Semrush Review: Is Semrush Still Good?

Last Updated on July 2, 2025 by Ewen Finser

Semrush is one of the most well-known SEO and digital marketing platforms in the world. Currently, more than 10 million people have tried Semrush since it launched.

If you’re running your own SEO campaign, you understand it’s difficult to measure everything that goes into reaching the top spot on Google.

That’s why Semrush consists of multiple SEO tools that can help businesses achieve better search engine rankings.

These tools can assist with keyword research, measure your domain ranking, analyze your backlinks, track your search engine rankings, optimize content, and more.

But is still Semrush worth it? Have its tools evolved with the AI revolution?

In this updated review, we’ll answer these questions and more. Continue reading our unbiased review of Semrush to learn more.

Semrush Pros

• Touches on a myriad of SEO factors with their extensive tools (all-in-one suite)
• Offers comprehensive search engine data and results
• Includes tools to make competitor research easy
• In-depth traffic analytics tools (competitor advertiser research)
• Expanding AI-powered content and keyword tools 
• Trusted by enterprise teams and agencies for large-scale reporting 

Semrush Cons

• Some tools aren’t rated as highly, such as their social media tools
• Plans only allow one user, with additional users costing extra
• Some users may find the interface and tools confusing to use
• Not as robust for local SEO
• AI features are still developing compared to niche tools like Surfer or Frase 

Semrush Overview

Semrush was founded in 2008 by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitry Melnikov. Their main office is located in Boston, MA, though they have team members and seven office locations across five countries.

Semrush offers various tools that provide insight into your SEO performance and campaign.

Businesses can use this information to identify new opportunities for organic and paid search (Google ad campaign, etc), create better content, and uncover technical issues that could be hurting search engine performance.

Semrush is still a go-to for SEO teams, but with more competition and AI-focused tools emerging, it’s important to know what you’re getting

Semrush Tools and Modules

Semrush includes 55+ tools across SEO, PPC, content, and competitor intelligence. Below are the most widely used ones:

Keyword Research

Keyword research is at the core of Semrush’s toolkit. It’s most used keyword research tools include:

• Keyword Overview
• Keyword Magic Tool
• Organic Traffic Insights
• Keyword Manager
• AI Keyword Research Assistant 

These tools allow you to evaluate a keywrod’s search volume, ranking difficulty, cost-per-click, and who’s ranking. Plus, you can generate suggestions based on your content goals

Let’s start with the Keyword Overview tool.

Simply enter a keyword.

You’ll be able to see the number of searches per month, the websites that rank for it, and the keyword difficulty score. You can also see these rankings for different countries.

However, if you’re new to keyword research, these metrics may confuse you.

Monthly search volume is pretty standard — the higher the number, the more traffic a specific keyword receives. If a keyword receives more than 100 searches per month, it’s considered a good keyword to use.

Keyword difficulty is expressed by a percentage. This percentage ranges from 0-100%. Semrush breaks down these percentages into three categories:

• Below 60%: low difficulty
• 60%-80%: medium difficulty
• Over 80%: high difficulty

You’ll also see other metrics, such as cost-per-click (CPC). This is helpful if you’re running a PPC keyword campaign beyond just organic keyword research.

The Keyword Magic tool remains a standout, offering  keyword clusters, filters for SERP features, and question-based queries

Semrush also recently introduced the AI Keyword Research Assistant, which helps surface intent-based keywords faster and generates keyword ideas based on your topic description, not just seed keywords. This is a welcome addition, especially if you’re starting from scratch or brainstorming content ideas. 

Organic Traffic Insights remains a powerful tool when linked with Google Analytics and Search Console. You’ll get accurate reports of where you are, what’s changing, and how to optimize

Note: Semrush’s keyword data is still primarily Google-focused. If you need Bing, Amazon, or YouTube keyword research, consider combining Semrush with niche tools like Ahrefs or TubeBuddy.

Domain Overview and Competitive Analysis

Domain analysis tools judge your SEO results based on your website. This is a great way to start your campaign; measure your current results and set future growth goals.

The domain analysis tool also has another purpose. You can put your competitor’s URLs in this tool to see how well they’re performing. It’s an easy way to get in some great competitive research.

If you host backlinking campaigns, you can use the domain analysis tool to measure the SEO results of different blogs. This will help ensure you only choose high-quality backlinks.

To use the domain analysis tool, simply paste the URL you’re searching and you’ll see the following metrics:

• Monthly visitors
• Authority score
• Keywords the website ranks for
• Top-performing keywords
• Number of backlinks pointing to the website
• Commonly used anchor text(s)
• Competing websites
• Traffic Journey Flow 
• AI Competitive Report Builder

All of these metrics are easy to understand, though those new to SEO typically have difficulty with the authority score. Authority score measures a website’s organic search data, backlink data, and website traffic data to deliver a traffic analytics score. The higher the score, the better the website is performing.

