SEMrush vs Google Analytics 2023- Which Tool is Better for your SEO?

Jump here: Semrush vs Google Analytics: Brief Comparison| SEMrush vs Google Analytics Pricing Comparison| SEMrush vs Google Analytics 2023 FAQ| SEMrush vs Google Analytics 2023 (Conclusion)|

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SEMrush vs Google Analytics in 2023…

Which tool can help your SEO more, and should you be combining the two for the best results?

This and more in my guide below.

Let’s go!

What is SEMrush?

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So, what is SEMrush?

Semrush is an all-in-one SEO and digital marketing toolkit that gives you the insights and data you need to boost your online business’s performance, visibility and traffic level.

You can use numerous SEMrush features to perform various marketing-related tasks and get valuable data.

With SEMrush you can:

• Improve your site health with the website Audit tool;
• do keyword research;
• track site traffic across time;
• Monitor your website’s backlink profile;
• spy on your competitors
• etc

Finally, SEMrush also gives out free educational resources such as webinars, e-books and blog posts, to help you up your marketing game.

With millions of users across the globe, SEMrush is the most popular digital marketing platform on the market today.

Continue reading to learn how SEMrush compares to Google Analytics, which is another popular SEO and marketing platform.

What is Google Analytics?

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Google Analytics is a free service provided by Google that gives detailed insights and data into your website’s traffic sources, traffic behavior and engagement.

Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics service on the web, and as mentioned it comes free with your Google account.

Google Analytics offers info like:

• the way your site’s visitors found your website;
• What they did while on your site;
• Which posts and pages they visited;
• For how long they stayed (dwell time);
• Which keywords they typed in Google to find your site;
• Which countries send you maximum and which send you minimal, or no traffic?

Google Analytics delivers all this useful data within a single dashboard, making it extremely easy to use and the sight you can get can transform your business and make it successful.

Semrush vs Google Analytics: Brief Comparison

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I’ll start the analysis of Google Analytics and Semrush by summing up the similarities and differences of each tool from different aspects.

And afterward, I’ll delve into more details.

• SEMrush gives data on all websites on the web, while Google Analytics only gives insights on your own website.
• Semrush provides data on backlinks, keywords, industry, and the market as a whole, while Google Analytics offers insights on website engagement and visitor profiles.
• Google Analytics doesn’t offer any data on sites competing with you in your niche, while SEMrush can give you insights on any domain you input into the search bar within the SEMrush dashboard. With SEMrush you can uncover competitors’ best backlinks and keywords, their entire PPC strategy, and more.
• SEMrush lets you compare your site to your main competitor in dozens of areas, while Google Analytics only offers you data on your own domain.
• SEMrush lets you do a technical audit of your website, while Google Analytics doesn’t offer that capability.
• SEMrush is a paid tool, while Google Analytics is free.
• SEMrush offers customer support, while Google Analytics doesn’t.

Semrush Features and Data

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Semrush is a feature-rich tool that’s perfect for both enterprise companies and small websites and businesses.

SEMrush currently offers 55+ tools and the router is constantly expanding. You can also import Semrush data into external tools with, e.g., embedded analytics capabilities.

Take a look below at SEMrush’s most important features.

#1- Competitor Research

With SEMrush you can see how your competitors are performing in terms of their SEO and visibility on search engines.

Some of the key metrics SEMrush gives you are:

• Keyword rankings for any page;
• Keyword rankings for the entire site
• Website traffic level and trajectory over time;
• Backlinks pointing to each page and the site as a whole;
• Top performing pages for your site and your competitors;
• etc.

The data SEMrush provides can help you shape your marketing strategy and approach success faster.

#2- Technical Site Audit

You can use Semrush to scan your website for common SEO issues and mistakes hampering your growth.

Fixing these can and will improve your site’s rank in Google and Bing, and to start, all you have to do is add your domain name to SEMrush technical audit tool and press “go”.

#3- Keyword Research

Semrush keyword research tool gives you valuable insights which can help you create an effective keyword research strategy.

With SEMrush’s keyword tool you can see:

• Average monthly keyword search volume;
• Keyword difficulty score;
• Related  questions and semantic keywords in respect of a seed keyword you entered into the SEMrush keyword tool;
• CPC of each keyword;
• Keyword search volume trend;
• Keyword research filters;
• and more.

