Is Semrush Worth It: A Detailed Analysis of Its Capabilities and Pricing

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Semrush is a powerful tool that offers a wide range of features to help you improve your online presence, from keyword research to technical SEO audits.

With over 20 tools at your disposal, you can get a comprehensive view of your website's performance and identify areas for improvement.

Semrush's keyword research tool is particularly useful, allowing you to find relevant keywords and phrases to optimize your content for.

Pricing Plans

Semrush offers three monthly pricing plans: Pro, Guru, and Business, with prices ranging from $139.95 to $499.95 per month. The Pro plan is ideal for beginners and bloggers, while the Guru plan is suitable for small business owners and solopreneurs.

If you're managing 1-3 sites, the Semrush Pro plan is a good choice, as it's competitively priced with other SEO tools like Ahrefs and Moz. However, if you run an agency and deal with multiple clients and projects, the Guru plan might be a better fit.

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The Pro plan has some limitations, such as not being able to see historical keyword data or comparing rankings by location or device. However, it's still a good option for those with a couple of sites they'd like to track the performance of.

If you pay annually for a Semrush plan, you can save up to 17% off the monthly price. For example, the "Pro" package costs $108.33/month if you pay once a year, rather than monthly.

Here's a summary of the pricing plans:

Semrush also offers a free plan with limited access to their tools, as well as a 14-day trial of the Pro subscription.

Semrush Features and Capabilities

Semrush is a powerful tool that offers a wide range of features and capabilities to help you manage your SEO strategy. It's like a Swiss army knife for SEO, with over 50 tools in one place.

You can analyze your website's performance on various parameters, including top organic keywords, organic search positions, and total number of backlinks. Semrush also helps you gather this information quickly, making it a time-saving tool for busy marketers.

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With Semrush, you can also perform a site audit to identify and fix on-page SEO and technical SEO issues on your site. This feature is particularly useful for detecting critical SEO problems that may be hurting your site's performance.

Semrush's rank tracking feature allows you to monitor your keyword rankings over time, as well as track your competitors' rankings. You can also see a cannibalization report to identify instances where multiple pages are competing for the same keywords.

Some of the key features of Semrush include:

  • Competitive PPC analysis to see what keywords competitors are bidding on and how much they're spending
  • A CPC map to show average CPC based on state
  • Domain Overview report to get a broad perspective on your website's performance
  • Organic Research to obtain data on your site's organic keywords, estimated organic traffic, and more
  • Position Tracking to monitor your SEO and PPC campaigns
  • Site Audit to identify and fix on-page SEO and technical SEO issues

Overall, Semrush is a robust tool that offers a wide range of features and capabilities to help you manage your SEO strategy.

Competitor Analysis Options

You can identify your organic competitors by navigating to the SEO Dashboard, selecting Competitive Research, and then Organic Research. This will give you a list of your top 5 organic competitors.

To delve deeper into your organic competitors, you can click the "View all" button or go to the "Competitors" tab. This will give you a visual representation of where your website stands amongst your competitors, known as the Competitive Positioning Map.

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The map shows bubbles in different positions based on organic keywords and organic traffic. The more keywords a site ranks for, the more to the right the site will appear on the map. Similarly, sites that receive more organic traffic will appear higher on the map.

You can also see the organic competitors table, which reveals your closest competitors and the sites you'd want to outrank in search engines. Pay close attention to the metrics: Competition Level, Common Keywords, and SE Keywords.

Semrush also offers a tool called Market Explorer, which shows you the landscape of a given niche. This can help you identify established players and game changers in your industry.

You can also use the One Click Competitor Overviews feature to quickly view a tonne of information about your competitors, including top keywords, backlinks, and competition levels.

Additionally, you can track your competitor's keywords by going to the overview page and clicking the "View entire report" button. This will give you a complete breakdown of every keyword they're ranking for and the complete insight into them.

You can also track your competitor's website rankings by entering their domain into the main search bar and following the pathway: Sidebar > Organic Research > Positions. This will give you a complete breakdown of every keyword they rank for, where they rank for it, and the volume of searches.

