SE Ranking Review 2021 – Your Affordable SEMrush Alternative?

Shakthi
SEM/PPC, SEO, Software, SOFTWARE REVIEWS

Overall Rating - 4.8/5

 4.8/5

SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO Software Suite/SEMrush alternative that has all the SEO features one would need for a successful digital marketing campaign. It is also the only SEO suite with a flexible and affordable pricing plan suitable for Everyone - freelancers, individual SEO experts, Bloggers, Agencies, and much more.

Features

 4.5/5

Complete SEO Features like keyword research, backlink analysis, rank tracking, site audit, competitor analysis, etc. with social media management.

Ease of Use

 4.5/5

Very intuitive and clean user interface. Tutorial/overview videos provided to get started easily.

Price

 5/5

The most affordable and flexible pricing plan to ever exist in an SEO suite. Starting at 18.6$/month.

Support

 4.8/5

Very warm, fast and knowledgeable customer support via email, chat and call.

Hey guys,

Welcome to my SE Ranking Review. I’m very excited to have you here.

I happened to come across an SEO suite which many of its users highly regarded as an affordable SEMrush alternative. Being a SEMrush user myself, I was very curious and so I decided to try it. I was so impressed and satisfied with SE Ranking, that I even ending up ditching SEMrush!

Regarding the agenda for this review, we will be first looking at the overview, user ratings, features, and pricing of SE Ranking. Toward the end, we will also compare SE Ranking with other leading SEO/marketing software suites like SEMrush, ahrefs, etc. to find out whether SE Ranking is probably the best SEO solution for you.

Alright, let’s dive in!

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SE Ranking Review - What is SE Ranking?

SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO Software Suite/SEMrush alternative that has all the SEO features one would need for a successful digital marketing campaign. It is also the only SEO suite with a flexible and affordable pricing plan suitable for Everyone – freelancers, individual SEO experts, Bloggers, Agencies, and much more.

SE Ranking consists of a variety of SEO features/tools like Keyword research, Keyword Suggestion, Backlink Analysis, Rank Tracking, Competitor Research, and much more. It also comes with a Social Media Management using which you could schedule, publish and monitor your social media campaign performance under one dashboard.

As mentioned earlier, SE ranking is the only SEO suite to provide a personalized and affordable pricing plan. You can simply choose from multiple feature options that are most suitable and affordable to you. This is one of the important reasons why people love using SE Ranking.

In fact, people regard SE Ranking as an effective SEMrush alternative that they could afford.

Let’s take a look at what famous software review blogs and people think about SE Ranking.

USER RATINGS AND MENTIONS

From the ratings, it is clearly evident that people love using SE Ranking. In fact, the ratings are higher than for SEMrush and Ahrefs!

SE Ranking has been featured among the top Fastest Growing and Highly Satisfying Products for two consecutive years -2020 and 2021.
SE Ranking has also been awarded the Expert’s Choice Award 2019 by Finances Online.

The main reason for me claiming SE Ranking to be an affordable SEmrush alternative is not only due to its flexible pricing but also due to the fact, people are more satisfied with using SE Ranking.

SE Ranking Review -Project Set-Up

SE Ranking helps you to track your website's performance constantly over time by enabling you to set-up a SEO Project.

Steps to Set-up a new SEO Project are:

Step 1 – Enter Your Website URL

Step 2 – Enter Your Keywords

You could import your keywords from an external file. ‘Suggest Keywords’ options will provide you keyword suggestions based on your website.

Step 3 – Configure Search Engine

Here, you could select a search engine and the country to track. You could also track your Google ad rankings.

Step 4 – Configure Search Engine

Step 5 – Integrate Google Properties

Once you have set-up your SEO project, you could track the performance of your website/client's website in real-time. SE Ranking will also send you weekly reports via email.

SE Ranking Review- FEATURES

SE Ranking is a complete SEO suite consisting of the following features/toolkits:

Let’s look at the features in detail.

SEO Toolkit

Right from creating SEO optimized content to tracking and optimizing your page rank, SE Ranking's SEO Toolkit has got it all.

SEO Toolkit has the following tools/features:

SE Ranking Keyword Research Tool
SE Ranking Keyword Suggestion Tool
On-Page SEO Checker
Rank Tracking Tool
Backlinks Checking & Monitoring Tool
Keyword Grouper
Index Status Checker – Checks the status of your indexing
Search Engine Autocomplete – find out the current trending searches on Google.
Marketing Plan- gives an roadmap for structuring your SEO plans

Let’s dive into each tool/feature.

