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| The Ultimate Guide to Competitive Keyword Research with Semrush |
It’s pretty simple to find out what people are searching for on Google and other search engines, but it’s much harder to determine which terms you should be targeting to search engine optimization (SEO) and get the most traffic from search engines and grow your audience. To understand which keywords your audience is typing into Google, you need to use a keyword research tool called Semrush to conduct keyword research, which can then inform your content creation strategy and business goals. Here’s how!
How to Use Semrush for Keyword Research to Dominate Your Niche
Most content authors have a good concept of what they want to write about and what keywords they want to utilize.
Don't you think so?
However, it is hard to identify what queries individuals are entering into Google without studying keywords in your field.
That is why you must devote some time to keyword research.
Don't go with your instinct when it comes to selecting the correct keywords for your article. Rather, spend some time conducting serious keyword research with a top-tier SEO keyword research tool.
Semrush, an SEO platform that contains tools for keyword research, link building, content marketing, technical SEO, and more, is one such tool.
For the sake of this essay, we'll simply look at Semrush's keyword research tools. This guide will teach you:
- Quick keyword research.
- How to Conduct Keyword Research.
- How to Come Up With Content Ideas.
- How to do keyword research depending on competitors.
You'll master the strategies as mentioned above by utilizing the Semrush toolkit's three core keyword research features/tools:
- Keyword Overview.
- Magic Keyword Tool
- Topic Research Tool
So, before we begin, please ensure that you have an active Semrush account.
Ready? Let's get this party started.
Quick Keyword Analysis (with Semrush’s Keyword Overview Report)
Sometimes you don't need a tool to help you with keyword research.
In certain circumstances, you may have already narrowed down your target keywords. Perhaps your competitive analysis generated keyword suggestions that you know work effectively for your rivals.
Perhaps your content marketing efforts produced popular themes in your niche.
In either of these scenarios, you should utilize a keyword research tool to get a fast look at the monthly search traffic and other critical keyword parameters.
Semrush's Keyword Overview report might help you with this.
This is how it works:
To begin, enter your seed keywords into the Semrush search window.
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| Semrush's Keyword Overview - Keyword Analysis |
The monthly search volume for your target keywords will be displayed in the Keyword Overview report. More significantly, you'll receive a fast overview of vital keyword data related to your primary keywords.
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| Semrush's Keyword Overview report - Keyword Analysis |
Pay close attention to the following five crucial keyword metrics:
- Search Volume.
- Keyword Difficulty.
- CPC.
- Trend.
- SERP Analysis.
Let's go further into each of these indicators.
Search Volume
The average number of times a certain term is searched each month is shown by the search volume. The keywords "best DSLR camera," for example, have monthly search traffic of 9.9k searches in the United States and a global search volume of 38.8k searches.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research Guide - Search Volume |
Remember that search volume is only one of the measures of a keyword's popularity. Don't assume that a term is popular just because it has a large search volume.
Before picking keywords for your next campaign, review additional SEO metrics in the overview report such as keyword difficulty, CPC, and, most crucially, the trend chart.
Keyword Difficulty
The Keyword Difficulty Index (from 1% to 100%) reveals how difficult it is to rank for your chosen keywords. The greater the proportion, the more difficult it will be to rank higher for your desired keywords.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - KD index |
In this situation, the Keyword Difficulty percentage is 86 percent, indicating that outranking the top-ranking pages for these keywords is challenging.
If your seed keywords have a high keyword difficulty percentage, choose one of the keyword variants from the overview report as your target keywords. (More on this later).
CPC
CPC is the average price that marketers pay for a user's click on a Google Ads ad triggered by the target keywords.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - CPC |
If you run PPC advertisements, this is a crucial metric to consider.
Trend
The trend chart depicts searchers' interest in your target keywords over the previous 12 months. The trend for "best dslr camera" is more or less consistent, with notable surges during Black Friday and Christmas shopping.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - Trend |
Keyword search numbers fluctuate all the time. In other circumstances, the search volume indicator might be deceptive since it does not account for seasonal fluctuations in your target terms.
This is particularly true for seasonal keywords. This is the trend for "amazon black friday bargains," for example.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - Seasonal Keywords |
As you can see, this query's searches peak solely around November. If you're targeting seasonal keywords in your campaign, it's wise not to depend entirely on search traffic.
SERP Analysis
The top 100 Google results for your seed keywords are displayed in SERP Analysis. Along with the URLs that are presently ranking for your target keywords, you'll notice vital SEO stats.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - SERP Analysis |
Concentrate on the top ten results to obtain a good picture of the websites you'll be competing with.