Credit: youtube.com, SEMRush Tutorial: Competitor Analysis | Basic SEMRush Competitors Research (2023)

Semrush's Organic Research tool also tells you how much traffic a site gets from Google and how it has changed over the years. This can be a valuable resource for finding content to create and reverse engineering your competitor's keywords.

Here's a summary of the competitor analysis options available in Semrush:

Site Audit and Error Fix

Semrush's Site Audit tool is a game-changer for discovering technical problems on your WordPress site and those of your customers. It offers a digest of information on site health score, errors and warnings on crawled pages, site crawlability, site performance, Core Web Vitals, HTTPS site security, and internal links.

The tool provides a clear picture of your site's overall technical SEO health, with a percentage score that makes it easy to size up your site. You can also get an in-depth look at your site's crawlability, indexing, internal linking, and overall performance.

Semrush's Site Audit tool can scan thousands of pages on your site, giving you plenty of things you can do to improve your site's crawlability, indexing, internal linking, and overall performance. For example, it can tell you that you need to cache more of your CSS.

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The tool also highlights errors and warnings that may be hurting your SEO, with errors highlighted in red being the most critical problems you should start fixing right away. You can click on the issue to figure out what it is and how to fix it.

Here's a summary of the Site Audit tool's features:

  • Site health score
  • Errors and warnings on crawled pages
  • Site crawlability
  • Site performance
  • Core Web Vitals
  • HTTPS site security
  • Internal links

You can export the results into an Excel, CSV, or PDF file for later use.

Semrush Tools and Services

Semrush offers a range of tools and services that can help you stay ahead of the competition. With Semrush, you can analyze your website's performance on various parameters, including top organic keywords, organic search positions, and total number of backlinks.

The Domain Overview report provides a broad perspective on your website's performance, highlighting key metrics like traffic from organic and paid searches, backlinks, organic keywords, paid keywords, and more. You can also use this tool to analyze your competitors' websites and unravel their organic and paid search strategies.

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Semrush's advertising tools allow you to monitor your competitors' PPC ads, including the keywords they're targeting, their rankings in SERPs, and even their ad copies. This information can help you optimize your own PPC ad copies and landing pages for maximum impact.

Here are the key features of Semrush's Domain Overview report:

  • Top organic keywords
  • Organic search positions
  • Total number of backlinks
  • Traffic from organic and paid searches
  • Backlinks
  • Organic keywords
  • Paid keywords

These features can be exported into an Excel, CSV, or PDF file for later use.

Analyze Your Website

You can analyze your website using Semrush's Domain Overview report, which provides a broad perspective on your website's performance and those of your competitors, focusing on essential SEO metrics.

The report will give you a quick breakdown of your website's performance, highlighting key metrics like traffic from organic and paid searches, backlinks, organic keywords, paid keywords, and more.

To view your website's performance, click on the Domain Overview tool in the sidebar menu, and you'll get data on your site's organic keywords, estimated organic traffic, organic keywords trend, top keywords by intent, and more.

Credit: youtube.com, SEMRush Website Analysis

You can also use the Domain Overview tool to analyze your competitors' websites and unravel their organic and paid search strategies.

The Domain Overview report also allows you to export the results into an Excel, CSV, or PDF file for later use.

Additionally, you can use the "Organic Research" section to get data on your site's organic keywords, estimated organic traffic, organic keywords trend, top keywords by intent, and more.

Here are the 3 most important things you should know about your site:

  • Top organic keywords
  • Organic search positions
  • Total number of backlinks

To view your backlinks, click on the number of backlinks or referring domains in the Domain Overview report, and you'll see your site's backlink profile, the number of referring domains, types of backlinks (text, image, form, etc.), and a percentage split of follow vs nofollow links.

Browser Extensions

SEMrush offers a browser extension called SEOquake, which is free to use. It shows basic data like the number of pages on Google's index, backlinks, and Alexa rank for a website.

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SEMrush's SEOquake bar is a useful tool, but it's not the only game in town. Ahrefs also has a browser extension, which is only available with a paid account.

The Ahrefs SEO Toolbar offers page-level stats such as the number of backlinks and referring domains, estimated search traffic, and estimated keywords it ranks for. It also shows the URL rating.

