Semrush Review

Daniel Wabuge
Written by
Daniel Wabuge

Updated · Apr 19, 2023

Daniel Wabuge
Web Hosting Expert | Joined October 2021 | LinkedIn
Daniel Wabuge

Daniel is a curious thinker that loves everything about tech. If he spots something interesting, res... | See full bio

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Some users called this tool “the Swiss Army knife of SEO” in their Semrush reviews. It offers top-notch features to skyrocket your business. Let’s find out more about it in this comprehensive review. 

Free Trial

Yes, 14 days

SEO optimization tool

Yes

Comprehensive keyword analytics

Yes

Competitor research analysis

Yes

Content marketing toolkit

Yes

Split desktop and mobile data

Yes

Manage PPC campaigns

Yes

Customer support

Yes, 24/7

WORKS ON:

apple chrome mac-os android windows
Semrush logo

Minimum Price $99.95/Month

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Best for: Marketing agencies

Strengths
Strengths Easy-to-use interface
Strengths Link building opportunities
Strengths On-page SEO support
Weaknesses
Weaknesses Uses Google data only
Weaknesses Expensive add-ons
Weaknesses No keyword management options

Having the right digital tools is the secret to success. With thousands of solutions around, finding the right one can be challenging. 

But that’s what I’m here for.

Let me introduce you to Semrush. It offers an incredible SEO platform for both beginners and small businesses. Some of its top features include keyword research, domain analysis, and rank tracking. 

But that’s not all. 

The solution does a great job of fine-tuning your presence on search engines. You can use it to find lots of insightful information for managing your projects. A good example - content marketing suggestions. You can find tons of topic ideas to cover and to stay ahead of the competition. 

Semrush user reviews often focus on the site auditing option. The tool can check for issues that negatively affect your rankings. Best of all – it will give you actionable suggestions on areas that need fixing. In so doing, it ensures that you rank better and benefit from free organic traffic. 

That, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. 

What is Semrush?

Semrush is an SEO tool that provides insights for enhancing your online presence. It was founded in 2008 by tech gurus Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitri Melnikov. 

At present, Semrush headquarters are in the city of Boston, MA. It has a workforce of 900+ employees spread across seven regional offices, including the United States, Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, and Cyprus. To date, it enjoys a market base of over 7 million customers globally. 

To create the app, the company had to rely on Google’s massive database for information. The tech giant currently generates over 3.5 billion searches daily. It further controls 92.71% of the search engine market share. It gave Semrush the foundation necessary for building its platform. The company then added its own features and twists.

For example:

The Semrush audit service helps you to identify valuable keywords. You can use them to create engaging content. The competition analysis feature allows you to snoop on those in the same niche. 

Here’s what more you can expect:

Features

The Semrush SEO audit tool has a lot to offer. 

Keyword research 

Finding the best keywords is one of the most critical tasks in SEO. It helps you to uncover various topics of interest across the internet. These usually come from organic traffic, which search engines collect. The challenge, however, is identifying the ones to target. 

That’s where the Semrush keyword magic tool shines. It provides valuable insights to help you make informed choices. You will see:

  • Search volume: The number of searches that a keyword is generating on Google. A higher figure is always better. You stand a high chance of receiving tons of visitors. 
  • Keyword difficulty (KD): Semrush uses a percentage to give you a general overview. The higher the figure, the more challenging it is to rank. 
  • Variations: It will give you other suggestions that relate to your original search.

Apart from that, the Semrush SEO app also shows pay-per-click (PPC) trends. The information is valuable to marketers that rely on paid traffic. It displays the average amount that advertisers are spending to target specific keywords. Extremely helpful for managing PPC campaigns efficiently.

On the downside, data comes entirely from Google. If you want info from Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Bing, etc. you’ll have to use another tool.

Domain analysis 

Domain analysis is a core feature for checking a website’s performance. You can use it to track the growth of your site. It’s equally useful in analyzing other domains. That can help you to identify areas to outrank the competition successfully. It will also uncover outreach opportunities to request backlinks. 

