When it comes to search engine marketing or gaining higher rankings in search engine results the right tool is key. Having knowledge at your fingertips when it comes to what your target market is searching for is key to your success. Many of us use Google’s keyword tool and that provides basic insight, but SEMRush takes it a little further.
At first reviewing the dashboard can be a bit overwhelming,
but have patience there are tutorials that will walk you through the process. Stick with it, don’t give up.
When using SEMRush you can dig into a website domain, URL, or keyword. This type of keyword research will provide you with competitor insight. SEMRush, doesn’t just focus on Google, but also can bring in Bing search engine results as well. The competitor data will show you the top 20 keywords that you competition is ranking on. Talking about valuable intelligence.
So, let me share with you an example that I tried. I’m working with a client who provides project management software. This company is not limited to the Midwest, so I want to get a full scope nationwide.
I used the keyword “project management software” to see what 20 website domains show up for that keyword term.
Using SEMRush I am able to gain the following information:
- Average cost per click if I wanted to do pay-per-click ads is $20.34 per click.
- Competition is high ranking it at a 1.00 – competition ranges between 0-1.0
- Volume of search is 18,100 per month and the results for that term is 294,000,000
Obviously, I’m dealing with a competitive keyword, so my search marketing efforts are going to need to be creative. I can use the tools with SEMRush to find that related keywords include “project management”, “software project management” and “best project management software.” These keywords would not cost as much as the first keyword phrase that I identified, so my chances of getting a higher rank or running a pay per click campaign with a small budget is doable.
I cannot only see the top 20 website that rank for those keywords, but I can also see websites that link into them, so perhaps I could visit those websites to see if I could also get my client’s software listed.
While you can find this information on different websites via the web, the time that it saves to collect this data is extremely valuable. You can use this data to determine which keywords you use to optimize and market your website via search engines. You can also use this data to determine what topics you can use in creating your content strategy program. You may even find keywords that have a large amount of searches that may help in increasing your product and service offering.
So, let’s do a quick recap. What do you get with SEMRush?
- Organic research. Natural search results for keywords at your fingertips.
- Advertising research. What’s the average cost per click competitors are paying?
- Backlink research. What sites are linking into your competitors that you could target?
- Keyword research. Evaluate keywords you are targeting and find new ones that perhaps you hadn’t thought about.
- Search engine result position tracking. Learn who is ranking on keywords that you are targeting with your search engine marketing efforts.
Bottom Line
SEMRush prices range from $70 per month up to $150 per month. While this may seem steep for some, I think once you realize the insight you will have in one dashboard the time you save not using multiple tools will be well worth the investment.