Article Updated: 1/17/25
Moz (sometimes referred to as Moz.com) is one of the longest-standing and most popular tools for search engine marketers. Moz was known as SEOMoz prior to 2013, but shortened its name to Moz as it went after a broader market beyond the original set of SEO-focused essential products. Moz is still best known for providing super helpful tools for doing various aspects of search engine optimization, including keyword research, competitor research, page grading, link building, and several other parts of the search engine marketing spectrum.
Moz is one of the most used SEO toolsets, with around half a million active users. To understand the SEO tools that are available from Moz, it’s helpful to see Moz’s toolset compared its two major competitors: Ahrefs and SEMRush. In the table below, we compare Moz with SEMRush and Ahrefs in regards to teh most common SEO features.
| Feature | Ahrefs | SEMrush | Moz Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword Research | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Backlink Analysis | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Rank Tracking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Site Audit | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Content Analysis | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Competitor Analysis | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| PPC Data | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Social Media Tools | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Link Building Tools | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| On-Page Optimization | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Technical SEO Features | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Domain Authority Scoring | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Traffic Analysis | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Mobile SEO Optimization | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| API Access | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customizable Reports | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Free Trial Availability | ✔ (7 days, $7) | ✔ (7 days) | ✔ (30 days) |
| Pricing (Lowest Tier) | $99/month | $129.95/month | $99/month |
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Best for Beginners | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Total Active Users (2023) | Unknown | 1.1M+ | 500,000+ |
Each of these SEO tools implements the features they offer in different ways. Let’s get into Moz.com’s specific SEO tools and how they are presented.
Moz.com has a large set of tools for both free and paid users. The image below shows a quick look at the dashboard for the Moz.com toolset, which gives you access to tools like:
I will review each of the Moz tools with you here so that you can see how they work and get a feel for whether Moz is the right option for you.
The Moz tool suite explanation and review video below will give you a solid introduction to the company and its SEO tools. The Moz toolset has stayed consistent over the years, with adjustments being made from time to time based upon changing factors associated with significant Google algorithm updates or other major changes. Moz.com has relied upon most of the same steady search engine optimization factors that were in place a decade ago and have carried up through today.
Moz Pro Campaigns allow you to track progress on specific websites to see how your marketing efforts are doing. With the basic Moz Pro account, you can track up to five different websites and see
Here are the pieces of information tracked through the Moz Pro Campaigns:
The Moz Keyword Research tool, known as Keyword Explorer, is designed to help users discover, prioritize, and target high-value keywords to improve search visibility. It provides a wealth of data, including search volume, keyword difficulty, and organic click-through rate (CTR), offering insights into which terms are worth pursuing based on competition and potential impact. Users can explore keyword suggestions, analyze SERP metrics for specific terms, and build keyword lists for better organization and strategy. Additionally, it includes a Priority Score—a unique metric that combines volume, difficulty, and CTR to rank keywords by their overall value for your SEO efforts. The tool integrates seamlessly with other Moz Pro features, allowing for effective campaign management and monitoring keyword performance over time.
The Moz Link Research tool is a comprehensive backlink analysis tool designed to help users understand their website’s link profile and improve their off-page SEO. It provides detailed metrics, including the number of inbound links, referring domains, and proprietary scores like Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) to evaluate link strength and site credibility. Users can identify new link-building opportunities, track lost or gained links, and analyze competitor backlinks to refine their strategies. With features like the Spam Score to detect potentially harmful links and the ability to export data for in-depth analysis, Link Explorer is a vital tool for optimizing a site’s link equity and enhancing its search engine rankings.
The Moz Competitive Research Tool, part of the Moz Pro suite, allows users to analyze their competitors’ SEO performance by evaluating metrics like Domain Authority, backlink profiles, and keyword rankings. It helps identify competitors’ top-performing keywords, track shared and unique ranking opportunities, and assess link-building strategies. With SERP analysis and keyword overlap reports, users can uncover gaps in their own SEO strategy and gain insights into how competitors are driving traffic. This tool is essential for refining SEO efforts and staying ahead in competitive search landscapes.
Moz Local is a separate product offering, priced differently from the Moz Pro plans. Moz Local compares to SEO tools such as BrightLocal and Whitespark.
