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Welcome to my SEMRush vs Google Keyword Planner comparison.

In this comparison, we’re going to be taking a look at the differences between SEMRush and Google Keyword Planner.

This then should help you determine whether you really need SEMRush for your SEO Campaigns.

We will be taking a look at the data and features that both tools provide too so that you can be sure to make an informed decision.

SEMRush vs Google Keyword Planner

The key differences between SEMRush and Google Keyword Planner are the amount of data that you can access. While Google Keyword Planner is free and lets you access keyword ideas and the search volume, SEMRush is a premium tool that has a lot more data and features.

Nonetheless, both can be great tools and not everyone needs a premium tool such as SEMRush.

What Is Google Keyword Planner?

Google is a free tool provided within Google Ads that lets you note down or list keywords.

It also shows you keyword ideas and gives you a rough idea of how many people are searching for them.

Although it was originally made for PPC Campaigns, the data such as the search volume can, of course, be useful for SEO.

Google Keyword Planner: Features

As Google Keyword Planner is a little free tool provided by Google, it has limited features.

Find Keyword Ideas

Using the Google Keyword Planner, you can find new keyword ideas for your SEO & PPC Campaigns.

List/Plan Keywords

You can then also list these keywords so that you have a nice list of keyword ideas.

Keyword Data

You can also get some keyword data, although it is very limited.

The competition is just described as low medium and high, while the search volume is usually shown as 100-1000 and figures like that.

How To Access Google Keyword Planner

It’s available in your Google Ads dashboard, or you can also access it here.

What Is SEMRush?

SEMRush is a piece of software that helps its customers by providing useful data for both SEO and SEM Campaigns.

It’s extremely popular and has over 5,000,000 registered users who are benefiting from the data it provides.

SEMRush Features

SEMRush is an all-in-one SEO tool, so it has so many features, that it would take a long time to explain each one individually.

To make things easier, I have broken the features down into SEO and SEM.

SEMRush SEO:

Other than tools for your SEO email outreach campaigns, SEMRush pretty much gives you everything you need for SEO.

Organic Research
Content Analyzer
Backlink Analysis
Audience Insights
Keyword research
Traffic Analysis
KW Difficulty
Domain VS Domain
KW Magic tool
SEO Writing Assistant
Position Tracking
Site Audit
Brand Monitoring
OnPage SEO Checker
Backlink Audit Tool
Organic Traffic Insights
Charts
My Reports
Market Explorer

SEM & Other Features

You also get everything you need for effective SEM campaigns.

PPC Advertising Research
Keyword research
Traffic Analysis
KW Difficulty
Display Advertising Tool
Product Listing Ads
Market Explorer
CPC Map
Social Media Tracker
Social Media Poster
PPC KW tool
Ad Builder

You can take a look at where your competitors are advertising and pretty much everything they are doing, so you can then go and mimic that.

The Advantages of SEMRush Over Google Keyword Planner

You simply get a lot more features with SEMRush.

It’s pretty much the only tool you need for SEO & SEM, apart from email marketing outreach for SEO.

If you are just using Google keyword planner, you will only know the rough keyword search data.

The difficulty is only for PPC campaigns and it’s very broad too.

This means you will have to do tons of manual research which will cost you time.

With SEMRush, you can see exactly what your competitors are doing, what they aren’t doing, and more importantly how you are doing.

Do You Need SEMRush?

It depends.

If you’re serious about SEO, then yes you probably should invest into a tool like SEMRush. Why?

The amount of time, you will save when doing research.
Opportunities that you will spot, which will make you much more money.
Frequent Audits, Data & Improvements will help you in the search engines

The same goes for PPC ads.

SEMRush can help you spot opportunities that will save you money & make you more money.

You can literally see where your competitor is advertising, then build around it.

Okay, they are advertising for these 3 keywords.

Now, you can advertise on those 3 keywords + some others which they don’t have.

Also, keep in mind, if you don’t use SEMRush, your competitors might be using it, meaning they will have an unfair advantage.

Likewise, if they aren’t using it, you will have an unfair advantage.

However, if you’re maybe a small blogger and don’t really care too much about growing your blog, then you probably don’t need SEMRush.

It really just depends on how serious you are about what you are doing.

SEMRush Free Trial

SEMRush does offer a 7-day trial, so you can go and test it out and if you’re not a fan of it within the trial, you can then go ahead and cancel.

And, if you forget to cancel, they also offer a money-back-guarantee!

Try SEMRush For FREE! (Exclusive 14 Day Trial, normally 7)