
10 SEO Basics, #8 Often Ignored
July 20, 2023
How does SEO work? Creating an Effective Search Engine Optimization Strategy
September 29, 2023Welcome to the SEMrush Beginner's Tutorial! In this tutorial, we will share 10 keyword analysis tips to help you better understand how to use SEMrush for keyword research, competitor analysis, search engine ranking tracking, phrase density analysis, review and comparison, site audit, planning and collection, forecasting, and reporting.

1. Understanding SEMrush Elementary Education
SEMrush is an online software platform dedicated to search engine optimization (SEO) and online advertising. With SEMrush, you can perform keyword research, competitor analysis, ranking tracking and website audits. These features help you quickly find potential keywords, understand competitors' strategies, track your rankings, analyze term density, and more.
2. Keyword research
Keyword research is the foundation of SEO and one of the core tasks of using SEMrush. Through keyword research, you can find the keywords that are most appealing to your target audience and understand the search volume, difficulty and value of those keywords. There are several ways to conduct keyword research in SEMrush, such as:
- Keyword Magic Wand: Using the Keyword Magic Wand, you can enter a keyword or phrase and get a list of related keywords that your target audience may be searching for.
- Keyword Analytics: Using Keyword Analytics, you can view detailed information about specific keywords, such as search volume, difficulty, value, and related terms.
- Keyword Links: Using Keyword Links, you can view websites and pages associated with specific keywords and learn about the rankings, traffic, and other metrics of those websites and pages.
- Keyword Management: With Keyword Management, you can enter your list of keywords and get detailed information about those keywords, such as search volume, rankings and competitors.
When conducting keyword research, remember to consider your target audience, your competitors and the content of your website in order to select the most suitable keywords for you. Also, conduct regular keyword research to ensure that your keyword list is always up-to-date and valuable.
3. Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis is a key SEO strategy that can help you understand the major players in your industry, your competitors' sites and pages, and their SEO strategies and successes. Competitor analysis is critical because in a competitive market, successful websites must understand their target audience better than their competitors and use better SEO strategies to attract potential customers.
Competitor analysis using SEMrush can help you:
- Find Key Competitors - SEMrush can help you identify and track key competitors in your industry. You can view the websites and pages of these companies and analyze their SEO strategies and successes. There is no doubt that these major players are the ones you should be learning from.
- Identify Keywords - SEMrush can help you find out what keywords your competitors are using. This can help you understand their SEO strategy and which keywords they may need to adjust. With keyword analysis, you can see the search volume, difficulty and value of each keyword and determine which keywords you need to compete on.
- Analyze Websites and Pages - SEMrush can help you analyze your competitors' websites and pages to understand their SEO strategies and successes. You can view their keyword density, external links, and site traffic metrics. With this data, you can determine what areas you need to improve and find successful strategies so you can stand out in the marketplace.
- Compare Metrics - SEMrush can also help you compare metrics between your site and pages and your competitors. You can compare metrics such as search rankings, traffic and keyword density to see where you stand in your industry. Through these comparisons, you can find successful strategies so you can stand out in the marketplace.
When conducting a competitor analysis, remember to keep an eye on your target audience, website content and industry trends. Additionally, conduct a competitor analysis on a regular basis to ensure that your SEO strategy is always up-to-date and valuable. In a competitive market, successful websites need to be constantly optimized and improved to stay competitive and attract more potential customers.
4. Search engine ranking tracking
Search Engine Ranking Tracking is a core feature of SEMrush that helps you understand how your website is ranking in the search engines. InSEMrushIn the Search Engine Rankings section, you can enter your list of keywords and see how your site ranks in the search engines. You can also see how other websites rank in the search engines to see what keywords your competitors are ranking high for.
Search Engine Ranking Tracking has several advantages:
- Monitor Ranking - Search Engine Ranking Tracking helps you to monitor your website's ranking in search engines. You can easily see how your site ranks for different keywords and how the rankings are changing. This can help you understand how your site is performing in the search engines and what optimizations are needed.
- Compare Competitors - Search Engine Ranking Tracker can help you compare how your website ranks against your competitors. You can see how other websites rank for different keywords and how their rankings have changed. This can help you understand which keywords your competitors are ranking for and what optimization is needed.
