Semrush / Ahrefs
The two platforms Digital Marketing Managers use to research keywords, audit websites, analyse backlinks, and track search rankings — transforming the abstract goal of "rank higher on Google" into a specific, measurable programme of work.
What it is
About Semrush / Ahrefs
Semrush and Ahrefs are the two most widely used SEO platforms, and the choice between them typically comes down to workflow preference rather than capability gap. Both platforms are built around three core data sets: keyword data (search volume, keyword difficulty, and related query suggestions for any term), backlink data (the profile of links pointing to any domain, including referring domains, anchor text distribution, and link authority metrics), and organic search data (which URLs on a domain are ranking for which queries, at what position, and generating how much estimated organic traffic). Semrush is the larger platform and has the broader feature set: its Position Tracking tool monitors daily rank changes for a defined set of target keywords, its Site Audit tool crawls the website and flags technical SEO issues (broken links, missing meta tags, slow Core Web Vitals, duplicate content, crawl depth problems), and its Content Marketing Toolkit includes a Topic Research tool that maps the semantic landscape around a topic and an SEO Writing Assistant that scores content against a target keyword as it is written. Semrush also has the strongest paid search data: its Advertising Research feature shows the keywords a competitor is actively bidding on in Google Ads, their estimated ad spend, and the copy of their current ads — making it the preferred tool for teams running both SEO and PPC. Ahrefs is the preferred tool among SEO practitioners for backlink analysis and content research, with a backlink index that many practitioners consider larger and fresher than Semrush's. Its Site Explorer tool provides a comprehensive view of any domain's organic search performance: the Top Pages report shows which pages drive the most organic traffic and the keywords responsible, the Content Gap tool reveals keywords that competitor domains rank for but the target domain does not, and the Backlink Profile report shows the full link acquisition history of a domain with DR (Domain Rating) as the primary authority metric. Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer is widely considered the best tool for identifying low-competition keyword opportunities: its KD (Keyword Difficulty) score is calculated from the number of referring domains needed to rank in the top 10, giving a more precise signal than Semrush's equivalent metric. Both tools are updated with fresh crawl data daily and have mobile apps for rank tracking on the go.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Conduct keyword research for a new service page using Semrush — entering the primary topic into Keyword Magic Tool, filtering for keywords with search volume 100–2,000/month and keyword difficulty below 40, grouping results by search intent (informational, commercial, transactional), identifying the priority target keyword for the page and three to five secondary keywords to include in the content, and reviewing the SERP overview to understand what type of content (listicle, comparison, guide) is currently ranking
Run a technical SEO audit using Semrush Site Audit — setting up a project for the target domain, running a full crawl of up to 20,000 pages, reviewing the Health Score and prioritising the Issues list by severity (Errors → Warnings → Notices), identifying the top three structural problems (e.g. orphaned pages with no internal links, duplicate title tags across product variants, slow LCP on mobile pages), and creating a remediation brief for the development team
Perform a backlink gap analysis in Ahrefs — entering the target domain and up to four competitor domains into the Link Intersect tool, filtering for referring domains that link to two or more competitors but not to the target site, reviewing the domain authority (DR) and relevance of each prospect, and building a prioritised outreach list of 20 high-quality link acquisition targets for a digital PR or link building campaign
Identify content opportunities using Ahrefs Content Gap — entering the target domain and two competitor domains, running the report at the domain level to see keywords competitors rank for in positions 1–10 that the target domain does not rank for at all, filtering by search volume (500+ per month) and keyword difficulty (below 35), and producing a content brief list of topics to commission as new articles or updated existing pages
Set up keyword rank tracking in Semrush Position Tracking — entering the target domain and 50–100 priority keywords, selecting the target country and device type (desktop and mobile separately), setting up weekly ranking reports by email, and after the first four weeks reviewing the Visibility Trend graph and the keywords that have moved from positions 11–20 into the top 10 ("low-hanging fruit" pages that need internal links and content freshening to break into the first page)
How to learn it
Learning Resources
Semrush Academy (semrush.com/academy) — free; comprehensive video courses covering SEO fundamentals, keyword research, site auditing, backlink building, and content strategy, all taught using Semrush's tools; leads to Semrush certifications recognised by employers; the SEO Fundamentals Course and Keyword Research course are the best starting points
Ahrefs YouTube channel (youtube.com/@AhrefsCom) — free; Ahrefs produces some of the highest-quality free SEO education available, covering keyword research methodology, content strategy, link building, and technical SEO in platform-agnostic tutorials using Ahrefs data; the "How to Do Keyword Research" series is an industry standard reference
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools) — free for verified site owners; connects to your own domain and gives access to Site Audit (technical SEO crawl) and Site Explorer data for your own URLs; the best hands-on starting point before upgrading to a paid plan
Google Search Console (search.google.com/search-console — free) — using GSC alongside Semrush or Ahrefs is essential; GSC provides actual impression and click data from Google that neither tool can replicate; the Queries report and the Pages report in GSC are the most important real-world SEO data source a practitioner has, and cross-referencing GSC data with Semrush/Ahrefs estimates calibrates the judgement required to interpret third-party tool data accurately
Pro Tip
Keyword difficulty scores from both Semrush and Ahrefs are estimates — they indicate competition level, not rankability for your specific domain. Before committing to targeting a keyword, open the SERP in an incognito window and check the actual pages ranking in positions 1–10: if they are all high-authority national publishers or established e-commerce brands with thousands of backlinks, a domain with a DR of 25 will not outrank them regardless of how good the content is. Always qualify keyword difficulty with a manual SERP quality check.
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool
Alternatives