SE RANKING KEYWORD RESEARCH & SUGGESTION TOOL

0 Billion

Keywords

Countries

Using SE Ranking’s Keyword Research and Suggestion tool, you could do the following:

Analyze any keyword thoroughly
Find out new keyword opportunities
Assess your keyword competition

Firstly, you could simply enter any keyword for a thorough analysis about its search volume, difficulty, CPC, SERP, and PPC results. Let’s enter SE Ranking as our search keyword and analyze its key parameters.

Difficulty score – Gives you an idea of how easy/difficult it is for you to rank using your search keyword. For our keyword, the difficulty score is moderate/doable i.e. it would take a fair bit of effort to rank for that keyword. I would advise you to target keywords with easy to moderate difficulty scores to rank faster on SERP’s.

Search Volume – Helps in finding out how many organic monthly searches that your keyword gets on Google. You could see the search trends over a period of time.

CPC and Paid Competition- Gives you an insight into the average CPC that you might pay for running PPC ad campaigns. You could also see the global competition for your keyword.

Based on your search keyword, SE Ranking also shows your similar and related keywords using which you could discover new keyword ideas for your content.

When you click on detailed report, you will be taken to SE Ranking’s Keyword Suggestion Tool.

SE Ranking’s Keyword Suggestion Tool gives you a detailed analysis of similar and related keyword suggestions. (as shown in the image above). You could look into search volume, CPC cost, competition, and difficulty.

You could also export the keyword suggestion list and use it for external/future purposes.

After analyzing your keyword and finding new keyword opportunities, the next obvious step is to assess the competition. As shown in the image above, we could analyze both organic and paid competition. Information like who is ranking on top SERP results and top advertisers can help you strategize your SEO plan better.

You could not see who is advertising but could also see their ads! Yes, you could see the current and past ads run by your competitors using SE Ranking Keyword Tool. And, it doesn’t stop there.

You could expand these ads, and see the exact ad copy that is being used. In this way, you will be able to create an outperforming ad copy for your ad campaigns.

So far, we have analyzed only a single keyword. If you want to analyze/research hundreds or even thousands of keywords at once, you could do that effortlessly using SE Ranking’s Bulk Analysis.

SE Ranking Review- ONPAGE SEO CHECKER

Using SE Ranking’s Onpage SEO Checker, you could do the following:

Get a detailed report on how your webpage is optimized for a particular search query.
Get actionable recommendations to fix your SEO errors.

Enter your webpage URL and a particular search query and click on ‘Run the Audit’.

The various on-page and technical SEO parameters analyzed are:

Domain Characteristics
Title and Meta
Page’s URL Structure
Index Status
Image Analysis
Content Analysis
Link Analysis
Header Tags
Page Load Optimization
Keyword Density
Popularity on Social Media
Usability and Technical Analysis

Work on the parameters with errors and push your on-page SEO score beyond 80 for better SEO performance.

SE Ranking Review- RANK TRACKING TOOL

Using rank tracking, you could track your keyword rankings across all major search engines, locations, and devices (mobile/desktop).

SE Ranking not only track your keyword ranks but also the following:

Google Maps results
Google ads rankings
SERP features (featured snippets, videos, etc.)
Competitor tracking
Complete top 100 SERP analysis

SE Ranking Review- BACKLINK CHECKING & MONITORING

SE Ranking’s Backlink checker allows you to instantly find out the number of backlinks and referring domains. You could then generate a full report to analyze them in detail.

SE Ranking also enables you to monitor and manage your backlinks. These are the top backlink parameters you could analyze:

Backlink status -found/not found
Google index status
Country – location of backlink
Last check
External links – no. of other links on the referring page
Added on – date of backlink
Source
Price – price estimate based on the quality of the referring domain.
Alexa Rank – Quality score based on your backlinks
Destination URL – page destination which the backlink directs to
Anchor text
IP – Ip address
Social Popularity – no of shares on Facebook

After analyzing these parameters, you could filter out unwanted/toxic backlinks and disavow them.

