Search engines now prioritize user experience, quality content, and relevant backlinks more than ever. To truly stand out, you need a smart, cohesive strategy—and the right tools can make all the difference.
Semrush has long been considered a leader in the SEO world, offering solutions that cater to everyone from small business owners to full-scale digital agencies. With cutting-edge resources for keyword research, content marketing, competitive analysis, and more, Semrush is an all-in-one platform designed to help you boost your SEO with AI-powered content and smart strategy.
In this post, we’ll break down four key steps to maximize your SEO strategy with Semrush. We’ll explore Keyword Magic Tool for keyword research, showcase how ContentShake AI can revolutionize your content creation, examine how to level-up your technical SEO with the Site Audit feature, and finish with how to track your growth with Position Tracking and Competitive Research.
By the end, you’ll be ready to create high-ranking content with AI, engage your audience, and outrank your competitors.
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Step 1: Finding the Right Keywords
Even with AI-driven algorithms dominating search engines, keyword research remains a foundational element of any robust SEO strategy. In fact, understanding user intent and pinpointing the most relevant search terms is now more crucial than ever. Gone are the days of mindless keyword stuffing.
Modern search engines evaluate your entire content—context, semantics, and user signals—to determine rankings. Hence, starting with the right keywords sets the stage for success.
Find keyword opportunities using Semrush
Using the Keyword Magic Tool
One of the biggest perks of using Semrush for smart content marketing is its intuitive Keyword Magic Tool. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Set Your Goals
Are you aiming for brand awareness, increased traffic, or sales? Defining your objectives first will guide you in choosing the most effective keywords.
Pick Your Seed Keywords
Type in a broad, seed keyword (e.g., “healthy recipes,” “web hosting,” “fitness routines”) and let the Keyword Magic Tool generate hundreds—sometimes thousands—of related suggestions.
Filter and Refine
Use search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent filters to identify terms you can realistically rank for. Focus on low-competition, high-intent keywords that speak directly to your ideal audience.
Organize
Group relevant keywords together for targeted campaigns. You can also create multiple keyword lists for different content clusters or topics.
Pro Tip: Look for question-based keywords to boost your chances of appearing in Google’s featured snippets or “People Also Ask” sections. Answering user questions is a great way to establish authority and improve click-through rates.
Identifying Low-Competition, High-Intent Keywords
Low-competition, high-intent keywords are like hidden gems. They might not always have the highest search volume, but they convert at a higher rate because they match what the user truly wants.
Use Semrush’s Keyword Difficulty metric as a guide: aim for scores in the moderate range (30–60), especially if your domain is relatively new or has a lower authority.
Example: If you’re targeting “yoga for beginners,” you might uncover related phrases like “15-minute yoga routine for beginners at home.” These ultra-specific queries tend to have lower competition yet deliver highly targeted traffic—meaning more likelihood of conversion and engagement.
Step 2: Creating SEO-Optimized Content with ContentShake AI
Artificial Intelligence has moved from sci-fi fantasy to everyday reality, especially in digital marketing. AI’s role in content creation is expanding rapidly, offering ways to generate ideas, outline topics, and optimize existing copy. That’s where ContentShake AI comes in—an AI-powered content tool integrated right within Semrush to help you produce high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
Overview of ContentShake AI
ContentShake AI is designed to streamline your writing process from concept to publication. It analyzes top-ranking pages for your chosen keyword and suggests relevant headings, subtopics, and crucial terms to include. It’s like having a data-driven writing assistant that ensures every piece you create is optimized to rank.
Key features include:
- Topic Ideation: Instantly get recommendations for trending or high-potential topics.
- SEO Optimization: Identify must-use keywords, semantically related phrases, and meta tag suggestions.
- Content Structuring: Build an outline in seconds, including potential subheadings and bullet points.
- Quality Control: Get insights on readability, keyword density, and suggested improvements for clarity.
- Screenshot Suggestion: Show a screenshot of the ContentShake AI interface as it generates a suggested outline or headings for a sample keyword, e.g., “ContentShake AI review.”
How AI Assists in Content Ideation, Structuring, and Optimization
- Ideation: Struggling with writer’s block? Enter your main topic, and ContentShake AI will pull up potential angles to explore based on real-time search data.
- Structuring: Don’t guess about subheadings or word count. AI guides you with an outline, complete with section titles, bullet points, and recommended headings.
- Optimization: AI automatically evaluates your content against top-ranking pages. It suggests additional keywords or phrases you might have missed, ensuring you create high-ranking content with AI.
