Ahrefs and Semrush are two of the most recognisable names in SEO and marketing software. And when it comes to podcast guesting, both brands are no stranger.
Using Rephonic, we discovered that Ahrefs has made 99 podcast appearances in total, compared to 117 for Semrush [1]. While the overall volume isn’t worlds apart, the most notable difference is how they’ve approached it.
In this article, we compare the patterns across timing, consistency, spokespeople, categories, and podcast size.
Key takeaways:
- Ahrefs and Semrush both completed their first podcast interview in 2017
- Ahrefs found a consistent rhythm earlier, but Semrush managed a longer streak
- Semrush has significantly more guest speakers than Ahrefs
- Both brands prefer Marketing podcasts and shows with smaller audiences
Both brands started podcast guesting in 2017
After identifying Ahrefs’ and Semrush’s podcast interviews in Rephonic, we broke them down by year and found both brands made their first guest appearance in 2017.
Ahrefs steadily increased their activity over the first few years, whereas Semrush hit a clear turning point in 2020 after a stop-start beginning.
The sudden jump in the number of interviews suggests a decision was made to properly invest in podcast guesting as a growth channel that year.
Ahrefs found consistency earlier
Next, we broke the podcast appearances down by month and found that both Semrush and Ahrefs had their first podcast interview released in February 2017.
Ahrefs managed a nine-month streak from October 2018 to June 2019, with May 2019 as their busiest month.
For Semrush, February 2020 and November 2022 were joint biggest months, with six appearances in each. They also maintained a 15-month streak from February 2020 to April 2021.
Consistency like this creates regular touchpoints which compounds familiarity and trust long before someone’s ready to buy. On the other hand, a brand promoting a major launch might prefer to concentrate appearances into a shorter window to maximise impact.
Semrush has more podcast guest speakers
For the next chart, we looked at how many different spokespeople appeared as podcast guests.
Ahrefs has had 11 different guest speakers, while Semrush has had 29. For Ahrefs, the most prolific guest is Tim Soulo, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, who accounts for over half of their guest appearances.
For Semrush, their most prolific spokesperson is Fernando Angulo (Head of Communications), who’s responsible for just over a quarter.
A bigger roster like Semrush’s lets you put more specialised experts on the right shows and and reach more corners of the market. A smaller roster like Ahrefs gives one or two speakers more reps, which can help improve delivery and increases the chance they become recognised industry experts.
Marketing podcasts dominate for both Ahrefs and Semrush
Next, we looked at the category of shows each brand has guested on. For Ahrefs, Marketing podcasts are unsurprisingly the main focus, followed by Business and Entrepreneurship shows [2].
Semrush’s top two categories are the same, but Business shows make up a much smaller share. Overall, Marketing dominates for both brands, with 61% of all the podcasts they’ve guested on falling into this category. It’s a reminder that successful appearances start with choosing shows that align with your target audience.
Smaller podcasts make up the bulk of their guesting
Finally, we looked at podcast size. For the podcasts the brands have guested on that are still active, we grouped them into three buckets based on estimated listener numbers [3].
The data suggests that for both Ahrefs and Semrush, the majority of interviews have been on smaller podcasts. This reinforces the idea that relevance is more important than reach when it comes to podcast guesting opportunities.
Final thoughts
Despite their slightly different approaches, both Ahrefs and Semrush have treated podcast guesting as a serious, repeatable marketing tactic for years. What’s striking is how little overlap there is between the shows they’ve appeared on. Just 10 podcasts have hosted both brands, highlighting how many relevant guesting opportunities potentially still exist.
If you’re planning to start (or scale) podcast guesting, Rephonic can help. Rephonic is the most complete podcast database for PR teams, marketers, and founders looking to book high-impact guest appearances and ad spots. You can access listener numbers, contact info, audience demographics, and more for over three million podcasts.
Footnotes
[1] We count an appearance if the guest was working at Ahrefs or Semrush at the time of recording, based on the show notes and/or episode transcript. We’ve done our best to identify and count Ahrefs’ and Semrush’s podcast guest appearances as accurately as possible, but it’s possible we’ve missed or missattributed the occasional interview.
[2] Categories are taken from each show’s primary category on Apple Podcasts.
[3] Audience sizes are based on Rephonic’s estimated weekly listener numbers and grouped into the following buckets: Small: >0 and <500; Medium: ≥500 and <5,000; Large: ≥5,000. We define an “active” podcast as one that has published an episode within the last 60 days. Audience sizes may have changed since the brands appeared as guests.
Article credits
Written by Becca Butcher, marketing specialist who frequently analyzes Rephonic’s data across 3 million podcasts.
How to Use Podcasts for Link Building
Quality backlinks should be a vital part of your SEO strategy, and in our opinion, building links via podcast guesting is a highly underrated tactic.
How to Spy on a Competitor’s Podcast Guesting Strategy
In this article, we break down why piecing together their competitor’s podcast guesting strategy matters and how to use Rephonic to get a clear view of what’s happening behind the scenes.