SE Ranking Review- KEYWORD GROUPER

Keyword grouper is an advanced tool, which helps you to group/segment keywords for the following purposes:

Keyword Distribution across your website
Plan the SEO architecture for your future website
Achieve higher PPC quality scores (by PPC grouping)

Competitive Research

Spy on your competitor's website and its progress using SE Ranking's all-rounded competitor research tool.

Simply enter any domain and get a complete analysis of its paid promotion and organic strategies.

Some key parameters/metrics that you could spy are:

Traffic
Domain trust /Page trust – Aggregate score based on the quality of backlinks and referring domains.
Keywords (organic and paid)
Competitors
Popular Pages
Ads

Competitor Keyword Analysis:

Keyword rankings, new and lost keyword analysis.
Search Volume & keyword difficulty
CPC and the number of competing advertisers
Traffic estimate
Search results overview by location/country

Competitor Backlink Analysis:

Number of Backlinks
Number of referring domains
Overview by month

Identify your organic and PPC competitors:

Overview competitor distribution in both organic and paid traffic
Identify keyword overlaps between your websites and those of your competitors.
Analyze traffic volume and keyword competition between you and your competitors.

Analyze your competitor’s most profitable ads by looking at their:

Google ads campaigns
Competitive keyword ads
Monthly ad history

Make use of SE Ranking's Competitor Research Tool to study your competition and eventually, formulate an outperforming SEO strategy.

B2B Features

SE Ranking also offers B2B features where you could offer SEO service via SE Ranking to your clients under your own brand name.

Whitelabel Feature: This allows you to personalize your SEO offering to your clients by adding your own brand name, logo, etc. in your SEO reports.

SEO Reporting Tools: You could generate automated or scheduled reports that are completely tailor-made based on your client’s requirements i.e. custom personalized reports.

Team Management: Create accounts and give access to specific projects for your employees, clients, and colleagues.

API: SE Ranking also provides API and scripts for those who need advanced and additional customized features.

Social Media Management

Make use of SE Ranking's Social media Management Tool to schedule, publish and monitor your social media campaigns.

Plan, schedule, and publish content across your various social media platforms effortlessly.
Boost your social media reach, sales, and customer loyalty using social media.
Analyze and track your social media campaign performance in real-time.
Optimize your future social media posts for better performance using the past performance data.
Manage all your social media platforms under one intuitive dashboard.

SE Ranking Review - PRICING

SE Ranking offers the most flexible pricing plans ever provided in an all-in-one SEO Suite.

When it comes to pricing, there is no fixed set of plans. It is rather very customizable. As shown in the image below, you could simply select your preferred features one by one and your personalized pricing plan.

Anyone can customize what they want in a SEO software and get a personalized and affordable pricing plan!

Plans start at ridiculous pricing of 18.6$/ month (if paid annually) which you cannot imagine getting in any other SEO software suite.

Now, you might wonder how this is practically possible without compromising on the quality. I had the same doubts too, but SE Ranking works on a simple goal of providing quality SEO offerings without damaging customer’s pockets! And, they achieve this by providing flexible plans with personalized customizations.

In simpler words, you pay only for the features you need! No compromise on quality whatsoever.

You could customize under three pricing plans namely- Optimum, Plus, and Enterprise. The various features included under each plan are listed in the image above. There is a further customization option available for choosing the number of keywords to track ranks under each plan.

You could change/upgrade to superior plans whenever you feel the need to.

Is the flexible pricing that makes people prefer SE Ranking over SEmrush and Ahrefs.

SE Ranking Vs Other SEO Tools

Featurewise, SE Ranking is the only all-in-one SEO suite to match up with the #1 SEO suite SEMrush.

Let’s rank the top SEO software suites based on their feature/performance and price.

Ranking Based on Features/Performance:

SEMrush
SE Ranking (#2)
Ahrefs
Moz
AgencyAnalytics

Ranking Based on Price:

SE Ranking (#1)
Agency Analytics
Ahrefs
Moz
SEMrush

Ranking Based on User Interface friendliness:

Ahrefs
SEMrush
SE Ranking (#3)
Moz
AgencyAnalytics

Overall Ranking of all the top SEO marketing suites:

SEMrush
SE Ranking (#2)
Ahrefs
Moz
AgencyAnalytics

Let’s compare SE Ranking with SEmrush in detail.