The Moz Local SEO tool helps businesses improve their online presence and local search rankings by managing business listings across major directories, search engines, and social media platforms. It ensures accurate and consistent information, such as name, address, phone number (NAP), and business hours, to enhance visibility in local search results. Moz Local provides real-time listing updates, automated distribution to data aggregators, and tools to monitor duplicate listings and suppress inaccuracies. It also includes features for managing and responding to customer reviews, tracking local search performance, and maintaining a strong reputation online. Ideal for businesses targeting local audiences, Moz Local simplifies local SEO management and boosts search visibility.
Moz offers a powerful suite of SEO tools backed by decades of expertise in understanding the factors that drive page and business listing rankings. With a long history of analyzing search engine behavior, Moz has developed tools like Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, Competitive Research, and Moz Local, which provide actionable insights grounded in data and best practices. Their commitment to technology mirrors Google’s evolving algorithms, enabling users to stay ahead with reliable metrics like Domain Authority, SERP analysis, and local listing accuracy. Whether optimizing for organic search or managing local SEO, Moz empowers businesses with tools that simplify the complex, helping users make informed, impactful decisions in the ever-changing world of search.
Moz maintains one of the largest link indexes in the industry, which is continuously updated using sophisticated web crawlers. These crawlers operate on a distributed system of servers to scan billions of web pages daily, indexing links, anchor text, and contextual data. The collected data is then processed through Moz’s proprietary algorithms to calculate metrics like Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority (PA), and Spam Score, ensuring users have access to accurate and timely insights.
Keyword Explorer leverages a combination of third-party search volume data, Moz’s proprietary clickstream data, and machine learning models to estimate metrics like organic click-through rate (CTR) and keyword difficulty. The tool’s infrastructure is hosted on scalable cloud servers that allow for real-time analysis of vast keyword databases, ensuring users get actionable insights for keyword targeting and prioritization.
Moz Local integrates directly with major data aggregators and directories, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple Maps, to distribute and synchronize business information. Its server infrastructure is designed to monitor updates in real-time, cross-checking listing data against authoritative sources to detect inconsistencies or duplicates. Moz’s automated suppression technology flags and removes incorrect listings, ensuring that users maintain consistent and accurate local business information across platforms.
Moz operates on a combination of cloud-based and dedicated server infrastructures to handle the massive scale of its data crawling and analysis operations. Their distributed architecture uses technologies like Hadoop and Elasticsearch to store and query data efficiently. By employing load balancers, replication systems, and geographically distributed data centers, Moz ensures high availability, low latency, and fast response times for its tools, even during peak usage periods.
Domain Authority is calculated using a machine learning model trained on Moz’s extensive link index and historical ranking data. The model predicts how likely a domain is to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) based on link quality, quantity, and other proprietary factors. Moz frequently updates its DA algorithm to align with changes in Google’s search algorithm, ensuring that the metric remains a reliable indicator of ranking potential. Advanced shadowing techniques allow Moz to simulate Google’s behavior, providing users with metrics that closely mirror real-world search engine conditions.
While both Moz and Ahrefs provide metrics for evaluating the strength of domains and pages, their calculation methods and focus differ:
Domain Authority (DA): Moz’s DA is a predictive score (1–100) that evaluates a domain’s ranking potential based on a variety of factors, including link quality and quantity, derived from Moz’s link index. It uses machine learning to simulate Google’s algorithm, updating frequently to reflect SERP trends.
Page Authority (PA): PA focuses specifically on the ranking potential of individual pages, using similar data and predictive modeling as DA but tailored to page-level metrics.
Domain Rating (DR): Ahrefs’ DR (1–100) measures the strength of a domain’s backlink profile by evaluating the quantity and quality of referring domains. Unlike DA, DR places more emphasis on the raw link count and link equity passed by each domain.
URL Rating (UR): Similar to Moz’s PA, UR measures the strength of a specific page’s backlink profile based on Ahrefs’ link index, focusing on the quality and distribution of backlinks pointing to that page.
Key Differences:
Moz metrics consider a wider range of factors beyond just links, including their proprietary Spam Score, to provide a holistic view of ranking potential.
Ahrefs metrics are heavily link-centric, offering faster updates to their index due to their real-time crawling systems.
DA and PA are more focused on simulating Google’s algorithm, while DR and UR aim to reflect raw link strength and equity.
Both tools are widely respected, but the choice between them often depends on whether users prioritize broader predictive ranking insights (Moz) or raw link-focused data (Ahrefs).