Ahrefs' toolbar provides more detailed information than SEMrush's SEOquake bar, making it a more useful tool for many users.

Position Tracking

Position Tracking is a crucial feature in Semrush that allows you to monitor your website's rankings over time. With this tool, you can see how your rankings have shifted, your site's overall search engine visibility, and your rankings distribution.

You can use Semrush's Position Tracking tool to track both organic and paid rankings, making it an essential tool for monitoring your SEO and PPC campaigns. This feature is ideal for those running paid campaigns, as you can use the data to ensure your campaign budget is being spent effectively and to identify ads that are not performing well.

Credit: youtube.com, SEMRush Position Tracking Tool (SEMRush Keyword Position Overview)

To use the Position Tracking tool, simply head to the "Keyword Research" menu and select "Position Tracking". You can then enter your company name as it appears on your Google listing, and enter the keywords you want to track from a number of sources, including TXT or CSV files, a specific campaign, Semrush suggestions, or Google Analytics.

Semrush's Position Tracking tool is similar to Ahrefs' Rank Tracker tool, which also allows you to add a "Project" and track rankings for specific keywords on specific websites. However, Semrush's tool also shows you a cannibalization report, which highlights any instances where multiple pages are competing for the same keywords.

Here are the key features of Semrush's Position Tracking tool:

  • Tracks both organic and paid rankings
  • Shows how your rankings have shifted over time
  • Displays your site's overall search engine visibility
  • Provides a rankings distribution report
  • Includes a cannibalization report to highlight competing pages

Overall, Semrush's Position Tracking tool is a powerful feature that can help you monitor your website's rankings and make data-driven decisions to improve your SEO and PPC campaigns.

Semrush Ease of Use and Interface

Semrush is easy to use with a clean user interface, but it may take some time to acclimatize yourself with the interface, especially if you're migrating from tools like Moz or SpyFu.

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The interface is clean, but it's loaded with features, which can be overwhelming at times. However, Semrush has a wealth of resources to help you master the tool.

You can find step-by-step guides to mastering Semrush on their website, and they also offer webinars to keep you updated with new features and functionalities.

While Semrush's UI is improving, it's still a bit dated compared to Ahrefs, which has a fantastic user interface. Ahrefs presents information in easy-to-understand charts and graphs at a glance, making it easier to use.

Semrush's UI can be hard to learn and know everything it does, especially with so many features.

Semrush Alternatives and Comparison

If Semrush isn't for you, either for budgetary or technical reasons, you have alternatives to consider.

Semrush's main competitor is Ahrefs, which offers similar features and pricing (from $129/month).

Ahrefs is a strong contender, but if you're looking for something more affordable, you can turn to Mangools and SE Ranking.

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These tools are effective for keyword research and other classic SEO operations, but they're less comprehensive than Semrush and Ahrefs.

Here's a brief rundown of these alternatives:

  • Mangools: A lower-cost option for keyword research and other SEO tasks.
  • SE Ranking: A tool that's also good for keyword research and other SEO operations.

Competitor Overviews

Competitor Overviews are a crucial part of any SEO strategy, and Semrush offers a robust tool for this purpose. You can access Competitor Overviews by navigating to the "Competitors" tab in your Organic Research report.

To get started, you'll want to identify your main organic competitors, which can be found in the "Main Organic Competitors" widget. From there, you can click the "View all" button to see a list of competitors, or go to the "Competitors" tab for more detailed information.

The Competitive Positioning Map is a visual representation of where your website stands amongst your competitors. You'll see bubbles in different positions based on organic keywords and organic traffic.

The organic competitors table is where the magic happens. Pay close attention to the metrics: Competition Level, Common Keywords, and SE Keywords. These three metrics will reveal your closest competitors and these are the sites you'd want to outrank in search engines.

Credit: youtube.com, SEMRush Alternatives & Competitors (SEO Research Tools)

To take a closer look at your competitors, you can use the "One Click Competitor Overviews" feature. Simply select the sites you want to analyze and click on the links to open up a domain overview. This will give you a wealth of information, including top keywords, backlinks, and competition rankings.