SE RANKING Vs SEMrush

I have used both SEMrush and SE Ranking personally. Let me share what I like and what don’t like about these two SEO suites

In my perspective, the biggest USP of SE Ranking is the flexible pricing plan/features whereas for SEmrush, it is the Feature/Performance.

Without a doubt, these two are the most complete SEO software suites providing all the SEO necessary marketing tools now would need.

Atrributes	SE RANKING	SEMRUSH
Basic Pricing Plan	18.6$/month	120$/month
No. of SEO Tools	28	15
Social Media MAnagement	Yes	Yes
Pricing Flexibility	Yes	No
Marketing Plan Feature	Yes	No
Backlink Analysis	Yes	Yes
Site Audits	Yes	Yes
Historical Data	No	Yes
Lead Generation Tool	No	Yes
Competitor Research	Yes	Yes
User Rating (0n G2)	4.8/5.0	4.5/5.0

If you want to learn more about SEMrush, refer to my SEMrush Review article.

SE Ranking

What I Like	What I Don't Like
• Flexible & Affordable Pricing Option • SEO Suite that can be made suitable for everyone. • It has all the SEO features that I need • Clean and user-friendly interface.	• No Historical Data • Smaller keyword database compared to SEMrush

SEMrush

What I Like	What I don't Like
• Very intuitive and user-friendly interface. • World class SEO Features (covering almost everything) • The biggest keyword database ever	• No flexible Pricing • Not suitable for everyone.

Final Verdict

SE Ranking is for the masses whereas SEMrush is only for an exclusive set of expert SEO professionals.

There is no clear winner/loser in this case. It rather depends on what people prefer to choose since both SE Ranking and SEMrush are aimed at different target audiences.

I would say that majority of the people/SEO experts would prefer SE Ranking over SEMrush mainly because of its flexible pricing plan/features. Nevertheless, SEMrush is still the #1 SEO suite that only a very few could afford.

SE Ranking Review- Will SE Ranking Suit You?

Without a doubt, YES!

SE Ranking will literally suit anyone. Thanks to its flexible pricing with tailor-made features.

Bloggers
Affiliate Marketers
Digital Marketers
Small Business/Website Owners
Freelancers
Independent SEO Experts
Professional SEO Agencies and much more.

SE Ranking has all the necessary SEO features that one would need along with a marketing plan overview which will serve as a detailed roadmap to structure your SEO and marketing strategy.

Some of you might want to use the #1 SEO software suite (SEMrush) thinking that it would bring more SEO benefits and results. But, trust me, that is not the case. Semrush is very expensive and most people do not do justice to the price i.e. they don’t use all its features since they don’t have the need to do so.

I too started with SEMrush and it is indeed very powerful. But, the fact is that I only used 50% of the features! I did not need the rest. Therefore, I have shifted to SE Ranking and I would advise you to do the same. (unless you would need the potential features of SEMrush).

SE Ranking Review - PROS & CONS

PROS

All-one-one SEO software suite.
Top class SEO features
#2 rated SEO software suite after SEMrush
Clean and User-friendly interface
Highest Positive Feedback with over 400,000+ users.
Recognized and featured as a top SEO suite by various review sites like G2, Capterra, and Finances Online.
The only affordable all-in-one SEO suite that is available.
Social Media Management.
Real-time performance tracking via project set-ep.
Flexible Pricing Plan suitable for everyone.
B2B and Whitelabel Features
Warm and Quick Customer Support via chat, email, and call.
14-day free trial (no credit card required)
Was specifically launched to reduce the pain point of paying big bucks for SEO suites.

CONS

User Interface slightly less intuitive when compared with SEMrush and Ahrefs.
Smaller Keyword database compared to SEMrush. (but constantly updating)

SE Ranking Review - My Final Thoughts

Google only loves you, when everyone else loves you first.

Wendy Piersall Tweet

Search Engine Optimization is a mandatory process for any digital marketer/brand looking to establish their presence on Google. And for that, you will definitely need the help of an SEO/Marketing suite.

SE Ranking is definitely one of the best all-in-one SEO suites that I have used and I am very sure that you would love it too. In fact, by now you would have understood the potential of the software and why it is regarded as a SEMrush alternative.

Now, it is time for you to make a decision.

Make that call risk free by trying out SE Ranking FREE for 14 days! (no credit card required)