[HN Gopher] Show HN: I've made a cheaper SEO research tool
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       Show HN: I've made a cheaper SEO research tool
        
       In the last 13 months I've spent total $1297 for Ahrefs
       subscription. Sounds like a little too much so I've build my own
       Keywords Research tool - Telescope.  While building it my total
       bill was $51 for 2 months and 41k+ keywords found. Every page of
       keywords costs $0.03 - $0.05. 2 payment options - usage-based
       subscription or just top up your balance with the amount you'd like
       to.  Telescope includes a couple of things:  - Keywords Explorer -
       finding keywords based on seed phrase and filters  - Keywords Ideas
       - keywords on interception on provided keywords  - Ranked Keywords
       - keywords a domain you specified with their positions and change
       since last DB update  - Saved Keywords - to store found keywords
       and plan the SEO strategy  I've put a lot of love into it and would
       love to get some feedback. IMPORTANT: every new account gets some
       free balance to start with. Appreciate it!
        
       Author : kulhavy
       Score  : 179 points
       Date   : 2024-07-05 11:27 UTC (11 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (withtelescope.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (withtelescope.com)
        
       | cranberryturkey wrote:
       | looks cool do you have a trial version?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | There is no trial version, but there is a "trial" balance you
         | get after a sign up to try the application. Feel free to
         | contact me on X (Twitter) @ilyakulhavy if you need a little
         | more, thank you!
        
           | rexreed wrote:
           | Are you also on LinkedIn? I stopped using X a while back and
           | I have a bunch of questions on keywords and the site.
        
             | kulhavy wrote:
             | https://www.linkedin.com/in/keksonov/ here I'm too
             | 
             | @kulhavy in telegram
        
           | hyperfuturism wrote:
           | You don't have DMs open on Twitter, I think. I have some
           | questions!
        
             | kulhavy wrote:
             | https://www.linkedin.com/in/keksonov/ here I'm too
             | 
             | @kulhavy in telegram
        
           | nickreese wrote:
           | Dropped you a note.
        
       | merlindru wrote:
       | Instantly bookmarked! Great landing page, will definitely check
       | this out. Keep up the great work :)
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | We're working right now on adding On Page + Backlinks into the
         | app so Telescope becomes go-to solution for SEO
        
       | edweis wrote:
       | Your logo is very similar to https://insomnia.rest/
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Haha you're right. Wasn't thinking about Insomnia while making
         | a logo. Thanks for the reference!
        
         | weinzierl wrote:
         | Both are similar to the Lua programming language logo, which is
         | probably the oldest of the three:
         | 
         | https://www.lua.org/
        
       | raimille1 wrote:
       | Awesome!! Congrats on the value prop and landing!! Very clear.
       | 
       | I run a marketplace in Brazil (kwara.com.br) and we happen to be
       | focusing on SEO at the moment! What's your coverage in Portuguese
       | / Brazilian market keywords? Or is it US only at the moment?
       | 
       | (Ps, I don't mind the tool itself being in english)
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | We have 150M+ keywords for Brazil (PT) and 30M+ for Portugal
         | (PT) and tons of other countries/languages too
        
       | iambateman wrote:
       | Thanks for sharing! There's so much opportunity to build lower
       | cost tools here. Very cool.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | Our main goal is to make it affordable for makers like us.
         | Paying $140\m doesn't seem like a good idea and not many has
         | such a budged, so here is our solution
        
       | baxtr wrote:
       | What I learned recently was that all the SEO tool basically query
       | the same back end provider.
       | 
       | So I guess it makes sense that there is innovation on the pricing
       | model side of things.
       | 
       | We use ubersuggest which has a lifetime pricing, quite neat.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | You're right, that's exactly what out though process was. Thank
         | you!
        
         | matrik wrote:
         | what's the name of the backend provider?
        
           | kulhavy wrote:
           | I'd prefer not to tell, thank you for understanding!
        
