What is an API?

What is an API?

API stands for Applications Program Interface which is a set of protocols or routines in order to share data. Each call queries a certain set of data based on the tasks it is supposed to accomplish. The API acts almost as a translator of communication between two software platforms. Specific API calls have specific tasks to accomplish, and have to communicate with a specific platform. Simply put, these can be considered building blocks to our platform. Without API calls, we would not have much data to display for you.

Each API call has a set of instructions on how to facilitate interactions with each platform that is involved. First, each call accesses a certain type of code and acts as a call and response. As each software has its own language, the API is the translator between one piece of software, seoClarity platform, to another piece of software, MajesticSEO. Different databases need to be accessed and specific data needs to be pulled. Once the data is received and translated into our own seoClarity language, the data begins to get processed.

It has to be broken down by metric, date, or URL. After it is processed or broken down the way it needs to be, it is then put into the widget or feature to be displayed in the way you see it. This takes some time to accomplish.



API Limitations & Costs  

API calls require tokens which help rate limit usage. Users are given a certain amount of tokens to use each month. It all depends on the data that you are looking for. If you have a lot of domains and want a large variety of metrics pulled, you will need a cache of tokens. If more tokens are needed, costs will rise accordingly.

Another limitation with API calls is that they are synchronous. This means that one call can be made at a time. This creates a problem with timing. Calls cannot be rushed and they cannot be running at the same time. With all of this data being pulled from multiple sources, the data has to be stored on a server and these servers cost money. As the amount of data grows, so does the amount of space needed on a server. Processing and organizing the data also takes time and as the saying goes, "time is money."

For a complete view of the API calls that we offer, visit our Standard and Paid API documentation. 

    • Related Articles

    • Standard API Data

      Standard API Overview seoClarity's API provides you programmatic access to a wealth of data, statistics and information collected by the seoClarity platform. The API is designed to be extremely simple to use and flexible to accommodate a wide range ...

    • How do I generate an API Token?

      To generate an API Token, you must have admin access and navigate to the Integrations tab of the Settings page. On this page, select the API access card to generate an API Token for your login. After generating the token, it will appear here. Find ...

    • How does seoClarity manage the rate limit associated with the Moz free API?

      We retrieve the SEOmoz data once a month to coincide with their update schedule. Only when you add a new Target URL or Partner URL to the system will the system then query the API for data specific to that URL between scheduled updates. This ensures ...

    • IBM Coremetrics Data Differences

      Integration Methods          Explore            The preferred Coremetrics integration method for seoClarity is the Explore reports. This is preferred because these reports include all 3 elements we need to complete the analytics integration - ...

    • Security settings

      Security settings Overview The Security settings allows for additional custom measures to be enforced based on a user's IP address or email name. Enabling either setting will restrict users from logging in if there IP does not match the list provided ...