In this new Semrush review, you will learn if you should invest on Semrush toolkit when there are many Semrush alternatives.
So you are curious to know why you should use Semrush for your business instead of other SEO tools...
If you are wondering HOW Semrush can grow your online business and take it to the next level while making you are the expert in your niche, you should read the review of Semrush.
You should read this unbiased Semrush review if...
Note: This Semrush review is last updated in December 2020 to reflect new updates on Semrush toolkit.
Facts about Semrush
Semrush was founded by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitry Melnikov on 2008 initially as a SEO tool and browser extension.
They are the ones who also developed SEOquake browser extension.
As of now, Semrush has over 3,000,000 registered users and already made thousands of success stories ranging from small business to enterprise-level businesses.
According to Semrush, their customers are enabled to grow organically with minimum investment and demonstrate 10x revenue increase in under a year.
If you are wondering where does semrush get its data, they have their own crawler called Semrushbot and have partnered with other leading companies such as Majestic to make an excellent digital marketing toolkit with tons of data for every need.
Semrush Stats - Big Data for every tool
One of the newest additions to the Semrush toolkit is Semrush Sensor that basically keeps tracking on search engine ranking changes and performances of websites. (One of the best ways to get to know SERP volatility and Google algorithm changes)
Main sections of this Semrush review:
This Semrush tool review post is a little bit too long. So, I thought, it will be easier for you to read this post by cross-linking each main sections. Use below links to jump into any part of this Semrush review.
I have an excellent gift for you. If you enjoyed reading this Semrush review and want to test-drive the features of Semrush Pro account for free, at the end of this post, you can grab the link for Semrush free trial Pro account which is valid for a week.
(Note: It’s a limited time offer. Generally, if you subscribe Semrush PRO, it would cost you $119.95 in the initial price. But, with this special offer, you can save $119.95!)
Semrush Review
- The Detailed, Unbiased Review of Semrush -
How to Use Semrush
Essentially, Semrush is a digital marketing toolkit with many features. At the same time, it provides many tools for SEO, paid advertising, content marketing, social media marketing etc.
In this review of Semrush, I will show you how to use Semrush to manage your website basic needs such as position tracking, keyword research etc.,
Sign up on Semrush and Create your project
First of all, create your free Semrush account over here and create your project.
Once created the project, you will redirected to the SEO Dashboard where you can setup Semrush and monitor progress.
Semrush Project SEO Dashboard
Semrush is a set of different toolset for digital marketing.
Configure SEO Dashboard
The next steps is configuring project items such as Site Audit so that Semrush can start working on your project.
Here's a short video clip on how to configure the Semrush Site Audit.
The steps are very similar for other project items as well. I recommend creating your Semrush free account over here and learn how to use Semrush.
Also, there are many tools outside of the Project arena offered by Semrush to grow your business. Some of them are standalone tools such as Traffic Analytics.
In this Semrush review, I will explain about some of those briefly.
Keywords Research
There are a lot of keyword research tools on market. Some are free and while others are premium.
However, Semrush Keywords Research tool stands out from others in many ways.
I entered the “American food” keyword into the Semrush search box and selected US database. It is selected by default. Google US search engine is referred to as Google.com.
So, I got search results for www.google.com. If you want to change the search engine, you can do it by selecting your desired search engine from the menu.
Within a few seconds, I got the search results for “American food” keyword phrase. This screenshot will show you how “American food” keyword performs on Google.com breifly.
According to above Semrush keyword overview report.
If we look into the 'Keywords' section, we can see two main parts. They are Phrase Match keywords and Related keywords.
Let’s check what related-match keywords Semrush shows us for “grammar checker” keyword phrase.
As you see, Semrush keyword research tool is so powerful and accurate. I have a Semrush Pro account. So, I can check these all 2300+ keywords in another time and write articles around them. Just check the search volume of these keywords. And CPC values.
Not only that, but you can also see the top 100 websites ranking for a particular keyword as well. It updates on daily basis so you can always get up-to-date information on Semrush.
