I have never been a big fan of SEO software. I guess I’m old school and I like to stick to the basics. The software I use today are the barebones type of tools like Notepad, Word, Excel and Google Keyword Tool. In the many years that I’ve been doing SEO, I’ve only tried out a few SEO software.
I really have nothing against SEO software, but I like to keep things basic and simple. I try to limit my software usage to just a few. Why? Because I believe that a lot of the software out there are a waste of time. I could be using that time to create new content, find new clients, or start new projects. Furthermore, I’m thrifty. Why spend money on a software when I can simply use a free tool like Google Keyword Tool or the tools provided by sites like iWebTool?
I can say this because I have had success in this industry without the help of any SEO software over the years. I’m already busy as it is – I don’t have time to micromanage every keyword for every website. I try to stick to the basics. I believe if you follow Google’s simple advice of creating content for the end user, you’ll be fine in the long run. I’m not saying you should ignore keyword research or SERPs, but you shouldn’t bog yourself down with time-consuming reports and unnecessary data. Use your time wisely. Be productive.
So, this brings me to my review of an SEO software called SEMRush. I signed up under the Pro plan which costs $69.95 per month. They also offer the Guru plan which offers less restrictions for $149.95 per month. However, I think the Pro plan is more than sufficient for most SEOs.
Under the Pro plan, you get:
- 10,000 results per report
- AdWords and Organic keyword data
- Ability to export in CSV and XLS
- API access
It’s been a while since I’ve used an SEO software, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When I first logged in, I was pleased to see the simplicity in which the data was displayed. The data itself is very insightful and comprehensive.
The data is broken down into 7 different reports. They are:
- Organic keywords
- AdWords keywords
- Competitors in Google
- Competitors in AdWords
- Adwords Ads texts
- Potential ads buyers
- Potential ads sellers
The data comes directly from Google API, so you can be confident about the accuracy.
As you can see from the sample screenshot above, it offers a lot of valuable data. SEMRush provides keyword data about the websites you want to analyze. For example, you can see your ranking position (SERP) for your keywords, as well as search volume, Adwords CPC, traffic % and the level of competition for specified keywords. And, if you want to do some competitive analysis, you can simply click on a competitor site link and see what keywords they’re ranking for and what keywords they may be bidding for in Adwords.
This software not only provides you with a ton of keyword ideas for SEO and Adwords, but it also helps you find potential ad buyers and sellers. SEMRush is a simple-to-use tool that provides all the essential SEO intelligence to help you optimize your campaign and ultimately make more money from your website.
Everything about this software is easy to use. If you want to save the reports, you can download them to Excel or CSV with a single click.
Check it out: www.semrush.com
I also recommend the SEOQuake toolbar for Chrome or Firefox browsers. This is a free tool that provides key SEO parameters about each website you visit (e.g. Pagerank, SE indexed pages, Alexa rank, domain age, whois info, source code link, SEMRush’s proprietary rank, keyword density info and more).
If you have tried out SEMRush, let me know your thoughts.