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 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."