If you’re looking to monetize your website or blog traffic, the Semrush Affiliate Program offers a compelling way to do so. As a well-known brand and one of the higher-paying affiliate programs on the market, it can create a solid stream of revenue if you have the right audience.

Semrush Affiliate Program At-a-Glance

Semrush is a popular SaaS platform used for search engine optimization (SEO). It allows digital marketers of all kinds—online business owners, bloggers, freelancers—to conduct keyword research, competitive analyses, site audits, and more.

As an affiliate, you’d earn a competitive commission rate for each time an individual activates a Semrush trial or subscription via your tracking link. Here’s an overview of the program’s most important details:

• Commission Rate: $200 for every new sale, $10 for every new trial
• Cookie Window: 120 days
• Payout Minimum: $10
• Payout Frequency: Daily to monthly
• Withdrawal Options: PayPal or Electronic Funds Transfer

What We Love About Semrush’s Affiliate Program

There’s a lot—and we mean a lot—to love about Semrush’s affiliate program. These are a few of our favorite aspects.

Competitive Commission Rate

Semrush gives affiliates $200 for each new sale and $10 for each new trial. With three plans ranging from $149 to $499 per month, $200 in commission is a pretty sweet deal.

Long Cookie Window

Semrush offers a 120-day cookie window. If you aren’t familiar with other affiliate marketing programs, this might not sound quite so impressive.

For reference though, Amazon offers a 24-hour cookie window, Target offers a slightly better 7-day cookie window, and Lululemon offers a 30-day cookie window. For SaaS products, the default cookie window is typically somewhere between 30 and 90 days—neither of which compare to Semrush’s 120-day cookie window.

Lots of Data Provided to Affiliates

While the analytics dashboard is a bit clunky, it provides affiliates with a ton of data. This allows you to optimize performance of the link, making small tweaks to your strategy to drive more conversion. Not all affiliate programs offer these robust insights, but they’re powerful to have.

Quick and Efficient Application Process

With other affiliate programs, it can seem like your application goes off into the void and never returns. With Semrush’s affiliate program, however, the application is quick and straightforward. 

Once submitted, it takes just two business days, on average, to hear back. And regardless of the final decision, you’ll receive notice. This is helpful, as many affiliate programs don’t notify you if you’ve been denied, leaving you wondering about your application status.

What We Don’t Love About Semrush’s Affiliate Program

We promise we aren’t sugar coating it—there truly is only one downside to the Semrush affiliate program we can think of.

No Recurring Commissions on Subscriptions

In the past, Semrush allowed affiliates to earn additional commission if the person they initially referred renewed their subscription. Unfortunately, this no longer exists, which is a bummer to some affiliates.

How the Semrush Affiliate Program Works

The Semrush affiliate program is fairly straightforward—apply, wait for acceptance, then start promoting. You’ll find the application on Impact.

Requirements to Get Accepted

Semrush is pretty clear with the requirements for becoming an affiliate:

• Own either a website with 1,000+ monthly traffic or a social media network, group, or page with 1,000+ followers
• Your content must be relevant to Semrush and not contain any offensive content.

Semrush makes it clear that they review each application carefully. To enhance your chances of acceptance, they also suggest:

• Signing up with an email address that matches your website’s domain name
• Having a diverse strategy for obtaining traffic or followers (ie. a strategy based solely on email or paid advertising won’t be accepted)
• Submitting a single application with all of your websites included (if you have multiple websites, that is)

Promoting Semrush as an Affiliate

If you’re accepted, it’s go time. You’ll receive access to hundreds of promotional materials, like banners, widgets, videos, and landing pages, to promote Semrush.

You’ll also receive your unique tracking link. As with any affiliate program, it’s crucial to use this link when promoting Semrush. If you don’t, any conversions you generate won’t track properly and you won’t receive commission.

How Semrush Affiliates Get Paid

The Semrush affiliate program operates via Impact, a popular affiliate marketing network. Impact has specific payment processes, which are a bit funky, so we’ve broken it down for you below.

Source: Impact

When you drive an action for a brand, the commission earned will sit in an action locking period. This time period lasts for 27 days after the month the action is tracked. For example, if you drove a conversion on April 1, the commission would be locked until 27 days after May 1.

The action locking period allows brands the time they need to reverse the action if necessary. For example, if you broke the rules of your contract with the brand or if a customer returned the product or requested a refund, this would give the brand time to rectify the situation and remove the commission from your earnings.

Once it’s through the action locking period, it enters the invoicing period. During this two to three week timeframe, Impact issues the brand an invoice for the commissions earned. Once they’ve completed the invoice, you’ll receive payment—as long as you’ve met the $10 minimum threshold to cashout.

As an affiliate on Impact, you can select how often you’d prefer to be paid. You’ll have two options: receive payment once you’ve hit a certain earnings threshold or receive payment on a specific day of the month. Once one of the criteria is met, your earnings will automatically deposit into your account.

Final Verdict: Is the Semrush Affiliate Program Worth It?

In case we haven’t made our stance clear: the Semrush affiliate program is absolutely worth applying for. It’s straightforward, offers a competitive commission rate and cookie window, and  comes with a variety of creative to help you promote the brand. With the right approach, this can turn into a profitable revenue stream for you and your business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)