Google Trends vs. Semrush

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Trends
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Google Trends is a search engine optimization software solution offered by .N/A
Semrush
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Semrush is a relatively popular search engine optimization tool set from the company of the same name based in Pennsylvania and founded in 2008. Largely the platforms relies on competitive intelligence, and features SEO staples like backlink checking, keyword analysis to refine SEO and PPC campaigning and locate low-cost / high-yield keywords, analysis of competitors who co-occupy desired ad and listing spaces, domain vs. domain analysis, as well as site audit and domain tracking. Semrush can…
$139.95
per month
Pricing
Google TrendsSemrush
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Pro
$139.95
per month
Guru
$249.95
per month
Business
$499.95
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google TrendsSemrush
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details17% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google TrendsSemrush
Considered Both Products
Google Trends
Chose Google Trends
One of the most obvious reasons why I chose Google trends over other keyword research platforms is because it's free. At the same time, it also has the most relevant and easy-to-use features out of the bunch. Google Trends does not have as many features as SEMRush or Buzzsumo, …
Chose Google Trends
I've used SEMRush, while more of a SEO Manager than keyword trend analyzer, it does have that option as it does relate to SEO management, but between the two, its nice to have the option in SEMRush, but Google Trends is better at doing the trend analyzing than SEMRush is.
Chose Google Trends
I like using Google Trends because it gives you a clear visual of seasonal trends and compares multiple queries at once. However, I do prefer using other systems like SEMRush and Ahrefs because they are more detailed in the information they give you regarding your website and …
Chose Google Trends
Google Trends provides data for many LLM queries, so they aren’t great unless they have that data. However, they present the data in a more usable format than Google Trends, as the data can be manipulated for different case studies with a few simple prompts.
Chose Google Trends
They are both great tools. I prefer Google Trends because of the location capabilities and being able to go hyper-local. It does not however provide the details on cost and competition like SEM Rush does.
Chose Google Trends
Google Trends tends to be slightly more accurate than the other products, because Google has access to more user data for the algorithm to take into consideration when providing trends and information. We like this tool because it also aligns better with the Google tools we use …
Chose Google Trends
Google Trends has the biggest source of data and is the most accurate. It cannot be used without any other tool because of its own limits (keyword suggestion, semantical analysis, etc.).
Semrush
Chose Semrush
SEMRush is my personal favorite SEO paid or free tool to use. I personally love the way it breaks up individual projects and allows you to work on each client's site as a whole separate from your other internal or external work. I also love how it allows quickly exported …
Chose Semrush
SEMRush is definitely better than SpyFu in terms of the amount of data you get, the detail of the data, and the accuracy of the data. SpyFu is like a beginner's version of SEMRush. SpyFu is great if you're smaller, less experienced, and want to spend less money - but SEMRush is …
Features
Google TrendsSemrush
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.0
35 Ratings
24% below category average
Semrush
7.9
154 Ratings
3% above category average
Keyword analysis8.533 Ratings8.6154 Ratings
Backlink management5.08 Ratings8.3147 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking5.013 Ratings8.2150 Ratings
Page grader5.09 Ratings7.6129 Ratings
Competitive analysis8.021 Ratings8.5149 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics5.08 Ratings8.0150 Ratings
Site recommendations5.09 Ratings7.6139 Ratings
Task management6.24 Ratings6.691 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.5
24 Ratings
15% below category average
Semrush
8.2
140 Ratings
8% above category average
Local SEO6.221 Ratings8.1128 Ratings
Social SEO6.215 Ratings8.0106 Ratings
Mobile SEO6.216 Ratings8.3113 Ratings
Global SEO7.224 Ratings8.2114 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Trends
6.0
11 Ratings
34% below category average
Semrush
8.5
125 Ratings
1% above category average
Multi-domain support6.05 Ratings8.2115 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools6.011 Ratings8.8119 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google TrendsSemrush
Small Businesses
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google TrendsSemrush
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(33 ratings)
8.3
(154 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(6 ratings)
9.9
(17 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google TrendsSemrush
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google Trends is great for research and planning, to analyse keyword demand and associated costs. It really does help plan to capture consumer demand. It can be a little tricky to use, as the UX design isn't brilliant, so you'll need to learn how to navigate the website.
Read full review
Semrush
This is suited to plan for keywords in a single market, but it struggles when you need to consolidate several markets. It is well-suited to discover new keywords directly related to the ones being used currently to expand the content the company is creating to get better results.
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Pros
Google
  • I love how Google Trends presents the popularity of a specific query by location. For example, my product may be more popular or more "searched" in a specific state or city. This helps a lot for direct mail campaigns or any sort of in-person marketing efforts like events or pop-ups. You could use the information from Google Trends to decide what locations will be more receptive of your product/industry or you could see where people have little to no interest and build a brand awareness campaign focusing on those areas.
  • Another great feature within Google Trends is that it shows "Related Queries", which are basically suggestions of better keywords or phrases to incorporate into your content. If you search for data on a keyword you're using that's too broad (your content won't stand out among other web pages) or too narrow (not many potential customers are searching that keyword or phrase), Google Trends will suggest a related keyword or phrase that is more appropriate or trending at the moment. You could go back and incorporate these phrases into your content so that it's more likely to be found on search engines.
