How to Use Semrush for Keyword Research

Finding and choosing the right keywords is one of the most important steps in SEO that helps more people find your business online.

Creating content focused on the right keywords can mean the difference between driving traffic and new customers—and getting ignored.

The good news? 

With keyword research, you can find the terms your audience is already searching for. And use them to create content that connects with them.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding out what your target audience is searching for. This allows you to select the most relevant terms. Which you can then use in your content.

It helps you:

• Connect with people actively looking for what you offer 
• Create content that answers questions
• Bring in traffic that’s more likely to convert

How to Prepare for Doing Keyword Research with Semrush

Semrush is an all-in-one marketing solution offering many helpful tools for keyword research.

And getting started is easy. 

1. Head to the Semrush homepage and click “Sign Up“

2. Provide your email address and create a password
3. Follow the account verification process
4. Enter your website to start receiving insights

Once your account is set up, you’ll be prompted to enter your website to start receiving insights about it. 

Semrush’s tool menu is on the left-hand side of the platform. 

The main keyword research tools are:

• Keyword Overview: To do a quick analysis of any keyword
• Keyword Magic Tool: To explore many related terms based on a single seed (main) keyword
• Organic Research: To analyze a competitor’s keyword strategy and find opportunities for your site
• Keyword Strategy Builder: To organize a list of keywords into a strategy that maximizes SEO impact 
• Keyword Gap: To compare keywords from multiple competitors in your niche side by side
• Advertising Research: To discover your competitors on paid search and reveal the keywords in their strategies

These tools let you tailor your keyword research to your specific needs—whether that involves a quick analysis of a single keyword or a thorough exploration of your entire market.

Next, let’s walk through how to do keyword research. 

How to Conduct Keyword Research with Semrush

1. Find Organic Keywords

TheKeyword Magic Tool helps you discover thousands of relevant organic (meaning unpaid) keywords based on a single term.

Here’s how to use it:

Enter a broad keyword related to your niche (called a seed keyword). And click “Search.”

Pro tip:For AI-driven insights, add your domain into the AI-powered search bar for personalized keyword suggestions based on your content and audience.

The match modifiers can help you refine your keyword selection:

• Broad Match: Includes any variations of your seed keyword in any order
• Phrase Match: Includes terms with your exact keyword in various orders
• Exact Match: Includes your exact keyword or terms that include it in the exact order you specified
• Related: Includes keywords that are similar to the one you entered, which can be good for finding synonyms

Now, let’s go over applying filters to find good terms and how to make your final selections.

Discover Low-Competition Keywords

Low-competition keywords are terms that don’t have as many high-quality sites targeting them and that typically have lower search volumes. So, it’s easier to rank (show in search results) highly for them.

These are often called long-tail keywords. And they typically convert better due to their specificity.

Use the “KD %” (keyword difficulty) filter to identify terms with lower competition. By setting a maximum difficulty score.

For new sites, focus on keywords with the lowest possible difficulty score that still have reasonable search volumes. 

Going after these easier terms can more quickly help you achieve visibility. To help you build traffic momentum while building authority that will help you rank for more competitive terms.

For established sites, look at the difficult scores of keywords you already rank for as a benchmark.

Find Common Question Keywords 

The “Questions” filter is another way to find long-tail terms containing your seed term. But it will specifically show question-based keywords.

These questions are valuable because they show exactly what your audience wants to know. By answering these questions in your content, you can become a helpful source for your audience, which builds trust and keeps them coming back.

Study and Select Terms

Once you’ve identified some promising terms, study them more closely using the Keyword Overview tool.

Start by entering a term in the search bar and choosing your location. For personalized insights, enter your domain in the “AI-powered feature” bar. 

Then click “Search.” 

The Keyword Overview report will return:

• Search Volume: Monthly number of searches for the keyword
• Personal KD (Personal Keyword Difficulty): How difficult it will be for your specific domain to rank in Google’s top-10 results
• Potential Traffic: Estimated traffic your site could gain if it ranks well
• Topical Authority: How relevant your domain is to the keyword
• Potential Position: An estimate of the ranking you could achieve
• Intent: The reason behind the search—informational, commercial, transactional, or navigational
• CPC (cost per click): The average amount advertisers pay for a click on that term in their paid search campaigns
• Com. Density (competitive density): The level of competition in paid search
• Trend: Changes in search volume over time
• Keyword Variations: Similar keywords

Scroll down to explore the SERP analysis section. Which reveals your ranking potential and includes a table that displays the content formats and features currently ranking.

For more localized results, you can enter a specific location to see how the terms perform in a certain area. 

Note: You cannot use the AI-powered domain analysis and location features at the same time.

To enter a specific location, remove your URL from the personalized search bar.

Click the “Select location” drop-down and enter your desired location. 

The report returns metrics specific to your entered location.

2. Find Organic Terms Your Competitors Are Using

Discovering keywords your competitors rank for can help you find even more terms that you haven’t yet uncovered. 

With the Organic Research tool, you can uncover who your real competitors are in organic search by following these steps: 

1. Enter your domain
2. Navigate to the “Competitors” tab
3. Choose a competitor in the “Organic Competitors” section to explore their keyword rankings, traffic estimates, top pages, etc.

Next, check the “Positions” report to see all the keywords the competitor domain ranks for in the top 100 search results.

Use the “Advanced filters” drop-downto narrow your search. 

For example, to find keywords that aren’t branded and that include specific terms like “cat food.”

To save keywords, select the box next to each keyword and click “+ Add to keyword list.” You can add them to an existing list in the Keyword Strategy Builder or create a new one. 

Additionally, you have the option to export the keywords.