#4- On-page checker

On-page SEO is probably the most important piece of SEO you can do when ranking a page and SEMrush’s on-page SEO checker will tell you where your on-page is lacking and where you can improve.

#5- Backlink checker

Semrush backlink checker tool lets you see the backlinks your competitor s have and also give you insights on how you can replicate the best ones.

For example, if you see a particular site is linking to several of your competitors, but not to you, then this is a great opportunity to core a link from that website.

Google Analytics Features and Data

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Google Analytics is a powerful tool in its own right and the data you can get from GA4 for SEO and about your websitee is priceless.

#1- Audience Information

Google Analytics can give you detailed information about your website visitors. Some of them include:

• Demographics: here you can see whether your site’s visitors are mostly women or men, and what’s the predominant age group;
• Users: here you can see the number of returning and new visitors, as well as real-time data, which i a feature SEMrush doesn’t offer, but is free with Google Analytics;
• Interests: here you can see the key interests of your website visitors, for example, travel/shopping/beauty/ technology, etc;
• Location: here you can see the geographic location of your site’s visitors;
• Devices: here you can see the type of device used by your site’s visitors (smartphone, desktop, talent, laptop).

#2- Traffic Sources

Google Analytics can also tell you where your website traffic is coming from.

The key traffic sources for any website are:

• Organic search (Google and other search engines);
• Social media traffic;
• Direct traffic;
• Referral traffic (people coming via links from other sites);
• Ads.

This data can help you better understand which marketing channels are most effective for your website so you can double down on them.

Conversely, you can see which channels are a waste of time and money.

#3- Content Performance & User Engagement

Google Analytics can tell you how well your website content is performing and how engaged users are with it.

The key metrics it gives you are:

• Bounce rate;
• Time spent on each page;
• The number of pages viewed;
• New vs old visitors;
• User flow and behavior;
• etc

This data can help see how real people use your website and identify which content on your property is most successful and which could do better.

#4- Conversions

Google Analytics can also track website conversions.

The Google Analytics conversion data shows you what percentage of your site’s visitors are converting and doing what you’d like them to do.

Whether that be clicking on an affiliate link, signing up to your newsletter, sharing your post o Twitter, leaving a comment, buying your product…

Conversion percentage is crucial for your site’s success and for your financial success.

Semrush vs Google Analytics: Data Collection

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Google Analytics and SEMrush both collect ample amounts of data, but in very different ways.

How Does SEMrush Collect Their Data?

Semrush collects data through third-party data, by crawling the web with the SEMrush bot, and by using their own proprietary algorithms to get the latest results from Google.

How Does Google Analytics Collect Their Data?

Google Analytics doesn’t use a crawler bot, instead, they collect data through a piece of JavaScript code that you put in the footer or header of your website.

This code enables Google Analytics to collect and track user behavior data and display it within the Google Analytics dashboard.

However, it’s crucial to say that Semrush does not give data on individual users, while Google Analytics does.

This means that Google Analytics is much more useful for understanding the behavior of individual users while using your website; while SEMrush is more suited for measuring overall traffic trends and how your site is performing in Google searches.

SEMrush vs Google Analytics Pricing Comparison

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SEMrush Pricing

SEMrush gives free trials for their Pro and Guru plans.

You can also get a lifetime SEMrush deal by buying a yearly plan.

What do I mean?

If you buy a yearly SEMrush plan instead of a monthly one SEMrush will give you a 17% discount on any plan you picked. And you’ll be grandfathered at that pricing range which means if you renew your subscription next year, you’ll get another 17% discount.

SEMrush Plan	Monthly Price	Yearly Price	Free Trial	Discount
Pro	$119.95/mo	$99.95/mo	Yes	17% discount on yearly pricing
Guru	$229.95/mo	$191.62/mo	Yes	17% discount on yearly pricing
Business	$449.95/mo	$374.95/mo	No	perhaps, upon agreement with SEMrush
Custom	Price determined upon agreement with SEMrush	Price determined upon agreement with SEMrush	Free trial availability determined upon agreement with SEMrush	Discount availability determined upon agreement with SEMrush

Google Analytics Pricing

Google Analytics is free!

