SE Ranking Vs. SEM Rush — Which One Is Better?
Comparing and contrasting two major players in the world of SEO analysis tools.
I have put together this detailed and comprehensive review for those trying to decide whether SE Ranking or SEM Rush is the better tool for your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Projects.
Why Do You Have To Choose?
With all that’s going on in the world today, digital marketers and businesses alike have a plethora of options when it comes down to choosing the right SEO tools. That can sometimes make it difficult to choose which one is the right one. From keyword research, and spying on competition, to backlinks, traffic insights, and optimization suggestions. The list goes on and on.
In digital marketing, SEO is the key to a thriving, and lasting business.
Let me break it down for you.
SEO Basics
When one starts a business, whether online or offline, they need customers. In order to get customers, they need traffic. In order to get traffic, they need to be found. When online, and looking to get traffic, Google and Yahoo are the major search engines.
Most people use Google, but there are still some who use the Yahoo search engine. That is where SEO comes into play. Sounds simple, right? Well, not so much, and I will tell you why.
A lot of times when a company, or website is just starting out, or they aren’t currently ranked far up enough in the search engines, they will use paid ads until they can get ranked naturally, and organically.
It can take time to get ranked in the search engines, especially if you have a company or business that has a lot of competition.
Anyhow, when a company runs paid ads on Google, (or PPC) it can sometimes even help with their SEO. Ultimately, the goal is to rank naturally and organically in the search engines, so that you don’t have to pay for keywords (PPC) or (SEM) to be on the first page, or even the first few listings. This is where SEO comes into play.
There are a lot of working parts, and there are a lot of things that are involved with SEO. Just to name a few of the things it entails are: backlinks, ( or link building ), keywords, meta tags, structure, word count, quality of content, on-page SEO, off page SEO, site speed, security, and SSL. Then you have all of the “DO NOT DO” rules that apply.
For example, keyword stuffing, spammy links, duplicate content, using “sandboxed” domains, are just some of the things you shouldn’t do when it comes to your SEO tactics.
Every now and again, Google comes out with a new update, and addition to their set of rules, such as the “Panda” update. For some businesses and agencies that were used to a certain way of doing SEO, now have to do it a little differently. There were just more rules that applied, and what once worked, no longer works. This actually hurt some businesses, and websites, as they received a penalty for certain things.
Now it’s getting a little more confusing, huh?
Don’t worry. You’ll be ok.
SEO Ranking Tools
If you’re not wanting to hire an agency, tools such as SE Ranking and SEM Rush can make things a whole lot easier in terms of doing SEO.
They give the foundation, and lay the groundwork for everything you should, and shouldn’t do when it comes to doing your SEO. Not only that, but they both have some great tools to do other things for your marketing needs as well.
Whether you’re an agency looking for effective tools to use for your clients, or you have a business, and don’t want to hire an agency, and would rather tackle it all yourself. These two tools are a little different, but can do pretty much the same things, with a few exceptions, and just in different ways. It all really depends on your style, way of doing things, productivity measures, what you’re looking to accomplish, and basically, which you feel more comfortable with.
Let’s dive in to see which one would be better suited for you.
SE Ranking
Firstly, SE Ranking allows you to spy on your competition in many ways including gauging how much farther or behind your competition is in the search engines. Not only that, but you can take a look and analyze their backlinks, check their search volume, and even their paid ads.
When you’re able to spy on your competition, you have a leg up, and can outrank them, by “out optimizing”, or basically “outdoing” them. With the SE Ranking tool, you are able to obtain similar, if not better backlinks, perform similar, if not better ads, and use the same, or similar keywords.
You can also get keyword ideas that you may have never thought of before, and rank for those keywords. If a keyword has a large search volume with low competition, you can even rank for that particular keyword that your competition isn’t using. Essentially, you can outrank your competition, and end up saving money at the same time.
You can also gauge where your site stands, and what metrics you need to work on. They have a dashboard to run reports, do site audits, do lead generation, and give you optimization suggestions to help you rank better. They even give you a marketing plan.
