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If you’re in the business of search engine optimization (SEO), then you know that there are a lot of different tools out there to help you with your efforts.
One of the most popular and well-known SEO tools is semrush. But is semrush the best tool for your needs?
It offers a suite of tools that can be used to research keywords, track website ranking, and analyze competitor strategies.
Semrush also provides valuable insights into the latest trends in digital marketing. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the features of semrush and see if it’s really the best option for your SEO needs.
Semrush Review: Quick verdict
A digital marketing company’s success or failure often hinges on its search engine optimization.
Also, if you want to see real improvements in your search engine results, you need to use SEO tools that are up to the task.
Semrush is one of these tools, and many site owners are drawn to it because of its standing as an “industry standard” in the SEO field.
Even though it’s the most well-known SEO tool, that doesn’t mean it’s the greatest SEO tool for you. In this piece, I’ll explain how to do that.
In this post, I shall evaluate Semrush in terms of the following comparisons and contrasts:
- Domain analysis
- Keyword research features
- Rank tracking
- Backlink analysis
- Link building tools
- Site auditing
- Ease of use
- Pricing and value for money
- Customer support
And more! But before we get to that, a crucial question.
What is Semrush?
In a nutshell, Semrush is a tool that aids in search engine optimization.
The company, founded in 2008 by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitry Melnikov, claims that more than 10 million people have used the platform and that it had 67,000 paying subscribers in more than 142 countries at the time of its initial public offering (IPO) in 2021.
Semrush is useful because it provides a large amount of information that may be put to work in a variety of ways.
- Search Google to see what people are looking for on the web.
- Then use that information to inform your own content creation and the creation of links.
- Improve your site’s search engine ranks by adjusting its technical settings.
For instance, you may utilize Semrush’s keyword suggestions to create search-engine-optimized blog entries depending on the phrases you enter.
In addition, it can estimate how challenging it will be to rank for various search keywords.
It will recommend sites that you may want to contact to request a backlink.
And it lets you do SEO audits on your site to see if there are any details of internal modifications you can make to boost your site’s visibility in search engines.
That’s just the beginning, though; Semrush also offers a wide range of other tools to boost your site’s visibility online.
Down below, I’ll discuss these in detail, pointing out their advantages and disadvantages.
To begin, let’s explore a feature known as “domain analysis.”
Domain analysis
In most cases, the first step of an SEO strategy is to conduct a basic domain analysis. What this means for search engine optimization purposes is gaining a quick, high-level assessment of a domain’s “quality.”
Domain analysis is often performed on either your personal website (to identify areas for SEO development) or a competitor’s site.
External links (or ‘backlinks’) from high-quality websites to your content can increase your site’s ranking in search results. Therefore you may also undertake domain analysis on a website to determine if it is worth approaching its owner for a link from that site to yours.
Simply enter a domain’s URL into Semrush’s “domain overview” area, and the tool will immediately give you an idea of how well it’s doing in Google search results.
Metrics provided include:
- An ‘authority score.’
- How many people visit the site per month
- A number of incoming links to a website (sometimes called “backlinks”).
- Number of keywords for which the site ranks and the search intent of those keywords
- Anchor text is commonly used in links to the website
- Top performing keywords
- Display advertising stats
- Competing websites
The ‘authority score,’ among the above mentioned indicators, typically provides the most immediate insight into site quality.
Specifically, Semrush bases its assessment on the following:
- Statistical Analysis of Backlinks (the number of links pointing to the site)
- information gathered from search engines naturally, such as visits and keyword rankings
- Statistics on the flow of visitors to a website (monthly visits).
The majority of Semrush’s domain overview statistics are based on hard data. However, the traffic counts are estimations, and in my experience, they are not always completely correct.
(I found this out by contrasting the Semrush traffic estimations with the actual traffic numbers from Google Analytics for the websites that I manage).
Nonetheless, it’s preferable to view Semrush’s traffic data as a rough estimate of a site’s popularity, which might help you compare your own site to the competition’s or determine which sites are worth contacting about possible backlinks.
Keyword research in Semrush
Researching keywords typically involves the following:
- Determining how many individuals are looking for a specific keyword in search engines.
- determining how competitive it is to achieve a high ranking for that keyword
- discovering who is currently ranking for that particular keyword
- obtaining recommendations for several additional ones.
You will be provided with a keyword research tool by Semrush that will make it very simple for you to discover all of the aforementioned facts.
Accessing basic keyword data
Simply typing a phrase into Semrush’s “Keyword Overview” field will return some basic information about that term.
In doing so, you are exposed to several keyword statistics, including but not limited to the following:
- Monthly Google searches average for the term, which is based on the difficulty of the keywords you’ve provided.
- A rundown of search engine results for it.
- recommendations for related search terms
- Similar to domain analysis, this can be done on a country-by-country basis.
