons of time and effort. This feature gets its info in real time from Google so you can rest assured that you’re always up to date. This amazing tool is second to none when it comes to content relevance, content planning and creating outlines.
Content optimisation
Once you’ve finished your article or blog post, this feature will help you to optimise it. All you need to do is input your content into Clearscope to receive a detailed report showing you how it’s likely to do against the competition. The tool will also offer suggestions and tips to make your cracking content even better.
Reporting
Clearscope offers really straightforward, easy to understand reporting which can be downloaded and studied to help you up your content game.
Insights
Clearscope provides monthly search volume and search intent insights which are invaluable in helping you to make sure that you’re hitting the relevant terms and phrases consistently.
Content grade
Clearscope features a great at-a-glance grading scale to allow you to quickly see how your article is performing.
Text editor
As you would expect, this tool features a clear and simple text editor to allow you to take note of suggestions and to quickly make amendments.
Integrations
Clearscope only has a Google Docs integration currently..
Clearscope – The Pros And Cons
We may already have said that Clearscope is pretty great – but we never said it was perfect. As with most things, there are some brilliant bits and some not so brilliant bits and, here they are:
The Pros
- Easy to use – Clearscope is probably one of the easiest tools to use that I’ve come across. Its user interface is all set out in a really clear, common-sense way so you can get started super-quick.
- Time saving – Much more than just a keyword research tool, Clearscope’s topic creation feature will save you loads of time if you’re constantly trying to think up new ideas to write about.
- Super easy SEO – Many people still struggle to get their head around SEO and, Clearscope does all the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on the creative stuff.
The Cons
- Price – Clearscope is a little on the pricey side compared to other similar tools, starting at £170 for the most basic package.
- Integrations – It’s a little disappointing that Clearscope doesn’t have more integrations such as WordPress as this is a little limiting – and means that you will need to copy and paste your content into other operations.
- Clearscope support – At the moment, the Clearscope team only offers support by email and, only during business hours, which can be a little frustrating. It lacks hands-on customer support, e.g. in the form of calls.
Are there alternatives to Clearscope?
Yep, and plenty of ‘em. If Clearscope doesn’t float your boat, here are a few others you may want to try:
SEMRush
You’ve probably heard of this one – and for good reason. SEMRush is one of the world’s most popular platforms and features a whole suite of tools including keyword and competitor research and some content writing wizardry tools. If you think SEMRush is right up your street, you’ll pay between $119 and $449 per month.
MarketMuse
A supercharged keyword research tool, MarketMuse not only helps you out with your keywords and phrases but also identifies gaps and errors in your writing and points you in the right direction. MarketMusic costs between $199 and $999 per month.
Surfer
Another super-popular tool, Surfer is a really straightforward, easy to use writing tool which helps you in optimizing, and, creating content by making suggestions including word count and keywords. Surfer will set you back between $59 and $199 per month, making it a great budget option.
Ahrefs
Founded in 2011, Ahrefs is a veteran of the SEO world and, this platform features an all in one SEO toolset designed to help you to improve your ranking as well as your writing. You can get hold of Ahrefs for between $99 and $999 per month.
SE Ranking
Great for competitive research, social media and SEO, California based SE Ranking is a good, solid choice for no fuss SEO and research. You’ll be handing over between £18 and £89 for this one.
Searchmetrics
Primarily an SEO tool, this Berlin based platform also offers consumer insights, keyword searches and engaging content guides. Searchmetrics pricing is available on request.
Conclusion
So, what’s the verdict? I’ve mentioned that there are some alternatives to Clearscope – and that some of these are cheaper. This doesn’t, of course, mean that they’re better. If you’re looking for streamlined tools, then Clearscope can very much be considered an investment if your business relies on really strong content which gets picked up by search engines and improves organic traffic.
This tool is particularly useful for those who produce content for clients as the topic generating feature really is second to none and will allow you to quickly come up with some great ideas to wow your client.
In terms of SEO, Clearscope is also a winner in that it takes the hassle out of making sure that your content is fully optimised. While the cheaper tools available are probably fine for those who produce occasional content, proactive content marketers need something with a little bit more oomph – and Clearscope absolutely delivers.