- Identify Opportunities - Search Engine Ranking Tracking can help you identify potential opportunities. For example, if you find that your rankings for a keyword are dropping, you can further analyze why and optimize to improve your rankings. Similarly, if you find that your rankings for a keyword are rising, you can continue to optimize to keep progressing.
Please note that search engine ranking tracking is a fluid task. The ranking of your website will change over time and with changes in search engine algorithms. Therefore, it is important to perform search engine ranking tracking on a regular basis to ensure that your website remains current and valuable.
5. Lexical density analysis

Word density analysis is a keyword research technique that can help you understand how words are used on a website or webpage. Word density refers to the frequency or density of the use of specific keywords on a website or web page. With a word density analysis, you can determine if a website or web page has enough keyword density to rank high in search engines.
In SEMrush, there are several ways to perform lexical density analysis, for example:
- Website Audit: Using Website Audit, you can view the term density of a website or web page and see which terms are being used too much or too little. In addition, you can use Website Audit to view other metrics of the website or web page, such as external links, internal links, and traffic.
- Keyword Analysis: Using Keyword Analysis, you can view the word density of specific keywords and see which words are being used too much or too little. Keyword analysis can also help you find other related keywords to further optimize the word density of your website or webpage.
- Web Page Comparison: Using Web Page Comparison, you can compare the word density of two web pages and see which web page has a higher word density for specific keywords. Through web page comparison, you can identify which keywords you need to optimize to improve the ranking of your website or web page in search engines.
When performing a word density analysis, remember to focus on your target audience, website content, and industry trends. Make sure you use keywords that are relevant to your website or web pages and do not overuse or abuse them. Conduct regular word density analysis to ensure that your website or webpage maintains optimal word density in search engine rankings.
To learn more about Lexical Density Analysis, please refer to SEMrush Word Density AnalysisThe
6. Review and Comparison
Review and comparison is a technique for evaluating the performance of a website or web page. With Review and Compare, you can compare data from different time periods to see how well your website or webpage is performing. For example, you can compare search engine rankings, traffic and keyword density between one month ago and now to see how well your website or webpage is optimized. Reviewing and comparing can also help you find problems with your website or webpage and fix them to improve performance.
There are several ways to review and compare in SEMrush, for example:
- Website Audit: With Website Audit, you can compare website data over time. You can view a website's search engine ranking, traffic, keyword density and other metrics and compare how these metrics have changed over time.
- Domain Comparison: With Domain Comparison, you can compare data between different websites. For example, you can compare your website's search engine rankings, traffic and keyword density with those of your competitors.
- Market Analytics: Using Market Analytics, you can compare data between websites and pages across the market. You can view metrics such as search volume, competition and value for popular keywords in the market to understand industry trends and market demand.
When conducting reviews and comparisons, please be mindful of your target audience, site content and industry trends. In addition, conduct regular reviews and comparisons to ensure that your website or web pages are always up-to-date and performing at their best value. In a competitive market, successful websites need to be constantly optimized and improved to stay competitive and attract more potential customers.
7. Website Audit
In SEMrush, a website audit is a tool used to analyze websites and webpages to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your website or webpage. A website audit can help you determine your website's keyword usage, internal and external links, technical issues, site speed, and other metrics to help you understand your website's SEO status and optimization direction.
The following information is available to you when using the Site Audit:
- Optimization Suggestions - SEMrush will provide you with some optimization suggestions to help you improve your website's SEO. e.g. it may suggest you to add keywords, optimize page titles, improve page speed, etc.
- Reports - SEMrush generates a detailed report with data, issues and recommendations about the website or webpage. The report also includes information about the site's rankings, traffic, keywords, internal and external links, and more.
- Technical Issues - SEMrush can also help you check for technical issues with your website, such as page loading speed, page errors, page titles and descriptions, etc. These issues can affect your SEO performance, so it's important to catch them early and fix them. These issues can affect your SEO performance, so it's important to catch and fix them early.
Using a website audit can help you understand the SEO status of your website and where to optimize it. Additionally, conduct regular website audits to ensure that your website always has the most up-to-date and valuable content and the best SEO performance.
8. Planning and collection

Planning and gathering are two important steps in keyword research that can help you better understand your target audience and competitors. In the planning stage, you need to identify your target audience and competitors and create a detailed plan for conducting keyword research. In the collection phase, you will use tools such as SEMrush to collect data about your target audience and competitors.
During the planning stage, you will need to consider the following questions:
- Target Audience: Who is your target audience? What keywords do they use to search?