You can also use the Keyword Gap tool to compare your keyword rankings with your competitors’ keyword rankings:

1. Enter your domain in the first field and add up to four competitors’ domains
2. Choose “Organic keywords” from the menu to focus on terms you’re going after via unpaid search results
3. Check out the report and select “Missing” from the “Top Opportunities” section to see terms your competitors rank for that you don’t

These “missing” keywords present opportunities where you can create new content to compete for valuable traffic that’s currently going to your competition.

Here’s a video walkthrough of the Keyword Gap tool:

3. Create Topic Clusters for Your Organic Keywords

Topic Clusters are groups of closely related and interconnected pages that each feature a pillar (main) page and multiple cluster pages (subpages). 

Turning your keywords into clusters helps you build topical authority and allows you to rank more quickly.

The Keyword Strategy Builder helps with this.

There are two main ways you can use this tool:

Use Keyword Strategy Builder with an Existing List

Gather keywords from the Keyword Magic Tool, Organic Research, Keyword Gap, or from a manual spreadsheet into one big list to save your research in one place.

Here’s an example of how to do this from the Keyword Magic Tool. 

1. Select your desired keywords.
2. Click “Send keywords”
3. Choose the circle next to “Keyword Strategy Builder” and click “Apply” 

4. If you haven’t already created a list on this topic, click “Create new empty list” and name your list.
5. Select your newly created list and click “Send keywords”

Next, open your list in Keyword Strategy Builder and click “Cluster this list” 

The tool organizes your keywords into groups based on similarity.

The main theme your list is centered on will serve as your pillar page. And the rows now shown in the tool all represent different cluster pages.

Click the arrow in any row to expand page details and review keywords, metrics, intent, and potential SERP competitors.

Start from Scratch with the Keyword Strategy Builder

To generate a complete collection of pillar pages and cluster pages, enter a few seed keywords related to your business.

The tool will automatically create topic clusters for you.

Explore the clusters to build a strong list of pillar topics and supporting topics.

You can manually filter for keywords or apply smart filters to look for something specific, such as the easiest terms to rank for or the terms likely to encourage conversions.

Now, review the pillar pages and subpages. And select the ones you want to start with. 

4. Find PPC Keywords

Identifying the key search terms competitors advertise on reveals keywords potential customers use when they’re ready to buy or engage with content.

You can use Advertising Research in the Advertising section to identify effective pay-per-click (PPC) keywords. 

Here’s how:

1. Enter a competitor’s domain in Advertising Research
   

   

2. Check the “Positions” tab for top-performing keywords (scroll down to see the “Paid Search Positions” table)
   

   

3. Review the “Ads Copies” tab to study ad copy and landing pages
   

   

4. Use the “Competitors” tab to find other advertisers targeting similar keywords
   

   

This will help you find keywords that are worth pursuing. And gain inspiration for your own campaigns. 

How to Use Keywords in Your Content

After choosing your keywords, you can include them in your current pages or craft new content centered around those terms.

Here are some good places to include keywords:

• Title tag: This is the HTML title that may appear in search results. Google considers it for ranking. 
• Meta description: This is the HTML summary that may appear in search results. It’s not a direct ranking factor but affects click-through rates. Including keywords here helps searchers see that your content matches their query.
• Headers (H1, H2, H3): Search engines use headers to understand how content is structured. Your primary keyword should appear in your H1, while related keywords work well in subheaders.
• First 100-200 words: It’s considered best practice to incorporate your primary keyword early on. Ideally, in the first paragraph.
• Throughout your body text: Sprinkle keywords and variations throughout your content where they fit naturally. Focus on readability first—if it sounds awkward, rewrite it.
• URLs: Simple, readable URLs that include your target keyword are best. URLs are a lightweight ranking factor.
• Image alt text: Since search engines can’t “see” images, descriptive alt text with relevant keywords helps them understand what your images show.

Semrush offers several tools for content creation and optimization that take care of the guesswork for you:

• SEO Writing Assistant: A tool (also available as browser extension and add-on) that provides real-time recommendations as you write 
• On Page SEO Checker: A tool that analyzes your existing pages and suggests specific improvements
• ContentShake AI: An app that creates content briefs and outlines based on your target keywords 

If you’re using the Keyword Strategy Builder to create clusters, use the integrations with SEO Writing Assistant and ContentShake AI to quickly generate content that you can then polish.

And if you’re running search ads, you’ll want to use your PPC keywords in those campaigns. 

How to Monitor Results and Refine Your Approach

Keyword research isn’t a one-time task. To stay competitive, continuously monitor your performance and make adjustments.

Use Semrush’s Position Tracking tool to monitor daily rankings for your target keywords.

This visibility gives you clear insights into what’s working and what may need adjustment. 

Follow the prompts to set up your project. Click “Start Tracking” when you’re done.

You’ll then be able to access:

• Daily ranking updates
• Visibility trend graphs
• Landing page performance information
• SERP features tracking
• Competitor comparison data

The “Summary” widget provides a quick overview of recent changes with links to detailed reports.

With this data, you can quickly identify which keywords are improving or declining and measure how content updates impact your visibility. 

This helps you focus your optimization efforts on changes that actually move the needle for your SEO performance.

Additional Semrush Resources

To help you build on what you’ve learned about keyword placement, Semrush offers plenty of resources to expand your SEO knowledge and keep your skills sharp.

For example, Semrush Academy offers free courses taught by industry experts. 

Check out these relevant courses:

Each course includes video lessons, practical examples, and a certificate upon completion.

In addition, the Semrush Blog regularly publishes in-depth articles about keyword research and SEO. Here are a few on keyword research:

Ready to take your keyword research to the next level? 

Sign up for a free Semrush trial today and apply what you’ve learned to discover high-potential keywords for your business.