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Are you having trouble figuring out how to navigate the maze of SEO optimization? Achieving website dominance mostly depends on having the proper tools. Step in Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog, the two SEO giants! But the question remains: which one reigns supreme?
This blog aims to demystify the comparison between these 2 top SEO tools. Companies that want to achieve top positions in search engine results find the role of SEO tools essential. While Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog are different tools with different features, both promise to be the key to website optimization.
Let us explore the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of the two to determine which is the ultimate winner for your SEO campaign.
Understanding Deepcrawl
lumar.io
Over time, Lumar (previously known as Deepcrawl) has been refined to a high-level cloud-based website crawler and SEO analysis solution that helps enterprises discover and correct technical SEO problems.
Being easy to use and with an abundance of functional features, Deepcrawl is the top choice of clients in various industries for optimization of their websites. Its user-friendly and feature-rich toolkit provides the necessary tools for SEO management, making the searcher experience smooth and website performance.
Deepcrawl revolutionizes the business with its innovative approach to website optimization, leveraging the digital landscape as it keeps changing.
Key Features and Functionalities
Deepcrawl propels the organizational website optimization processes with its extensive functions by applying advanced options. Let’s delve into its key functionalities:
1. Website Crawling Capabilities
The website crawling abilities of Deepcrawl make the platform stand out. This tool rigorously crawls websites, indexes pages, and identifies hidden SEO issues. DeepCrawl has shown the ability to crawl through websites regardless of size, whether a medium-sized site or a huge one.
The crawler is highly efficient and can scan over 10 million URLs in a single session, which has already earned the trust of famous sites and many Fortune 500 companies. In 2017, DeepCrawl accomplished a notable achievement by crawling over 3 billion URLs and having over 400,000 crawls. Handling such vast amounts of data shows its reliability and efficiency in website optimization.
2. Analysis of Technical SEO Issues
ahrefs.com/blog/site-audit-study
Deepcrawl has an edge over others in finding and diagnosing many technical SEO problems that badly affect a website’s search engine rankings. From broken links, redirects and duplications to crawl and duplicate errors, Deepcrawl offers detailed views into the areas in which corrections need to be made, helping the users to implement corrective measures quickly.
3. Reporting and Visualization Options
Data visualization is a salient part of SEO, as it allows for the easy interpretation of complex information. Deepcrawl features numerous reporting and visualization tools that enable users to view crawl data, track progress over time, and share insights with relevant stakeholders in a well-organized and effective manner. Its intuitive interface and customizable report templates simplify the process of producing dashboard reports.
Pros and Cons of Using Deepcrawl
Pros:
- Comprehensive Crawling: Deepcrawl’s crawling of extensive and intricate websites gives an all-inclusive view, which makes it possible to monitor a wide variety of SEO issues.
- In-depth Analysis: Such tool gives the necessary details on core SEO technical problems, enabling business owners to take data-based decisions and prioritize tasks for a successful campaign.
- Scalability: Whether it’s a single website or a multi-project platform, Deepcrawl has the capacity to grow as your business expands and offers suitable solutions to companies of all sizes.
- Customizable Reporting: Deepcrawl provides the feature of customized reporting, which enables users to create reports according to specific demands and needs.
Cons:
- Learning Curve: Deepcrawl contains a great deal of functionality that may be complicated for beginners to learn, necessitating both effort and time to become competent.
- Cost: While Deepcrawl provides an array of pricing options, it might prove unaffordable to smaller enterprises or individuals with low budgets.
- Dependency on External Factors: The Deepcrawl functionality can be negatively affected by external factors which can include website downtime and server problems, thus decreasing crawl data reliability.
Cost
Contact the support team for a customized package that suits your business requirements.
Exploring Screaming Frog
screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
One of the most well-known crawlers and analyzer tools for SEO is Screaming Frog. Launched in 2010, Screaming Frog was quickly adopted by many digital marketers and professionals dedicated to SEO ranking for its ability to give detailed information about on-page SEO elements.
It is a desktop-based application, and users can use it to crawl websites and analyze different aspects of their SEO performance, including title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, internal linking, and much more. Screaming Frog, known for its user-friendly interface and rich features, is the most frequently used tool for making website content search engine-friendly, finding SEO issues, and improving search engine visibility.
Key Features and Functionalities
Let us examine the multi-faceted capabilities of Screaming Frog, a search engine optimization tool well known to be powerful in matters of site crawling, on-page analysis, and data extraction.
1. Website Crawling Capabilities
At the heart of Screaming Frog’s functionality lies its robust website crawling capabilities. The tool traverses through websites, indexing pages with remarkable efficiency. Its ability to crawl websites swiftly and comprehensively ensures thorough coverage, enabling users to identify potential issues that may impact search engine rankings.
2. Analysis of On-page SEO Elements
blog.hubspot.com
Screaming Frog excels in analyzing on-page SEO elements, providing users with detailed insights into various aspects of website optimization. From title tags and meta descriptions to heading structure and internal linking, the tool offers comprehensive analysis and recommendations for optimizing on-page elements to enhance visibility and relevance in search results.