The authority score is the first thing you’ll notice when analyzing a URL. To put it simply, it shows whether Google trusts a certain site. Just as with KD, the Semrush SEO tool measures this using a scale. It gives websites scores that range anywhere from 0 – 100. 

The tool analyzes various data points. These include the backlink profile, monthly traffic, and organic searches. With these stats, higher figures show the level of popularity a domain enjoys.

You can also conduct side-by-side comparisons of up to five URLs. The tool can run multiple audits at once. You’ll need to expand each link separately to access extra details, however. 

Rank tracking

The Semrush rank tracker enables you to monitor the positions of your keywords easily. The option is available under the tracking submenu. To do so, you’ll have to enter your domain alongside the key phrases. The feature will pick up from here to give you performance reports daily. 

Its ability to compile reports is especially useful for agencies and freelancers. You can gather the records and export them in various file formats, like PDF, CSV, and Excel formats.

You can also use the Semrush ranking checker to spy on the competition. It will reveal how your competitors are performing for every keyword you track. The good thing is, you can enable alerts to receive regular email updates whenever rankings for your keywords change. 

It will, however, take time till you see the full effect. That’s because of the volatile nature of search engines. For example, Google updates its algorithm up to 600 times per year. With each update, you’ll need to follow the changelog from Google’s webmaster blog. It will give you valuable tips on how to make necessary adjustments. 

Content optimization

Content optimization is crucial for boosting your ranking on search engines. The Semrush site audit tool is here to make this task as easy as a breeze. It will highlight issues. Furthermore, you can use its suggestions to boost your SEO.

The feature checks for the presence of duplicate content. It helps eliminate plagiarism. 

Next, it provides keyword ideas. It even gives recommendations to adjust the length of your content. It additionally generates interlinking suggestions.

The Semrush audit app also shows potential sites to reach out for backlinks. You can also get a glimpse of the origins of their external links. You can then reach out to their webmasters to request referral domains. 

But wait, there’s more! 

Semrush does a great job of scanning your URL for technical issues. When you have slow-loading pages, it will alert you. It will additionally go as far as highlighting the areas to fix. The same goes for crawling errors, missing headers, SSL misconfigurations, and more. 

Competitor analysis

Most marketers are very aggressive with SEO. They depend on multiple solutions to find ways of staying at the top. To beat them, you need more than burning the midnight oil. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Say goodbye to sleepless nights with the Semrush competitor analysis feature. The tool helps analyze your competitors. With this strategy, you can discover your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses quickly.

The data it provides for your rivals include: 

  • Website traffic stats
  • Online advertising history 
  • Social media engagement 

Apart from the above, you can also unearth your rivals’ backlinks and keywords. As said earlier, you can use such information to boost your SEO. A good example is reaching out to your competitors’ referring URLs for link building. Likewise, you can find low competition search terms for your content and PPC projects.

On the downside, the Semrush competitor audit feature costs extra. To enjoy it, you’ll have to part with $200/month per user.   

Content creation and distribution 

The Semrush keyword tool also comes with an intuitive marketing kit. It offers various options for finding trending content on the internet. 

Apart from that, you can use it to identify gaps in your articles. It mainly includes the tactics that competitors are using to outrank you. It also gives keyword suggestions, subtopics, and SEO ideas to outsmart your rivals. 

While testing for this Semrush review, I was particularly impressed by the SEO Writing Assistant. It allows you to analyze freshly written articles in real-time. All you need to do is copy-paste your article or import it via a URL. The tool will evaluate and offer ideas to tweak your work.

You can also measure the performance of your posts over time. You’ll be able to track daily traffic, changes in ranking, and gains in backlinks. Depending on the search trends, it will give new tips for keeping your content updated. 

Social media management

Over 50% of consumers use social media to find information about new products. As such, it creates an avenue of opportunity for marketers. Popular ones include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc. 