Semrush’s Authority Score combines backlink data, search traffic, and other factors to determine domain strength. It’s a proprietary score, not an official Google metric.  

As of 2025, Semrush also offers Traffic Journey Flow, a visual map that shows how users arrive at a competitor’s site, what sources they use, and where they go afterward. This is a huge plus for competitive research.

The only downside with this tool is these metrics aren’t always 100%. But they do offer a convenient way for businesses to track these essential metrics to use toward your campaign.

Rank Tracking

Over time, you’ll want to measure your SEO results. Semrush offers a simple solution to tracking the website traffic you receive from your keywords (traffic analytics). The Rank Tracking tool provides this assistance.

Simply start by going to the Position Tracker section. Enter your domain name and the keywords you’re tracking. You’ll receive automatic updates on rankings across mobile/desktop, location, and device to see how your website is ranking for the keywords. You can also track SERP features like featured snippets and local packs.

Semrush also now offers Visibility Trend Charts and Cannibalization Reports, which let you see which pages are competing for the same keyword and track visibility changes over time.

It’s recommended you do this regularly to ensure your SEO efforts are giving you success. Semrush can send you emails that inform you of your rank tracking process.

Many websites also use the Rank Tracking tool for competitor research. This way, you’ll know if your competitors are ranking better or worse for the same keywords (e.g. competitor analysis). And competitor tracking remains easy: Just add up to 20 domains to your position tracking project.

Content Marketing Tools

The content marketing toolkit is almost essential for bloggers and content marketers. There are various tools here that aim to accomplish certain goals, such as:

• SEO Writing Assistant 
• SEO Content Template 
• Topic Research 
• Content Shake AI
• Content Audit so your existing content can rank better in search engine results

Content Shake AI helps small teams auto-generate outlines, titles, and long-form content drafts using AI, with Semrush’s own SEO data layered in. 

The SEO Writing Assistant (still available as a Google Docs and WordPress plugin) now also checks tone of voice, originality, and readability in real-time, though for advanced editing, you may want to use tools like Surfer or Grammarly.

One of the biggest benefits of these tools is how they offer suggestions. For example, they auto-recommend keywords to add, offer insights about factors such as word count, and even warn you if your content is too similar to other websites.

The only downside is you have to write in or paste your whole text into these tools. But as long as you don’t mind this, bloggers will benefit from using these tools.

Backlink Analysis and Audits

Backlinks are a huge influence on your SEO results. This is why Semrush offers powerful backlink tools, specifically the analysis and audit ones.

For the Backlink Analysis, all you have to do is enter your URL and the tool will auto-recommend different links for your link building. Semrush has one of the biggest link databases of any SEO tool, so you’ll be satisfied if you’re focused on backlinking. You’ll be able to view individual websites that show the quality of their links, whether or not they gain or lose links, and more.

The Backlink Analytics tool gives you: 

• Total backlinks and referring domains 
• Link type (text, image, form, etc.) 
• Toxic score from spammy links 
• Lost and new links over time 
• Domain-level link authority

You’ll also want to regularly conduct backlink audits. These show if any backlinks pointing to your website are toxic. If any spammy websites are linking to your site, you can email the site owners directly or report them to Google directly through Semrush.

You do this by uploading them as “disavow” files, which tells Google to ignore the backlinks. Google has specific requirements for uploading disavow files, so make sure you read them first.

The Backlink Gap now suggests link-building opportunities based on competitors that link to similar sites but not yours. It also includes a new “Link Velocity” tab that tracks link growth or loss trends.

Site Audit and On-Page SEO

A site audit identifies any issues with your website that could cause poor search engine results. These factors include:

• Duplicate content
• Slow-loading website
• Crawl errors
• SSL problems
• Keyword overuse
• Missing headers
• Broken links
• Core Web Vitals 
• Page Experience signals 

Semrush now includes Core Web Vitals integration and gives tailored advice on fixing Largest Contentful Paint, CLS, and FID issues. 

When you conduct a site audit, Semrush will give you a list of things to correct. This way, you don’t need to seek third-party assistance when you want to conduct a site audit.

Similarly, Semrush offers an On-Page SEO Checker. This crawls your pages and suggests any changes based on your content, competitors, and current rankings to improve your SEO results. This may include:

• Making your page appear as a “Google Snippet”
• Keywords to add
• Websites to approach for backlinks
• Improving your body copy and meta descriptions
• Internal linking strategies
• Content length

One benefit that makes Semrush stand out is they offer you education. If the Site Audit or On-Page SEO Checker tools identify an issue, they will explain why making those changes will improve your SEO results.

