Item: Semrush
Rating: 10
Author: Dave Davies

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Semrush covers a lot of bases. We have historically used their auditing features as a primary mechanism for spot-checking for problems and primary assessments. Their reporting mechanism is good, though we generally use Data Studio (with Semrush data). We also use their rank tracking and I personally use their social poster tool, but there are more robust systems out there for that task for true SMMs. I am not, but people are my company are.b I'm a very big fan of their keyword discovery tool (KeyWord Magic) and their backlink tool is also solid. While I'm listing specific tools, that's for context as each user is different. One of the strongest capabilities Semrush has is bringing it all together in one place for both management and understanding.

Pros and Cons

Great keyword research tool
Very user friendly with some great advanced capabilities within.
Excellent support
A tool for most tasks

The auditing tool isn't as informative as some others, though they're generally more expensive.
For agencies, the upper-level packages may not be enough and added costs can add up quickly.

Return on Investment

With some report templates, it's easy to put together preliminary audits to review with prospects without giving away the farm.
A good well-rounded tool that grows well with use until you hit a higher level of use.
Value-per-dollar is very high.

Alternatives Considered

Authoritas (formerly Analytics SEO)

I've reviewed a number of tools, and continue to periodically. Semrush easily wins for the breadth of coverage, and it does them well. Some tools designed for a single task win in those tasks, but none compare overall.
Some other tools I've looked at are:
Authoritas
OnCrawl
Social Sprout
Loomly

Key Insights

Do you think Semrush delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Semrush's feature set?

Yes

Did Semrush live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Semrush go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Semrush again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Teamwork Projects, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, SpyFu, Ahrefs

Likelihood to Recommend

Semrush is a great all-purpose tool. For intermediate-to-high level SEO, it needs to be supplemented with additional crawlers and data, but that's to be expected. It's a very good tool all around and highly recommended for most scenarios. The only time I wouldn't see it as specifically appropriate is if people only have the budget for one tool, and have highly complex sites with high technical considerations or want the ease of visualizing more complicated aspects of their site.

Highly recommend in almost all scenarios

Overall Satisfaction with Semrush