Intro
Lumar (formerly DeepCrawl) is a powerful technical SEO auditing platform that focuses on providing detailed insights into website health, crawlability, and search engine performance. It is designed for SEO professionals, agencies, and enterprise-level businesses that need to ensure their websites are technically optimized for search engines. Lumar specializes in site audits, technical SEO monitoring, and crawlability analysis, making it an essential tool for identifying and fixing technical issues that may affect search engine rankings. Compared to Ranktracker, which offers a broader suite of SEO tools for keyword tracking, backlink monitoring, and competitor analysis, Lumar is more focused on technical SEO and website optimization.
In this review, we’ll explore Lumar’s strengths, limitations, and how it compares to Ranktracker in terms of functionality, usability, and overall value.
What Lumar Does Best
Lumar excels in providing technical SEO insights and crawlability analysis for large websites. Here are some of its standout features:
-
Comprehensive Technical SEO Audits: Lumar provides in-depth technical SEO audits that help identify issues such as broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, site structure problems, and indexability issues. These insights help users optimize their website for both search engines and user experience.
-
Website Health Monitoring: Lumar continuously monitors the health of your website, providing real-time insights into any technical problems that arise. This includes issues related to page speed, mobile usability, and security, all of which are critical for maintaining search rankings.
-
Advanced Crawling Capabilities: The platform’s site crawler can analyze large websites with complex structures, making it ideal for enterprise-level websites with thousands of pages. Lumar’s crawler mimics search engine bots, allowing users to understand how search engines view their site.
-
JavaScript SEO Support: Lumar offers JavaScript rendering capabilities, helping users identify any issues that prevent JavaScript content from being properly indexed by search engines. This is particularly useful for websites that rely heavily on JavaScript frameworks.
-
Log File Analysis: The platform allows users to perform log file analysis, which provides insights into how search engines are crawling your website. This helps businesses identify crawl inefficiencies and optimize their site for better search engine access.
-
SEO Testing and Validation: Lumar includes tools for SEO testing and validation, allowing users to test how changes to their website impact SEO performance before deploying them live. This helps prevent any accidental harm to search rankings due to unintentional technical changes.
-
Custom Reporting and Automation: The platform offers customizable reports and automated SEO workflows, making it easy for teams to track key SEO metrics, monitor technical issues, and ensure website health over time.
Advantages of Lumar
-
Comprehensive Technical Auditing: Lumar provides some of the most detailed and advanced technical SEO audits in the industry, making it ideal for websites with complex structures or technical challenges.
-
Real-Time Monitoring: The platform’s ability to continuously monitor a website’s technical health ensures that issues like broken links, crawl errors, and mobile usability problems are caught early and can be addressed quickly.
-
Scalability for Large Websites: Lumar is designed for large-scale websites and enterprise-level businesses, offering advanced crawling capabilities that can analyze even the most complex site architectures.
-
JavaScript Rendering and Log File Analysis: Lumar’s ability to handle JavaScript rendering and perform log file analysis gives it an edge for businesses with JavaScript-heavy websites or those looking to optimize how search engines crawl their site.
-
SEO Workflow Automation: With custom reports and automated SEO workflows, Lumar helps teams streamline their SEO processes, reducing manual efforts and ensuring that website health is continuously optimized.
Where Lumar Falls Short
While Lumar offers excellent tools for technical SEO, it has some limitations compared to platforms like Ranktracker, which provide a broader range of SEO features:
-
No Rank Tracking: Lumar does not offer rank tracking for keywords, which is a core feature for tracking SEO performance. Ranktracker provides real-time keyword rank tracking across search engines, helping users monitor their keyword performance over time.
-
No Keyword Research Tools: Lumar is focused solely on technical SEO and does not include tools for keyword research, such as search volume analysis, keyword difficulty, or competitive analysis. Ranktracker excels in providing these types of keyword insights.
-
No Backlink Monitoring: Lumar does not offer backlink monitoring, which is crucial for managing off-page SEO and improving domain authority. Ranktracker includes detailed backlink tracking, allowing users to monitor new and lost backlinks and evaluate their quality.
-
Limited Competitor Analysis: Lumar does not provide tools for tracking how competitors are performing in terms of SEO. In contrast, Ranktracker offers robust competitor analysis, allowing users to monitor competitors' keyword rankings, backlinks, and overall SEO strategies.
-
Not SEO-Centric: Lumar is highly specialized in technical SEO and website health monitoring, but it lacks the broader SEO management features found in platforms like Ranktracker, which provide a more holistic approach to SEO strategy.
Ranktracker vs. Lumar: A Side-by-Side Comparison
While Lumar focuses on technical SEO and website health, Ranktracker offers a more comprehensive suite of tools for managing both on-page and off-page SEO. Here’s how they compare:
-
Rank Tracking: Ranktracker offers real-time keyword rank tracking, allowing users to monitor their keyword performance across search engines. Lumar does not offer rank tracking capabilities, focusing instead on technical SEO audits.
-
Keyword Research: Ranktracker provides powerful keyword research tools, including insights into search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitive analysis. Lumar does not include keyword research features.
-
Backlink Monitoring: Ranktracker offers comprehensive backlink monitoring, helping users track new and lost backlinks and assess backlink quality. Lumar does not offer backlink tracking tools.
-
Competitor Analysis: Ranktracker provides in-depth competitor analysis, allowing users to monitor competitors’ SEO performance, keyword rankings, and backlink strategies. Lumar is focused solely on technical SEO and does not provide competitor tracking.
-
Technical SEO Audits: Lumar excels in technical SEO auditing and site health monitoring, offering deeper insights into crawlability, JavaScript rendering, and log file analysis. While Ranktracker offers basic technical SEO tools, Lumar is far more advanced in this area.
Why You Might Use Both Tools
Using both Lumar and Ranktracker together can provide a comprehensive SEO strategy. Lumar is ideal for managing technical SEO and ensuring website health, while Ranktracker provides essential tools for keyword research, rank tracking, backlink monitoring, and competitor analysis.
For example, Lumar can be used to conduct deep technical SEO audits, ensuring that your website is properly crawled and indexed, while Ranktracker can track how keyword rankings and backlinks affect your search performance.
Conclusion: Is Lumar the Right Tool for You?
Lumar is an excellent tool for SEO professionals, agencies, and large enterprises that need a highly specialized platform for technical SEO auditing and website health monitoring. Its strength lies in its ability to provide advanced crawling and real-time monitoring, making it ideal for businesses with complex websites that need continuous SEO optimization. For companies that prioritize technical SEO and website health, Lumar offers unparalleled insights.
However, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive SEO platform with tools for rank tracking, keyword research, backlink monitoring, and competitor analysis, Ranktracker would be a better fit. Ranktracker provides a full suite of SEO tools designed to improve search engine visibility and track keyword performance across multiple search engines.
Ultimately, the choice between Lumar and Ranktracker depends on your specific needs. Lumar is perfect for users focused on technical SEO and website optimization, while Ranktracker is ideal for users looking for a complete SEO solution with tracking, research, and analysis tools.
