RavenTools

Score7.6 out of 10

62 Reviews and Ratings

What is RavenTools?

Raven Tools from the Tennessee company of the same name is Internet or search engine marketing optimization software consisting of popular tools targeted at SEO specialists who need research automation. To that end it contains the familiar set of website research and auditing, competitor monitoring, rank tracking, and also content investigation to see that material on the site is keyword-rich yet topically relevant. Social media and backlink checking tools facilitate outreach and drive traffic by way of getting cited by others. Like other more comprehensive solutions, Raven Tools also helps marketers manage PPC campaigns with analytics and reporting. The Raven Pro edition allows 4 users access to Ravel Tools for $99 per month, while Raven Agency provides a group of unlimited size shared access for $249 per month. Both editions support unlimited campaigning and access to Raven Tools' foundational data sources, as well as white label reporting, but Agency triples Link Manager storage from 50k to 150k links.

Categories & Use Cases

Keyword analysis
The tool analyzes the content of your site to help discover the right keywords.
Category average: 8.8
SERP ranking tracking
The tool tracks your website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs) for keywords, over time.
Category average: 8.3
Page grader
The tool scores each page of your website for SEO.
Category average: 7.8

Task management
Users can track and manage the tasks associated with SEO.
Category average: 7.3
Backlink management
The tool tracks existing backlinks, measures their impact on search rankings, alerts you of new backlinks, and helps surface backlink opportunities.
Category average: 7.5
Site recommendations
The tool recommends site structure improvements and other tasks to help with SEO.
Category average: 7.3

Marli Espinales View profile

Internet Marketing Director and Consultant in Marketing at Clicc Media Inc (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

Incorporating multiple streams of data from different platforms.
Clean and simple reporting.
Ability to add your own text of information to reports to help elaborate on the date.

Cons

Adding Instagram reporting.
Their ranking functionality could be a bit better.
Their site optimization can be a bit confusing as well and can lower their score of your site.

Return on Investment

Saves me a lot of time with reports so good on ROI.
Helps me show quality data much easier.
Keeps all of our link acquisition in place.

Alternatives Considered

Web SEO Analytics

Other Software Used

Google Drive, CallRail

Verified User

Contributor in Marketing (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

RavenTools has helped our team streamline reporting processes, we use RavenTools to track website and SEO metrics as well as have connected the reporting tools to our advertising tactics including, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Ads, and Geofencing ads. This helps us have a centralized report that is sharable with clients to provide monthly insights into progress and successes as it comes to our Marketing and Advertising campaigns.

Pros

Provides easy, seamless reporting with scheduling
Connects with all important marketing/advertising avenues
Easy to use online platform

Cons

Takes a bit to fully understand the RavenTools software interface
Keyword research tool can be hard to use

Return on Investment

Provide insights to our clients - ROI for their payments
Proves success and challenges as it comes to keyword and marketing tactics
Provides insights into SEO strategies that are/aren't working

Alternatives Considered

Semrush

Other Software Used

ZoomInfo SalesOS, Slack

Jason Bean View profile

Web Content Manager in Marketing at Wonder Labs (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

Centralize data points and resources to a single area and platform for easy access and review
Visually present data to customers without being overwhelming or cumbersome in data overload
Automate basic reporting and data consolidation to free up time for focusing on more strategic activities or executing desired plans and activities.

Cons

I really wish RavenTools provided additional reporting for other social media platforms, particularly right now... Instagram
If RavenTools could track and report on hashtag engagement across the social media platforms they already integrate with, that would also be a huge benefit.
Would be great if RavenTools could provide comparison data for reporting based on similar industry types or verticals

Return on Investment

As previously stated, RavenTools has been able to fit into a sweet spot for me of affordability and features that have allowed me to continue being a customer for numerous years, back since the early days of the tool.

Alternatives Considered

SpyFu, Moz and Sprout Social

Other Software Used

Google Analytics, Sprout Social, Bronto Marketing Platform

Geoffrey Hoesch View profile

CEO (Chief Executive Officer) in Marketing at Dragonfly Digital Marketing (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

This is a great program for reporting to clients. There is easy integration for Adwords, Analytics, and Search Console.
The keyword tracker feature allows us to monitor keyword rankings.
The website audit tool helps us identify site issues in order to resolve them. We typically run this feature once a month for all of our clients.

Cons

The analytics in the tool and the Google Analytics dashboard have been known to be out of sync, but this doesn't happen very often.
The reports occasionally have glitches, such as overlap of different modules.
The keyword tracking tool does not provide easy tracking of rankings over time.

Return on Investment

RavenTools helps us keep out clients in the loop, delivering concrete reporting that our clients can understand. Because of this, clients feel confident in our professional abilities and are much more likely to remain clients.

Other Software Used

Ahrefs Site Explorer, Hootsuite Pro

Lakita Marshall View profile

Digital Media Coordinator in Marketing at LiDestri Food & Drink (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

Customer Service: Anytime I have had an issue or question regarding a RavenTools feature, their customer service team has been very responsive. You [may] expect a response within 24 hours. I do not recall a time I have had to wait more that 2 hours for assistance.
Data Organization: One thing I truly appreciate about RavenTools is they present their data in a similar fashion to the original data platform. For example, RavenTools Google Analytics Data is organized in the same way you would find it on the Google Analytics website. The makes it extremely easy to find what you are looking for and allows easy use across multiple platforms.
Easy Setup: Getting started in RavenTools is very simple. All you have to do is link up the accounts for your various brands. No extra coding is needed. The data will auto populate for you.
Automation: Another great feature is the ability to set up automated reporting. Not only is it useful for those who need to receive the data, but it also serves as an action item for me. I can create a report template for each brand and set it up so I get an email whenever the scheduled report is ready. This reminds me to go in and check on any updates.

Cons

Downtime: There have been instances when I have needed time-sensitive reports and have discovered parts of the system are down. If you are using this software with multiple clients on a daily basis, you may run into some issues. I have experienced everything from reports failing to be updated in real time to not being able to reach the website.
Limited Platform Integration: While RavenTools does offer a decent amount of data, they seem to be slow to add some platforms. For example, you can't connect your Instagram account and on their website they explicitly say "No plans to develop an integration anytime soon." - which is very unfortunate.
Dashboard Organization: I guess this could be considered Personal Perfernce, but I think some tools could be better organized on the dashboard. After using RavenTools for 3 years, I still have to search around for certain tools. Let's say I want to do some keyword tracking. I can go to the "Campaign" tab and insert multiple keywords. A week later I want to research those same keywords. If I go under the "Research" tab, none of my keywords are there. I have to go back to the "Campaign" tab, click research, and then I am redirected to the "Research" tab where the information populates. You would think that the information would automatically remain under the "Research" tab, but nope. I would have to go through the "Campaign" tab and repeat the process again just to revisit the keyword information.
Communication: I feel the communication to users has decreased over time. I appreciate a platform that makes changes to improve the user experience, but I don't feel I am informed of updates. I will go into the dashboard and notice that something has changed or moved unexpectedly. Now I have to go to Google and dig around to find what changed and how to use the new setup. I wish they would go back to creating updated video tutorials.

Return on Investment

RavenTools allows our company to save time and time is money! We are able to review campaign results all from one place.
While running a campaign, for example AdWords, I use RavenTools to check on daily performance. I can see what is or isn't working. This helps ensure we are using our money for the maximum ROI.
After we have run a campaign RavenTools helps up navigate the success or failure. This is a great way to debrief and decide how to make the next campaign more profitable.