How to use Semrush to grow your online visibility

Executive overview

Most websites fail to attract search traffic because they lack a data-driven content and SEO strategy. Semrush consolidates keyword research, competitive analysis, content optimisation, backlink building, and rank tracking into one platform.

Understanding your competitive landscape and targeting low-difficulty keywords is the fastest path to ranking gains.

Uncovering quick wins with organic research

• Enter your domain in Organic Research to see current keyword rankings, top pages, and positions
• Filter for keywords ranking positions 11–20 with difficulty 0–49 to find page-2 content ready to move up
• Sort by volume to prioritise the highest-traffic opportunities first
• Use the Competitors tab to identify rival domains for deeper analysis
• Use Traffic Analytics on competitor URLs to see their traffic sources, top pages, and audience segments

Finding new keyword opportunities

• Keyword Gap tool compares your domain against up to four competitors to surface untapped keywords rivals rank for but you don't
• Keyword Magic Tool takes any broad term and returns specific, long-tail variations pre-sorted by topic
• Filter keywords by match type, volume, difficulty, and intent — intent determines whether visitors are likely to buy
• The Questions filter surfaces audience questions that double as ready-to-use blog post titles
• Topic Research identifies popular content angles you haven't considered yet

Creating and optimising content

• SEO Content Template generates recommendations (readability, text length, related topics, backlink targets) based on the top 10 pages already ranking for your keyword
• SEO Writing Assistant checks keyword inclusion, tone of voice consistency, originality, and readability as you write or paste existing content
• Use the template's backlink target list to guide outreach if you outsource writing

Building backlinks

• Backlink Gap compares your backlink profile against up to four competitors and surfaces relevant sites to approach
• Database covers over 43 trillion links with the fastest crawler on the market
• Link Building Tool lets you contact site owners and monitor backlink status without leaving Semrush

Fixing technical SEO issues

• Site Audit runs over 140 checks covering duplicate content, broken links, HTTPS issues, and hreflang errors
• Crawls desktop or mobile versions; handles up to 100,000 pages per audit depending on subscription
• Dashboard presents a prioritised issue list with fix recommendations
• Configure automatic reports to alert you when site health changes

Tracking rankings and social presence

• Position Tracking monitors daily rank changes by device type and location, down to zip code level
• Automatic alerts trigger when rankings drop so you can act quickly
• Social Tracker measures audience growth and engagement benchmarked against competitors
• Social Poster and Social Inbox handle scheduling and comment replies within Semrush

App Centre extensions

• Ad Clarity — analyse competitor paid ads
• BuzzGuru — find influencers matched to your brand
• Ecommerce Keywords Analytics — surface profitable keywords for Amazon product listings