Are you confused about choosing between Semrush and SE Ranking? At one time, I was stuck in this situation as well.
As per the experts, Semrush is considered the #1 tool in the SEO industry. I couldn’t agree more since I have used this tool for the past 2 years. But you can’t ignore the capabilities of SE Ranking, the new sensation among digital marketers and bloggers.
I have used both platforms, and most of the features are quite similar. So, it can put new users in a tricky situation when picking one of them.
That’s why I have decided to compare the similar features of Semrush and SE Ranking in the following post. By the end of the post, you will have enough knowledge of both tools, so you won’t find difficulty choosing a tool for your business.
Semrush vs SE Ranking: In A Nutshell
Before jumping directly to the in-depth comparison, busy readers can take a look at a quick comparison table for a quick verdict.
| Plans start at $129.95/month | Semrush | SE Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Moderately complex | Beginner-friendly with a simple interface and navigation |
| Keyword Research | Huge keyword database (25.5 billion), advanced keyword analysis | Good database (7.3 billion keywords) with solid keyword research tools |
| Competitor Research | Traffic analytics, keyword gap, and market explorer tools | Website traffic estimates and keyword analysis of competitors |
| Rank Tracking | Global and location-specific rank tracking | Strong rank tracking in multiple search engines |
| Backlink Analysis | Large backlink database with detailed reports | Offers backlink analysis and monitoring tools, but limited compared to Semrush |
| Content Marketing | SEO content template for content ideas and optimization | On-page SEO checker and content gap tools |
| Social Media Marketing | Social media posting, scheduling, and analytics (cost extra) | Limited social media management features |
| Pricing | Plans starts at $129.95/month | Starts at $55/month |
| Free Trial/Plan | 14-day free trial (link given below) | 14-day free trial (no credit card needed) |
| Best For | SMBs to large agencies | Small businesses and budget-friendly startups |
What Is Semrush?
Semrush is a cloud-based SaaS platform that provides a wide range of SEO features and tools. It has over 50 tools in its arsenal that help improve ranking, track competitors, and find backlinks – basically, it fulfills all SEO and digital marketing needs.
Semrush also helps you identify trends and easily rankable keywords for your website. However, the platform has a learning curve, so beginners may find it difficult to use the tools at first. Once you are familiar with the tools, you won’t need another tool to integrate into your website.
What Is SE Ranking?
Like Semrush, SE Ranking is also an all-in-one SEO toolkit suitable for SMBs, startups, and enterprises. The platform provides an easy-to-use interface with no learning curve. Yet the tools are accurate and trusted by SEO professionals.
SE Ranking simplifies complex optimization tasks by providing tools like competitor analysis, website audit, ranking tracking, and backlink analysis. On top of that, you will find a bunch of automation features that will further elevate your website ranking and bring organic traffic.
Semrush vs SE Ranking: Major Features Comparison
Here’s the complete comparison of Semrush and SE Ranking’s core features.
1. Keyword Research
With 25.5 billion keywords, Semrush has the largest keyword database in the world, among other SEO toolkits. On the other hand, SE Ranking has only 7.3 billion keywords in its database. It may seem lower than Semrush, but it is still bigger than most of the SEO toolkits in the market.
The main keyword research tool of Semrush is the “Keyword Magic” tool. You can simply enter a seed keyword, and the tool will process a list of alternate keywords with the search intent, volume, CPC, and keyword difficulty.
You can cluster all the keywords by numbers or search volume. You can set parameters to advance your list of keyword ideas and manage all of them from the “Keyword Manager” section.
Semrush keyword capabilities are unmatchable, but they can cost a lot for just one purpose. You can check out other affordable Semrush alternatives with ultimate research capabilities.
Like Semrush, SE Ranking also offers multiple tools related to keyword research. It includes keyword suggestions, organic results, SERP history, and PPC keywords. As soon as you enter a seed keyword, it shows the average data of each metric, such as keyword difficulty, search volume, CPC, and search distribution by country.
Below that, you will find a list of keyword ideas with exact metrics in front of keywords. You can add keywords to your list by similar keywords, related keywords, and questions.
2. Competitor Analysis
Semrush and SE Ranking both offer the ultimate solution to spy on your competitors and their strategies.
Semrush has five tools that users can use for competitor analysis:
- Domain Overview: Compares your website vs. your competitors and provides you with overall differences in different aspects.
- Traffic Analytics: If you and your competitors are sharing the same audience, this tool shows you the traffic shared by your website vs your competitors.
- Organic Research: Get an overview of organic traffic and keywords of your competitors
- Keyword Gap: Find keyword gaps and opportunities that your website might be missing.
- Backlink Gap: Find sources and referring domains for new link-building opportunities.
With SE Ranking, you will get a list of keywords a competitor ranks for, along with ranking positions. It shows basic organic search data like keyword rankings and traffic estimates.
You can analyze competitors’ backlink profiles without paid search or display ad data. No direct comparison with your metrics, but you can compare competitors against each other.
If you run paid campaigns to rank your content on search engines, here are the top ad spy tools you can use to uncover your competitors’ best keywords and ad strategies.
3. Backlink Checker
Backlink audit shows all your backlinks along with metrics like domain rating, link type, anchor text, etc., for analysis. Semrush’s backlink checker allows you to see who is linking to competitors plus analyze their overall link-building strategies.
You will discover credible websites to reach out to for link building by exploring competitors’ backlink sources.
