Are you keen to utilize the powerful SEO and competitive insights from Semrush but don’t have the budget for a paid subscription? You’re not alone – while Semrush is relied upon by leading brands globally, small businesses and bloggers also want access without large expenses.
The good news is – multiple options exist to use Semrush for free even with certain limitations. By understanding what’s available in the free plans and optimizing usage, you can extract excellent intel to boost website traffic and performance. In this post, let’s explore clever ways to use Semrush without paying!
Understanding Semrush’s Capabilities
Firstly, what does Semrush offer through their paid plans? Semrush is one of the prominent SEO and marketing suites providing companies with information related to:
- Keyword tracking and ranking capabilities
- Competitor website analysis
- Backlink tracking and audits
- Page optimization checks
- Traffic analytics and trends
- Ranking performance history
The actionable insights, attractive visual representation of data, and integration with Google Analytics make Semrush invaluable for marketers to fine-tune website SEO and content strategies.
However, most of these features come under Semrush’s various paid plans only. Can we still benefit without investing? Let’s find out next!
What Does The Free Semrush Version Offer?
Semrush does provide a free account option with restricted access. By signing up with just an email ID, you get access to:
- Semrush Keyword Magic Tool – Keyword ideas generator
- Position Tracking Dashboard – Up to 3 domains with 10 keywords each
- Backlink Audit – 5 Backlink analysis requests per 7 days
- Site Audit Checklist – 50-page audit reports
Considering keyword research alone costs in paid tools, Semrush’s free account packs tremendous value. You can also track rankings for a few important target keywords daily. And analyze a limited number of vital backlinks and page optimizations.
For most bloggers and small site owners, these free resources itself provide immense SEO benefits if utilized optimally.
Tips To Maximize Free Semrush Usage
While free Semrush capabilities are limited in scope, they can still greatly assist SEO efforts if used strategically. Some tips to maximize value:
- Add Highest Priority Domains: If you manage multiple sites, add the top traffic domains under the position tracking quota.
- Leverage Google Analytics: Use Google Analytics data to select the 10 most valuable organic keywords driving traffic for rank tracking under the limited keywords quota.
- Identify New Opportunities: Use the Semrush Keyword Magic tool for fresh long-tail keyword ideas around popular topics. Cross-verify their ranking difficulty using free Semrush before targeting them.
- Audit Top Competitor Backlinks: Use your 5 free backlink analyses to study links pointing to a leading competitor or authority website within your niche. This provides an X-ray view into the top sites you should aim to get links from over time.
- Analyze Site Architecture: Run a Semrush site audit on your blog focusing on site structure, internal links, meta titles/descriptions, etc. All critical elements from an on-page optimization standpoint.
By carefully prioritizing domains, keywords, backlink assessment, and technical checks – you can form an excellent base SEO strategy purely using Semrush free tools.
Gain More Semrush Access via Free Trials
Apart from the forever free Semrush account with limited capabilities, sometimes they also provide free trials to their paid software bundles.
Typically, you can access a 7-day free trial of the full Semrush tool suite including:
- Unlimited keyword tracking
- Sitewide backlink analysis
- In-depth competitor domain studies
- Ranking and traffic analysis
- Content marketing capabilities
- SEO workflow builder
Now the free trial access is not perpetual. But clever marketers can extract and download lots of competitive data, analysis, and reports during those 7 days for future reference. By planning properly, those 168 hours are enough to build some killer strategies!
The free trials are not always running but get enabled occasionally. You need to check the Semrush site routinely or subscribe to their newsletter to get informed whenever free Semrush offers open up.
Research Well And Craft Queries Wisely
Whether using the Semrush free version forever or their time-bound free trials, careful research planning is key to maximizing productivity. Considering the keyword and backlink analysis limits in play, you need to be very strategic in how you spend them.
Some tips here:
- List absolute top keywords for your vertical – don’t waste slots tracking irrelevant ones
- Club-related long tail keywords under a single target root keyword using Semrush’s wildcards functionality
- Similarly, for backlinks, use filters smartly to analyze links from the most important domains first before reaching quota limits
- Download and save every useful data, chart, and report for the future as your access expires
With some consideration and query optimization techniques, you will be surprised how much can be achieved using Semrush for free!
Explore Semrush discounts
This brings me to my final point about accessing Semrush cheaply. While free Semrush usage has limits, their paid software comes at a subscription fee ranging from $129 to $499 a month based on the plan.
However, instead of paying the full ticket price, see if you can access Semrush via their special discount offers by:
- Checking eligible student discounts – 20% off!
- Signing up for annual contracts which have a lower effective monthly cost
- Exploring bundling options with complementary tools like Surfer SEO or Raven Tools
- Timing your purchase with seasonal sales events like Black Friday
Lower cost legal access options do pop up allowing you to gain long-term Semrush subscriptions at reduced pricing. Evaluate all avenues before paying full recommended retail pricing.
Over To You!
While the Semrush free account exists forever, we saw additional ways of accessing the full Semrush tool suite for SEO via:
- Limited free trials
- Student discounts
- Annual contracted rates
- Bundles and cross-sell deals
Hope this piece provided you with creative ideas on how to maximize your Semrush usage without spending lavishly! Feel free to share if any other discounted channels or tactics have worked for you around minimizing Semrush costs!