Custom Extraction and Data Analysis Along with web crawling and on-page analysis capabilities, the Screaming Frog has more advanced features for custom extraction and data analysis. They can integrate extraction rules for data retrieval on different website elements, including structured data markup, canonical tags, and schema.org markup. This makes it possible to do in-depth site content analysis and website content optimization for an optimal Google ranking.
Pros and Cons of Using Screaming Frog
Pros:
- Comprehensive Website Crawling: Screaming Frog’s quick crawling makes regular website checks possible. As a result, users can detect and fix various SEO issues on time.
- Detailed On-page Analysis: It provides comprehensive details on on-page SEO aspects and these can be used to enhance decision making and target optimization efforts.
- Custom Extraction and Data Analysis: Screaming Frog’s advanced features for custom data extraction and analysis provide subtlety and flexibility, which empower the users to collect and analyze particular website data for optimization purposes.
- Regular Updates and Support: The Screaming Frog team is well-known for the fact that they regularly roll out new features and enhancements, and they also provide people who use the tool with quick response.
Cons:
- Steep Learning Curve: Though Screaming Frog offers a number of useful features, the overwhelming number of them may be difficult for novice users to learn and master.
- Limited Free Version: While Screaming Frog provides a free version of the tool with limited features, the paid subscription of the full version can limit the use of for some users.
- Resource Intensive: The tool’s comprehensive crawling approach may consume a great deal of the system resource especially when crawling big site; thus, it may affect the performance of lower spec machines.
Cost
- Free Version
- Paid Version: $259 per year
Head-to-Head Comparison
freepik.com
In this part, we will do a detailed examination of Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog in terms of the most important functional and performance aspects.
1. Performance in Website Crawling
Speed and Efficiency
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl benefits from an incredible progress in the speed and performance when it comes to crawling websites, letting users audit big and intricate site resources in a blink of an eye. Its cloud-based infrastructure allows performing data processing at a fast speed and minimal downtime, even in the case of extensive website crawling.
- Screaming Frog:
Though Screaming Frog is capable of crawling efficiently, its desktop-base nature may slow its performance against Deepcrawl, mainly for larger websites. Users are prone to experience certain problems such as slower web-crawling and complex data processing when the systems deal with websites with many pages or complex structures.
Depth Of Crawl
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl specializes in finding the issues that many audit tools are unable to capture, allowing for detailed audits spanning all the pages of the website. The capacity for the tool to accurately dive through websites and identify each of the tiniest technical SEO issues in incredible depth is why it is helpful to users.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog is also equipped with deep crawl capabilities, which enable users to perform comprehensive analysis of a site’s pages. On the other hand, the desktop-based nature of this tool may, to a certain extent, reduce the depth of the crawl for very large websites, resulting in some pages or content not being accessed.
2. Technical SEO Analysis
freepik.com
Depth and Accuracy of Technical SEO Insights
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl provides in-depth and accurate insights into technical SEO issues, ranging from broken links and redirects to canonicalization and hreflang tags. Its comprehensive analysis ensures that users can identify and address a wide range of technical issues that may impact search engine rankings.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog provides detailed technical SEO analysis, including elements like broken links, redirects, and duplicate content. The depth and comprehensiveness of the tool’s analysis are generally correct, but there may be some users who will find it does not go as far as Deepcrawl, particularly in pinpointing more complex technical issues.
Identification and Prioritization of Issues
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl distinguishes itself in finding technical SEO problems and providing users with practical guidance and recommendations so that they can take meaningful actions. Through its user-friendly interface and customizable reporting, the system allows users to concentrate on major issues, and identify and implement effective corrective measures.
- Screaming Frog:
However, Screaming Frog features extra benefits for identifying and prioritizing technical SEO issues since the user can distinguish and categorize data according to the severity of each issue. This might require users to manually analyze and interpret data compared to Deepcrawl’s more automated approach.
3. On-page SEO Analysis
freepik.com
Effectiveness in Analyzing On-page Elements
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl addresses on-page SEO elements comprehensively, covering title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, and internal links. What makes it different is that it has innovative algorithms and data visualization tools that allow the users to get a deep understanding of their on-page optimization opportunities and issues they might face.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog presents a wide range of tools for addressing on-page search engine optimization issues relating to page titles, meta descriptions, and other important SEO elements. Its analysis process, although effective, is perceived to be less intuitive and user-friendly compared to the interface and reporting features of other on-page SEO tools.
Recommendations for Optimization
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl provides practical recommendations for improving on-page elements that comply with the best practices and industry standards. The platform has customizable reports that allow the user to generate personalized recommendations and prioritize the efforts in the right way.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog suggests how on-page elements should be optimized which underlines areas for improvement based on SEO best practices. However, consumers may be left to their own expertise and the interpretation of data compared to the Deepcrawl’s more direct and smoother approach toward the optimization recommendations.