You can avoid the hassle of managing them all by using the Semrush social media tool. It is effective in automating several tasks at once. For instance, you can schedule posts across multiple profiles simultaneously. The feature additionally tracks the reactions in all your posts. 

But that’s not all. 

Semrush has a separate tool for tacking the accounts of close competitors. You can compare their performance against yours. With this approach, you’ll be able to find new ideas for creating viral topics. 

On-page SEO

Semrush on-page SEO audit is great for optimizing your website for search engines. It can give you powerful tips for fixing technical issues. Some include keyword suggestions, content length adjustments, and internal linking recommendations.

In particular, I did like Semrush’s featured snippets hub. You can use it to find snippet opportunities on Google. These are results that usually rank highly on Google’s search engine rankings page (SERP).

With it, you can also add missing meta elements. It comprises HTML scripts that help search engines understand your site’s contents. Good examples include page titles, descriptions, image alt tags, etc. 

And it doesn’t end here. 

Semrush reviews show user love that the app highlights keyword stuffing issues. Should you fail to correct these problems, Google may penalize your site.

Readability analysis is also available. It provides you actionable suggestions for making your articles easy to read. These include tips for replacing complex words, splitting long paragraphs, and rewriting difficult sentences.     

Managing your PPC projects is super easy using the Semrush traffic analytics tool. First of all, it can help you discover your competitors’ search ads. These include competitor keywords, SERP search volume, and the average CPC spending.

You can take advantage of the data to optimize your budget on Google Ads. For example, it shows the best seasons for pushing your campaigns. With that information, you can distribute your advertising across different phrases evenly. You can also find low competition keyword alternatives. 

All of this is incredibly easy to do.

Ease of Use and Interface

The Semrush dashboard is clean, colorful, and easy to use. Once you log in, you’ll be greeted with the analytics panel. It provides a summary of events of the domains and keywords that you’re tracking. It’s almost identical to the one that you find on Moz. This one, however, it’s more fun. 

When it comes to features, you can access them on the main navigation bar. It’s available on the left-hand side of the browser window. With that arrangement, it makes it easy to access all the tools you need in a snap. Sadly, there’s no way to hide it and take full advantage of your display.  

First-time users won’t have any issues. They will find neatly arranged widgets that display different metrics. These include domain analytics, rank tracking, site audits, and so on. 

The good thing is you can keep things simple by hiding the unnecessary ones. For this Semrush review, I did exactly that, to see how I’ll manage. When I chose the ones I didn’t need, the application minimized them to the bottom of the page. I could restore any with just a single click. 

You’ll find other additional features hidden under submenus. Just click on the menu items to access more details. In case you need help, you can check out Semrush’s knowledge base for more information.  

On the flip side, this solution is only available as a web application. You’ll find it responsive on devices such as tablets and PCs. It’s not great for smartphones, however. 

On a positive note, Semrush has a standalone app for iOS and Android. You can use it to monitor traffic, rank position, and search engine visibility. But that’s all it can do. As of now, all the rest of the functions are web-based. 

Analytics and Reporting 

The Semrush SEO audit tool gives you multiple options for analytics and reporting. You can use charts, graphs, and tables. These help to provide you with a general overview of your projects’ performance. Depending on your needs, however, you can use various filters to access more details.

Here’s how it works: 

For this Semrush review, I examined multiple keywords and domains. The first keyword I used is “Bluetooth headphones.” It also relates to other alternatives such as “Wireless headphones,” “Wireless earbuds,” “Wireless headsets”, etc. I had the option to analyze up to 100 phrases simultaneously

The first result I got was volume depending on the country of preference. I could also preview the keyword’s popularity in other countries. I selected the United States (US) as the ideal location.  

Apart from that, Semrush displays the number of URLs that rank for that phrase. I could see how the phrase trended over the past year. 

The Semrush keyword tool gave me 165,000+ monthly searches for my keyword for the US. You can, however, filter this based on other locations of interest. 

Another great thing about it is you can switch between PC and mobile traffic. The breakdown gives you an idea of the type of audience to target. 