             | alangibson wrote:
             | That just confirmed that you're using "the same backend
             | provider."
             | 
             | Buy itself that's not bad. The problem is that if you're
             | doing what everyone else is doing, then you're probably not
             | realizing any efficiencies. That means your prices will
             | eventually mirror everyone elses.
        
             | weinzierl wrote:
             | I am confused.
             | 
             | I always thought keyword tools use both: backlink data and
             | estimated search volumes.
             | 
             | For example ahrefs has, to the best of my knowledge, its
             | own crawler for backlink data but mostly buys search volume
             | estimates.
             | 
             | Does your tool offer search volume estimates at all and
             | does it come from the same provider as the backlink data?
        
           | glenngillen wrote:
           | Majestic
        
             | kulhavy wrote:
             | I can say it's not that one, if it's that important to know
             | - DataForSEO is our provider for every aspect at the
             | moment.
        
               | nprateem wrote:
               | What's the rough pricing if you don't mind my asking?
               | Their pricing is buried behind contact forms.
        
               | kulhavy wrote:
               | It depends. ~$0.01-$0.03 per query
        
         | mikkom wrote:
         | Please enlighten us about the backend provider, I'm interested.
         | It seems the OP of this thread is using the same backend as
         | he's not willing to tell it.
         | 
         | edit: Ubersuggest mentioned by someone says in dev blog
         | 
         | https://neilpatel.com/blog/ubersuggest-update/
         | 
         | > My data feed from SEO Power Suite, Data For SEO, and Shared
         | Count totaled $75,253 for January.
         | 
         | Is this the backend mentioned?
         | 
         | Some direct links for others interested in this
         | 
         | https://www.link-assistant.com/backlink-api.html
         | 
         | https://dataforseo.com/
         | 
         | https://www.sharedcount.com/
        
           | baxtr wrote:
           | I casually read it on twitter, I can't find it anymore.
           | Bummer. I should have bookmarked it
        
             | mikkom wrote:
             | I fortunately found some details myself too (edited the
             | parent), thanks anyway
        
           | RamblingCTO wrote:
           | Great, thanks for sharing!
        
           | weinzierl wrote:
           | At first glance these look like sources for backlink data to
           | me, which is the easy part.
           | 
           | I think the real value of a keyword tool like ahrefs lies in
           | the estimated search volume which comes from different
           | sources than the backlinks.
           | 
           | Is this about a monopolistic provider of backlink data or
           | search volume estimates?
        
             | 55555 wrote:
             | The search volume estimates come from creating massive
             | amounts of accounts that scrape Google Keyword Tool.
        
               | weinzierl wrote:
               | This would be funny, because the sales pitch of some
               | prominent keyword tools is, that Google Keyword Tool
               | can't be trusted.
        
               | nickfromseattle wrote:
               | Ahrefs says "and other third party data sources to find
               | keywords" [0]
               | 
               | Pretty sure they buy data from software tools like free
               | anti-virus scanners, toolbars, chrome extensions, VPNs,
               | etc that resell their user's web browsing history. This
               | is called "click stream data".
               | 
               | [0] https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/78119-where-do-
               | you-get-t...
        
         | knuckleheads wrote:
         | Would that happen to be Majestic by chance?
        
         | weinzierl wrote:
         | Interesting! I always thought, this kind of data was collected
         | from a plethora of borderline shady browser plugins (SEO
         | plugins amongst them, ironically), toolbars and alt-browsers.
         | 
         | This is also, why I think the data must be _heavily_ biased.
         | For example the HN demographic must be severely
         | underrepresented, because most of us are careful what we
         | install.
        
           | nickfromseattle wrote:
           | > why I think the data must be heavily biased.
           | 
           | This is correct, but you can estimate the bias.
           | 
           | B2B keywords typically have 2-5x higher search volume/month
           | than the popular tools estimate, for exactly the reason you
           | provided. More sophisticated searchers aren't installing
           | random anti-virus, VPNs, and plugins the SEO tools rely on to
           | calculate keyword search volume.
        
