Businesses nowadays are having a great market competition and each one of them is battling to increase the online presence and website ranking on the search engines.
With up to 3.5 billion searches on Google each day, the website ranking competition has become stronger among businesses.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) – BIGGEST NEED OF BUSINESS TODAY?
Search Engine Optimization serves as the backbone in this crucial phase of ranking the website. Also, SEO is the only way to bring organic traffic to your website. Throughout the globe, businesses use SEO, its related tools, and tactics to get unpaid/organic traffic.
In this competitive market, it has become significant for the businesses and websites to rank in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), and here SEO and its related tools play a game-changer.
If SEO tools are incorporated appropriately then your website would rank higher in the results of the search engine.
The industry of SEO is the only that worth up to $80 billion and is growing more, a recent report reflected.
It is very important for businesses to maintain their website ranking with the help of SEO tools that could help them in keyword research, competitor analysis, technical SEO audits, and link analysis along with Google Ads Optimization.
As far as the SEO tools go, there are two popular leaders changing the complete landscape of SEO; Ahrefs and SEMrush. Both the SEO tools are used to optimize the site and the pages in numerous ways.
In this complete analysis guide, we have put both the competitors to the test.
Yes, you heard it right, we're now going to put both the SEO tools, Ahrefs and SEMrush head to head and you will have a deep insight into the features of both the tools. Dive into the study to have a deeper comparison of Ahrefs and SEMrush.
INTRODUCING - THE TWO COMPETITORS:
Talking generally about both the SEO tools, we must say, both of them are phenomenal when it comes to keyword research and competitive analysis. Here is a quick review below.
SEMRUSH:
SEMrush - one of the most popular tools for the competitive research service around the world for online marketing! It was initially a Firefox extension. Back then in 2007, it was released under the name SeoQuake. Popular features of SEMrush include;
- Accurate data for search volume
- Huge keyword database for Google
- Accurate position tracking tool
- SEO reporting
- Toxic links monitoring and penalty recovery
- Content marketing platform
- Free trial available
AHREFS:
Ahrefs came into the SEO play in the year 2011. The owners declared it as the world’s best tool for backlink analysis and SEO experts from 7dollaressay agree with the pride crown! The tool is having an accurate link database and is used for the SEO purpose only! The main features of Ahrefs include;
- Customizable alerts for the backlinks
- Intuitive interface to help you check the website quickly
- Deep look into the search traffic with site explorer
- Domain comparison and reports with charts
- JavaScript rendering and site audit
- Content explorer available
- No free trial
DIRECT COMPARISON: AHREFS VS SEMRUSH
In this section, we have broken down the comparison of Ahrefs and SEMrush in terms of different aspects. Let’s now get down to business with a point-to-point comparison of both tools.
Domain analysis:
Domain analysis is pretty easy to do in both tools. You just have to enter the domain in the input box and the key metrics are returned back quickly. There is an authority score available and an estimate of the total number of visitors for the website based on each month.
Both the tools are quite similar when it comes to domain but the Ahrefs is pretty easier with the access of key stats. If we talk about the accuracy of domain analysis, then SEMrush wins the game. The competitive positioning map of SEMrush also gives it a slight edge over the Ahrefs.
Keyword research features:
Keyword research is all about identifying the people who are searching for the particular keyword. Checking the difficulty level of the keyword is also important so you have an idea about its ranking and competition level. Also, the existing ranking is needed to know about keywords.
With the help of Ahrefs and SEMrush, it is easy to find all the information about the targeted keyword. SEMrush uses the percentage score to indicate the difficulty of the keywords while Ahrefs uses the score out of one hundred. Semrush is keener with the keyword difficulty so you will find more information with it.
Backlink analysis:
The site has to be a lot more responsive and the results must be tracked too. This can only happen with the help of external linking or backlink. It is very important for every business to have several external sites linking to it. Ahrefs and SEMrush are doing complete justice with it.
Both the SEO tools provide all the required information about the origin of backlinks along with the new and lost domains. However, SEMrush is pretty interactive with its presentation. On the other hand, Ahrefs’ link tool is better than SEMrush because it allows the comparison of one link with 10 others.
Site auditing:
Both the SEO tools, Ahrefs and SEMrush have a site auditing feature. In this way, the user is to allow evaluating the performance of the site. This also encourages checking the performance of the site from technical SEO and on-page SEO.
The SEMrush’ on-page SEO checker goes through your whole website and provides actionable tips. This results in the improvement of the site from each page. It is also super easy to use as compared to the Ahrefs.
Broken link analysis:
Broken link tactic is one of the most important elements in the SEO ground. This is the method of finding broken links that are not being in use anymore. This approach allows the users to create new backlinks to the content.
With the help of Ahrefs, it is extremely easy to find the broken dead links. You can enter the domain name and ask for the broken links. This will result in a list of broken inbound links. However, doing the backlink analysis can be pretty hard with SEMrush. You would have to run the backlink analysis report, navigation, and then export the output.
Ease of use:
As per the recommendations by the SEO experts, Ahrefs is slightly easier to use in comparison with the SEMrush. The interface of the Ahrefs is pretty clean and its menus are designed in much logical form. The dashboard is also pretty informative and looks more interactive.
Ahrefs gives you a clear look at the term SEO and you get to know its understanding. On the other hand, if we talk about SEMrush, it is quite difficult as you have to do a lot of research and clicking to get your choice of data. However, SEMrush is simply a game-changer when it comes to visualized content.
Pricing and value for money:
Both the SEO tools offer different pricing plans. SEMrush offer a free trial as well and this feature is not available at Ahrefs. As compared to the other SEO tools, Ahrefs and SEMrush are quite expensive but they offer a huge range of functions as well! SEMrush comes up with 3 main pricing plans;
- Pro ($119.95 per month)
- Guru ($299.95 per month)
- Business ($449.94 per month)
The second competitor, Ahrefs offers you 4 varieties;
- Lite ($99 per month)
- Standard ($179 per month)
- Advanced ($399 per month)
- Agency ($999 per month)
Now, this depends upon the type of your business, size, and budget for which package your business must go.
Support:
SEMrush here wins. Its customer support is available for the users via 3 channels that are phone, chat, and email.
On the other hand, Ahrefs does not offer any phone support. There is a win-win for the SEO tool of SEMrush in the context of customer support.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
When it comes to powerful SEO tools, SEMrush or Ahrefs is not the end. You can go with the MOZ, Majestic, and SEO PowerSuite. There are other SEO platforms as well that you can look for to grow the online presence of your business. All you need to do is to decide your SEO tool smartly according to your business strategy.
