Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Hello Moz family,

After much deliberation, Moz has arrived at the difficult decision to shift away from brand & keyword mentions monitoring as a standalone tool in Fresh Web Explorer. Though we believe in the value of this service for our users, we’ll no longer be supporting it in order to provide more innovative features that better suit the modern needs of SEOs. We will, however, continue to support existing features within the Pro platform that accomplish similar tasks, like link building, content planning, and mentions monitoring.

We understand you might have a few questions and have compiled a list of common FAQs below. Within the answers, you will find a number of other resources to help you out.

When is Moz sunsetting Fresh Web Explorer? 
Moz will be sunsetting Fresh Web Explorer on November 10, 2020. At that time, you will no longer be able to access this feature within Moz Pro. This means that there will no longer be the ability in your settings to opt into email alerts from Fresh Web Explorer as the email alerts will discontinue after this date as well.

I used Fresh Web Explorer for brand and keyword monitoring across the web. How can I do that now? Though it’s not a direct replacement, setting Brand Rules within a Campaign allow a user to monitor specific keywords in the Link Opportunities section, much like Fresh Web Explorer.

By monitoring the links that mention your tracked keywords, but do not link to them, you can easily reach out for link opportunities. It can also help you plan content strategies by understanding what is being discussed within the content of those pages. You can read more about Opportunities within Links here.

I used Fresh Web Explorer for link building opportunities. How can I do that now? With Moz’s vast link index you can uncover valuable link prospects, create a solid strategy, and track your progress. Within Link Opportunities in a Campaign, you can understand the domains mentioning your tracked keywords (set within your Brand Rules), but not linking back to you.

Link Intersect provides an analysis on who's linking to competitors, but not you, and can help users plan strategic link outreach. You can also use Link Tracking Lists to help track progress for link opportunities you’ve identified through unlinked mentions of your brand or your competitors.

Our Keyword Explorer tool also includes a Mentions module. Mentions show you pages that contain the searched keyword and gives you a snapshot of the Page Title and URL. Within Mentions, understand a link’s Mention Authority score, which predicts the authority of the page using a proprietary algorithm, along with a combination of Moz metrics that take both the authority and influence of the page into account.

Need help getting started with all of these similar features? Read more here.

I used Fresh Web Explorer for content planning. How can I use Moz for that now? There are many ways you can plan your content strategy using Moz. For a high-level understanding of how Moz Pro can help you plan content, take a look at our Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy here.

Otherwise, one way you can understand what is being mentioned within your tracked keywords is through Opportunities in Links within a campaign. This feature helps you get a sense for what type of content is published on the web around your tracked keywords, branded or non-branded. You can then plan similar content as what’s being mentioned. For more information on how to set up Brand Rules in a Campaign, click here.

I used Fresh Web Explorer for the email alerts to notify other stakeholders on keyword & brand mentions. Can I do that another way within Moz Pro? We recommend using our Custom Reports to email your stakeholders of tracked mentions on the web. You can set Brand Rules within your Campaign settings for branded or non-branded keywords you’d like to monitor. You can read more on how to set up Custom Reports here.

The Moz Pro feature alternatives you suggested aren’t really a direct replacement. Why? We recognize that our feature suggestions are not a direct replacement for brand and keyword mentions monitoring. And, we also understand that this functionality is desired by many of our users. We will be exploring opportunities to include some of the Fresh Web Explorer functionality within future versions of Moz Pro. In the meantime, if you're looking for a direct replacement, we suggest checking out BuzzSumo. Their Monitoring feature provides you a one-stop-shop for monitoring your brand, keywords, and trends across the web.

Do I need to do anything before the sunset on November 10, 2020? No. Fresh Web Explorer will simply disappear from the Moz Pro interface. No action is needed on your end. Once retired, you will no longer see the page within Moz Pro and you will no longer receive alert emails that were previously set up from the settings tab within an account.

Do you have any content you can point me to that outlines the other ways in which I can find my brand’s mentions in Moz Pro? We sure do! Check out this fantastic Help Hub article that outlines all of the ways you might track, monitor, and analyze your brand’s mentions in Moz Pro. The features here include Keyword Explorer’s Mentions, Brand Rules, Link Opportunities in Links within a Campaign, Link Tracking Lists, and Custom Reports.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to discuss more in the Q&A thread. Or, feel free to send an email to help@moz.com with any questions.

Best, 
Jacob Butler