The term difficulty score is one of the most useful metrics this query returns.
Semrush employs a percentage to convey this information; a greater percentage means that competition for the term is higher.
Semrush may also provide an estimate of the number of backlinks (links from other material to yours) you will need to rank for your desired search keyword, as indicated by the arrow in the following screenshot.
However, there are situations when Semrush doesn’t provide the estimated number of links necessary to rank for a particular term.
It would be preferable if Semrush, like its competitor Ahrefs, could be more nuanced in certain situations. The majority of the time, though, the information that is returned is sufficient.
Keyword Suggestions
Use the ‘Keyword Magic’ tool under Semrush’s ‘Keyword Research’ tab to get in-depth keyword ideas based on a phrase you’ve typed.
After that, a list of suggested keywords will be provided to you that is associated with the phrase you provided, along with filters to help you refine the results.
- The difficulty, which is the essential
- Each keyword’s average monthly search volume
- Each keyword’s potential CPC (cost per click) if you were to utilize Google Ads to display the results.
The criteria that Semrush gives under the ‘Keyword Magic’ tool to assist you in identifying keywords with low competition are one of my favorite features.
To see associated keywords arranged from easiest to most challenging, utilize the dropdown menu shown below.
Using this method, you may pinpoint the phrases for which you have a reasonable chance of appearing in search engine results.
Now, one of the main features that sets Semrush apart from other SEO tools is the incorporation of search intent into the offered data for keyword research.
Each keyword suggestion in a list will have a little letter next to it, either an I, N, C, or T. These tags indicate whether a suggested keyword is meant for informative purposes, navigational purposes, commercial purposes, or transactional purposes.
What Semrush means by them is as follows:
- Informational =means that the user is looking for specific information in response to a question.
- Commercial = means that the user is interested in researching various brands or services.
- Navigational = “navigational” refers to when a person is looking for a certain page or website.
- Transaction = means that the user is attempting to finish an action (i.e., purchase or other conversions).
By combining search volume with these classifications, you can make far more informed decisions about which keywords to prioritize.
For instance, you can zero in on keywords that are more likely to result in a purchase by selecting the “commercial” option from the keyword intent filter’s dropdown box.
If you’re working on an SEO campaign and need help deciding which keywords to focus on, you can obtain all the data you need from Semrush’s keyword difficulty tool.
Semrush’s Content Marketing Toolkit
In addition to providing tools for keyword research, Semrush also gives you access to a set of tools for “content marketing” (so long as you subscribe to the “Guru” plan or a higher-tier plan; we will discuss pricing plans in more detail momentarily).
These make it possible for you to:
- Find fresh ideas for your next writing project.
- Discover the keywords your rivals are using in their postings, and then start utilizing those phrases yourself.
- Assess your content
- Keep an eye out for any mentions of your brand.
The SEO Writing Assistant is my go-to function in Semrush’s content marketing suite. It’s now possible to review content by just pasting it into Semrush.
After doing so, you’ll be presented with recommendations for how to boost its visibility in search engines.
Advice may be given to either increase or decrease the number of words, specific keywords may be suggested for inclusion in the text, and red flags may be raised if the information appears to be copied from another source.
Having to copy and paste a lot of content text into the tool to get it analyzed is a bit cumbersome, but it would be wonderful if you could just give Semrush a URL from your site to get these recommendations.
(However, individuals who prefer to write in Google Docs or Microsoft Word can download a corresponding plugin or add-on to take advantage of the capability.)
Now, what about keeping tabs on your existing search rankings?
Rank tracking
“Rank tracking” or “position tracking” refers to keeping checks on your site’s rank in search engine results over time for a specific term.
Simply navigate to Semrush’s position tracker feature, add a domain name and the target keywords you wish to track, and you will immediately receive a report indicating where your site now stands in relation to those keywords.
You may track your efforts to improve your site’s search engine rankings over time as more information about your site is added to Semrush.
You can also use Semrush’s position tracker tool to analyze your competitor’s websites and see how they compare to your own for specific keywords over time.
Finally, you may sign up for weekly insights or set up “triggers” that send you an email anytime something noteworthy happens with your position, such as when a certain piece of content enters or leaves the top 10 results for a defined search query.
To sum up, Semrush’s position tracking features are top-notch.
Backlink analysis tools
The number of ‘backlinks,’ or links leading to a website from other websites, is a significant factor in determining how well a website performs in search engine results. Backlinks refer to inbound links.
Semrush provides users with two options for examining backlinks: the first is to utilize the tool’s “backlink analysis” option, and the second is to carry out a “backlink audit.” Both of these options are described further below.
Let’s take a look at each one in turn:
Backlink analysis
You will be presented with a list of each and every backlink that Semrush has found to a specific domain by entering the domain’s name into the “Backlink Analytics” section of Semrush.