Semrush Pricing Plans

Semrush’s pricing depends on which toolkit you sign up for. Here are the toolkits you can choose from: 

• SEO 
• Traffic & Market 
• Local 
• Content 
• AI 
• Social 
• Advertising

All of these tools sound amazing. However, Semrush also sounds expensive. How much should businesses expect to pay for Semrush?

For example, Semrush offers three plans for its SEO toolkit:

• Semrush Pro: $139.95/month ($117.33/month when billed annually)
• Semrush Guru: $249.95/month ($208.33/month when billed annually)
• Semrush Business: $499.95/month ($416.66/month when billed annually)

All of these SEO plans differ in various ways, such as:

• Number of keywords you can track per month
• Number of reports you can run per day
• Historical data
• Content marketing tools

Its Content Plan toolkit, which includes an SEO Brief Generator, AI Article Generator, topic ideas, Content Optimizer, Integrations, and Reporting, costs $60 per month.

It’s also important to note that the prices are only for one user. If you have a large digital marketing or SEO team, you’ll likely need more users to access the program. That’s why many businesses choose the custom plan.

The toolkits also have various add-ons, like additional users, Lead Generations, Base Report, and Pro Report.

The currency is in US dollars. Semrush also offers a 7-day free trial. The main downside is you have to enter your credit card details to access the free trial. Make sure you cancel if you don’t like Semrush before the trial ends.

In addition, Semrush offers custom plans. This is ideal for large corporations if the offerings from these plans aren’t enough. There are the Enterprise plans, but you need to contact Semrush for a demo and pricing. And there are various apps, which cost extra.

User-Friendliness

Semrush has a very user-friendly interface. Even though users may experience information overload, their design is straightforward and intuitive enough to defeat any learning curve.

It has a similar interface to competitors. The menu is on the left and the functionality is on the right. When you click different menu items, such as Content Marketing Toolkit, the individual tools will appear under the tool category on the menu.

A new homepage dashboard (“My Semrush”) offers customizable widgets so you can build your own workflow view, which is ideal for busy marketers. 

The one issue that new users experience is data overload. And it’s understandable — Semrush offers a lot of functionality and that can overwhelm users easily. Fortunately, Semrush does offer visuals to identify and group data in an easy manner.

Semrush also offers a mobile app for businesses on the go. This way, you can keep up with your campaign if you’re not near your desktop, but it’s best used as a companion, not your main workspace.. The app now supports side audit reports, visibility trend tracking, and basic keyword research. 

Customer Service

What if you need to contact customer service for any reason? They have various customer support channels:

• Email
• Phone
• 24/7 live chat
• AI support chatbot
• Webinars, how-tos, and certification courses via Semrush Academy

This is more than what a lot of competitors offer. They also make their customer support visible on their website and don’t force you to go through obstacles to reach a representative.

Alternatives & Competitors to Semrush

Want to consider other companies and SEO tool options for your SEO efforts? Semrush has many high-quality competitors, including:

• Ahrefs, for deeper link data and a slightly better user interface.
• Surfer SEO for content optimization, on-page audits, and AI-powered writing assistance.
• Moz Pro which is beginner-friendly and easy to navigate, though slower to innovate.
• Ubersuggest which is affordable and offers simple tools.
• Serpstat for entry-level data and solid value.
• Mangools for an intuitive user experience and affordable pricing for freelancers and small agencies.
• SE Ranking which is a budget-friendly, all-in-one platform with great white label reporting.
• SEO PowerSuite, a desktop-based suite with one-time pricing and deep crawling tools.
• WebCEO for enterprise-focused tools, project collaboration, and local SEO support.
• Monitor Backlinks for streamlined backlink monitoring and link disavow tools.
• SpyFu, which is excellent for PPC competitor research, ad copy insights, and historical keyword data.

Definitely look into these companies and see if they can offer something else for your SEO campaign.

If you are specifically looking for local SEO tools, Semrush is a great option, but with specific features and modules (that might not be apparent from the front-end sign-up page).

FAQs about our Semrush Review

Semrush Review: The Final Verdict

If you’re looking at SEO software for your business, you likely stumbled upon Semrush. But is Semrush worth it? This software offers many benefits, such as extensive tools, versatility, comprehensive data, and they offer an easy way to research competitors and audit your website.

Semrush continues to be one of the most powerful SEO and marketing platforms with industry-leading keyword research, competitor tracking, and site audits.

However, Semrush isn’t perfect. First, they’re expensive and their plans only allow one user (unless you pay extra for more team members). Not all of their tools are good quality or necessary. Semrush is also not the best solution if you’re new to SEO. Lastly, there are reports that Semrush isn’t as reliable as we assume.

We recommend you use Semrush if you need a solution that touches on all aspects of your marketing campaign. Semrush is also popular for marketers who want to focus on keyword research and backlink analysis. Otherwise, we recommend finding an alternative.

Still not sure how to find the best SEO tools?  Here are some other SEO tool comparisons and guides to aid in your search: