SpyFu And SEMrush: Who’s the Real Sheriff in Your SEO Town?

Google always hits the mark. Not once, not twice, but always.

 

Type anything on the behemoth’s search box, and its top dogs will sniff every corner to present you with results. 

 

The algorithms rely heavily on on-site data and rich insights to ensure relevant search results. And that’s where companies realized that they could optimize some data and keywords to beat the system at its game.

 

Employing your gut or fishy tactics to rank highly on search results won’t cut it, especially now that the giant has gotten smarter. Feed it low-quality, keyword-stuffed, black-hatted content, and you’ll find yourself…

 

Well, you’ll be nowhere to be found on the system.

 

Let’s face it- The engine employs a highly complex and extensive data framework when ranking sites. Only specialized scientific approaches can help you slice through the clutter and stand above the noise.


 

 

And that’s where tools like SpyFu and SEMrush emerged to rescue websites and online marketers. But which of the two delivers its promises to make you number one among your competitors? 

 

We wish we could cut to the chase and present the winner, but it’s not that simple. How about diving into these tools’ features and pricing to help you make a final verdict?

 

Before that, here are other content tools to help you speed up content production.

 

 

Now let’s hop right in.

 

Overview

 

Both tools have some history.

 

SpyFu Overview

 

2006 witnessed Mike Roberts rolling out SpyFu to assist companies in tailoring their PPC and SEO strategies. His philosophy is to convert your competitors into your best advisors. That’s what this tool strives to achieve for you.

 

As you might have guessed from the word “Spy,” the software can be your James Bond. It can gather powerful insights, analytics, and strategies that your competitors are using to beat you ☺. You get access to every:

 

  • Competitor keywords your rivals have purchased on Adwords
  • The organic rank of your competitor
  • Ad variation they’ve employed in the last…get this…12 years

 

Surely, it can turn any novice into a pro in the keyword research and planning arena.

 

But we’ve only scratched the surface as you can tell from this Spyfu review. The tool’s all-in-one platform also offers help in organic search, paid adverts, and competitive intelligence. 

 

SEMrush Overview

 

Dmitry Melnikov and Oleg Schchegolev founded SEOquake in 2007 before rebranding it as SEMrush in 2008. The tool is now one of the highly sought-out cloud-based SEO behemoths. 

 

Let the numbers speak: 

 

  • About 200 billion keywords
  • More than 824 million domains
  • 142 geodatabases
  • More than 6 million users

 

The platform gifts you a plethora of tools and key features for keyword analysis, website audit, SEO competitor analysis, position monitoring, inbound links analytics, organic traffic, and much more. 

 

All of those goodies under one roof! No wonder the figures above.

 

Overview Verdict

 

SpyFu and SEMrush look like two brothers right off the bat. But make no mistake. A dive into the nitty-gritty reveals vast differences between these popular tools. Let’s read on.

 

Keyword Research and Analysis

 

Talk about ranking highly on Google, and the word “keyword research” won’t miss in the talk. It’s among the most valuable factors in the whole sea of SEO tricks and tactics. So between SpyFu and SEMrush, which tool does the real talk?

 

SpyFu Keyword Research

 

SpyFu’s keyword research is competitor-based. But don’t get us wrong- the SpyFu tool still gives great juice in traditional keyword research.

 

The point is, you’re more likely to dig up data and phrases that are crucial to your website by doing competitor-based research. 

 

Here are some of the tools and features of SpyFu:

 

  • Keyword Research tool
  • Keyword Grouping tool 

 

  • SpyFu keyword Research Tool

 

With the keyword research tool, finding your hot phrases is painless.Simply type in your target keyword in the search box, and Voila! A ton of information will greet you in an orderly way. 

 

The tool floods your screen with standard metrics like similar keywords, CPC, and monthly volume. But that’s not all; you also get more metrics like advertisers making big strides and organic ranking history. 

 

  • SpyFu keyword grouping tool

 

And with SpyFu’s keyword Grouping Tool, you can easily plan your content strategy by shortlisting several phrases to rank for. Time to bid farewell to manual research- from search volume to cost per click, welcome a smooth process. 

Simply key in a list of key phrases or words you’re interested in. The results will pop up.

 

Fancy organization? Simply select clusters automatically grouped by common phrases. Also, the tool allows you to export the data to Excel, PDF, and CSV. What a convenience!

 

Want to be a time traveler and go back in time? With SpyFu, you can scour through history to know your competitors’ previous keywords and how they’ve changed over time. 

 

SEMrush Keyword Research

 

SEMrush keyword research is another Amazon forest of powerful features. Your treasure hunt will benefit from the various tools, such as:

 

  • Keyword overview
  • Keyword gap
  • Keyword manager
  • Keyword magic tool

 

  • SEMrush keyword overview tool

 

This feature gives you in-depth insights into any keyword rank tracking. That way, you can make smart decisions on the keywords to target. 

 

Simply enter your target keyword in the search bar and select your country. The tool reveals keyword ranking difficulty, CPC, global volume, and search volume. 

 

And that’s not all.

 

You can unearth related keywords and discover the top 10 sites ranking for the keyword you’re interested in. 

 

  • SEMrush keyword gap

 

This new kid on the block can uncover any paid or organic keywords your competitors might have missed. You can go for the top opportunities through filtering by volume. 

 

  • SEMrush keyword magic tool

 

True to the name, this tool can magically bring up new keywords to target. It gives marketers more than 20 billion keywords. 

 

Such a staggering number!

 

Also, using it is hassle-free. You can filter the results by exact match, broad match, and more.