Now let’s find some profitable keywords for Adsense using Semrush.
I added some conditions to filter targeted keywords.
Therefore, I will get only keywords with higher CPC value than $5.00, monthly search volume more than 20 and competition level below at 8.
I still got ~1,881 keyword ideas. I ordered them as CPC descending level.
I am not sure the real keyword intent of “free checker.” But, all other keywords are highly targeted for “grammar checker.”
Check out the highlighted long-tail keywords. Don’t you think that they are real blog post ideas that can drive constant and converting traffic every month?
If you think that they are competitive, look at the competition ratio.
And with a few seconds of work, I was able to find some laser-targeted long-tail keywords.
Do you want to know how I generated these unknown long tail keywords within a few seconds? Here’s the trick. I just added a condition to filter keywords which contain “how” word!
Overall thoughts on Semrush Keywords tool
Considering there are many free and paid keywords research tools out there, it's hard to compare Semrush Keyword Research tool with others. But, the real key advantage Semrush has over others is the data and the update frequency.
Although there are many Semrush alternatives for keyword research such as Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, Semrush has a unique way of organizing keyword phrases and present them in a way even a newbie can get used with them tool.
My final review on Semrush Keywords Research tool is for the money, it's worth.
Analyze Competitors With Semrush
Have you heard of this popular quote?
Good artists copy; great artists steal. — Pablo Picasso
How can you apply this to your online business? How can you take advantage of your competitors strong pillars?
That's what Semrush's Competitor Analytics can do for you.
Stealing others’ traffic is not illegal when it does in the ethical way. If your competitors are doing something good, why can't you?
In fact, Competitor analytics is what I did first and got very successful result when I started using Semrush in 2013.
How to Find competitors keywords with Semrush
Here's how to leverage competitors strong holds to your advantage.
Step #1: Go to Semrush over here and input your competitor’s website URL. I typed “copyblogger.com” into the search box.
Here’s the main report of copyblogger.com.
Key terms of this report:
Once you get familiar with the above metrics, you can quickly determine the status of any website for any search engine.
Step #2: As we are going to spy on competitors keywords, let’s move to the next section: Organic keywords.
This section includes two subsections: Top Organic Keywords and Organic Position Distribution.
According the statistics given by Semrush competitive analytics tool, CopyBlogger.com has got over 109K top organic keywords (keyword phrases Copyblogger ranks on the top 100 search result pages).
And people do search for Copyblogger brand on Google too. Branded search data is an excellent indication on how popular and authoritative the site is.
Step #3: Here are some organic keywords for CopyBlogger.
Key terms in this report:
Step #4: As you found the keywords of your competitors, you can download the keyword report as an .XLS file and write content around each keyword.
Also, you can find some excellent long-tail informational keywords with decent search volume using filter options.
There are lots of ways you can use Semrush tool to find keywords of your competitors. I am using this tool for some time and have got great results so far.
Overall thoughts on Semrush Competitor Analytics tool
There are only a very few companies that have technology and big data as Semrush's Competitor Analytics. Here are some key advantages of Semrush's Competitor Analytics compared with Semrush alternatives.
Overall, my final review on Semrush Competitor Analytics is everybody should use it not only just because it's probably the world's best competitor analytics tool, but also you do not have to pay extra for another competitor spy tool.
Link Building
Another SEO toolset inside Semrush is the Link Building. It includes total four tools.
- Backlink Analytics
- Backlink Audit
- Link Building Tool
- Bulk Analytics
Here's the screenshot for Semrush Backlink Audit Overview report.
You can also compare backlink profiles with several domains.
- Number of total backlinks, referring domains, referring IPs
- Authority Score
- Trend for the Authority Score and total backlinks number
- Backlink types and link attributes
- List of referring domains
The Link Building tool makes the searching prospects, link outreach, and monitoring progress so much easier.
Semrush's Link Building toolset is now robust and comparable with competitors such as Ahrefs. What makes the Semrush is more elegant choice for bloggers is that it comes with Link Building workflow tool that makes building links so much easier than ever.