4. Reporting and Visualization
freepik.com
Clarity and Comprehensiveness of Reports
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl’s reports are relatively easy to understand and comprehensive, offering website performance and SEO concerns in detail. The customizable nature of its reporting capability enables the users to create in-depth reports which are in accordance with their personal needs and requirements.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog also has detailed reports on website performance and SEO issues; however, for some users, they may be less extensive than reports provided by Deepcrawl. While its reports are informative, users will need to invest extra time into interpreting data and taking action.
Customization Options and Ease of Use
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl has been well designed to allow users to customize reports according to the needs of their organization. Its friendly interface, which provides intuitive navigation through data and reports, guarantees the users’ ability to handle it easily.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog offers some customization options for reports, which may seem less flexible than the options presented by Deepcrawl. The interface of this tool is normally user-friendly; however, some users might have a hard time distinguishing between data and producing reports, especially those who have complex websites.
5. Pricing and Value
freepik.com
Comparison of Pricing Models
- Deepcrawl:
The platform provides various price plans suitable for businesses large and small, allowing monthly or annual subscriptions to meet each organization’s respective requirements. Its pricing model is based on the number of crawled pages and any extra features. Thus, its users are provided with flexibility and scalability.
- Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog has a free version with limited functionality and a paid version with additional features and functionalities. The pricing of this software is mainly affordable, but it could be too high for some users. It may be an expensive alternative for smaller businesses and individuals with tighter budgets.
Value Proposition Offered by Each Tool
- Deepcrawl:
Deepcrawl’s value proposition lies in its rich feature set, sophisticated capabilities, and intuitive user interface. It is the primary choice for companies looking for robust SEO solutions. It gives the users a chance to make quick, probable decisions to optimize the website performance , showing enhanced output ranks on search engine engines.
- Screaming Frog:
The value of Screaming Frog is its adaptability, affordability, flexibility, and versatility, which are in line with the needs of any business. Although its functionality might be slightly narrower than Deepcrawl, Screaming Frog nevertheless provides really useful tips that help increase a site’s efficiency and enhance its search engine visibility. Let’s have a look at the comparison table, which summarizes the features and functionalities of two tools in discussion-Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog:
| Aspect | Deepcrawl | Screaming Frog |
| Performance in Website Crawling | ||
| Speed and Efficiency | Impressive speed and efficiency | Efficient, but may be slower for large websites |
| Depth of Crawl | Comprehensive depth of crawl | Decent depth, may have limitations for large sites |
| Technical SEO Analysis | ||
| Depth and Accuracy | In-depth and accurate insights | Detailed analysis, may be less comprehensive |
| Identification and Prioritization | Excels in identifying and prioritizing issues | Offers features, but may require more manual work |
| On-page SEO Analysis | ||
| Effectiveness | Provides comprehensive analysis | Offers robust features but may be less intuitive |
| Recommendations | Offers actionable recommendations | Provides suggestions, may require user expertise |
| Reporting and Visualization | ||
| Clarity and Comprehensiveness | Known for clear and comprehensive reports | Detailed reports, but may require more interpretation |
| Customization Options | Extensive customization options | Some customization, may be less flexible |
| Ease of Use | Intuitive interface, user-friendly design | Generally user-friendly, but may have some challenges |
| Pricing and Value | ||
| Comparison of Pricing Models | Range of pricing plans, flexibility | Free and paid versions, affordability |
| Value Proposition | Comprehensive feature set, user-friendly interface | Affordability, flexibility, and versatility |
Which SEO Tool Reigns Supreme: Deepcrawl or Screaming Frog?
As far as SEO optimization is concerned, choosing between Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog can be confusing. Given that each tool has its own specific set of characteristics and functionality, choosing the best one demands serious thought.
Deepcrawl differs from other solutions through its cloud-based structure, which is compatible with fast and comprehensive site crawls, accompanied by in-depth technical SEO analysis. In the meantime, Screaming Frog is capable of providing in-depth information on on-page elements and technical issues but with some limitations due to its desktop version.
Whether to use Deepcrawl or Screaming Frog for a website is prompted by the specific needs, interests, and particular requirements of the given website. Regardless of whether the main focus is the speed, the depth of analysis, or the intuitiveness of a tool, the users need to distinguish the strengths and weaknesses to select the tool that does a better job of helping them with their SEO objectives.
Conclusion
In the complex web of digital optimization, the debate of Deepcrawl versus Screaming Frog reveals a complex terrain where each tool has unique characteristics. As the key player, Deepcrawl exhibits cloud-based traits that scan websites of any size without hindrance.
On the other hand, Screaming Frog’s desktop-based flexibility and affordability attracts a broad spectrum of users. Yet, the ultimate judgment does not consist of a general proclamation of excellence but rather depends upon the features that align with the user’s specific requirements.
Similar to the role of artisans who select the best tools for their trade, SEO experts also have to identify the exact tool that suits their objectives and workflow. In this dynamic ecosystem, the response to the eternal question of superiority is unconditional but rather a personalized experience, where the search for optimization goes hand in hand with the symbiosis between tool and tactician.