Here's a quick rundown of what you can expect to find in a competitor's domain overview:

  • Top keywords
  • Backlinks
  • Competition and rankings
  • Mobile SEO traffic

This information is invaluable for understanding your competitors' strategies and identifying areas for improvement.

Alternatives

If Semrush isn't the right tool for you, there are alternatives available. Ahrefs is a popular choice, offering similar features and pricing, starting at $129/month.

Semrush and Ahrefs are often compared, and while Ahrefs has a better backlink analysis tool, Semrush excels in other areas, such as keyword research and technical SEO.

Mangools and SE Ranking are more affordable options, but they're less comprehensive and better suited for specific SEO tasks, like keyword research.

If you're looking for a more in-depth comparison, there's a dedicated post on Semrush vs Ahrefs that's worth checking out.

Here's a quick rundown of the alternatives:

  • Ahrefs: Similar features and pricing ($129/month)
  • Mangools: Less comprehensive, but effective for keyword research
  • SE Ranking: Also less comprehensive, but good for keyword research

Moz

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Moz has a UI that's old and cluttered, which can make it difficult to navigate and find the insights you need.

The free tools provided by Moz are still useful, but the tool itself isn't worth shelling out $100 a month.

Moz's SEO reports leave a lot to be desired, which is a major drawback for users who rely on them for accurate and comprehensive insights.

For a more in-depth analysis, you can check out the Semrush vs Moz comparison post mentioned in the article.

Comparison

Semrush is a powerful tool, but it may not be the best fit for everyone. Its main alternative is Ahrefs, which offers similar data and features at a very similar price (from $129/month).

In the lower price brackets, you can also consider Mangools and SE Ranking, which are less powerful and less comprehensive, but still effective for certain classic SEO operations like keyword research.

Direct comparisons between these tools can be helpful in determining which one is right for you. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding these will help you make an informed decision.

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Here's a brief comparison of the tools mentioned:

One of the key features of Semrush is its competitor research tool, which allows you to analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. This information can be invaluable in helping you develop a successful SEO strategy.

Remember, competitor research is not just about looking at your competitors - it's also about understanding the broader market and how you fit into it.

Semrush Review

Semrush is a comprehensive tool that offers a complete suite of features to help you fast-track your SEO success. From content planning to link building, site audits, competitor analysis, rank monitoring and more – Semrush is your one-stop shop.

Semrush provides support mainly through their comprehensive knowledge base and email, with regular webinars to unveil new features and provide actionable tips to improve your SEO and PPC.

Semrush has near-perfect ratings on review sites such as G2, TrustRadius, and Capterra, with ratings of 4.5/5, 8.5/10, and 4.7/5 respectively.

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The tool offers exceptional features such as auditing and link building tools, which give you a complete checklist of ways to improve your on-page SEO and a high-quality "CRM" style method of building backlinks.

Here are some key ratings on review sites:

  • G2 – 4.5/5 (2,000+ reviews)
  • TrustRadius – 8.5/10 (700+ reviews)
  • Capterra – 4.7/5 (2,200+ reviews)

Semrush has a set of industry-leading features backed by a large index of keywords, backlinks, and advertising data, making it one of the most popular and trusted marketing tools.

Your Way Around

Navigating Semrush can be overwhelming, but it's actually quite straightforward once you know what you're doing.

Semrush is a feature-rich tool, and to make sense of it, we can focus on the three pillars of SEO: technique, content, and links.

To get started, you can research your keywords, which is a crucial step in understanding what your audience is searching for.

Here are some key features to get you familiar with Semrush:

  • Research your keywords
  • Conduct audits
  • Analyze your competitors
  • Help you write your content
  • Find backlink opportunities
  • Track your keywords positions

These features will give you a solid foundation to work with, and you can always explore more as you become more comfortable with the tool.

Semrush Data and Analytics

Credit: youtube.com, SEMRush Explained (What Is SEMRush And What Does It Do?)

Semrush offers a wealth of data and analytics to help you understand your website's performance and that of your competitors.