The plus point is you do not have to use a link building and email outreach tool such as Ninja Outreach.
Overall thoughts on Semrush Link Building Tool
My final review of Semrush Link Building Tool is it does what it intends to do plus more.
Comparing other link building tools such as Ahrefs with Semrush, Semrush integrates with tools such as Majestic, Google Search Console so that can get maximum results. And you do not have to pay extra. That means you save money when you use Semrush.
Site Audit
Another very useful and important Semrush SEO tool is Site Audit.
Semrush's Site Audit is a cloud-based auditing tool unlike Website Auditor and it can crawl many web pages without any error.
Site Audit tool has improved a lot over the years.
- Over 120 on-page and technical SEO checks from surface-level issues like duplicate content and broken links, to in-depth analysis of AMPs, HTTPS implementation, correct usage of the hreflang attribute, crawlability and indexability
- Flexible settings - domain, subdomain or subfolder crawling. Ability to include/exclude specific pages and audit the desktop or mobile version of a site
- On-demand crawling & scheduled auto re-crawls on a daily or weekly basis
- High-speed crawler that will process all your pages in minutes, not hours
Awesome UI - big-picture reports with an ocean of data.
Watch this video on how to audit your website with Semrush below to find out more.
Overall thoughts on Semrush Site Audit
There are many Site Audit software such as Website Auditor which I use often for my and clients' works. One downside of Website Auditor is it runs on the PC and so it needs higher resources to crawl a big site. Also, it requires MOZ API for checking page and domain authority values. But, the MOZ API is not free anymore.
That's why I think Semrush Site Audit is a really good for any marketer. Also, you can set up email notifications so that you'll receive periodic updates on new issues on occurred on your site.
Overall, my final review on Semrush Site Audit is if your site includes many pages like 1,000, use Semrush. However, if you are looking for a Site Audit software for your agency, I suggest Website Auditor.
Keyword Gap
Another tool I want to showcase in this Semrush review is the Keyword Gap.
Think of a scenario where you wanted to contrast differences (ideally strengths and weaknesses) of your site against your top competitors.
- 1You want to know which keywords your site is performing better in search engine result pages
- 2You want to know which keywords your competitors are ranking top in search engine result pages.
- 3You want to know the competitive level between your site and competitor's so that you can get an clear idea if it's worth spending your time furthermore for those specific keywords.
That's what the Keyword Gap tool by Semrush is mainly used for.
After you entered at least one of your competitors domain and clicked the "Go" button, you would see common keywords between your site and competitor.
Take a look at the screenshot below for instance.
According to the results I received, ShoutMeLoud beats Pitiya in every corner!
Best thing about Keyword Gap tool is not just identifying common keywords, but also opening a way for finding keywords that your competitor is using but not YOU!
If your competitor can rank for specific keywords at the top of SERP, why can't you?
You can also use Semrush Keyword Gap tool to find out the powerfulness of a site compared to another.
Keyword Magic Tool
Semrush keyword magic tool changed how keywords research is done by different ways for good!
Typically to generate keyword ideas, you had to enter a search term and find phrase-match, related and broad-match keyword ideas. You couldn't find specific keyword ideas particularly such as questions which are important in mobile SEO.
However, Keyword Magic Tool by Semrush solves this issue. Look at the screenshot below.
By using Semrush Keyword Magic Tool, you can...
If you are looking for an excellent and robust keyword research tool, be it Semrush Keyword Magic. I haven't seen anything similar to Semrush Keyword Magic tool on the market so far.
It can generate all type of keywords in short period and make your next blog post successful.
Overall thoughts on Keyword Magic Tool
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool goes beyond the traditional ways of researching keywords. Instead it focuses on the user level and intelligently represents keyword phrases that matches your topic.
I highly recommend using the Keyword Magic tool for your next keyword research campaign.
