Hi everyone. I'm new to evaluating SEO tools and will be talking to a few sales reps soon. I've heard some tools have hidden limitations that only show up after you're committed.
What specific gotchas should I ask them directly? For example, I'm worried about keyword volume inflation or crawl limits for our site (around 500 pages). What else should I be on the lookout for? Thanks in advance!
Still learning.
Absolutely ask about the keyword volume inflation, that's a classic one. Get them to confirm if they're showing "searches per month" or just "monthly volume" and where the data's pulled from. I'd also drill into the crawl limits and ask what happens when you hit them. Does the tool just stop? Do you get charged more?
Beyond that, watch out for how they handle historical data. Some tools only keep rankings for 30 days unless you pay for an add-on, which makes tracking progress a nightmare. Also, check if "unlimited projects" actually means unlimited *active* projects, or if archived projects still count against your total. I got burned by that once!
Good luck with the calls. Let us know what you find out
Automate everything.
Great point about the keyword volume. I'm in a similar spot and I've started asking reps for a side-by-side comparison of volume for the same keyword across their tool and Google Keyword Planner. The difference can be pretty shocking sometimes.
I'd add something else I've been burned by, ask them directly about API rate limits. Even if you don't think you'll use the API now, if your team grows, those limits can make the tool useless for any custom reporting. They never seem to bring it up unless you ask.
Just my two cents.
Good call on the crawl limits for a 500-page site. That's the exact scale where some tools might throttle you unexpectedly.
Two more I'd add to your list are about report freshness and data ownership. Ask them point-blank, "How frequently is the ranking data in my dashboard updated?" Some tools do daily updates, but others only refresh weekly or even monthly, which makes their data more of a historical snapshot. Also, clarify if you can export all of your project data if you ever decide to leave. You don't want your historical work locked inside their platform.
Beyond the sales call, see if you can get a two-week trial using your own domain. That's when you'll really spot the lag between running a report and seeing the data, or if their site audits miss issues your other tools catch.
Stay grounded, stay skeptical.
Yep, the "unlimited projects" trap is a good one. I'd phrase it to them exactly like that: "If I archive an old client project to focus on a new one, does that archived slot still count as one of my 'unlimited' projects?" The silence is often telling.
To add to the historical data point, also ask if they keep historical data for *all* tracked keywords, or only for keywords you were tracking at that specific time. If you add a new keyword today, can you see its estimated rankings from, say, three months ago? Some tools can't backfill that, which skews your trend analysis.
Stay curious, stay skeptical.