What is Moz? Ultimate Guide for the Modern Marketer

If you’re a digital marketer in the 21st Century, then you’ve likely heard of Moz — the world’s leading search engine optimization (SEO) software company. Moz is known for its comprehensive suite of SEO resources, educational content and research data. Through its offerings, Moz helps businesses small and large improve their online visibility and search engine rank.

So, how do modern marketing professionals use Moz to boost their SEO efforts? We’re breaking down the different Moz tools so you can determine which ones may be the best for your business.

Back to the Beginning: How Moz Got to Where It Is Today

With inspiration from organizations like Mozilla and DMOZ, Seattle-based founders Rand Fishkin and Gillian Muessig started a small blog and online community called SEOmoz. The idea? Create a place where SEO professionals can share insights and strategies. After immersing themselves in all things SEO, Fishkin and Muessig launched the “Beginner’s Guide to SEO” in 2004 — arguably one of the first written SEO guides to ever exist.

As emerging leaders in the SEO space, Fishkin and Muessig started focusing on software development and producing tools that other businesses could leverage. By 2009, the team secured 5,000 subscribers and had begun filming their well-known Whiteboard Friday video series.

After receiving a series B investment from The Foundry Group, seoMoz was able to expand its focus to include inbound marketing — a type of marketing that focuses on drawing target consumers to a brand rather than using traditional sales tactics to push the brand onto the audience — and acquire new digital tools, including a local SEO software called GetListed.

In 2013, the company launched a suite of digital marketing resources that ranged from brand management software to content development tools to educational materials for improving domain authority. With these new non-SEO products, the company dropped the “SEO” from its name. Thus, the company known today as Moz was born.

Since then, Moz has continued to assemble an impressive tech stack and offer tools for digital marketers across the globe. Outside of its SEO offerings — which include keyword research, rank tracking, site audit and link-building tools — the company has launched specialized platforms. Examples include MozPro, a tiered subscription service that features campaign management and on-page optimization tools, and MozAcademy, which provides educational resources for the SEO community.

Today, Moz is well-known in the marketing biz and has maintained its position as a legacy SEO company. Moz prides itself on leading the charge to simplify SEO through software, education and community while helping people achieve marketing success.

How Modern Marketers Use Moz

There are a variety of Moz tools that modern marketers can leverage to enhance their content strategies. Some of the top ones include:

Keyword Explorer

Keyword Explorer helps marketers identify the right keywords for the right audience. Marketers use this Moz SEO tool to identify and analyze relevant keywords that they can integrate into their content marketing strategies. By finding keywords with high search volume and low competition, marketers can optimize their organic keyword research and ensure maximum search engine traffic. Plus, its competitive keyword analysis feature allows marketers to see what keywords their competitors are ranking for and stay ahead of the competition.

The Keyword Explorer tool also allows marketers to research keyword variations, such as long-tail keywords, broad topics and keywords in the form of questions. And for marketers developing international SEO strategies on behalf of global brands, Keyword Explorer can compare keyword rankings between different countries.

On-Page Grader

With Moz’s On-Page Grader, marketers can check the optimization score of any URL in existence. The tool is simple to use, with the only requirement being a valid URL inserted into its grader. From there, Moz churns out an optimization score as well as an actionable list of items to fix. This list typically includes enhancing on-page SEO elements — such as meta tags, headings and content structure — to improve how well the content ranks on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Overall, Moz’s On-Page Grader tool is a huge help for marketers looking to maximize the number of views their online content receives.

Site Crawl

Moz’s Site Crawl tool enables marketers to quickly find and fix issues on a website. Site Crawl helps marketers understand their website’s overall health and identify technical SEO issues that might be preventing the site from ranking higher on a SERP. These issues can range from broken redirect links to missing title tags to duplicate content — all of which can hurt SEO. By quickly identifying these problems, marketers can ensure their website performs to the best of its ability. Plus, the software automatically performs weekly crawls, alerting marketers to any new issues that arise.

Is Moz Pro the Way To Go?

While there are some free SEO resources from Moz available, many marketers — over 500,000 according to Moz’s website — subscribe to Moz Pro. This subscription-based service provides access to digital marketing tools like:

• SEO software.
• AI-powered data.
• Automatic website tracking and reporting.
• 24-hour online support.
• Access to the Moz Q&A forum, a worldwide community of SEO experts and Moz professionals.

Moz Pro is not a one-size-fits-all. Rather, there are 4 tiers that marketers can choose from based on their SEO needs, business goals and budget.

What Are the Different Moz Pro Plans?

There are 4 types of Moz Pro plans currently available:

• Starter: For $49 per month, the Starter plan provides 1 user login and 1 website that can be tracked for SEO purposes. The SEO tools included in this plan include Keyword Research, Competitive Research, Site Tracking, MozBar Premium — ​​an SEO toolbar that gives instant page metrics when viewing any website — and Moz’s 24-hour online support.
• Standard: For $99 per month, this plan includes 1 user login and allows marketers to track up to 3 websites. In addition to the tools listed in the Starter subscription, the Standard plan includes Backlink Analysis and Unlimited Schedule Reports.
• Medium: This plan — which costs $179 per month — allows for 2 users and 10 tracked websites. It features all of the Standard subscription’s SEO tools plus branded report templates.
• Large: For just under $300 a month, marketers receive 3 user logins and can track up to 25 websites. The Large plan includes all of the features in the Medium subscription but with increased quotas on SEO tools.

Who Benefits From Each Moz Pro Plan?

Startups and entrepreneurs with one website can benefit from Moz’s Starter plan, while an established small business may benefit from the Standard plan. As its name suggests, Moz Pro’s Large plan is ideal for large-scale organizations or marketing agencies that need unrestricted access to website and SEO data. The Medium plan, Moz Pro’s most popular package, is best suited for small-to-medium-sized marketing teams or agencies looking for full access to keyword research tools and reporting.

One important item to note: Every Moz Pro plan comes with a 30-day free trial, allowing marketers to determine if it’s the right platform for their SEO needs.

What Other SEO Tools Are Available for Marketers?

Not ready to jump on the Moz train? No worries — there are plenty of other SEO resources available. Some of the most notable ones include Ahrefs, Semrush and Clearscope. Many of these SEO tools are similar to Moz where they offer tiered subscription plans as well as limited free resources. It’s up to you to dive into the different options and pick one that will provide the tools you need to develop a high-yielding SEO strategy.

Moz’s Influence on the Industry

Words like ‘domain authority’ and ‘competitive research’ are household terms in the marketing industry — and Moz is the organization that coined them. That being said, Moz’s influence on the digital marketing industry goes deeper than developing tools for increasing search engine rank — they’re the ones who started it all. With SEO being more important than ever, Moz continues to be an industry leader, and it doesn’t look like its reign will end any time soon.

If the world of SEO seems a bit daunting, you don’t have to take it on alone. Brafton offers a suite of on-page SEO services like site health checks, keyword research and content refreshes to ensure your website rises to the top of the SERP. Learn more now.