Traffic Analytics
In this Semrush review, I talked more about the SEO part of Semrush. However, Semrush has widened their direction in last few years ago. In fact, now Semrush is an excellent alternative to tools like Alexa, Quantcast, and Similarweb.com.
Now Semrush provides more advanced and powerful tools for digital marketers well. One of those fabulous tools is Traffic Analytics.
In their own words...
What is Semrush Traffic Analytics
Semrush Traffic Analytics is a market intelligence and competitive research tool that provides estimations of any website’s desktop and mobile traffic. It can help you spot your rivals' strength and weaknesses, evaluate a new market or niche, and even build a successful media buying strategy.
The tool will help you see where a website’s traffic comes from; how their audience engages with their site; what devices visitors prefer to use; how multiple websites’ audiences overlap and much more. The market intelligence insights found in Traffic Analytics makes it one of the most powerful tools on Semrush for market researchers, marketing managers, business development teams, and sales teams.
(Source)
Semrush Traffic Analytics has got multiple features...
Semrush Traffic Rank
Find world's top websites based on the estimated traffic by Semrush. Learn more about the Semrush Traffic rank over here.
Reveal traffic sources of your competitors
Your competitor websites may utilize underground traffic method that skyrocket their leads and revenue.
Uncover all traffic sources of your competitors using Semrush analytics tool.
You can find out:
Find GEO Traffic Distribution of any site
It is always good to know who the target audience of a website is. Now you can find geography of traffic of any site without guessworks thanks to Semrush Traffic analytics toolkit.
Find answers for these specific questions instantly:
Find destination sites
Would you be interested in knowing which sites your competitor website's visitors land after visit it?
Or would you like to uncover marketing strategies of a site?
Semrush Traffic Analytics show destination sites of any site.
Find out:
Compare websites
When you compare your site with your competitors, you can get a big picture on which sides to improve on and which sides are strong of your business.
Marketing Insights toolkit from Semrush allows you to benchmark and compare multiple websites at once and get most up-to-date data to take clear and smart decisions.
Audience comparison is such invaluable part of Semrush Traffic toolkit.
It allows you to understand:
Marketing Insights toolkit of Semrush is one of my favorite tools because as an internet marketer, it allows me to estimate the traffic of a site easily.
Other Semrush Tools and Features That Can Not Be Neglected
SEO Toolkit
Most parts of this Semrush review is dedicated to Search Engine Optimization because most people are curious to know if Semrush is the best tool for their SEO campaigns.
However, I didn't feature every SEO related feature on this Semrush review. Here is a video from Semrush that explains the overview of Semrush SEO Toolkit.
Watch this video if you are into search engine optimization and want to know SEMRUSH can help to increase your organic traffic.
Advertising Toolkit
Content Marketing Toolkit
Social Media Toolkit
Business Lead Generation Tool for Agencies
Generate business leads for your online agency or service by giving away free website SEO audit report for a given site. (up to 25 pages are audited)
Business Lead Generation Tool - SEMRUSH
If you are running a digital marketing agency that provides SEO services, you can embed the Semrush Lead generation widget on your site and collect high-quality business lead easily.
Listing Management
Local SEO has become more important as Google and other search engines started providing user-based and location-based results.
If you are particularly running a local SEO agency and wondering how Semrush can help improving listing on search engines and review and reputation management services such as Yelp, dozens of other maps, apps, search engines, and directories, then you should try List management tool by Semrush today!
Or if you want to build citations for your website and improve search engine ranking by increasing brand mentions on reputable sites, you should try Semrush List Management tool today.
Manage Your Business Online Presence with SEMRUSH
As of wiring this SEMRUSH review, Semrush distributes your business listing upto 72 different sites and directories.
Semrush business listing is not only easing your work on distributing but also makes another income source for your SEO services!
SEO Content Template
Writing SEO-friendly content is a big task because there are lots of things to consider such as how much the keyword should be applied, what synonyms to use, which backlinks should be used to increase SERP ranking etc.
The revolutionary newest SEO tool from Semrush content marketers and bloggers and freelancer writers is SEO Content Template.