My key phrase has a high KD of 87% -  it’s challenging to rank for it. For a fact, you can see this from the search engine results page (SERP) widget. It shows that 317 million websites are already ranking for that keyword. For better outcomes, you should target phrases with a KD of 39% and below.

When it comes to domains, you can analyze up to four URLs at once. Semrush compares them using various metrics. Domain authority (DA) is the first that indicates a domain’s trust level on Google. As earlier said, the scores range anywhere from 0 – 100. Sites with a higher DA are challenging to outrank in SERPs. If you wish to do so, you’ll need to be aggressive on your SEO. 

Page authority (PA) is another metric that deserves your attention. Unlike DA, it targets individual URLs on a website. These can be for standalone posts, videos, products, and so on. Regardless, both use a scale of 0 – 100 for ranking purposes. For this Semrush review, I checked  Techjury, as it has hundreds of articles. All have a unique PA that determines their positions in search rankings. As a general rule, pages with higher PAs are hard to outrank.  

Apart from DA/PA, you can examine tons of other details. These include domain/page traffic, backlinks, and PPC campaigns. You can additionally use the Semrush site audit tool to monitor performance. It’s useful in tracking traffic growth, top-performing pages, and your audience.

Keyword management can, however, be a bit stressful. The tool exports individual keywords one by one. That’s unlike Ahrefs that has batches of up to 5,000 key phrases at once.

But overall, Semrush user reviews highly praise this feature’s usefulness. You can use the exports to work offline or while on the go. 

Customer Support    

The company provides help via chat, phone, and email. Regardless of the option you choose, you’ll find customer support sluggish. It takes around ten minutes to receive a reply. And that’s when chatting one-on-one with a live agent. As for emails, it can take up to half a day to get an answer. 

Apart from this, the Semrush SEO team is friendly and helpful. They offer assistance for any issues round the clock. You can also take advantage of the long waiting time to check the knowledge base. It has hundreds of articles for resolving any challenge. Best all – most have animated image guides for fixing issues fast. 

Ahrefs vs Semrush

Ahrefs is one of Semrush’s biggest rivals in the industry. These services provide top-notch tools for optimizing your website’s SERPs. 

So, here’s a close comparison. 

Both Ahrefs and Semrush SEO audit platforms offer keyword analysis tools. These comprise search volume, KD, and CPC. Besides that, they’ll give you variations, suggestions, and related topics. You can also view the websites that are ranking for the keywords as well. 

Semrush’s trends option stands out, however. It includes extra data that shows SERP changes of phrases over time. You can determine a search term’s seasonal popularity. 

The same goes for domain analysis. You can use either to monitor the rank of your competitors. In general, it shows a site’s DA/PA, monthly traffic, referring domains, and more. You can additionally use filters to view the top-performing pages and keywords. 

Both support site auditing. You can check issues that negatively impact your ranking. Some include crawling errors, keyword overuse, duplicate content, and more. The best part – both providers give rewarding suggestions for improving your content. 

Semrush user reviews praise its PPC auditing capabilities. It can assist you in collecting your rivals’ advertising intelligence. Some include Google ads history, paid keywords, and average CPC spending. With that information, you can optimize your campaigns to outsmart them easily. Sadly, Ahrefs doesn’t offer it. 

Ahrefs is more affordable. The pricing starts from $82/month with premium add-ons on the side. It also costs $30/user to add more members to your account. In comparison, prices on Semrush cost at least $99/month. For teams, you’ll have part with an additional $45/user monthly

Pricing Plans

The Semrush pricing plans are as follows: 

Pro

From $99.95/Month

The Semrush Pro plan comes with keyword tracking, PPC campaigns, and a social media tracker. You can also generate up to 3,000 reports per day. 

Guru

From $191.62/Month

Supports 5,000 reports daily, historical insights for competitors, and up to 20,000 page audits monthly.  

Business

From $374.95/Month

It includes unlimited topic research, 2,000 SEO writing ideas, and ten plagiarism checks. 

