SEMRush Tutorial for SEO, Keyword Research Walk & Competitor Analysis (11 min)

SEMRush Tutorial for SEO: 10 Key Takeaways

* Introduction to SEMRush: The tutorial focuses on SEMRush, an all-in-one SEO platform, covering aspects such as keyword research, competitor analysis, and link auditing.

* Competitor Analysis Using Lands End as an Example: The presenter demonstrates how to perform a competitor analysis using Lands End as a case study, exploring SEMRush's features for assessing domain authority, backlinks, and organic traffic.

* Authority Score: SEMRush's proprietary metric, the Authority Score, is explained as a measure of a domain's reputability, considering factors like backlinks, organic search traffic, and overall authenticity. Lands End's Authority Score of 66 is highlighted as an indication of Google's trust.

* Backlink Analysis: The tutorial delves into Lands End's backlink profile, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between active and lost backlinks. The presenter suggests focusing on active backlinks to gauge current link influence.

* Traffic and Keyword Analysis: The tutorial explores Lands End's website traffic, providing insights into monthly visits, keywords, and estimated traffic cost. The presenter advises cross-referencing SEMRush data with actual Google Analytics results for a more accurate assessment. Additionally, keyword intent categories (commercial, navigational, transactional, informational) are explained, and a discussion on keyword difficulty ensues, cautioning about the challenges of targeting branded keywords like "Lands End flannel." The importance of filtering out brand names when conducting research is emphasized for a more accurate estimate of potential traffic for a similar page.

* Analyze Competitor Backlinks: Use SEMRush to identify backlinks to competitor pages, paying attention to both active and lost links. Evaluate the authority score of the linking domains to assess their value.

* Estimate Traffic Potential: Analyze monthly visits, keyword rankings, and click-through rates to understand a competitor page's organic traffic performance. Be cautious about relying solely on SEMRush estimates and compare them to actual analytics data.

* Analyze Keyword Intent: Categorize competitor keywords by intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional) to understand user search goals and tailor your content accordingly. Don't try to rank for informational keywords with product pages and vice versa.

* Evaluate Keyword Difficulty: Assess keyword difficulty based on metrics like competition, ranking positions, and search volume. Use SEMRush estimates as a guide, but always manually research top-ranking pages to confirm difficulty.

* Filter Out Branded Keywords: Exclude branded keywords from your competitor analysis if you don't offer the same products. This provides a more accurate picture of achievable traffic for your own pages.

Remember, SEMRush is a powerful tool, but it's crucial to critically evaluate its data and combine it with manual research for a comprehensive and actionable SEO strategy.