Just like the same suggests itself, SEO Content Template tool builds a template based on keywords you entered.
Please check out this brief explanation video from Semrush.
Semrush Tutorials
It doesn't matter if a tool can do thousands of things. If there is not enough tutorials on how to use the tool, it's a big NO because as marketers we are better off spending time on a tool that we can use rather than one cannot.
Semrush is one of the BEST tools out there with thousands of tutorials.
Semrush YouTube Channel
Semrush YouTube channel is updated often with new fresh tips and tutorials on how to use Semrush tools.
Semrush Walkthrough
Semrush knows that they have built a digital marketing toolkit with hundreds of different tools for various use cases!
That is why they have added walkthrough videos for easier understand each tool. Most videos are 2 min to 10 min long. So you can understand what each tool does easily without reading tons of articles!
Semrush Academy
Become a Semrush and digital marketing expert by taking courses and passing examples!
You would be received Semrush certification once you passed the online exam.
Semrush Knowledgebase
Have any query about how to do ABC thing with Semrush or want to know what XYZ feature in Semrush does?
Check out Semrush Knowledgebase!
Semrush Blog
Get insider tips, tricks and strategies to grow your business with Semrush toolkit on Semrush Blog.
Semrush Prices
The price tag is significant for any business whether you run a B2B or B2C business.
If you read this Semrush review from start to this point, you would find out that Semrush is not an ordinary just another tool.
It provides tools for EVERY marketer. In fact, there is at least one tool for any digital marketing purpose.
If you combine all other tools that provide similar services such as... keyword research, backlink checking, SEO audit, PPC assistant, social media brand monitoring, SEO Content writing, and marketing insights, it would cost you at least four figures per month.
Take a look at the table below for a rough estimation.
Purpose | Best Semrush Alternatives | Comparable Price | Rating of Semrush Competitor Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
Keyword Research | KeywordTool.io | $199/month | |
Backlink checking | Ahrefs | $99/month | |
SEO Audit | Website Auditor Software | $125 + $15/month | |
Marketing Insights | Similar Web | $199/month | |
Tracking Social Media Mentions | Awario | $89/month | |
Build PPC ads | Wordstream | $264/month |
However, Semrush pricing is not that high. They have packages for every business owner (small, medium or enterprise level businesses).
Take a look at the pricing table below.
If you are looking for the best Semrush plan for your needs, take look at the feature comparison table at the middle of pricing page of Semrush.
Which Semrush plan is suitable for you?
If you are a small business owner like a blogger, choose Semrush Pro plan. The only significant difference between Semrush Pro and Semrush GURU is the Historical data access.
Because you will most likely use Semrush for keywords research, positing tracking and link building, you will not see a difference.
If you are running a medium-sized business such as media buying company or an agency that provides SEO services, you should select Semrush GURU plan not only because it unlocks features like Historical data and Multitargeting, but also you can brand the PDF report.
Is Semrush worth it?
In this Semrush review, I showed you how powerful the Semrush is and how it can drastically grow your online business even you are not aware of current SEO trends and strategies that work TODAY.
If you are seriously considering using a toolkit for your business, be it Semrush.
I am using Semrush tools since 2013 and has got excellent results. In fact, Semrush is the tool that helped me a lot from moving this blog from BlogSpot to WordPress and widen my online estate network while growing my existing business based on pure white-hat SEO strategies.
You have seen why millions of online business owners like YOU use Semrush daily to grow their businesses.
If you want to become an expert in your niche and always be a step ahead from competitors, I recommend putting your hand on Semrush from now.
Why?
Because taking action is far more critical than searching that *perfect* tool that can do EVERYTHING preciously!
Semrush is not perfect. But, it is one of THE best tools in the market. (according to me, my experience, Semrush is the best tool I have used for search engine optimization and content marketing)
Free Semrush Pro Account for 7 days
As I promised earlier in the review of Semrush, I will give you a chance to create a Semrush Pro account for free which is valid for two weeks.