Additionally, you can utilize this area to view the following:
- The text that serves as the “anchor” for each backlink.
- Top-level domain distribution (the number of links to your website that end in.com,.org,.gov, and so on)
- Data on the Internet Protocol addresses of incoming links.
You are able to observe when a domain has gained or lost backlinks, in addition to the value of the links that are in concern, as all of the data is shown in a very simple and organized manner.
You may either utilize this data to enhance your own SEO efforts, or you can use it to obtain insights into the SEO work of a competitor.
The quantity and quality of Semrush’s link database are the two primary factors that determine how accurate the backlink analysis it provides is.
At the time this article was published, Semrush made the claim that their link database contained over 43 trillion URLs, which, if true, would put it in a strong position relative to its primary competitors Ahrefs (29.9 trillion) and Moz (43.1 trillion).
Backlink audits
Semrush’s ‘backlink audit’ feature provides another perspective through which to examine incoming links. The main reason for doing this is to find out how harmful the links to your site are, or how beneficial it is.
Semrush creates a “disavow” file during a backlink audit that contains all of the links it deems to be spam.
By doing so, you’re telling Google to disregard these harmful links, which can improve your search engine rankings because Google may otherwise punish your site for having too many low-quality links pointing to it.
(However, it’s crucial to proceed with caution when disavowing links; familiarize yourself with Google’s recommendations on the matter first!)
In order to produce a disavow file for Google, you can use Semrush’s backlink audit tool, which is excellent at identifying low-quality links.
But it’s important to remember that not all SEO experts agree that link spam identification tools are effective; many prefer a more hands-on approach.
Link building in Semrush
The link building tool provided by Semrush is one of the product’s most notable characteristics.
As was mentioned earlier, link building, also known as the process of getting other websites to link to your own, is absolutely essential to the success of any SEO project.
This is due to the fact that search engines typically award websites that have more links pointing to them with higher positions in search results (so long as the links in question are located on high-quality, relevant websites).
This is how the link-building tool from Semrush works:
- Identifying who your rivals are and what they’re ranking for in search engines.
- Checking out the articles on your website
- Requesting you to provide a list of the keywords you would want to rank for.
- And then surfacing a list of ‘prospect’ websites that it thinks is worth approaching for a backlink or guest post opportunity.
In addition, it equips you with some excellent resources for doing so. Your mailbox may be linked to Semrush so that you can make contact through email directly from the app.
Each strategy’s development may then be tracked in a customer relationship management approach.
To top it all off, Semrush supplies email addresses for each website and lets you store an outreach email as a template for future use (see screenshot above).
All this exceeds the capabilities of Semrush’s primary competitors in the link-building space, and it’s likely the best case for choosing Semrush.
Broken link building
Building links that go to broken pages is a related SEO strategy that is highly significant.
It consists of the following three steps:
- Locating a broken link (i.e., one that no longer leads anywhere)
- Reproducing the “dead” content that it previously directed users to.
- Requesting that anybody who previously linked to the material that has been removed now connect to yours instead.
By taking this course of action, you may increase the number of incoming links to your material, which, as was previously discussed, can have a positive effect on your search engine rankings.
You may utilize it by running a report on your backlinks, going to the “indexed pages” section, selecting the “broken pages” option, and then exporting the data to a CSV or Excel file.
This file may then be filtered or sorted to isolate the 404 errors (i.e., the broken links).
Social media tools
you can use Semrush to get insights on social media activity associated with your brand or a competitor’s brand.
The platform gives you the ability to connect to a number of well-known social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and it provides you with access to a dashboard that exhibits details on your followers, post reach, and post engagements.
Among the well-known social networks that you can connect to are Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
When you make use of the feature that enables you to schedule social media posts, you are provided with a useful strategy for publishing across networks and prompted to consider how you wish to interact on social media.
In addition, you are given the ability to schedule social media posts. This characteristic has the potential to be regarded as the one that offers the most advantages.
Site auditing
The capability of Semrush to do site audits is one of the tool’s most valuable features.
During a site audit, Semrush will check for problems that might be affecting your search ranking in a negative way. Some of the potential problems include the following:
- Slow-loading content
- Duplicate content
- SSL problems
- Crawl errors
- Core web vitals (Google’s new metrics for assessing site speed and stability)
- Missing headers
- Overuse of keywords
After that, it will provide you with an overall score for the ‘health’ of your site as well as a list of problems that need to be fixed.
And as a pleasant bonus, Semrush lets you export any bugs it identifies in the form of tasks to the widely used application Trello for managing projects.
You also have the option of sending these assignments to Semrush’s straightforward CRM tool, which is an integral part of the platform.
I am especially fond of Semrush’s on-page SEO analyzer since it analyzes your complete website and provides you with specific recommendations for improvement for each individual page.