- Competitors: Who are your competitors? What keywords do they use for their searches?
- Research Techniques: What techniques do you need to use for keyword research? What tools to use?
- Plan: You need to develop a detailed plan for conducting your keyword research. This includes a timeline, budget, and outcome goals.
During the collection phase, you will need to use tools such as SEMrush to collect data about your target audience and competitors. Here are some ways to collect data:
- Keyword Research: Conduct keyword research using tools like SEMrush to find the keywords that are most appealing to your target audience and understand the search volume, difficulty and value of those keywords.
- Competitor Analysis: Conduct a competitor analysis using a tool such as SEMrush to find the major competitors in your industry, learn about their websites and pages, as well as their SEO strategies and successes.
- Website Audit: Conduct a website audit using tools such as SEMrush to understand metrics such as word density, external links, internal links, and traffic to your website or web pages.
Please note that planning and collecting is a repetitive process. You need to plan and collect on a regular basis to ensure that your keyword research is always up-to-date and valuable. In a fast-changing market, you need to constantly optimize and improve to stay competitive and attract more potential customers.
9. Projections
Forecasting is a very important skill in SEO and online advertising. Through forecasting, you can predict trends and changes in metrics such as search engine rankings, traffic and conversions. This can help you develop better SEO strategies and stand out in the market.
There are several elements to consider when making a forecast:
- Industry Trends - Industry trends are one of the most important factors affecting SEO and online advertising. Understanding industry trends can help you anticipate future market changes and develop SEO strategies accordingly.
- Target Audience - Target audience is at the heart of SEO and online advertising. Knowing your target audience can help you predict what keywords they are likely to use in their searches and what types of content they are likely to be interested in.
- Competitors - Competitors are another important factor in SEO and online advertising. Knowing your competitors can help you predict what keywords they are likely to use for searches and what tactics they are likely to use to optimize their websites and advertisements.
- Website Content - Website content is another important factor that affects SEO and online advertising. Understanding your website content can help you predict what content is likely to appeal to your target audience and what content is likely to generate the most conversions.
When making a forecast, please note the following points:
- Use Multiple Methods - Using multiple methods for forecasting can help you get more accurate results. For example, you can make predictions using multiple methods such as keyword analysis, traffic analysis, and rank tracking.
- Regular Updates - Forecasting is a fluid task. Industry trends, search engine algorithms and competition can all change over time. Therefore, it is important to update your forecasts regularly to ensure that they remain current and valuable.
- Based on Data - Forecasts should be based on data and facts, not subjective guesses. Use reliable data to make predictions to ensure they are accurate and reliable.
- Always keep learning - SEO and online advertising is a rapidly changing field. You need to be constantly learning and mastering new skills to ensure that your forecasts and strategies are always up-to-date and competitive.
In SEMrush, you can use the forecasting and reporting features to make forecasts. In addition, SEMrush offers a number of trainings and courses to help you improve your forecasting skills. If you want to learn more about forecasting, check out SEMrush'sOfficial Website, or attend SEMrush trainings and courses.
10. Reports
Reporting is an important feature in SEMrush that helps you track keyword rankings, website traffic, competitors and other key metrics.SEMrush can help you generate a variety of reports, such as:
- Keyword Reports: Keyword reports help you track your keyword rankings, search volume and value among other metrics. With these reports, you can see how your site is performing in the search engines and what optimizations you need to make.
- Competitor Report: The Competitor Report helps you compare your site's metrics with those of your competitors. You can compare metrics such as search rankings, traffic and keyword density to see where you stand in your industry. Through these comparisons, you can find successful strategies so you can stand out in the marketplace.
- Website Audit Reports: Website audit reports can help you understand the health and SEO performance of your website. Through these reports, you can view metrics such as keyword density, external and internal links, and find areas for improvement. Additionally, you can review your website for technical and security issues to ensure that your website is always looking its best.
- Traffic Reports: Traffic reports can help you track your website traffic and user behavior. Through these reports, you can learn about your visitors' geographic location, time of visit, and traffic sources so you can optimize your website and online marketing strategy.
Before generating a report, make sure you have set up relevant goals and targets. Also, keep in mind that reporting is an ongoing tracking and analysis process that requires constant optimization and improvement. Using the reports provided by SEMrush, you can quickly identify issues and opportunities for your website and SEO strategy to stand out in the market.