Keyword Variations
For your seed keywords, the Keyword Overview report also creates keyword variants, question-based keywords, and related keywords.
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| Semrush's Keyword Research - Keyword Variations |
As previously stated, the keyword difficulty percentage for "best dslr camera" is very high. If we included these keywords in our content, a simple look at the SERP Analysis report shows that we would be competing against respected sites like Digital Camera World, TechRadar, and PCMag.
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| Google SERP Analysis |
That is very stiff competition!
Remember that the higher the amount of keyword difficulty, the more difficult it will be to outrank your organic competition in search results.
This is where it is best to use a different keyword combination. You may either choose one of the top keyword variations for your target keywords from the overview report or use the Keyword Magic Tool to get more keyword suggestions.
Every keyword variant mentioned in the summary report for "best dslr camera" has a keyword difficulty percentage of more than 80%. By widening the list of keywords in the Keyword Magic Tool, I was able to hone down on a few long-tail terms with low KD percent.
As a result, Semrush's Keyword Overview tool is ideal for rapid keyword analysis. You'll need to utilise Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool to perform a deeper examination of your target keywords and produce extra keyword suggestions.
Let's have a look at this tool next.
How to Do Keyword Research (with Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool)
Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool offers the biggest keyword database on the market, with over 20 billion keywords and 142 geo datasets.
This means you may produce a large number of keyword suggestions and then conduct a deep study of them to choose the best ones for your campaign.
Here's how it works: Follow these steps to gain access to Keyword Magic Tool:
SEO Dashboard - Keyword Research - Keyword Magic Tool
Enter your seed keywords and click "Search".
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| Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool - Search Box |
You'll be given a list of keyword suggestions for your seed keywords. The list of keywords can be sorted by volume, from high to low, so that terms with high search traffic appear first.
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| Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool - keyword ideas list |
To limit down your list of terms, use modifiers such as Broad March, Phrase Match, Exact Match, or Related.
To locate long-tail keywords and themes with low keyword difficulty, utilise the keyword groupings on the left side of the keyword list.
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| SEMrush Keyword Research - Keyword Groups |
You may also filter out terms that aren't related to your campaign. Simply click the eye symbol next to the keyword groups to filter out those terms from your keyword list.
Select the "Questions" modifier to view keywords in the form of a question if you're looking for them.
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| Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool - question - Based keyword |
You may also narrow down keyword suggestions by volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC.
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| Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool - Filter keywords |
You may cut down the huge list of keyword suggestions by using filters for search traffic and keyword difficulty. This will make it easier for you to cherry-pick the ideal keywords for your next piece of content.
When I put "gaming consoles" as the seed keywords, for example, the program yielded almost 8,500 keyword possibilities. There are a lot of keywords to go through.
When you have to review so many keywords, identifying long-tail keywords with adequate keyword complexity might be challenging.
I was able to reduce the list to 15 terms by applying filters for search volume (custom range of 100-5000) and keyword difficulty (60-79 percent).
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| Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool - Filtered keywords |
I was able to cherry-pick six long-tail keywords with appropriate keyword difficulty from this limited list of keywords.
What's the bottom line? Play with the filters until you get the best keyword suggestions for your campaign.
You may either export your keywords to a CSV file or upload them to Keyword Manager once you've identified them.
Semrush's Keyword Manager digs deeper into the keywords you've chosen. You may use it to acquire real-time stats for your target keywords and discover if there are any new organic rivals.
To add keywords to Keyword Manager, check the box next to each keyword and then press the "Add to Keyword Manager" button. Your keyword list will be stored when you provide a list name.
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| Add Keywords to Keyword Manager |
After you've stored your keyword list in the Keyword Manager tool, you may continue to receive insights on them in real-time and return to study them whenever you like.
Go to SEO Dashboard - Keyword Research - Keyword Manager to get started.
To refresh the keyword metrics, choose the list you just saved and click the "Update metrics" button.
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| SEMrush Keyword Manager - Update metrics |
This function is especially helpful if you work in a competitive niche where SEO metrics for your target keywords may fluctuate.
How to Generate Content Ideas (with Semrush’s Topic Research Tool)
Want to come up with a new topic for your next blog post, podcast episode, or eBook? Your solution is most likely to be found in Semrush's Topic Research feature.
The Topic Research tool aids in the removal of the guesswork from the content development process. It comes up with a lengthy list of new themes for your next piece of content.
It's also really simple to use. This is how it works:
Navigate to Content Marketing - Topic Research from your Semrush dashboard.