 

  • SEMrush keyword manager

 

Organize your keywords neatly with the keyword manager. It lists relevant keywords in one place and allows you to export the list to other tools in XLSX or CSV files. 

 

Keyword research verdict

 

The two tools look similar- as if they copied each other and just changed the brand names! So, it’s a tie here.

 

Competition Research Tools 

 

Both SEMrush and SpyFu are war tanks of competitor research tools that can fire lethal projectiles.

 

SpyFu Competition Analysis

 

With SpyFu, keeping tabs on your rivals is seamless. They bring multiple features to spy on them, just like James Bond:

 

  • SEO Competitor Analysis
  • Shared Organic Keywords (Kombat)
  • Ad Competitors

 

  • SpyFu SEO competitor analysis

 

SpyFu allows you to analyze your competitor and get the dirt on them. Simply type in the competitor’s domain name to get:

 

  • SEO keywords
  • Monthly clicks
  • Monthly value

 

  • SpyFu ad competitors

 

SpyFu’s competitor analysis tool (in the PPC Research feature) will whisper to your ears the competitor’s well-kept PPC secrets:

 

  • PPC keywords
  • Ad budgets
  • Paid clicks

 

  • SpyFu's shared organic keywords (Kombat)

 

Welcome this three-way feature to discover effective keywords between two competing giants. It allows you to peep into their:

 

  • Shared organic keywords
  • New keywords to add to your quiver
  • Keywords that drive your brand above your competitors

 

SEMrush Competition Analysis

 

SEMrush also doesn’t lag in this game of pursuing your competitors. It comes with tools to help you gain in-depth competitive insights:

 

  • Identify the big boys
  • Identify keywords that drive the most traffic to them
  • Identify their online ads
  • Traffic analytics package 

 

  • SEMrush organic research - identify the top dogs

 

The Organic Research report has a competitors tab that reveals the big boys and other organic competitors sharing the most keywords with you. For each competitor, you get their:

 

  • Traffic
  • No. of paid keywords
  • No. of keywords you share

 

  • SEMrush advertising research report

 

After knowing your rivals, grab the advertising research audit reports to peep into their paid advertising tricks. Digital marketers use the report to understand their rivals:

 

  • Keywords they’re bidding on
  • Corresponding search ads 

 

  • SEMrush display advertising report

 

The display advertising report shows you the rivals’ display ads tricks and hacks. 

 

  • SEMrush traffic analytics package

 

Did SpyFu fail to tell you some of the details about your rivals? The traffic analytics package won’t keep mum.

 

You can try out the basic version for free, then hop onto the full add-on going at an extra $200/month. 

 

The package scours actual browsers for data and insights concerning any website. here’s what you can learn about your competitor’s website:

 

  • Unique visitors
  • Pages per visit
  • Bounce rates
  • Leading referring sites
  • Pages with a stellar performance
  • Sites that users visit after visiting the target website

 

Competition Analysis Verdict

 

Both tools score big when it comes to thoroughness and competitor reports. The thought of competitors using this software against you will give you chills. ☺

That said, SEMrush takes the trophy home. It dives deeper into the precise number of common keywords and other aspects that SpyFu might have overlooked. 

 

SpyFu and SEMrush Pricing

 

You need money to get the above and many more features to fire your brand. Right? So, which option is pocket-friendlier? Be the judge:

 

SpyFu Pricing

 

With SpyFu, you don’t get a free trial. Bad news. 

 

So you need to cough up some dollars to test-drive the software.

 

The good news? They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. That means you get a refund if you don’t get satisfying results in those first 30 days of trying the software.

 

That said, SpyFu offers three primary plans (the prices stated below are billed annually):

 

  • Basic: $33/month 
  • Professional: $58/month
  • Team: $199/month

 


 

SEMrush Pricing

 

Hey free-trials squad. SEMrush remembered you.

 

But the trial is only open for 7 days. ☹

 

Here’s a little secret: Look for an offer from a SEMrush affiliate partner that can essentially extend the 7-day free trial.

 

Satisfied with what the engine has to offer in the 7-day free trial? You can hop onto any of the paid plans.

 

  • Freemium: Free
  • Pro Plan: $119.95/month
  • Guru Plan: $229.95/month
  • Business Plan: $449.95/month

 


 

Our Final Verdict

 

Overall, SpyFu and SEMrush are powerful titans among SEO tools. They also provide much more:

 

  • Domain keyword assessment
  • SEO templates
  • Backlink reports
  • Domain position tracking
  • Social media trackers
  • Unlimited search
  • Keyword difficulty analysis
  • Audit tools
  • Rank trackers
  • PPC tools

 

But the ultimate choice rests with your business needs. 

 

Zoey Writers + SEO Tools= Magic!

 

Still facing choice paralysis? At Zoey Writers, we help you to choose the best tool that’ll put you many miles ahead of the competition. These guys trust us:

 

  • Medium-sized businesses
  • Business owners
  • Digital marketers
  • Social media marketers
  • Online marketers

 

Why? We use these SEO and competitive intelligence tools to:

 

  • Gain actionable insights in competitive analysis, PPC strategy, keyword strategy, Google ads management, traffic sources, organic rankings, keyword tracking, and more
  • Write compelling copy that drives organic search traffic. We blend our writing with SEO research, backlink audits, and more
  • Rank websites prominently on Google using seed keywords, valuable keywords, Google AdWords, position tracking features, incoming links, SEO campaign, backlink analysis tool

 

In short, we can also be your SEO professionals! Try us today and see as your business skyrockets through the roof.



Photo by Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash. Thank you Stephen:-)