SEMrush for Nonprofits- the Ultimate Guide for 2023!

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Running a nonprofit is already hard enough, let alone creating an effective online presence for the organization.

In this post, you’ll learn about SEMrush features, pricing, potential discounts, and the benefits of using SEMrush for nonprofits.

Let’s get started!

SEMrush for non-profits
SEMrush for non-profits- learn how to get SEMrush today!

What is SEMrush?


What is SEMrush

SEMrush is an all-in-one digital marketing platform with most of its features targeted toward Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and competitive analysis.

SEMrush can also help your non-profits with content marketing, social media marketing, Pay-per-click (PPC), link building, and even Facebook Ads.

Because of low marketing budgets, most nonprofits find themselves having to stick to organic, SEO traffic.

If the same applies to you, SEMrush will help you rank better and get the most out of your organic SEO activities.

SEMrush for Nonprofits in 2023 – Major Benefits


Below are some of the major benefits of SEMrush to nonprofits and how you can implement them in your Marketing campaigns.

#1- SEMrush Keyword Research for Nonprofits

The SEMrush keyword tool helps you to learn how effective your keywords are, and also to discover new keywords for your SEO strategies.

To find this feature, click on “Keyword Overview” under the “Keyword Research” section in the left sidebar of your SEMrush dashboard. You can then type your keyword to get results.

When doing your keyword research, there are three main things you need to keep in mind.

Search volume

This is basically the number of times people search for that specific keyword on a monthly basis. A high search volume a keyword has means a high number of people are actively searching for it.

Search Intent

This is more like reverse engineering. Coming up with keywords while stepping into the shoes of your target audience. Let’s assume your nonprofit helps victims of earthquakes in Haiti. A key phrase like “how to donate to Haiti earthquake victims” sure means the searcher has intentions to make a donation.

On the flip side, a phrase like “Why are there many earthquakes in Haiti?” shows their intention to learn but not necessarily donate.

Ranking difficulty

Just like any other industry, nonprofits also have to deal with competition. There are limited spots on the first page let alone the top spot. And the fact that most people never go past the first Google search page results means getting your cause on the first page is the ultimate goal.

So the ranking difficulty shows you how hard or easy it is to rank for your specified keyword.

To see additional keyword suggestions, scroll down. You’ll be presented with keyword variations and question-based keywords.

Note that the question-based keyword suggestions have low ranking difficulty. In the SEO world, they are termed as low-hanging fruits. But in most cases, the search intent is not to support the causes of your nonprofit.

By using SEMrush’s “Keyword Magic Tool”, you can get additional keyword ideas. You can also save your keyword ideas in lists that will be saved in the Keyword Manager.

#2- SEMrush SEO audit For Nonprofit Websites

It is very important to have your nonprofit website flawless for both your visitors and search engines. The SEMrush website audit tool will scan your website for any SEO issues.

To find the website audit tool, click on “Domain Overview” on the left sidebar, then type your URL.

You will see the authority score of your domain, Organic Search Traffic, Paid Search Traffic, Backlinks, and Display Advertising.

Below that, you have your top organic and paid keywords.

You can also go deeper to understand how each keyword is ranking and how much it has changed positions in the SERPs.

Additionally, you can go to the competitors’ tab to find out other websites ranking for the same keyword.

Backlinks are another critical SEO aspect. To get more in-depth information about backlinks, click on the Backlinks tab.

It will display a list of pages that link to your specific pages together with the anchor texts used.

The in-depth information about backlinks gives you an insight into what kind of content is most linked to –so that you can create more of it. Also, the kind of sites linking to you, so you can reach out to similar websites to get more backlinks.

It is important to note that while building backlinks, always opt for high-quality backlinks. That means the sites you’re trying to reach out to for backlinks should have a high authority score.

#3- SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant for Nonprofits

If you’re looking to write SEO-optimized content for your nonprofit, SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant is for you.

To open the tool, locate “SEO Content Template” on the left sidebar of your dashboard. Once the page is loaded, enter your keyword.

The tool will collect the top 10 search engine results, analyze how they’re optimized, then offer you suggestions based on its findings.

In addition to giving you semantically related words to use in your content, SEMrush will give you a list of backlinks to the top 10 results. This gives you a head start on getting the right backlinks for your content.

Readability is another key factor to look at when writing content. The Writing Assistant provides a readability score for the top 10 results. This gives you an insight into the kind of content that works best for your topic.

Depending on the topic, sometimes more technical and complex content does better than simple-to-read content.

Still about content writing, for whatever reason, if you have no idea what to write about, the “Topic Research Tool” comes in handy.

Locate “Topic Research” under “Content Marketing” in the left sidebar, and just enter any keyword related to your nonprofit.