In the search field, type in your topic or keyword(s):
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| Semrush’s Topic Research Tool - Content Ideas |
Semrush will provide a list of probable subtopics for the topic you searched for in a few seconds.
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| Topic Research Report - Cards View |
The top three headlines for the primary keywords will be displayed in each subtopic.
If you're using this tool for the first time, you might be perplexed by how the data is displayed. So take close attention.
The data is presented in four ways: Cards, Explorer, Overview, and Mindmap. Cards are the default view.
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| Topic Research Settings |
You can view the list of subtopics in your favorite format by switching between the four views.
The subtopics are classified into three categories:
- Headlines.
- Questions.
- Related Searches.
By clicking on any of the cards, you may view these content ideas.
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| Topic Research - Content Ideas |
Let's look more closely at each of the categories.
Headlines
Each card shows the top ten headlines for the chosen subtopic. The quantity of backlinks to the sites determines which headlines are shown.
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| Topic Research Report - Headlines |
Each headline will be accompanied by a bullhorn symbol to the left, indicating how strongly the page connects with your target demographic. Pages with strong resonance will display a green bullhorn icon, whereas pages with low resonance will display a grey bullhorn icon.
Questions
If you want to rank in Google's highlighted snippets area (aka position 0), you should start developing question-and-answer material.
Semrush's Topic Research assists you by displaying common inquiries about a given subtopic.
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| Topic Research - Questions |
Filter out questions by interrogative phrases such as what, how, which, and so on, depending on the search intent you wish to target.
Related Searches
View the "Connected searches" box at the bottom of the subject card for more content suggestions related to your selected subtopic.
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| Topic Research - Related Searches |
To begin a new subject investigation for those precise terms, click on any of these related searches.
If you find the "Cards" view too confusing, I'd recommend switching to "Overview," which just displays the top ten headlines, questions, and related searches for your topic.
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| Topic Research - Overview Subtopics |
Finally, it boils down to your own decision regarding how you want to see the information.
If you want to see things visually, you may switch to the "Mind Map" mode. This view represents your subject cards visually.
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| Semrush's Topic Research - Mind Map View |
What's the bottom line? If you're looking for new blog subjects, Semrush's Topic Research is the finest tool to employ. It will simplify your content production process and provide you with the necessary knowledge to write pieces that will resonate with your target audience.
How to Conduct Competitive Keyword Research (Using Semrush's Competitive Research Toolkit)
Seeing what keywords your rivals are ranking for is one of the finest methods to uncover relevant phrases in your area.
Unlike traditional keyword research, which begins with entering seed terms, competitor-based keyword research begins by entering your competitor's domain in the search box.
Semrush provides a comprehensive package for competitive analysis, which I discussed in further depth in this piece. You may utilise Semrush's Competitive Research Toolkit to identify fresh link building possibilities, watch your rivals' search ranks, and monitor their social media activity in addition to generating keyword suggestions.
For the sake of this post, we'll limit ourselves to competitor-based keyword research. This is how it works:
Navigate to Competitive Research - Organic Research from your Semrush dashboard.
In the search field, type in the URL of your competitor's website:
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| SEMrush Organic Research - Competitor Research |
The organic research report will now be shown.
To see your competitor's top 5 organic keywords, go to the report's "Top Organic Keywords" section.
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| SEMrush Domain Overview Report - Top Organic Keywords |
To view more organic keywords, click "View details".
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| Organic Keywords Report - SEMrush Keyword Research |
You may sort the keyword list by any keyword statistic, such as keyword difficulty, traffic, search volume, and so on.
Sort the list by traffic to see the keywords that provide the most organic traffic to your competitor's website.
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| SEMrush Keyword Research - Sort By Traffic |
Use these keywords in your next blog article to try to outperform your opponent in search results.
If you're unsure who your organic rivals are, enter your domain in the search box and go to the "Main Organic Competitors" part of your domain overview report.
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| SEMrush Overview Report - Main Organic Competitors |
Click on any of the rivals to discover their top organic keywords and start a new organic research report.
Final Thoughts
You must master keyword research if you want your website to rank better in search results. Fortunately, tools like Semrush make keyword research and finding the ideal keywords for your website simple and enjoyable.
This tutorial on Semrush's keyword research capabilities should have offered a good framework to launch your keyword research efforts.
Keep in mind that keyword research is a continual activity. You must regularly examine and edit your previous content to ensure they are optimised for relevant keywords. This will assist you in maintaining your SEO ranks and remaining ahead of your top organic competition.
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