To get this limited time offer, click the link below (coupon code has been already added) and fill the account and billing information.
Once you logged into your Semrush account or created a new Semrush account, fill the necessary details such your address and credit card details.
After filling necessary information, read “Terms and Conditions” and then click on “Place Order” button.
If you already have a Semrush free account, you can always activate this Semrush promo code for your account too. Here’s the step by step on how to upgrade from free account to a Pro account.
Step #1: Go to how to upgrade and login to your account.
Step #2: Now open this link in your web browser and fill the billing information.
Step #3: Read the terms and conditions and click on “Place order” button.
Semrush Alternatives
Semrush is a robust and a cheap SEO tool comparing what values you get for the money. But, you might be looking for some Semrush alternatives before giving Semrush a try.
In this Semrush review, I talked about how to use Semrush, features, pros and cons,
I will share some of the best alternatives to Semrush. For a complete list, check out this article: https://www.pitiya.com/semrush-alternatives.html
Here are some of the best Semrush contenders.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is probably the best alternative to Semrush. Both tools provides very similar tools while each one has strengths and weaknesses.
Semrush vs Ahrefs
Feature | Semrush | Ahrefs |
|---|---|---|
Free plan | Yes | No |
WordPress Plugin | Yes | No |
Keyword research | Yes | Yes |
Link building tools | Yes | Yes |
Site Audit | Yes | Yes |
Content optimization tools | Yes | Yes |
Rank tracking tools | Yes | Yes |
Traffic Analytics tools | Yes | No |
Market Explore tools | Yes | No |
Watch this video about Ahrefs vs Semrush to find more details.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest might be a good free Semrush alternative particularly for keyword research.
Feature | Semrush | Ubersuggest |
|---|---|---|
Free plan | Yes | Yes |
WordPress Plugin | Yes | No |
Keyword research | Yes | Yes |
Link building tools | Yes | Yes |
Site Audit | Yes | Yes |
Content optimization tools | Yes | No |
Rank tracking tools | Yes | Yes |
Traffic Analytics tools | Yes | No |
Market Explore tools | Yes | No |
Final words about Semrush Review
In this Semrush review 2021, I showed you benefits over features of Semrush you get by using this Search Engine Marketing tool.
If you are a blogger, I recommend you to at least use Semrush Pro features for two weeks using the above coupon code. If you NOT see an increase in your quality traffic, the growth of your blog, you can always downgrade or cancel your account.
But, that happens very rarely, if you take action and full advantage of the Semrush toolkit.
That’s why many SEO experts and professional Internet marketers recommend Semrush for many digital marketing activities from keyword research to competitive analysis.
If you are nervous and still don't know if Semrush is for you, then I recommend creating a free Semrush account over here and see if it can fulfil your requirements.
Overall, Semrush takes an IMPORTANT role in my digital marketing toolkit. So, where do you place this tool? Top or bottom?
Have I missed any particular thing to showcase in this Semrush review? Share your reviews about Semrush below comment form.
Resources & Further reading
Semrush
$119.95
Pros
- Extensive database
- High-quality tools for different marketing purposes
- Helpful guides and content
- Worth your money
Cons
- Different add-on prices for some tools
This is highly informatics, crisp and clear. I think that Everything has been described in systematic manner so that reader could get maximum information and learn many more.
Thank you Shahriar for kind of words. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
Very detailed article and yes, SEMrush is one of my most favorite keyword research tools. I am using this tool since last couple of years and very much satisfied with the results. Recommended to all.
Yes Sam, SEMrush keyword research tool is one of best SEM tools. I too use SEMrush since a some time and got better results. Thank you for sharing your review of SEMrush in comments.
iSpionage.com is another tool that businesses can use to download their competitors’ top PPC and SEO terms, ad copy variations, and landing pages.
Wish it wasn’t so expensive. Sometimes all you need is your brain, excel, and free tools. I’m in e-commerce and with mid to small projects I’m doing fine with Serpstat for just $15/mo, and if there’s a need I back it up with SEMrush.