Knowledge

SEMrush was my go-to SEO tool for more than six years, but midway through 2020 I switched to ahrefs. Somehow my SEMrush subscription had climbed to around $300/month, and I was still hitting "you must upgrade to use this" messages.

Ahrefs gets props for being more affordable and definitely easier to use. The interface is much better, though the report output isn't quite as good.

For most of my common data needs it's every bit as thorough as SEMrush and the entire experience feels cleaner and easier to understand. It's hard getting used to a new tool with new navigation, settings and interface but I'm happy I made the switch.

Google is definitely a hit-or-miss company. Google Home - awesome. Google Fi - bad.

There used to be a competitive advantage to Fi. Using one of their approved phones, you could switch between T-Mobile and Sprint networks on the fly, and it uses wifi heavily. But T-Mobile bought Sprint, and T-Mobile uses wifi for calling whenever possible anyway, so what's the advantage?

None.

In fact, there's a huge disadvantage. Google's support is absolutely horrible. Case in point - I started my service with a Google Pixel 4a 5g phone. Google was offering $100 off if you transfer a number to the account.

I did exactly this, BUT Google meant to say transfer a number to the plan that the account was opened under. I didn't do this, I transferred it to another phone on the account.

Because Google doesn't have any way of talking to someone who can actually help, I have had comical back-and-forth exchanges with online chat support and over email. Despite screenshots showing what the offer says, no one at Google will even acknowledge that they said account but meant plan.

I'm leaving Fi soon and just going with T-Mobile. At least I know I can go in and talk to someone - and if they can't help me, at least they can sympathize with me.

Google's chat tech support even tried to link an obscure article to me explaining further details of the offer I wasn't getting. Can you imagine going into T-Mobile and they pull out a book from under the counter and say "No sir, look here at this thing we printed but didn't refer to until now."

Fail by Google. Don't go with Google Fi especially if you are taking advantage of an offer. It's just not worth it.