The tool will analyze the keyword, then collect and show you a ton of topics, and articles from the internet.

A benefit worth mentioning about the Topic Research tool is the ability to show you how many Facebook engagement subtopics have got, and the generated backlinks.

So it doesn’t just throw you content ideas. It gives you ideas that people are actually interested in.

#4- SEMrush Competitive Research for Nonprofits

The “Competitive Research” tool enables you to compare two URLs side by side. This is very useful to understand what your competitors are up to.

Now…

In the nonprofit world, you may not exactly have competitors per se but knowing what other nonprofits are doing well so that you can incorporate those ideas into your own SEO strategy is necessary.

For instance, with the help of the competitive research tool, you can find out the top keywords another nonprofit is using, then target the same keywords.

Additionally, you can see which countries contribute the most traffic to other nonprofits so you can promote your cause in geo-locations that seem to be more interested other than pushing your campaigns all over the place.

The same happens with backlinks. The tool shows you where the competition is getting their backlinks from so you can strategize on getting the same or better backlinks for your own nonprofit website.

#5- SEMrush Advertising Research for Nonprofits

While most nonprofits focus on free organic traffic, paid traffic will always remain the fastest method to get eyeballs to your nonprofit website.

If you’re going down this route, it is important to make sure that your advertising generates more donations than what you actually spend.

With the SEMrush keyword tool, you can find out keywords to target and run a profitable PPC campaign. As we already mentioned earlier, pay attention to the search volume, and search intent.

Additionally, take note of the Cost-per-click (CPC). The CPC indicates how much advertisers are averagely paying per click on ads that target that specific keyword.

So, the lower the CPC, the better.

On the other hand, the CPC is really relative. A higher CPC may bring you a higher conversion. For example; you might get a donation for every 5 clicks compared to a lower CPC that gets you one donation every 50 clicks.

And this is where testing and optimizing ads come in handy.

The beauty of SEMrush is that it will show you a map displaying CPC based on geo-locations. Making it easy for you to see which locations to target according to your strategy.

Remember this map can be rendered useless if your nonprofit looking for local support and not national or international support.

But you can go the extra mile and make use of the competitive research. Learn about the keywords and locations other nonprofits are targeting, and how much traffic they’re getting from their own paid campaigns.

Since you have the privilege to see how much organic and paid traffic other nonprofits get, you can make informed decisions about whether paid advertising suits your organization or not.

You also get to know if other nonprofits are heavily reliant on paid ads. That would imply that SEO is perhaps not working well for them.

SEMrush will show you the pages their paid ads are driving traffic to, their ad copy, their call-to-action, and even the number of ads they’re running.

If you notice them running several ads that look similar, then they’re split testing. Split testing is a process used to try out different combinations of ad titles, call-to-actions, and images to figure out what combinations perform the best.

#6- SEMrush Social Media Management for Nonprofits

For any nonprofit to thrive, people have to get involved. And there is no better way to spread the word and build a community other than social media.

But,

Getting the posts up consistently and in a timely manner can be a hassle. Lucky for you, SEMrush’s social media tool helps save you a ton of time by scheduling posts on all main social media channels in advance.

Plus, you get social media analytics which is very useful.

Bottom line: as a nonprofit you can save money on social media scheduling tools by getting SEMrush paid plan.

#7- SEMrush Team Management for Nonprofits

Team collaboration is a part of growing any nonprofit organization. SEMrush’s Team Management tool helps you effectively manage teams and promotional projects with ease.

The tool can allow you to add team making, create tasks, create deadlines for tasks, assign tasks to members, and much more.

SEMrush for Nonprofit Pricing and Discounts


Depending on the size and goals of a nonprofit organization, there are 4 different plans (full SEMrush pricing guide here) you can choose from.

  • Free: You can use the SEMrush free account to see what’s inside the platform. You are limited to a handful of tools, and you can only do 10 searches a day.
  • Pro ($99.95/month): If you’re running a small nonprofit, the Pro plan is perfect for you. No ned to splurge on anything more as the SEMrush Pro plan will help you get the level of traffic you need.
  • Guru ($199.95/month): SEMrush Guru is perfect for medium to larger nonprofits. It comes with much more results in reports but most importantly extra features that are not in the Pro plan.
  • Business ($399.95/month): SEMrush Business is the ultimate plan if your nonprofit is large and you need more out of SEMrush in terms of team members and reporting.

Pro tip: SEMrush offers a 17% discount if you go for a yearly SEMrush plan. I call it the SEMrush lifetime deal because this 17% yearly discount is permanent as long as you keep your subscription alive.