       | cmer wrote:
       | Very nice! Awesome landing page!
       | 
       | FYI, the `www` version of your domain doesn't resolve. You might
       | want to add a redirect.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | Oh, you're right! We'll fix this one asap
        
       | tethys wrote:
       | Do you offer an API? My issue with most keyword tools is that
       | their APIs suck, with tight limits that force you to only request
       | data in bulk, and so on.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hey!
         | 
         | No, and we don't plan to have an API yet. Thank you!
        
           | tethys wrote:
           | That's unfortunate! I would immediately pitch this tool to my
           | SEO colleagues if it had a (fairly priced) API :)
        
       | Bewelge wrote:
       | The background-color and content is missing when pressing the
       | little question mark next to keyword details on the pricing page.
       | 
       | Also thank you for sharing and congratulations on shipping. Will
       | definitely try this out in the coming days!
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you for feedback!
         | 
         | We'll fix this asap
        
       | TecoAndJix wrote:
       | FYI - Your FAQ at the bottom of each use-case page does not
       | expand
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | We'll try to fix this asap.
        
       | JourneyJourney wrote:
       | How to understand the meaning of what I'm seeing on screen. I'm
       | not versed into SEO but I'd like to. Your tool is very nice to
       | use.
        
       | weinzierl wrote:
       | How important do you think this kind of tool is in the age of
       | massive amounts of LLM generated text everywhere?
       | 
       | While content mills that could crank out any keyword optimized
       | content very cheaply existed for a long time it is now basically
       | free. Whereas producing deep and well researched articles maybe
       | doesn't need that razor sharp focus on specific keywords?
       | 
       | Since you made this tool, you probably think otherwise, but I
       | would like to hear your opinion.
        
         | heresie-dabord wrote:
         | > the age of massive amounts of LLM generated text everywhere
         | 
         | I would say that meaningless, soulless inputs had already
         | inundated the WWW thanks to the economics of Search Engine
         | Optimisation.
        
       | BubbleRings wrote:
       | clicking FAQ from your hamburger menu button is busted fyi. good
       | luck!
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
        
       | scientific_ass wrote:
       | This is super cool and I would love to try it out. We use SEMrush
       | and they are basically charging us +$1000 dollar for the basic
       | plan, with every other feature as an add-on for addition $200 -
       | $400.
       | 
       | Question: Do you have (or plan to provide) features like -
       | 
       | -- Questions around the seed keywords
       | 
       | -- Keyword exports for external analysis with details like
       | volume, difficulty, etc,
       | 
       | -- Can I tag keywords if I save them in a particular list?
       | 
       | In my work, I do SEO research almost every day and have a very
       | extensive keyword strategy. So above features are what's keeping
       | me stick to SEMrush.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hey, Thank you!
         | 
         | We're planning to add premade filters for "Questions" and "Long
         | tail" and a couple of others filtersets.
         | 
         | Keywords Export is coming for sure.
         | 
         | You can't tag just yet, but we will add this to backlog and
         | implement according to our roadmap.
        
         | vivzkestrel wrote:
         | what would it take to build a SEMRush alternative?
        
           | kulhavy wrote:
           | Quite some time but we'll get there one day
        
       | abdellah123 wrote:
       | This is something I've been looking for for a while !! What about
       | keywords for France? and in Arabic?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Thank you!
         | 
         | 18M+ keywords for France. Arabic is supported, but not for
         | France
        
       | davidkuennen wrote:
       | Thank you! This is great.
       | 
       | Do you happen to know keyword tools that specialize on app store
       | and play store search?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hey!
         | 
         | Our data provider has data from these marketplaces and if you
         | stick for long enough with us we will add them for sure as
         | current solutions are sooooo expensive.
        
