Semrush

Semrush is an online visibility and marketing platform best known for search engine optimisation. It provides keyword research, competitor analysis, site auditing, rank tracking, backlink data, content tools and advertising research, used by marketers, agencies and businesses to grow organic and paid search traffic. Its breadth is the defining feature. Where some tools specialise in one aspect of SEO, Semrush covers most of the workflow in one subscription. The Keyword Magic Tool and keyword gap analysis find search terms and opportunities competitors rank for; Domain Overview and Traffic Analytics estimate any site's traffic, top pages and sources; Site Audit crawls a website for technical issues; Position Tracking monitors rankings by location and device; and the Backlink Analytics database shows linking domains. Content tools help plan topics and optimise articles, and local SEO features manage business listings and reviews. Semrush has expanded beyond SEO into a broader marketing toolkit. Advertising research reveals competitors' paid search keywords and ad copy, social media tools schedule and analyse posts, and market research features analyse industries and audiences. In response to AI search, it has added tools that track how brands appear in AI assistants and answer engines and recommend ways to improve visibility. An app centre offers additional specialised tools. Semrush is a paid subscription with tiers by number of projects, tracked keywords and users, and a free account with limited queries. The main criticisms are cost, especially for small businesses and when adding users and add-ons, and the reality that third-party traffic and keyword estimates are approximations rather than exact data. Alternatives include Ahrefs, its closest competitor, particularly strong in backlink data; Moz Pro, with its Domain Authority metric; SE Ranking and Mangools for more affordable suites; Similarweb for market and traffic intelligence; Screaming Frog for technical crawling; Surfer for content optimisation; and Google Search Console for free first-party data. Choose Semrush when you want one comprehensive toolkit for SEO, competitor research and search advertising.