SEMrush PlansMonthly PriceYearly PriceDiscount
Pro$119.95$99.95$240 on a yearly payment
Guru$229.95$191.62$460 on a yearly payment
Business$449.95$374.95$900 on a yearly payment

There are also some add-ons that are optional and honestly probably not needed for nonprofit organizations.

Competitive Intelligence Add-on ($200/month): Using the competitive research tool is great –but if you want to dive deeper to understand what other nonprofits are doing, then this Competitive Intelligence add-on is for you.

You can explore and discover new strategies, spot trends, benchmark your nonprofit against other nonprofits, and much more.

All nonprofits are eligible for a discount. The only catch is that you have to subscribe and accept to be billed annually instead of monthly.

Another advantage is that SEMrush subscriptions are tax-exempt expenses as long as your non-profit is registered.

SEMrush for Non-Profits FAQ- Your Questions Answered!


SEMrush for non-profits FAQ
SEMrush for non-profits FAQ- your questions answered!

My SEMrush for nonprofits would be incomplete without a thorough FAQ section, agree?

#1- Is There a Special SEMrush Coupon Code for Nonprofit Organizations?

There is no special SEMrush coupon code for nonprofit organizations.

SEMrush rarely gives out coupon codes and for now, the only discount you can get is by taking advantage of their yearly pricing discount.

#2- Is There a Special SEMrush Lifetime Deal for Nonprofit Organizations?

There is no special SEMrush lifetime deal for nonprofit organizations. The only SEMrush lifetime deal is the one you can get by taking advantage of the SEMrush yearly pricing discount.

You can save 17% on your chosen subscription.

#3- Is There a Special SEMrush Free Trial for Nonprofit Organizations?

There is no special SEMrush free trial for nonprofit organizations.

#4- Should I Open a Free SEMrush Account for My Nonprofit Organization?

Opening a SEMrush free account is a good first step to growing the online presence of your nonprofit. However, it isn’t enough, simply because the free version of SEMrush is severely limited in both the volume of data you receive and how much you can use the tool on a daily basis (you get only 10 searches per 24h).

#5- Should I Download the Cracked Version of SEMrush for My Nonprofit Organization?

There is no cracked version of SEMrush.

If you see any site offering those, stay away as you’ll be downloading viruses and malware.

For starters, SEMrush is not software that can be downloaded onto the computer. It’s an app that’s hosted on the cloud, and that you can use on the cloud.

#6- Am I Tax Exempt as a Nonprofit Business?

If you are a nonprofit and government recognized organization then you’re eligible for tax exemption on your Semrush subscription.

To get your tax exemption you need to contact SEMrush support (mail@semrush.com) and provide your state tax exemption certification form.

Afterwards SEMrush will process the information so your subscription will not be charged any taxes upon payment.

#7- Besides SEMrush, What Other SEO Tools Offer Discounts for Nonprofits?

SEMrush discounts for nonprofits are n exception to the rule, unfortunately.

Rare is a tool that offer one.

For example, Screaming Frog doesn’t offer a discount for nonprofits (read next: SEMrush vs Screaming Frog)), also Yoast SEO (Read next: SEMrush vs Yoast SEO) and Long Tail Pro (read next: SEMrush vs Long Tail Pro).

However, SE Ranking do give special coupon codes for nonprofit services and organization (read my SEMrush vs SE Ranking guide next)

SEMrush for Nonprofits in 2023 (Conclusion)


With the available SEMrush discounts for nonprofits and premium subscriptions being tax exempt, there is absolutely no reason to pass all the benefits a nonprofit can get from using SEMrush.

If you’re still not sure if you should subscribe, take advantage of SEMrush free trial. Have a first hand experience to discover how SEMrush can help raise awareness to drive more traffic to your nonprofit website and increase donations.

If you have any questions about using SEMrush as a nonprofit organization, please drop them below.

Nikola Roza

Nikola Roza is a blogger behind Nikola Roza- SEO for the Poor and Determined. He writes for bloggers who don't have huge marketing budget but still want to succeed. Nikola is passionate about precious metals IRAs and how to invest in gold and silver for a safer financial future. Learn about Nikola here.

1 thought on “SEMrush for Nonprofits- the Ultimate Guide for 2023!”

  1. Moz provides non-profits with a 75% discount; and so do all of the other major software and SaaS providers. SEM offering only 17% is poor.
    As non-profits; we provide services to the community for aged care and disabled people who would otherwise not be able to access the internet. With only 17% discount, we are not able to afford a subscription. Microsoft, Atlassian, Salesforce, Twilio, 3CX all the major players offer 75% discount.

    I work in non-profit and have first hand experience. This is a very poor provision indeed.

    Reply

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