  • Within the Google Trends "Related Topics" section, you can choose whether you want to see topics that are "Top" or "Rising". I like this feature because looking at a "Rising" topic can help you create content that's more likely to be seen - especially if you're a beginner. Most topics that are in the "Top" category can have thousands of web pages that you're competing against and you can feel like your content is drowning. But the topics in the "rising" category can be great for newer sites that haven't developed authority online yet. You can write on one of these topics and be one of the first sites to create content on that topic, which gives you a head start over other sites.
  • Google Trends "Categories" is also a great feature. If you don't have any content ideas for your website, you can easily find inspiration by selecting a category that's relevant to your industry. The top keywords or topics will come up and you can create content on those topics to increase your number of web visitors. For example, if you work in the fashion industry and you don't have content ideas, you can have Google Trends generate data for the "Beauty & Fitness" or "Shopping" categories to see what's trending. Google will tell you if a specific brand, person, or event is trending and you could write an article based on one of those trends. Since people are searching for that topic, your content will be seen. This is a great way to create timely content even if you're new to an industry or simply haven't kept up with it.
Read full review
Semrush
  • Great visuals for keyword position tracking, love that you can see the page that is ranking
  • Enjoyed the auto-generated reporting feature (specifically in the context of keyword position tracking)
  • Shows many different and useful views for competitive research
  • Great templated keyword research tools for those who are not as hands-on with SEO
  • I LOVE the Keyword Magic Tool for honing in on longtail, high-opportunity keywords
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • It would be nice to have breadcrumbs available so that I can go backward in a particular search. One I click a topic and then click the related terms two or three times, I find that I'm so far down the rabbit hole that the "Back" button in my browser is a really inconvenient way to find my way back to a certain stage of my search. If there were breadcrumbs I could jump directly back to a particular stage and chase another rabbit from there.
  • It's easy to get lost searching in here for an extended period of time. I would be nice to be able to print a report of my whole session when I have finished.
  • It would be nice to have a Top Tends board of job searches or other information related to jobs that are currently popular Google searches.
Read full review
Semrush
  • Extra seats can be expensive, as [an] agency with multiple team members this can be frustrating
  • Backlink data is not great, misses out a lot of backlinks (better off using a specialist backlink tool like Link research tools LRT)
  • Tracking multiple keywords, across multiple clients can be costly
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
No answers on this topic
Semrush
I [previously] used Semrush for many years and I cannot find any other tool being so complete and easy to use.
Read full review
Usability
Google
Google Trends is very easy to use. you just search for a certain keyword or phrase, and it tells you how often that keyword or phrase is searched, where in the world it is searched, and over the last decade, how often it is per year.
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Semrush
The interface is a little less intuitive than it could be. The data is often available but filtering and manipulating the data can be a little difficult at times. Expanded comparisons would be helpful since most of the time seeing more than a few competitors at a time allows for a better sense of how to forecast.
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Reliability and Availability
Google
No answers on this topic
Semrush
Semrush available when you need it!
Read full review
Performance
Google
No answers on this topic
Semrush
SemRush performs well with few errors!
Read full review
Support Rating
Google
I haven't needed to use any support for Google Trends. However, I've used Google's support in general and it's a hit or miss. Usually, there's a long wait or they don't understand my problem. They are the only ones that can help, so sometimes I feel stuck. They prioritize paying customers for sure.
Read full review
Semrush
I'm in a FB group for Semrush paid users and it amazing! They are fast to respond, take suggestions and help with questions. I have not felt alone in using this product at all. Highly recommend their support team. When I had an issue I can jump into the group and they will help get me the right person to help or even tag their programmers to look at something that is going on. Love the group!
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Implementation Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
Semrush
I did it by myself and do not have a comment!
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Alternatives Considered
Google
Google Trends is a great place to start in the content curation, content research, blog post writing, and resource page creation process. It is not, however, a place to do serious SEO optimization. Tools like Moz, or Analytics SEO would be a better place to go after you do initial research on Google Trends to dial in your keywords, and optimize content for search engines.
Read full review
Semrush
We have used both Ahrefs and Semrush extensively at our agency and Semrush remains the tool of choice. We find that Semrush has the largest selection of tools & features to use, with the highest accuracy, and provides top-tier analysis recommendations. It's really is the ultimate all-in-one tool when comparing other performance measurement tools in the digital marketing space.
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Scalability
Google
No answers on this topic
Semrush
Semrush is flexible and scalable software which can be deployed across multiple departments and sites as needed.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • Google Trends has shown me when a keyword is no longer working for my website so that I can adjust the content accordingly.
  • It shows me seasonal differences so I can adjust my PPC budgets to be on pace with the trends.
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Semrush
  • Using Semrush on behalf of our clients, we have seen some impressive growth in organic visibility, traffic, conversion and revenue, across multiple industries.
  • The site checks available with Semrush have helped us to pitch and sell our services, securing new clients.
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ScreenShots