SEMrush vs Google Analytics 2023 FAQ – Your Questions Answered!

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My SEMrush vs Google Analytics guide would be incomplete without a thorough FAQ section, agree?

#1- Are SEMrush and Google Analytics the Same?

SEMrush and Google Analytics are not the same. They’re different services provided respectively by SEMrush and Google.

#2- Is SEMrush Better than Google Analytics?

SEMrush is better than Google Analytics when it comes to delivering data about your competitors and domains other than your own.

Google Analytics is better than SEMrush when it comes to delivering data and insight about your site.

Pro tip: also check out Independent Analytics for an excellent alternative to both SEMrush and Google Analytics.

#3- Can SEMrush Replace Google Analytics?

SEMrush can’t replace Google Analytics because the data Google Analytics can give you about your website is priceless. Instead, use SEMrush to complement your usage of Google Analytics and get the data GA can’t give you.

#4- Can Google Analytics Replace SEMrush?

Google Analytics can’t replace SEMrush because the data SEMrush can give you about your competitors is priceless. Instead, use Google Analytics to complement your usage of SEMrush and get the data SEMrush can’t give you.

#5- Does SEMrush Integrate With Google Analytics?

SEMrush integrates with Google Analytics.

Click this link to learn how to integrate SEMrush and Google Analytics.

#6- Does SEMrush Give Free Trials of Their Services? What about Google Analytics Free Trial?

SEMrush does give free trials of their services.

Google Analytics is a free service hence they don’t offer free trials.

#7- Does SEMrush Offer a Refund Guarantee of Their Services? What about Google Analytics Refund Policy?

SEMrush does offer a refund guarantee for their services.

Google Analytics is a free tool hence they don’t offer a refund guarantee.

#8- Does SEMrush Offer a Lifetime Deal of Their Paid Plans? What about Google Analytics Lifetime Deal?

SEMrush does offer a lifetime deal on their paid plans.

Google Analytics is a free service and hence there is no lifetime deal.

#9- Does SEMrush Offer a Coupon Code on Their Paid Plans? What about Google Analytics Discount Code?

SEMrush does offer a coupon code on their paid plans. 

Google Analytics is a free service so there is no Google Analytics discount code.

#10- Can I use Premium Cookies to Get SEMrush for Free? What About Google Analytics Cookies?

You can’t use SEMrush premium cookies to use SEMrush premium for free. Using premium user cookies is an ineffective way of gaining access to SEMrush.

Google Analytics is a free tool hence there are no “premium Google Analytics cookies”.

#11- Can I use SEMrush Group Buy to use SEMrush for Free? What About Google Analytics Group Buy?

You can’t use SEMrush group buy to use SEMrush premium for free. Using group buy services is an ineffective way of gaining access to SEMrush.

Google Analytics is a free tool hence there is no “Google Analytics group buy”.

#12- Does Google Analytics Offer Customer Support? What About SEMrush?

Google Analytics don’t offer customer support and you can’t contact anyone at Google when you have a problem with GA. SEMrush offers multiple ways to contact them.

Read my SEMrush customer support guide to learn more about it.

#13- Is There Google Analytics Appsumo Deal? What About SEMrush?

There’s is on Google Analytics Appsumo deal. Google Analytics is a free tool and there is no better dal than getting something for free.

There’s also no SEMrush Appsumo deal.

#14- Who are the Main Competitors to SEMrush and Google Analytics?

The main competitors to SEMrush and Google Analytics are:

SEMrush vs Google Analytics 2023 (Conclusion)

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If you want to opt for just one tool, you must consider which one’s best for your business. The benefits of Google Analytics are that it provides a variety of data about how your site performs and how visitors interact with your content.

SEMrush, on the other hand, provides you with unique information about your competitors.

In addition, both products have free and paid functionality. So it’s worth taking advantage of the 14-day free trial to do a test drive of SEMrush without paying a cent to them.

However, the best solution by far is to buy a yearly subscription to one of the paid SEMrush plans (yearly because you can have a 17% discount) and integrate it with Google Analytics.

That way you’ll have the best of both worlds.

Let me know your decision in the comment section below.