       | weinzierl wrote:
       | Email sign-up would be nice.
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hey! Yes, you're right. We plan to add magic link sign up and a
         | couple of other providers
        
       | weinzierl wrote:
       | Do you provide keyword popularity and is it based on Google
       | Keyword Tool data or clickstream data?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hey!
         | 
         | It comes from Google Ads (different tools)
        
       | twapi wrote:
       | - No option to download as excel sheet
       | 
       | - No option to sort by columns
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Yes, you're right, it's not available just yet, but on our
         | roadmap
         | 
         | Thank you for feedback!
        
       | dsmurrell wrote:
       | I don't know that much about SEO. Are you planning on adding a
       | blog section maybe with a few article about how someone might use
       | a tool like this to optimise their own SEO?
        
         | hnrodey wrote:
         | search SEMRush or Ahrefs on YouTube. I assume usage of this
         | tool is comparable to other established SEO tools.
        
           | kulhavy wrote:
           | Yes, usage is comparable with other SEO tools that does
           | Keyword Research
        
       | newbie578 wrote:
       | What is the difference between this and Google Keyword Planner? I
       | am asking this as someone with minimum experience in SEO
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Telescope comes with more details on the data - Keyword
         | Difficulty, Historic Search Volume, Ability to preview google
         | results for different countries, Keywords for your specific
         | domains and your position.
         | 
         | Soon we'll have backlink data and it'll open up even more
         | details on Keywords, SERP Preview, Domain Overview
        
       | p3rls wrote:
       | These are the products that are being used to destroy the
       | internet. It's like selling meth at a school playground to
       | applause. Nice UI execution I guess.
        
       | cchance wrote:
       | The question mark on the "KEYWORD DETAILS" on the pricing page...
       | says... HEY ..... lol
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hi! I forgot to update it, will fix soon, thank you!
        
       | maxencecornet wrote:
       | For OP: Would you say this is a drop-in replacement from ahref's
       | lite plan ?
       | 
       | What would I miss from ahref ?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | For sure you win in pricing using Telescope, but here are the
         | things to consider:
         | 
         | There are quite a few limits in Ahrefs's Starter plan, but on
         | the other hand you have access to Site Explorer and Site Audit
         | which we don't have just yet. For Keyword Research it's almost
         | 1:1.
         | 
         | Thank you!
        
       | j45 wrote:
       | Hi, congrats on the launch!
       | 
       | Are searches cached locally in my account?
       | 
       | I accidentally reload a page, it seems to run the search again
       | and charge the (free and provided) balance.
       | 
       | Thanks
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hi. Your searches cached locally for some time, reloading the
         | page clears the cache
        
       | samlinnfer wrote:
       | >Base your SEO strategy on higly precice and detailed data
       | 
       | >higly precice
        
       | foragerdev wrote:
       | whoever is wondering about the website home page design, it looks
       | direct copy paste from here:
       | https://tailwindui.com/components/marketing/elements/headers...
        
         | wcedmisten wrote:
         | This is funny to me because it also looks just like Plausible
         | Analytics' design. (They also used Tailwind). I guess both took
         | heavy inspiration from the tailwind example design
         | 
         | https://plausible.io
        
         | throwaway425933 wrote:
         | I hate that, on the linked page, most of the good ones are paid
         | templates. :( Is there a repository of high quality but free
         | templates. I hate to use bait and switch websites/frameworks.
        
           | foragerdev wrote:
           | Let me know if you find one. You can design your website
           | yourself by taking inspiration from other different websites
           | but as a person who is not a web designer gaining consistency
           | in your design is tough. Usually a template is not enough, it
           | may help you with some scaffolding (such as setting a theme
           | or fonts) but you need to have some knowledge about web
           | design to at least make it look consistent.
        
       | mceoin wrote:
       | Hi - is there an API?
        
         | kulhavy wrote:
         | Hi, no and not planned yet
        
       | czhu12 wrote:
       | How do these tools source data for alternative keywords, visits
       | per site, visitor breakdowns, etc, competitor rankings, etc
       | 
       | The only thing I can imagine is buying it from chrome plugins.
       | How else would you scrape Google at that rate?
        
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       (page generated 2024-07-05 23:01 UTC)