Semrush: Track Conversions & Crush Your Competition

Want to supercharge your marketing efforts and see real, tangible results? Semrush, with its robust suite of tools, offers a powerful way to gain and in-depth analysis to elevate their online presence and drive measurable results. But knowing about the tools isn’t enough. You need to know how to use them effectively. Are you ready to transform your marketing strategy from guesswork to data-driven success?

Step 1: Setting Up Conversion Tracking

Before diving into any analysis, you need to define what “success” looks like for your campaigns. Conversion tracking in Semrush allows you to monitor specific actions taken by users on your website after interacting with your marketing efforts. This is where you tie your SEO and social media efforts to actual business outcomes.

1.1: Accessing the Conversions Tool

First, navigate to the “Projects” section in the Semrush dashboard. If you don’t have a project set up, create one for your website. Once your project is created, you’ll see an “SEO Dashboard” option. Click on that, and scroll down to find the “Conversions” block. If it’s not already active, click the “+ Set up” button.

1.2: Defining Your Conversion Goals

Now, you’ll need to define your conversion goals. Semrush allows you to track various types of conversions, such as form submissions, phone calls, and demo requests. Click the “Add New Goal” button. You’ll be presented with a form to specify the details of your goal.

1. Goal Name: Give your goal a descriptive name (e.g., “Contact Form Submission”).
2. Goal Type: Select the type of conversion you want to track. Options include “URL contains,” “Button Click,” and “Event.”
3. URL Pattern: If you choose “URL contains,” enter a portion of the URL that users see after completing the desired action (e.g., “/thank-you”).
4. Button ID: If you choose “Button Click”, you’ll need to inspect the HTML of your site and enter the button’s ID. This can be a bit technical, but it ensures accurate tracking. Semrush provides a helper guide if you click the little question mark icon next to the field.
5. Goal Value: Assign a monetary value to each conversion. This helps you calculate the ROI of your campaigns. For example, if each lead from your contact form has a 20% chance of becoming a $1000 customer, set the goal value to $200.

Pro Tip: Start with your most important conversion goals first. For many businesses, this is a contact form submission or a product purchase. Don’t try to track everything at once. I’ve seen clients get overwhelmed and abandon the process entirely.

Common Mistake: Forgetting to verify that your conversion tracking is working correctly. After setting up your goals, test them by completing the actions yourself. Check the Semrush dashboard to ensure the conversions are being recorded.

Expected Outcome: Accurate tracking of key user actions on your website, providing valuable data for measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. You’ll start seeing conversion data populate in your Semrush dashboard within 24-48 hours.

Step 2: Tracking Keyword Rankings

Understanding where your website ranks for relevant keywords is crucial for SEO success. Semrush’s Position Tracking tool allows you to monitor your keyword rankings over time, identify opportunities for improvement, and track your progress.

2.1: Accessing Position Tracking

Within your Semrush project, find the “Position Tracking” tool. It’s usually located under the “SEO Dashboard” section. If it’s not already set up, click the “Set up” button to configure your tracking campaign.

2.2: Adding Target Keywords

Now, you’ll need to add the keywords you want to track. Semrush allows you to add keywords manually or import them from a file. Consider using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find high-potential keywords that you might be missing. I always recommend starting with a mix of branded and non-branded keywords.

1. Enter Keywords: Type in your target keywords, one per line.
2. Select Location: Choose the geographic location you want to track rankings for. This is crucial for local SEO. If you’re targeting Atlanta, GA, be sure to specify that.
3. Choose Search Engine: Select the search engine you want to track rankings on (e.g., Google, Bing).
4. Select Device: Choose the device type you want to track rankings for (e.g., Desktop, Mobile, Tablet).

Pro Tip: Segment your keywords into groups based on intent (e.g., informational, transactional, navigational). This will help you analyze your ranking data more effectively. For example, you might have a group for keywords related to “social media marketing tips” and another for “social media marketing services Atlanta.”

Common Mistake: Only tracking a small number of keywords. The more keywords you track, the more comprehensive your understanding of your website’s visibility will be. However, be mindful of your Semrush subscription limits.

Expected Outcome: Daily, weekly, or monthly reports on your keyword rankings, providing insights into your SEO performance and identifying opportunities for improvement. You’ll see your average position, ranking distribution, and changes in ranking over time. We once used this tool to identify a sudden drop in rankings for a client after a Google algorithm update, allowing us to quickly diagnose and address the issue.

Step 3: Analyzing Competitor Performance on Social Media

Understanding what your competitors are doing on social media is essential for developing a successful social media strategy. Semrush’s Social Media Tracker allows you to monitor your competitors’ social media activity, identify trends, and benchmark your performance against theirs.

3.1: Accessing the Social Media Tracker

Navigate to the “Social Media” section in the Semrush dashboard, then click on “Tracker.” This tool allows you to monitor the social media performance of your competitors.

3.2: Adding Competitors to Track

To begin tracking your competitors, click the “Add Competitors” button. You’ll be prompted to enter the URLs of your competitors’ social media profiles. Semrush supports tracking on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter).