You can access your website's performance metrics, including top organic keywords, organic search positions, and total number of backlinks, within minutes using the Domain Overview report.

The Domain Overview report provides a broad perspective on your website's performance, highlighting key metrics like traffic from organic and paid searches, backlinks, organic keywords, paid keywords, and more.

You can also use the Domain Overview tool to analyze your competitors' websites and unravel their organic and paid search strategies.

Semrush's Backlink Analytics tool provides access to useful data about your backlink profile and those of your competitors, including total number of backlinks, referring domains, outgoing domains, and authority score.

The tool also allows you to view a detailed report of referring domains and new and lost backlinks.

Semrush's backlink checker has a massive link index and finds new pages and backlinks quickly, with dozens of filters to help you find the backlinks you want.

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Here are some key metrics you can access with Semrush's backlink checker:

  • Total number of backlinks
  • Referring domains
  • Outgoing domains
  • Authority score
  • Anchor text breakdown
  • Number of links a site has received over time

Semrush's backlink tool even breaks a site's referring domains down into different categories, such as "Marketing" and "Search Engine Optimization & Marketing".

This can help you understand if there are markets your competitors are getting links from that you're not, and adjust your link building efforts accordingly.

You can also use Semrush's Traffic Analytics tool to see more detail about a website's traffic, including where it came from, how users interact with the website, and even what percentage of them make a purchase.

Semrush Free Trial and Packages

Semrush offers a 7-day free trial to test out the platform and see if it's right for you. This trial period gives you a chance to explore the software's features and tools without committing to a paid plan.

During the free trial, you can only create and manage one project, track a maximum of 10 keywords in "Position Tracking", and have limited access to analysis reports. This is a good way to get a feel for the platform, but keep in mind that you'll need to choose a paid plan after the trial period ends to continue using Semrush.

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Semrush is priced based on three premium packages: "Pro", "Guru", and "Business." Each package has its own set of features and limitations, and the cost varies depending on the package and whether you pay annually or monthly.

Here's a brief overview of the pricing options:

  • "Pro": $129.95/month (or $108.33/month with annual billing), suitable for beginners and small teams
  • "Guru": $249.95/month (or $208.33/month with annual billing), ideal for agencies and medium-sized companies
  • "Business": $499.95/month (or $416.67/month with annual billing), designed for large agencies and companies

Annual billing can save you up to 17% on your subscription, so it's worth considering if you're planning to use Semrush for an extended period.

How to Use for Free

If you're on a tight budget, you can still use Semrush for free, but be aware of the limitations.

You can take advantage of a 7-day free trial to see what the software has to offer.

With a free Semrush account, you can only create and manage one project.

You can track a maximum of 10 keywords in "Position Tracking".

Your "Analysis" reports will be limited to 10 queries per day.

You can't extract all the data and use all the tools with Semrush free.

Here's a summary of what you can expect with a free Semrush account:

Backlinko 14-Day Pro Trial

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The Backlinko 14-Day Pro Trial is a special offer that lets you try out Semrush's PRO features for 14 days.

With Semrush, you get to analyze data, track rankings, and uncover valuable insights that can help you tailor your content and strategies more effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the weakness of Semrush?

Semrush's free plan is limited, and its paid plans are considered expensive by many users. This may be a drawback for those on a budget or seeking more affordable SEO tools.

Is Google Analytics better than Semrush?

Google Analytics excels for website traffic and user behavior analysis, while Semrush is better suited for SEO, keyword research, and competitive analysis. Choose the right tool based on your specific needs for a more effective analysis.

Can Semrush be trusted?

SEMrush can be trusted for accurate data on backlinks and keyword research, but may have limitations with social media and paid search data

Is Semrush a Russian company?

Yes, SEMrush was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia in August 2008. Its Russian roots are a key part of its history and global presence.

Patricia Dach

Junior Copy Editor

Patricia Dach is a meticulous and detail-oriented Copy Editor with a passion for refining written content. With a keen eye for grammar and syntax, she ensures that articles are polished and error-free. Her expertise spans a range of topics, from technology to lifestyle, and she is well-versed in various style guides.

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