SE Ranking’s backlink audit shows all backlinks pointing to your site. This will help you assess link quality and identify toxic backlinks.
The data helps you analyze competitor backlink profiles for link-building inspiration, but this data is more limited compared to Semrush. There’s no proprietary domain or link quality rating system, and the link analysis capabilities are not as advanced overall.
4. Rank Tracking
Semrush can track keyword rankings for your site and competitors in Google and Bing, along with local pack rankings. You will see precise ranking changes over customizable time frames.
You will get traffic and click value estimates for rankings with the information Semrush’s Rank Tracker provides. For your convenience, you can set up automated rank tracking reports to be delivered straight to your inbox.
Similarly, SE Ranking’s rank tracker monitors keyword rankings for your site and competitors in search engines.
You can see rank change history over time and get an estimated search traffic volume driven by important keyword rankings. You can enable Alerts for ranking changes, but there’s no automated scheduled reports option like Semrush.
5. Content Optimization
Not many toolkits offer tools and features to optimize new and existing content. Luckily, Semrush and SE Ranking both have tools to analyze content and provide recommendations to rank better.
Semrush has a Content Marketing section in the menu where you can find content optimization tools, including:
- Topic Research
- SEO Content Template
- Brand Monitoring
- SEO Writing Assitant
- ContentShake AI
The top four tools will help you find keywords, topics, and optimization for new and existing content for your website. The main player is ContentShake AI. It suggests new ideas after evaluating competitors’ content that can rank better on search engines.
SE Ranking content optimization depends on basic technical SEO audits that point out issues like duplicated content, meta tag problems, etc. However, there’s no unique content checker or readability analysis functionality.
But you will get an automated content gap identification or topic recommendations. It will help you create rank-worthy content with better keywords and SEO optimization. You can also generate content based on recommended keywords and content gaps.
6. Social Media Marketing
Semrush is one of the few SEO tools that provide exceptional SMM features. It helps you manage social media accounts, and schedules and collaborate with teams.
It provides you with in-depth analytics for multiple social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. You can set up and create targeted social media ads and analyze performance. The platform also allows you to monitor brand mentions and audience behavior across the web and social media.
SE Ranking also offers social media account management and posting scheduling functionality. But its social media analytics focused just on Facebook and Twitter.
Compared to the Semrush Social Media Tracker tool, it has limited functionality and reporting tools.
- No social ad creation, management, or analytics features.
- Brand monitoring is limited to mentions on main social platforms only.
Semrush vs SE Ranking: Pricing Differences
Both SE Ranking and Semrush offer tiered plans to suit different business needs.
Semrush Pricing
Semrush offers a wider price range. The Pro and Guru plans include exclusive 14-day free trials.
- Pro: $129.95/month. For small teams. Track 500 keywords.
- Guru: $249.95/month. For SMEs and consultants. Track 1500 keywords.
- Business: $499.95/month. For enterprises and agencies. Track 5000 keywords.
You can also save up to 17% with Semrush’s annual plans. If you are stuck choosing between a plan, this Semrush pricing guide will help you pick one.
SE Ranking Pricing
SE Ranking recently updated its pricing. While prices rose, they also increased keyword limits. A 14-day free trial is available on all plans, and no credit card is required.
- Essential: $55/month. Best for individuals and businesses with less competition. Track 750 keywords daily and automate basic SEO tasks.
- Pro: $109/month. Ideal for mid-sized businesses. Track 2,000 keywords daily, use page change monitoring, and collaborate with clients.
- Business: $239/month. Unlimited features, API access, track 5,000 keywords daily. Suited for agencies and large businesses.
Users can save 20% on annual plans and get free website migration.
Semrush vs SE Ranking: Pros And Cons
Let’s go through the pros and cons and get an overall overview of both platforms:
Semrush Pros
- Very large keyword database with billions of keywords in 170+ countries
- Sophisticated keyword research and filtering capabilities
- Tons of proprietary tools and metrics
- Thorough competitor and content gap analysis
- Offer tons of SEO and marketing automation tools under one platform
- Excellent support via phone, chat, and email
Semrush Cons
- Pretty expensive, especially the high-tier plan with full capabilities
- It has a steep learning curve for novice users
- Too many features and options can be overkill for simpler needs
SE Ranking Pros
- A broad SEO feature set at an affordable pricing
- Offers a clean and easy-to-use interface
- Covers all the basics effectively for smaller businesses
- Good and quick customer support via email and in-app messaging
- Report sharing option with your team members and clients
SE Ranking Cons
- More limited tools and datasets compared to Semrush
- Keyword and competitor research capabilities are not very advanced
- Features of smaller plans can be too basic for large enterprises
Related Read:
Final Verdict: Semrush Clearly Outperforms SE Ranking
Both Semrush and SE Ranking are excellent SEO and marketing platforms. However, after the complete comparison, Semrush shows better capabilities and data insights in many sections.
But still, both platforms target different audiences and users with different budgets:
- Semrush is better suited for established brands and agencies that need advanced capabilities.
- SE Ranking is best for beginners, solopreneurs, and small businesses since it is affordable yet feature-rich.
Luckily, both platforms offer a free trial for new users. You can take the 14-day free trial (exclusive 2-week free trial with our link) on both platforms and test the features first-hand to see which one delivers the right capabilities for your business and SEO needs.
So don’t wait. Sign up today and pick the best!
