As someone who’s been in the digital marketing trenches for years, I’ve tried nearly every SEO tool on the market. But time and again, I find myself coming back to Semrush for its comprehensive data and powerful features. Today, I want to share my experience using this all-in-one SEO and digital marketing platform.
If you’re new to Semrush, the sheer amount of data can be overwhelming. Even if you’re already using it, you might not be leveraging its full potential. By the end of this article, you’ll understand all the key features and how to use them to improve your SEO and digital marketing efforts.
Semrush Keyword Research Tools
Keyword Overview Tool
The Keyword Overview tool is my starting point for any SEO project. It provides a comprehensive summary of any keyword you enter.
For example, when I searched for “weight loss” targeting the US market, I immediately got valuable data:
- Volume: 201,000 monthly searches
- Keyword Difficulty: 100% (extremely competitive)
- Intent: Informational (people looking for answers)
- CPC: $3.40 (what advertisers pay per click)
- Trend data: Shows search volume fluctuations throughout the year
What makes this tool powerful is how it connects to other Semrush features. I can quickly jump to keyword variations, questions, or SERP analysis with a single click.
Keyword Magic Tool
This is where Semrush truly shines. With access to over 25.4 billion keywords across 142 geo databases, the Keyword Magic Tool helps me find keyword opportunities I might otherwise miss.
When I enter a seed keyword like “weight loss,” the tool returns:
- 780,000+ keyword variations
- 20 million+ total search volume
- Average keyword difficulty of 52%
I can filter these results by:
- Match type (broad, phrase, exact, or related)
- Search volume
- Keyword difficulty
- Intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional)
- Word count
- SERP features (featured snippets, videos, etc.)
For example, by filtering for keywords with:
- Difficulty under 50%
- At least 5 words
- Minimum search volume of 100
- Informational intent
I can quickly find long-tail keywords with decent search volume but lower competition, like “cycling 1 hour a day weight loss” (210 searches, 11% difficulty).
Keyword Manager Tool
Once I’ve identified promising keywords, I use the Keyword Manager to organize them into clusters. This helps me plan content that targets related keywords together.
For “weight loss,” Semrush automatically created 41 clusters from 1,320 keywords. These clusters group semantically related terms, making it easier to create comprehensive content that ranks for multiple keywords.
| Feature | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword Overview | Comprehensive data at a glance | Limited to one keyword at a time (unless using bulk analysis) |
| Keyword Magic Tool | Massive database, excellent filtering options | Can be overwhelming without proper filtering |
| Keyword Manager | Automatically creates semantic clusters | Limited to 2,000 keywords per list |
| Organic Research | Uncovers competitor keywords | Some data may be estimated |
| Position Tracking | Real-time ranking updates | Requires setup for each project |
Competitive Research Tools
Organic Research Tool
This competitor-based keyword research tool is invaluable. Instead of starting from scratch, I can see what keywords my competitors are already ranking for.
For example, when I analyzed a health website, I discovered they ranked for 2.9 million keywords. By filtering for:
- Keywords containing “weight”
- Difficulty under 50%
- Word count greater than 4
- Minimum search volume of 100
I found 2,300 potential keywords to target, many with low competition scores.
Keyword Gap Tool
This tool helps me find keyword opportunities by comparing multiple domains. I can see:
- Keywords my competitors rank for that I don’t (missing opportunities)
- Keywords where my competitors outrank me (weak spots)
- Keywords where I outrank my competitors (strengths)
This gives me a clear picture of where to focus my SEO efforts.
On-Page SEO Tools
Site Audit Tool
The Site Audit tool crawls my website to identify technical SEO issues. For my digital marketing blog, it found several issues:
- Broken internal links
- Unminified JavaScript and CSS files
- Links with no anchor text
Each issue comes with an explanation of why it matters and how to fix it. I can also track my progress over time as I resolve these issues.
On-Page SEO Checker
This tool analyzes my pages against top-ranking competitors and provides actionable recommendations:
- Content ideas (word count, readability, semantic terms to include)
- Technical SEO improvements
- Backlink opportunities
- SERP feature opportunities
For example, it suggested I improve my content’s readability and add more semantic terms to compete better with top-ranking pages.
SEO Content Template & Writing Assistant
When creating new content, I start with the SEO Content Template. I enter my target keyword, and Semrush analyzes the top 10 ranking pages to provide:
- Semantically related words to include
- Backlink targets
- Recommended readability score
- Suggested text length
Then I use the SEO Writing Assistant to ensure my content meets these recommendations. It scores my content in real-time for:
- SEO (keyword usage and semantically related terms)
- Readability
- Tone of voice
- Originality
Link Building Tools
Backlink Analytics
This tool gives me a complete picture of my backlink profile:
- Total backlinks and referring domains
- Authority score trends
- Anchor text distribution
- Link attributes (follow vs. nofollow)
- Top referring domains
I also use it to analyze competitors’ backlink profiles to find link-building opportunities.
Backlink Audit
The Backlink Audit tool helps me identify toxic backlinks that might harm my SEO. For my digital marketing blog, it found:
- 95% of backlinks were non-toxic
- 3% were potentially toxic
- 2% were toxic
I can then contact webmasters to remove toxic links or disavow them through Google Search Console.
Link Building Tool
This tool streamlines my outreach process by:
- Finding link prospects based on my keywords and competitors
- Organizing prospects by outreach strategy
- Facilitating email outreach directly from Semrush
- Tracking the status of each prospect
Position Tracking
I use Position Tracking to monitor how my keywords rank over time. For my digital marketing blog, I track:
- Visibility score
- Estimated traffic
- Average position
- Ranking distribution (how many keywords in top 3, top 10, etc.)
- SERP feature rankings
I can also compare my rankings with competitors and receive alerts when my rankings change significantly.
My Workflow with Semrush
- Research phase: I use Keyword Overview and Keyword Magic Tool to find promising keywords, then organize them with Keyword Manager.
- Competitive analysis: I analyze competitors with Organic Research and Keyword Gap to find additional opportunities.
- Content creation: I use the SEO Content Template and Writing Assistant to create optimized content.
- Technical SEO: I run regular Site Audits to identify and fix technical issues.
- Link building: I use Backlink Analytics to find opportunities, then use the Link Building Tool for outreach.
- Monitoring: I track my progress with Position Tracking and run periodic Backlink Audits to maintain a healthy profile.
Conclusion
Semrush has transformed my approach to SEO and digital marketing. While it requires an investment, the comprehensive data and time-saving features have made it an essential part of my toolkit.
Whether you’re just starting with SEO or looking to take your strategy to the next level, Semrush provides the insights and tools you need to succeed in today’s competitive digital landscape.
Remember, the key to success with Semrush isn’t just having access to the data—it’s knowing how to interpret and act on it. Start with the basics, then gradually explore more advanced features as you become comfortable with the platform.