- Infographic Suggestion: Display a simple, three-step visual workflow: (1) Input keyword → (2) AI-generated outline → (3) SEO optimization checks.
Best Practices for Integrating AI-Powered Content into an SEO Strategy
- Balance AI with Human Touch: AI is fantastic for data-driven suggestions and content structure. However, your personal voice and expertise add the authenticity that search engines (and users) value.
- Review Before Publishing: Always proofread AI-generated text. AI speeds up the process, but you want to ensure the final piece meets your quality standards.
- Experiment and Analyze: Test different styles or headlines suggested by ContentShake AI, then review their performance metrics (bounce rate, time on page, etc.). Use this feedback to refine your approach.
Step 3: Enhancing Technical SEO and Site Performance
Why Technical SEO Matters
You could have the most engaging content in the world, but if your site is slow, riddled with errors, or not mobile-friendly, search engines will penalize your rankings. In 2025, Core Web Vitals, page speed, and mobile responsiveness are critical components of any SEO strategy.
Running a Site Audit to Find and Fix Issues
Semrush’s Site Audit feature identifies technical problems that may be dragging down your site’s performance in the SERPs. Here’s how:
- Set Up the Audit: Head to your Semrush dashboard, create a project (if you haven’t already), and click “Site Audit.”
- Configure and Run: Enter your domain, specify the crawl settings (e.g., depth, subdomains), and begin the audit.
- Review Results: Semrush will list errors, warnings, and notices—ranked by severity. Common issues include broken links, large images slowing page speed, and missing meta tags.
- Fix and Re-Test: After making the suggested fixes, re-run the audit to confirm you’ve resolved everything.
For more details, check out our post explaining how to perform an SEO audit.
Pro Tip: Focus first on issues with “Error” status—these are critical problems that can significantly affect your rankings.
Improving Page Speed, Mobile Usability, and Core Web Vitals
Besides repairing immediate issues, look for ways to enhance overall site performance:
- Page Speed: Optimize images with compression, enable browser caching, and consider a content delivery network (CDN).
- Mobile Usability: Use responsive design principles so that content scales properly across devices.
- Core Web Vitals: Pay attention to metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Semrush’s Site Audit flags potential issues, but you can also cross-reference Google’s PageSpeed Insights for deeper analysis.
Step 4: Tracking and Improving Performance
SEO is not “set-it-and-forget-it.” Algorithms change, competitors step up their game, and user interests shift over time. Continuous monitoring allows you to spot trends early and refine your approach before your rankings take a hit.
Setting Up Position Tracking to Monitor Keyword Rankings
Semrush’s Position Tracking tool keeps tabs on how your chosen keywords are performing in the SERPs. Here’s a quick overview:
- Select Your Keywords: Pull these from your initial keyword research with the Keyword Magic Tool.
- Add Competitors: Position Tracking lets you see how your rankings stack up against specific competitor domains—a goldmine for insight.
- Review Daily/Weekly Changes: The dashboard shows shifts in position, visibility, and traffic potential.
- Set Alerts: Get notified of any sudden drops or gains so you can respond quickly.
Track your positions with Semrush
Analyzing Competitor Strategies with Competitive Research Tools
Semrush also includes robust Competitive Research features under the “Position Tracking” tab. You can see:
- Which Keywords They Rank For: Identify gaps or opportunities you can fill.
- Their Backlink Profile: Spot potential backlink opportunities (or risky links to avoid).
- Top Pages: Learn which content types resonate most with your mutual audience.
Adjusting SEO Efforts Based on Real-Time Insights
Once you’ve gathered data from Position Tracking and Competitive Research, it’s time to refine your approach:
- Keyword Reallocation: If certain terms aren’t delivering results, consider shifting your focus to more promising options.
- Content Updates: If a competitor outranks you with a more comprehensive page, update your existing content to be equally (or more) thorough and user-friendly.
- Link-Building Focus: Spot competitor backlinks from niche sites or authoritative blogs. These relationships could be prime targets for your own link-building outreach.
Pro Tip: Make updating and re-optimizing older content a regular habit. Fresh information signals value to both search engines and readers.
Next Steps
If you’re excited about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven content creation and data-backed SEO insights, there’s no better time to start. Try ContentShake AI and Semrush’s 14-day free trial to supercharge your content marketing and SEO efforts.
Try it, experiment, and watch how a refined strategy transforms your site’s visibility and performance in the SERPs.
Remember: SEO in 2025 is an ongoing journey, not a one-time project. With Semrush’s comprehensive toolkit by your side, you’ll be well-prepared to handle every twist and turn on the road to the top of the search results.
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