Semrush offers a 30-day free trial to test the waters. That’s more than enough time to determine whether or not it suits you. You can upgrade your account at any time. Keep in mind that it has a seven days money-back guarantee only. 

Verdict 

Semrush is arguably one of the best SEO platforms on the market. It offers tons of tools for optimizing websites and digital marketing campaigns. It performs keyword research, rank tracking, and competitor analysis brilliantly

Other than that, it has other hidden gems that are worth appreciating. Top of that list is the site auditing tool. You can use it to reveal areas on your site that need fixing. For example, it highlights duplicate content, overused keywords, HTTP errors, and so forth. 

The Semrush traffic analytics is excellent at providing incredible data for analyzing URLs inside-out. Some examples include discovering a site’s monthly visitors, top pages, and PPC, if any. You can use such information to create a winning strategy to outsmart competitors. 

But not all that glitters is gold.

The Semrush website audit platform largely depends on Google for info. Unlike it, its rivals such as Ahrefs rely on multiple sources for data. These include the likes of Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, etc. That means you’ll find it challenging to rank better on other search engines. 

Apart from that, the company sells expensive add-ons. If you consider its costly plans, these additions almost feel like a rip-off. Furthermore, it costs $45/month per user to expand your team. 

All in all, the Semrush user reviews compliment it for ease of use. It’s intuitive, clean, and easy to navigate. The vendor also has a compressive knowledge base for training. You’ll find well-detailed articles and guides to up your SEO game. 

But if you’re on a budget, maybe look elsewhere.

FAQ.


Is Semrush any good?

Of course, it is. Semrush is an outstanding SEO tool for both freelancers and marketers. It provides a long list of tools for optimizing websites on Google search. You’ll find keyword research, rank tracker, and content marketing suggestions.

You can also use Semrush to haunt backlinks easily. Its competitor analysis tool helps unearth your rivals’ referral sites. With this information, you can create an outreach strategy to boost your inbound links.  

Another thing is it has tons of site auditing features to optimize your articles. These comprise the duplicate content checker, readability analysis, and plagiarism checker. By using them, your site will always be on Google’s good books. 

What is Semrush used for?

Semrush is a service that helps users rank better in search engines. It provides a wide variety of toolkits to make this possible. For example, you can use the keyword research tool to discover low-competition keywords. 

It will also provide you with trending topics that match your search term. It helps create kickass content for attracting lots of traffic. Perfectionists can use the Semrush SEO audit option as well. It will give you plenty of actionable suggestions for tweaking your work. 

Above all, you’ll appreciate this platform for leveling the playing field. It helps snoop on your rivals to find areas of opportunities. These include hunting for backlinks, keyword distribution, PPC data, etc.

How much is Semrush per month?

You can choose from the following plans:

  • Pro – From $99.95/Month. The plan comes with keyword tracking, PPC campaigns, and a social media tracker. You can also generate up to 3,000 reports per day.  
  • Guru – From $191.62/Month. Supports 5,000 reports daily, historical insights for competitors, and up to 20,000 page audits monthly.  
  • Business – From $374.95/Month. It includes unlimited topic research, 2,000 SEO writing ideas, and ten plagiarism checks.

Which is better: Ahrefs vs Semrush?

It’s Semrush, without a doubt.

Ahrefs is good for those on a budget, but its features are limited. It lacks crucial options for helping you to analyze your site’s technical areas. These include readability analysis for content, SSL misconfigurations, fixing slow-loading pages, and more.   

Aside from that, ease of use is mentioned repeatedly in Semrush reviews. Its panel is not only simple but also feature-rich. Moreover, the vendor has a dedicated knowledge base for beginners and experts. It has plenty of valuable tips that make the use of the platform hassle-free. 

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Daniel Wabuge

Daniel is a curious thinker that loves everything about tech. If he spots something interesting, rest assured that he’ll reverse-engineer it. Besides being an internet addict, he loves building web servers from scratch. Well, it’s not his profession per se. But it’s a passion he picked up after a series of unfortunate events involving terrible hosts.

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