Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the SEOLinkMap platform
Do I need to have a website?
No! I originally built this app to plan a website before building it. While I can crawl existing websites and help you expand them, you can start from zero pages. It's great to analyze your website as it exists today, but the real purpose of this app is to help your website evolve beyond its current state - whether you're starting from scratch or have an established site.
Do I need to install any software locally?
No, this is software as a service and runs entirely on my servers. You can access it through any modern web browser. I handle all software updates for you, and this project is in constant development, always improving and adding new features. While I strive to make this available on all your devices, larger screens with keyboards tend to be more comfortable for working with the features and data provided.
Do you require direct server access?
No. If you enter your website name for crawling, my "spider" visits the public pages on your website just like Google and other search engines do.
Do I need to whitelist any IP addresses or domains?
Generally, no. If you specifically use anti-bot technology to protect your website, I have an enhanced crawling system to try and work around that. This would only be necessary if you've implemented specific anti-bot software on your website.
How is my website data stored and protected?
I store URLs, page titles, H1 tag text, and the most frequently used words and phrases from each page of your website. This is stored in a database dedicated to your account. I don't store entire webpages and never request any credentials or login information from your site.
Who has access to my site's data?
Your data is handled on my server, with each user or agency having their own dedicated database that no other user can access. The only outside party that ever sees any of it is Claude, and only in two places: the Competitor Research report and the Backlink Prospector draft pitch, where I send a portion of a webpage so the long report sections read more naturally. If you order Professional Keyword Research, I review your webpage data in the system myself - with 25+ years of SEO experience, I can't provide valuable keyword research without looking at it.
Do you store sensitive customer information?
No. Apart from your email address for account communication, I store no sensitive information. All data I collect is publicly available on your website, which should be expected from a service working to optimize your website. Any payment data is handled by my payment processor, and additional information is available on my /privacy page. If you connect Google Search Console or Analytics, I store that in your database for your reports.
How long do you retain site data?
Free accounts keep their data for as long as you keep using the tools. If you don't log in for 30 days, the data is removed to make room for people actively using the tools. Any monthly plan preserves your data, so if a month or more goes by before you return to your SEO work, everything is still there waiting for you.
Can I delete my data completely?
Absolutely! While I'm happy to store your data if you're actively using the tools, it costs resources to maintain it. If you want your data deleted for any reason, just let me know, and I'll be happy to free up the disk space for other users.
Where are your servers located?
All servers are currently U.S.-based. I select locations around the United States with careful consideration for geological stability and low likelihood of natural disasters.
Do you share data with third parties?
Only in two isolated places. The Competitor Research report and the Backlink Prospector draft pitch each send a portion of a webpage to Claude so that the long report sections are easier to read. Everything else you see is written by my own internal grammar engine: it works from pre-written sentences, decides which ones to use, and adjusts them to fit your data, so the text comes directly from your website's measurements. No other data is shared anywhere, ever.
What happens to my data if I cancel?
If you cancel, all data and references to you are deleted from the system. On a free account, the same happens if you don't log in for 30 days. You can export the data used to create the visualization before cancelling.
How do you handle security breaches?
In the event of a security breach, I follow a documented incident response plan:
- Immediate containment and investigation of the breach scope
- Notification to affected customers within 24 hours of confirmation
- Detailed report of affected data and potential impacts
- Step-by-step guidance on any actions customers need to take
- Implementation of additional security measures to prevent similar incidents
- Post-incident analysis and platform hardening
I comply with all relevant data protection regulations. While I employ extensive preventive measures, including encryption and regular security audits, I believe in complete transparency if an incident occurs. For additional peace of mind, I only store essential structural data about your website - never sensitive information like passwords, payment details, or customer data beyond your email address.
How long does the initial analysis take?
Crawling your website requires varying amounts of time that largely depend on the number of webpages your site has. I've built in measures to minimize the impact on your webserver and include adaptive delays between page requests that adjust based on your pages' load times (in case your website needs more of a break than most others). After the crawl completes, I perform several additional analysis steps that usually finish within 5-10 minutes of when the system completes its visit to your pages.
How often is data updated?
