Getting Started with StretchSEM

What StretchSEM is

StretchSEM is StretchSuite's SEO/SEM command center — a SEMrush-class toolkit built directly into your workspace. It lets you research keywords and competitors, audit sites, optimize pages, track rankings, and monitor domains over time, all scoped to your organization so you only ever see and spend on your own data.

Every tool runs against real search data. By default StretchSEM uses its own proprietary engines — a multi-source SERP parser, a crawl-based keyword-intelligence layer, and a link-graph backlink index. When your account connects an external provider such as DataForSEO, Google Ads, or Google Search Console, the keyword and ranking tools automatically upgrade to exact monthly search volume, CPC, difficulty, and real Google positions.

Finding StretchSEM

1. Open your StretchSuite workspace and, in the left navigation, expand Commerce & Growth.
2. Click StretchSEM. The app opens on the StretchSEM Suite landing view.
3. Confirm the badges under the title read Live data and Pro access, and that your organization name appears in the Entitled card on the right. This confirms your workspace can run live, metered tools.

The dashboard at a glance

The top of the surface shows four workspace-level metric cards: Reports (live SEM reports visible to the workspace), Rank Rows (tracked rank records), Snapshots (domain-monitor snapshots), and Data Sources (how many providers are wired up — the built-in engines mean this is never zero).

Below that, a tab bar — Tools, Diagnostics, Reports, Tracking — switches between running tools and reviewing stored output. A secondary rail on the left jumps you to Overview, Campaigns, Projects, Research, and Diagnostics. The Overview cards (Reports, Domains, Rank Rows, Avg Health, Credits, Campaigns) summarize everything you've done. On a brand-new account these all read 0 or n/a — that's expected until you run something.

Your first five steps

1. Scan the Overview. Confirm the metric cards and the Data Sources count. The proprietary SERP, keyword, and backlink engines are always available, so you can start immediately.
2. Check provider readiness. Open the Diagnostics area and find the Data sources panel. It lists all six providers and whether each is connected. Built-in engines show as ready; external providers (DataForSEO, Google Ads, Search Console) show as connected only once an administrator configures them.
3. Run your first Domain report. In Research (or the Tools tab), choose Run Domain report and enter your site's domain, for example acme.com. This spends 1 credit and produces a combined site audit, keyword profile, page inventory, and backlink summary. It then appears under Reports.
4. Create a project (campaign). Click New project, then enter a domain, a comma- or newline-separated keyword list, and an optional competitor domain. The saved project gives you one-click re-runs.
5. Track your ranks. From the project, run Track ranks. StretchSEM checks each keyword's position, stores it, and starts building the movement history you'll see under Tracking.

Tip: Do step 4 before step 3 if you plan to work a site regularly. Running tools from a saved project pre-fills the domain, keywords, and competitor, so you skip the prompts entirely.

How a tool run works

Every tool follows the same pattern:

1. Click the tool's Run button.
2. Provide the required input — a domain, a keyword, or a page URL.
3. StretchSEM calls the live engine, spends 1 credit, and shows a result card. Report, rank, and monitor runs also refresh their history tables automatically.

If a run needs a provider that isn't connected, or a live fetch comes back empty, StretchSEM returns a clean error and refunds the credit — for example, standalone keyword research returns a 503 until an external metrics provider is configured, and you keep your credit.

A realistic first session

Beau runs a coaching business at paynecoaching.co. He opens StretchSEM, creates a project named "Payne Coaching" with the keywords life coach toronto, executive coaching, and career coach, and lists a rival, rivalcoach.com, as the competitor. He runs a Domain report (1 credit), sees a Site Health score of 78 with two orphan pages flagged, then runs Track ranks (1 credit) and learns he ranks #6 for life coach toronto but is not in the top 15 for executive coaching. That gap becomes his next content brief.

Tips

• The proprietary engines cost nothing extra and never dead-end — start today without waiting on integrations.
• Watch the Credits card so you always know your remaining balance; credits are shared with StretchBAS.
• Reading stored reports, ranks, and snapshots is free — review as much as you like.
• Use the New project button to standardize inputs and avoid typos that cause empty results.

FAQ

Do I need to connect anything to start? No. The built-in SERP, keyword, and backlink engines work out of the box. External providers are optional upgrades.

Why does my Domain report say there's no content? The report reads from your StretchSearch crawl. Crawl the domain in StretchSearch first, then re-run.

Where do my results live? Reports, tracked ranks, and monitor snapshots persist to your organization and power the trend charts and history tables under Reports and Tracking.