⚡Key Takeaways

• Semrush is using M&A to expand its portfolio of websites and dominate search rankings for high-priority keywords.

• By leveraging multiple websites and funneling them toward one conversion point, Semrush has effectively expanded its marketing funnel through its acquisitions. 

• Semrush maintains acquired websites as independent entities to preserve their authority and capitalize on conversion opportunities through brand trust.

• Semrush strategically promotes its platform within top-of-funnel thought leadership content and captures conversion opportunities through bottom-of-funnel content (free tools) on its acquired websites.

Since going public in March 2021, Semrush has made notable acquisitions to enhance its position as an industry authority. However, what’s less recognized is the SEO advantage of these acquisitions. 

Semrush’s acquisition of Backlinko, which boasts a domain authority of 90 (per Ahrefs) and ranks highly for competitive industry keywords, proves that SEO through M&A can be an effective growth strategy. By acquiring Backlinko and maintaining it as an independent brand, Semrush found a faster path to organic visibility than through traditional organic growth strategies alone. 

Semrush’s acquisition strategy: more than what meets the eye

Semrush is committed to expanding user education to establish its position as a trusted industry authority. Before acquiring Backlinko, Semrush launched Semrush Academy, an educational platform where “marketers can learn new skills and hone their craft with access to communities focused on SEO, content marketing, social media, and digital PR.”

In its announcement of the Backlinko acquisition, Semrush noted that combining Semrush Academy with Backlinko would enable the company to “offer one of the most robust digital marketing and SEO training resources on the web.” This user-focused acquisition strategy was just the beginning. Underneath was a highly strategic plan to drive organic growth.

The Backlinko acquisition was a purposeful SEO play 

Semrush currently ranks in the top 10 for close to 165,000 keywords (per Ahrefs); however, the keywords bringing in the most traffic are brand-related (e.g., “Semrush” and “sem rush”) or related to popular websites unrelated to Semrush’s offering (this is because Semrush publishes competitor pages for thousands of websites —see an example here). 

Meanwhile, a quick analysis of Semrush Academy in Ahrefs shows that it ranks in the top 10 for 766 keywords—many highly competitive industry keywords like “SEO training” and “SEO course.” However, since most of Semrush Academy's content is gated (meaning visitors must provide their information to access it), it’s not crawlable and doesn’t boost Semrush’s organic visibility much. The academy draws in about 17,000 monthly organic visits. 

Creating high-value educational SEO content that ranks for industry “head terms” (popular keywords that drive high search volume) is a long-game strategy that requires significant time and investment. Semrush recognized that it could expedite this timeline and fill the gap for keywords it didn’t rank for by acquiring a company that already ranked for these terms. 

Backlinko: an SEO powerhouse with a trusted reputation 

Backlinko is known for its comprehensive SEO guides and strategy playbooks. It boasts a domain rating of 90 and over 400,000 backlinks directing to its content (per Ahrefs). Backlinko also ranks in the top ten for 26,838 keywords, most of which are highly competitive SEO keywords like “backlinks,” “SEO keywords,” and “domain authority checker.”  

By acquiring Backlinko, Semrush bypassed the time-consuming process of building high-ranking content from scratch in competitive SEO niches.

One of the smartest things Semrush did when acquiring Backlinko was to keep it an independent brand. Because it isn't attached to a corporate name, Backlinko is trusted as an agnostic resource among the marketing and SEO community. Brian Dean, Backlinko's founder, is a highly respected figure in the SEO community. This influencer partnership enhances Semrush's SEO value in several ways:

1. High-quality content creation: Dean's expertise in creating in-depth, actionable SEO content aligns with Semrush's goal of providing comprehensive digital marketing education. This collaboration is likely to result in a steady stream of high-quality, evergreen content that can:

   • Attract organic traffic over the long term

   • Generate valuable backlinks from other industry websites

   • Improve Semrush's topical authority in SEO and digital marketing

2. Expanded reach and backlink opportunities: Dean's influence in the SEO community can lead to increased mentions, citations, and backlinks to Semrush from other reputable sources in the industry. This expanded reach can significantly enhance Semrush's backlink profile, a factor in search engine rankings.

3. Thought leadership position: By associating with a recognized thought leader like Dean, Semrush strengthens its position as a leading authority in the SEO industry. This can lead to more speaking opportunities, industry partnerships, and media coverage, all of which contribute to improved SEO performance.

Smart integrations: Driving TOFU and BOFU traffic on Backlinko to Semrush

To capitalize on Backlinko's authority, trust, and SEO power, Semrush has inserted several CTAs into Backlinko’s content. According to Similarweb data, Backlinko drives 2,450 backlinks to Semrush. 

Backlinko has inserted in-line CTAs driving visitors to Semrush signup pages within top-of-funnel (TOFU) content like this page on how to create an SEO strategy; however, what’s more intriguing is the conversion strategy attached to Backlinko’s bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content. Backlinko offers a “Tools” section dedicated to searchers looking for free SEO tools like keyword research tools, keyword rank checkers, backlink checkers, and others. These searchers are considered BOFU because they are high-intent searchers looking for specific solutions. 

Many of Backlinko’s tools rank in the top 5 on SERPs for bottom-of-funnel keywords such as “domain authority checker,” “free backlink checker,” and others (see examples below). These keywords are also highly relevant for Semrush because they directly relate to the tools and features within the Semrush platform. 

Even more interesting, it appears that Backlinko’s free tools pull results from the Semrush API. So, for example, when a searcher uses Backlinko’s free keyword research tool, they essentially use Semrush features embedded into the Backlinko page. Users who click to explore more within this tool (i.e., anything with blue text in the screen capture below) are directed to the Semrush interface. 

These pages also include prominent CTAs guiding users to create a free Semrush account to achieve their desired outcome. For example, a prominent CTA at the top of the keyword research tool reads, “Create a free Semrush account and run 10 keyword searches per day…” 

An expanding portfolio to win top SERP rankings for high-priority keywords 

In addition to acquiring Backlinko, Semrush added Traffic Think Tank (TTT), another SEO education site, to its portfolio of websites in 2023. TTT, while not as dominant in organic search as Backlinko, is still a highly-regarded educational resource in the search community, with a domain ranking of 71 (per Ahrefs data). 

By owning multiple authoritative sites, Semrush can secure the top 3-5 rankings for keywords across different domains. This strategy allows them to dominate search engine results pages (SERPs) for priority keywords. For example, Backlinko ranks #1 for the priority keyword “ahrefs vs semrush” while TTT has secured the #5 spot (per Ahrefs data). 

Key takeaways 

Semrush’s acquisition of Backlinko and TTT demonstrates the power of strategic investments in boosting SEO and user conversion. Here's how you can apply similar principles to your own business:

• Preserve brand autonomy: By preserving the independence of acquired brands, Semrush leverages their established authority and audience trust, which is crucial for maximizing conversion potential without diluting brand identity.

• Consider investing in content brands: Semrush acquired media/content entities with established authority rather than a direct competitor. They can now leverage audience trust to drive conversion opportunities.   

• Use free tools to increase conversion opportunities: Create highly relevant free tools on your acquired site that directly relate to your product to drive high-intent users to your platform. 

• Implement strategic cross-promotion: Integrate your calls to action and tools within your acquired brand’s content to create seamless pathways for users to explore your offerings.

If you’re interested in discovering new avenues to grow traffic with SEO, email us at [email protected] to start the conversation.