Free accounts are crawled once a month. Paid plans crawl more often and include map redraws, so you can see the changes to your site after implementing the suggested changes, and you can request an updated crawl whenever you want one. Other data I create updates after you make changes by adding planned pages or links to your visualization. Things like the PageValue score and layout of newly added pages update when you request the update using the buttons on the Visualization page. Generally, I don't automate "updates" for "no reason" - updates are part of changes being made, triggered when you're ready.
What affects analysis speed?
Other users... the system runs periodically throughout the day and looks for tasks it needs to complete. While I can make the app adapt to larger usage, sometimes a sudden, periodic spike will keep your website in queue longer than usual until it's your turn.
How long do you store historical data?
Indefinitely on any monthly plan. On a free account, I send you a reminder about a week before deleting your data, which happens 30 days after your last login. I want the system to be useful for you, but it's a balance between storage costs and the value you get from it. Google Search Console and Analytics data is stored daily for 90 days, and as monthly aggregates for 18 months.
What's the delay between crawl and results?
Not long. The visualization needs to complete several steps that build on each other to produce increasingly useful data that feeds into more complex algorithms before the app fully understands how to best represent your website. This usually finishes as quickly as 5 minutes after the crawl completes but may take longer if the system is heavily loaded or experiencing a spike in users. Generally, it might take just a few minutes longer than usual during busy periods.
What file formats can I export?
JSON data, JPG and PNG images.
What data is included in exports?
The JSON data includes a list of your pages and links, including X and Y coordinates for layout. The images show the current window of pages and their link relationships.
How do I export visualizations?
The image and JSON export buttons are available on your website visualization page.
Are exports real-time?
Image exports capture the visualization window exactly as you have it zoomed or panned. JSON exports reflect the current state of the database storing your website data.
What's included in the free version?
Three projects at up to 500 pages each per month, all manual tools (you do the work), and the invitation tool to share the read-only visualization with your clients, without providing access to the write/modify/delete portions that you have access to. That is a hard cap on the free plan - a crawl stops at 500 pages, because the free plan carries no credits to bill the excess to.
What are the paid plan limits?
Professional ($10/month) covers 10 projects at up to 10,000 pages each and 50,000 pages of crawling a month; Agency ($50/month) covers 50 projects at up to 50,000 pages each and 500,000 pages a month. Those are included pages, not ceilings: crawl past either one and the extra pages are billed to crawl credits at one credit a page. A crawl is never stopped part way - it always finishes the site - and if the overage takes the balance below zero, the next crawl waits until credits are added. JavaScript rendering is separate: three credits for every page, with no included pages.
Do you offer refunds?
I don't offer refunds when I incur a cost from providing you with services. I show you what you'll get, but every result is unique, so specific results may vary. If, for whatever reason, your content is deemed to be unfitting, I will refund you before performing any work. This has never happened, but I want you to know this would be very unusual if it ever does happen.
What payment methods do you accept?
I use Square as my payment processor.
Are there long-term contracts?
No! Never! If you see long-term contracts in SEO... run! The paid plans are month-to-month and you can cancel at any time. Credits and the one-off services are one-time purchases, even when you decide to order more than just one.
Do you offer trial periods?
The base system is free forever, as long as you log in at least once every 30 days. The paid plans are month-to-month with no commitment, and credits are one-time purchases that never expire while your account is open.
Are there hidden costs?
None. The monthly plan is the only recurring charge, and it's what keeps your data preserved. Everything else - optimization suggestions, keyword research, and credits for crawls, layouts, and the research tools - is priced clearly ahead of time and only charged when you order it.
What support channels are available?
Email support with 24-hour turnaround time.
Do you offer implementation consulting?
The system is thoroughly documented, and support email can handle any questions about using the system. If you require more than a quick message, I can work something out.
Is technical support included?
Absolutely, as far as being able to use the system and get your website crawled.
What's your average response time?
I strive for a 24-hour turnaround on emails as an extreme limit; however, sometimes life happens. Not often, but sometimes.
What languages is support available in?
I am only fluent in English; however, I know how to use AI language models to work with translations. Outside of the English language, I can try, but make no guarantees.