How to connect Semrush to SEO Ops

Plan: Premium. The Free plugin does not include the Semrush connection. See pricing.

Semrush is a source of keyword positions and visibility data. This guide shows how to add your Semrush API key to SEO Ops and check that it works.

What it does

Once connected and set up for a website, SEO Ops fetches organic keywords, traffic and traffic value from Semrush and shows them as measures on the client page, in reports and in the client portal. A daily job refreshes every client, and you can refresh by hand at any time.

A figure is either a real value from Semrush or Unavailable, with the reason. It is never shown as zero or estimated, a good value is never replaced by a failed refresh, and the current month is labelled “month to date”.

Before you start

• You need a Semrush account with API access. API access and its usage limits depend on your Semrush plan, so check your plan or ask Semrush if you are unsure.
• You need to be able to manage integrations in SEO Ops.

Step 1: Get your API key

Sign in to Semrush, open the API section of your account, and copy your API key. Treat it like a password.

Step 2: Add the key in SEO Ops

1. Go to Settings › Integrations.
2. On the Semrush card, choose Add API key.
3. Paste the key and choose Save. It is stored encrypted and is never shown again. Afterwards you only see the last four characters.

Step 3: Test it

Choose Test on the card. SEO Ops sends one harmless request to Semrush with your key. If it works, the card shows Connected. If not, it shows Error with a short reason.

Step 4: Choose the data for each website

1. Open the client, then the Websites section, and choose Data sources next to the website.
2. Under Semrush, choose the database (the country) to report on.
3. Save. Then on the client page choose Add standard measures and Refresh data.

A daily job then refreshes every client. Semrush counts API requests against your plan’s units, so a large number of clients uses more of them.

If something goes wrong

• The key is rejected: check you copied the whole key with no spaces, and that API access is included in your plan.
• Could not reach Semrush: this is usually a temporary network problem. Try the test again in a minute.
• The key will not save: the plugin may not have an encryption key. See the integrations overview.

Changing or removing the key

Choose Change key to replace it, or Disconnect to delete it. After disconnecting, figures that would come from Semrush show as Unavailable.

Next: connect Ahrefs.