If all that’s not enough, SE Ranking allows you to also get your analytical data right from your Facebook and Twitter social media accounts, and schedule automatic posts to them.
This tool pretty much has all you need for your marketing efforts, whether you’re a business or a digital marketing agency.
SE Ranking has a 3 tier pricing structure depending on what you want to accomplish, and how long you want to commit for. The prices range from $31 per month to $151 per month, if paying yearly. If paying monthly, it starts around $39 per month. Therefore, the longer you commit to their service, the more money you will save with them. Their most popular is the $71 per month plan.
The $31 per month plan should get the job done for a regular business with little competition. The only drawback is that it won’t monitor your pages for changes, and you don’t have access to their SEO/ PPC database expansion research tool.
For small to mid-sized agencies, I would recommend the $71 per month plan. You get all of the features, and what I think is a hefty search volume of everything you’re trying to do, as well as access to their white label service.
For bigger agencies, that want all that, as well as an even bigger search volume, and those needing access to their API, then the only other choice is their $151 per month plan, but is well worth it in my opinion.
You can click here and try it out for free for 14 days, and see how you like it before you purchase it.
SEM Rush
Now, for SEM Rush and why that might be a better fit, or not.
According to their Facebook page, SEM Rush was founded in 2008 by a small group of IT Specialists and SEOs. It now has over 6 million users, 20 billion keywords and key phrases, over 30 trillion backlinks, and over 40 tools available for you, so that you can outrank your competitors.
SEM Rush also has a dashboard to utilize, and you can even get help with your PPC Campaigns. For agencies, it has a built-in lead generation tool as well as a CRM, and it can pretty much do everything SE Ranking does. Also, like SE Ranking, you can spy on your competition.
However, unlike SE Ranking, You can learn digital marketing from top notch experts with free online courses and exams through the Academy that SEM Rush offers.
They even have tools to leverage voice search. This is something new that a lot of business aren’t aware of, but should be getting ready for, and actively doing now.
SEM Rush has a 3 tier pricing model as well, but they are a little bit more on the pricier side, and structured a bit differently.
Their prices range from $99.95 per month to $399.95 per month depending on what you are wanting to do. Again, the longer you commit for, the more money you will save with them.
For small, in-house agencies, and small businesses, I would suggest their $99.95 per month plan.
For growing agencies, I would suggest the middle of the road plan which is $199.95 per month. With this plan you get historical data as well as extended limits.
If you need the API, or white label reporting, that would be the biggest plan at $399.95 per month.
Some of what they offer is a-la-cart. For instance, if you need traffic analytics added to your plan, that’s an extra $200 per month. However, you get a lot more tools to use with that extra $200 as well.
Just to get your feet wet with the platform, you can try it free for 7 days by clicking here, with either the $99.95 plan, or the $199.95 plan, and upgrade, if you need to, at a later time.
( Disclaimer- This is a professional review blog which gets compensated for the products reviewed by the companies who produce them. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality, and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you. I am an independent blogger and the reviews are done based on my own opinions. )
Overview
Overall, by comparing these two tools side by side, both will pretty much do the same things.
In my personal opinion, I think the SEM Rush dashboard is a little more beginner friendly, and is a little less confusing. I also like their dashboard and how everything is laid in a more, simpler fashion. Not to mention their Academy teaches most you everything you need to know in the digital marketing arena for free.
However, as far as pricing goes, SE Ranking wins by a long shot in my book!
It is a little less beginner friendly, and might take some figuring out, but it can pretty much do everything SEM Rush does.
Both have a free trial, so you can try before you buy. SE Ranking has a 14 day free trial, and SEM Rush a 7 day free trial.
If you’re not wanting to hire an agency, I would recommend going with SE Ranking first for a couple of weeks. Then if you absolutely don’t like it, cancel before the trial is up, and try out SEM Rush. SEM Rush does cost a bit more, but you might like it a lot better.
Essentially do whatever you think is best, and what might suit you more. Whether SE Ranking or SEM Rush is the better SEO tool for you, is ultimately up for you to decide.