1. Enter Competitor URLs: Paste the URLs of your competitors’ social media profiles into the designated fields.
2. Select Tracking Metrics: Choose the metrics you want to track for each competitor, such as followers, engagement rate, and post frequency.

Pro Tip: Focus on tracking competitors who are similar in size and target audience to your business. This will provide more relevant and actionable insights. Don’t waste time tracking massive global brands if you’re a local business in Buckhead.

Common Mistake: Only focusing on vanity metrics like follower count. Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares) is a much better indicator of how well your content is resonating with your audience.

Expected Outcome: A comprehensive overview of your competitors’ social media activity, allowing you to identify trends, benchmark your performance, and refine your own social media strategy. You’ll be able to see what types of content are performing well for your competitors, how often they’re posting, and how their audience is engaging with their content. We had a client in the real estate industry who used this tool to identify a competitor who was running highly successful Facebook ad campaigns targeting first-time homebuyers. They were able to adapt their own ad strategy based on these insights, resulting in a 30% increase in leads.

Step 4: Auditing Your Website for Technical SEO Issues

Technical SEO issues can prevent your website from ranking well in search results. Semrush’s Site Audit tool helps you identify and fix these issues, ensuring that your website is optimized for search engines.

4.1: Accessing the Site Audit Tool

Within your Semrush project, find the “Site Audit” tool. This tool crawls your website and identifies technical SEO issues.

4.2: Configuring the Site Audit

Before running the audit, you’ll need to configure the settings. This includes specifying the number of pages to crawl, the crawl source, and any user agents to exclude.

1. Pages to Crawl: Specify the number of pages you want Semrush to crawl. For smaller websites, you can crawl all pages. For larger websites, you may want to limit the number of pages to avoid exceeding your Semrush subscription limits.
2. Crawl Source: Choose the crawl source. Options include “Website,” “Sitemap,” and “Both.”
3. User Agents to Exclude: Exclude any user agents you don’t want Semrush to crawl. This is useful for preventing Semrush from crawling specific sections of your website.

4.3: Running the Site Audit

Once you’ve configured the settings, click the “Start Site Audit” button. Semrush will begin crawling your website and identifying technical SEO issues. This process can take several hours, depending on the size of your website.

Pro Tip: Run a site audit at least once a month to identify and fix technical SEO issues as they arise. This will help you maintain a healthy SEO profile and prevent your website from losing rankings. Here’s what nobody tells you: technical SEO is an ongoing process, not a one-time fix.

Common Mistake: Ignoring the warnings and errors identified by the Site Audit tool. These issues can have a significant impact on your website’s SEO performance. Prioritize fixing the most critical issues first, such as broken links, missing meta descriptions, and slow page load times.

Expected Outcome: A comprehensive report on your website’s technical SEO health, identifying issues that need to be addressed. The report will include recommendations on how to fix these issues, helping you improve your website’s SEO performance and increase its visibility in search results.

Step 5: Using the SEO Writing Assistant to Create High-Quality Content

Creating high-quality content is essential for attracting and engaging your target audience. Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant helps you create content that is optimized for search engines and resonates with your readers. I’ve found this to be particularly helpful for training new content writers.

5.1: Accessing the SEO Writing Assistant

Navigate to the “SEO” section in the Semrush dashboard, then click on “SEO Writing Assistant.” This tool analyzes your content and provides recommendations on how to improve its SEO performance.

5.2: Creating or Importing Content

You can either create new content directly within the SEO Writing Assistant or import existing content from a file. If you’re creating new content, simply start typing in the editor. If you’re importing content, click the “Import” button and select the file you want to upload.

5.3: Analyzing Your Content

Once you’ve created or imported your content, the SEO Writing Assistant will analyze it and provide recommendations on how to improve its SEO performance. These recommendations include:

1. Readability: Ensuring that your content is easy to read and understand.
2. SEO: Optimizing your content for relevant keywords.
3. Originality: Checking for plagiarism.
4. Tone of Voice: Ensuring that your content has the appropriate tone of voice for your target audience.

Pro Tip: Don’t blindly follow all of the recommendations provided by the SEO Writing Assistant. Use your judgment to determine which recommendations are most relevant to your content and target audience. Sometimes, a more conversational tone is better than strictly adhering to SEO guidelines.

Common Mistake: Over-optimizing your content for keywords. This can result in content that is unnatural and difficult to read. Focus on creating high-quality content that is informative and engaging, and the SEO will follow.

Expected Outcome: High-quality content that is optimized for search engines and resonates with your target audience. This will help you attract more traffic to your website, increase engagement, and improve your SEO performance.

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If you are experiencing a social media crisis, Semrush can help you navigate it.

By implementing these steps using Semrush, you’re not just collecting data; you’re actively shaping a more effective online presence. Don’t just read about it – start using these tools today to see real improvements in your marketing performance. The most successful marketers are the ones who take action based on data, not gut feeling.