These may include recommendations regarding the following:
- Which keywords should be added to the content you have.
- There are a number of actions that may be taken in order to make a page qualify for a featured snippet on Google.
- Ways to boost the body text as well as the meta descriptions of your website
- Which websites to contact in order to get backlinks
- Length of the content,
- Internal linking techniques
The site auditing capabilities of Semrush are fantastic for a number of reasons, one of which is that it not only instructs you on what actions to take but also explains the reason behind those actions.
Each tip is accompanied by a link labeled “Why and how to resolve it?,” which, when clicked, provides an explanation in simple language as to the reasoning behind each option.
The site audit component of Semrush is absolutely outstanding and, together with the capabilities of Semrush’s link building, is perhaps superior to comparable options provided by competitor products.
It is crucial to highlight, as a last point, that the auditing capabilities of Semrush are functional regardless of the CMS that you are using.
This means that it does not make a difference if you build your website with Squarespace or WordPress, Wix or Shopify, etc.
Regardless of the site builder that you choose to use, you will get a full list of suggestions that you may implement in order to optimize the SEO configuration of your website.
Is Semrush the Best Tool For Your SEO Needs?
When it comes to SEO needs, semrush is one of the top choices. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, it helps businesses boost visibility in search engine rankings.
Not only does semrush offer keyword research, site audits and analysis, but it also helps you keep your content up-to-date with its real-time insights into competitor keywords and backlink data.
Whether you are a novice or an expert marketer, semrush makes sure that all your SEO efforts are geared towards achieving maximum success.
This powerful tool can help you save time, money and resources in order to get the highest ROI possible. All in all, there is no doubt that semrush is one of the best tools for getting the most out of your SEO efforts.
Improvements Needed in Semrush
- Metrics only For Google
Because the data supplied is exclusively for Google searches, there is room for some advancement.
It would be preferable if metrics were accessible for some other search engines also.
Now to be fair, Google is still used for the vast majority of searches (92.3% at the time of writing, according to Statcounter), but there are regions, including the United States of America, in which other search engines enjoy a reasonable slice of market share (in the United States, for example, around 7% of searches are currently made on Bing).
- More Accurate Rank Tracking
Another area that could be improved in Semrush is rank tracking. Rank tracking is the process of tracking a website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords.
Currently, Semrush only tracks a limited number of SERPs, which can make it difficult to get an accurate picture of a website’s ranking.
Additionally, the rank tracking data that is available is often inaccurate, which can make it difficult to make informed decisions about SEO strategy.
- More Comprehensive Reporting
Reporting is another area that could be improved in Semrush. Currently, Semrush only provides basic reports, such as website traffic and keyword rankings.
However, more comprehensive reports would be beneficial in order to track the progress of SEO campaigns and make informed decisions about future strategies.
Additionally, reports should be easy to understand and interpret, with clear recommendations for action.
- Improved Customer Support
Customer support is another area that could be improved in Semrush. Currently, customer support options are limited, and response times can be slow.
Additionally, it can be difficult to get in touch with a human customer support representative when needed. Improving customer support would benefit both current and potential customers alike.
- Better Integration With Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a popular web analytics platform that provides insights about website traffic and user behavior.
Currently, Semrush does not have full integration with Google Analytics, which can make it difficult to get the most out of both platforms.
Full integration would allow users to take advantage of all the features and benefits offered by both platforms.
- A/B Testing Capabilities
A/B testing is a process of comparing two or more versions of a web page or app in order to determine which one performs better.
Currently, Semrush does not have any A/B testing capabilities, which can limit the effectiveness of optimization efforts.
A/B testing capabilities would allow users to test different versions of web pages or apps in order to determine which ones perform better with regard to specific goals.
- Improved Documentation
Documentation is another area that could be improved in Semrush. Currently, documentation for using Semrush can be difficult to find and understand.
Additionally, some features are not well-documented, which can make them difficult to use. Improving documentation would benefit both current and potential customers alike.
Clear instructions on how to use all features would help current customers get more out of the platform while also making it easier for potential customers to evaluate whether or not Semrush is the right tool for their needs.
Easy -to-understand documentation would also help new employees hit the ground running when they start using Semrush for their projects.
Conclusion
There is a lot of value for the price offered by Semrush. It provides access not only to information regarding organic search but also specific data regarding pay-per-click advertising as well.
Its search intent feature is brilliant, and its CRM-style tools are great for use in link-building campaigns. You can get the SEMrush in Group Buy with affordable prices from SEO Tools Access.
Its reporting limits are more generous than those of competing tools. The negative is that all of its plans come with just one user account.
Its competitive intelligence add-ons are pricey; and, unlike other rival companies, data is only offered for one search engine, and that search engine is Google.
