Support » Plugin: SEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO » Could be 5 stars, but…

  • To start I really hope the Suirrly people read this. As I think they have the very first plug-in that can actually challenge Yoast in a meaningful way. I give them 5 (or 6) stars for attitude and enthusiasm and what I see as a breakthrough in a new approach/paradigm, to tweaking a site for SEO. It is a comprehensive on-site/off-site “service” at the price of a premium plug-in AND a price far below Yoast-Pro if you have more than one site.

    It is a take-you-by-the-hand approach and works intensively with setting realistic goals, measuring them and moving you forward to the next plateau. It does this both internally (on your website) and externally by providing you with off-site metrics and measurements, site audits and various kinds of keyword research services, that integrate with the on-site plug-in.

    I will say here that I can not make a comparison between free and pro as I went pro very soon after installing the plug-in. In part because the pricing was so much better (WAY better) than Yoast if one is managing multiple sites. In short “I have tried them all” and Squirrly was the first to have me even consider abandoning Yoast. (my first site went live in 1998) You may not like or want the handholding. If you don’t, stick with Yoast. If you want a step-by-step process with learning on the way, you might want to try Squirrly.

    Now the bad, stuff. As some others report, I think they go a bit (a lot) overboard with promoting their other products and services, and in fact, the plug-in is so feature packed that the UI gets more than a little confusing and hard to follow at times. They also seem to (but I could be confused or exaggerating) come out with a new feature or function every week or so, rather than on some kind of “release schedule” with understandable upgrade increments.

    Support is pretty good, and you can access it right inside the UI. You get responses and they are attentive, but if you are confined to the English language, as I am, I think sometimes things “get lost in translation”. And it often takes a day or more. But definitely “A” for effort, and way better than Yoast (which I no longer bother contacting)

    I think Squirrly has “hit the ground running” and have very good intentions and a powerful new paradigm, and if they don’t burn out from to-much-too-soon, they CAN challenge Yoast’s dominance (and arrogance). I think (and hope) they can actually be “the other choice”. But it is early days (30,000 installs against millions). But the hype and ra ra, and selling selling selling does get a little tedious AND distracting. I maybe should give them 5 STARS. But this is an odd case of where the plug-in and related services are probably well worth 5 STARS, but the confusion of the UI, hype and activity around the plug-in causes me to want to grade it lower. (and maybe 3 stars will get them to look at the review)

    I think Squirrly is truly a “diamond in the rough”. If they can bring their organizational and presentation game up to the level of what the plug-in (and associated services) provides, then Yoast has finally got something to be concerned about.

    • This topic was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by donwinchell99.
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  • Plugin Contributor SEO Plugin Expert Florin

    (@florinmuresan)

    Thank you very much!

    I wanted to let you know that we DO read all the reviews, on a weekly basis. We don’t usually reply to them, though. We’ve had some problems in the past (2013 and 2014) when certain competitors used fake accounts to flame these forums.

    I know this shouldn’t have affected us, but it did.

    However, in case you didn’t tell Ana about this and she didn’t reply via email, then it makes a lot of sense for me to tell you that I appreciate the honesty in this review. It’s also great that you point to so many aspects and I agree that the release schedule is a bit crazy. We don’t have a complete solution for that one yet, but we’re trying our best to prepare people better for the updates and to explain what they mean and how one can truly benefit from them.

    Thank you for your review.

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