Semrush SEO Research and Content Optimisation Training Course

Course overview

Organic search teams often have access to large volumes of keyword, competitor and site-audit data but struggle to turn it into a prioritised content plan. Pages are refreshed because they “need SEO”, keyword lists are exported without search-intent decisions, and technical issues are reported without evidence of commercial impact. This course addresses that gap by teaching marketers how to use Semrush data to identify realistic ranking opportunities, diagnose content underperformance and brief improvements that writers, developers and stakeholders can act on.

Participants work through the Semrush toolkit from project setup to reporting. They learn to use Keyword Magic Tool, Keyword Gap, Organic Research, Position Tracking, Site Audit, On Page SEO Checker and Content Audit to build evidence-based SEO plans. The course develops practical skills in keyword clustering, search-intent classification, competitor benchmarking, content-decay analysis, internal-link opportunity selection, technical issue prioritisation and measurement design using Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 alongside Semrush.

Teaching combines instructor demonstrations with guided work in a realistic website case study and structured peer review. Each participant builds a Semrush-led SEO research pack: a keyword universe and cluster map, competitor gap analysis, prioritised content backlog, page-level optimisation brief, technical remediation shortlist and KPI dashboard specification. The final day converts this evidence into a 90-day organic-search action plan that can be presented to a marketing manager, client or cross-functional delivery team.

The course is designed for practitioners who already understand the basics of SEO and need a repeatable way to make better research and optimisation decisions. It is particularly valuable for in-house marketing teams, agencies and content teams responsible for demonstrable organic-growth results.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure a Semrush Project with Site Audit, Position Tracking and Organic Traffic Insights settings
• Build a keyword universe using Keyword Magic Tool filters, metrics and saved lists
• Cluster keywords by topic, search intent, SERP format and target-page requirement
• Benchmark competitors with Organic Research and Keyword Gap to identify attainable visibility opportunities
• Produce a prioritised content backlog using traffic potential, difficulty, business value and content-decay evidence
• Create page-level optimisation briefs using On Page SEO Checker recommendations and SERP analysis
• Prioritise Site Audit findings by crawlability, indexability, severity, effort and likely search impact
• Present a 90-day SEO action plan with KPIs, owners, reporting cadence and decision criteria

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• SEO Specialists — who need a disciplined Semrush workflow for research, auditing and optimisation decisions
• Digital Marketing Managers — who must prioritise organic-search investment and assess SEO performance
• Content Marketing Managers — who need evidence-based content briefs and editorial roadmaps
• Agency Account Managers — who must convert SEO data into defensible client recommendations
• Web Content Editors — who optimise existing pages and need to match content to search intent
• E-commerce Marketing Executives — who need to find category, product and informational search opportunities

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should already understand core SEO concepts: how search engines crawl and index pages, the difference between on-page and technical SEO, basic keyword research, title tags, headings, links and organic rankings. Experience using spreadsheets to sort, filter and compare data is expected. A working Semrush account or access to a shared training account is needed for hands-on work; access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 is useful but not essential. Coding, SQL, web-development experience and advanced analytics knowledge are not required. Complete beginners should first gain a foundation in SEO terminology and website structure.

Training methodology

The instructor uses a live Semrush workspace to demonstrate each research and optimisation workflow, then participants repeat it against a realistic website case. Short input sessions are followed by guided exercises in Keyword Magic Tool, Keyword Gap, Site Audit, On Page SEO Checker and Position Tracking. Teams compare competing content strategies, challenge prioritisation assumptions and review optimisation briefs against live SERP evidence. Daily outputs feed a final individual application plan, enabling participants to adapt the methods to their own domain, market, website constraints and reporting requirements.

Course outline

Day 1: Semrush foundations and search opportunity research

• Semrush toolkit navigation, databases and project-level data sources
• Creating a Project and configuring domain, subdomain and subfolder scope
• Organic Research for competitor visibility baselines
• Keyword Magic Tool query expansion and advanced filtering
• Keyword metrics: volume, keyword difficulty, intent and competitive density
• SERP analysis for features, ranking-page patterns and content formats
• Keyword Manager lists and spreadsheet-ready research exports

Workshop: Participants build a documented keyword universe for a selected product or service area and identify their first ten candidate opportunities.

Day 2: Competitor intelligence and keyword prioritisation

• Selecting true organic competitors from Semrush competitor reports
• Keyword Gap comparison modes and missing-keyword analysis
• Organic Research position changes and competitor content signals
• Search-intent classification: informational, commercial, transactional and navigational
• Keyword clustering by topical entity, modifier and funnel stage
• Mapping clusters to existing pages, new pages and consolidation candidates
• Opportunity scoring using demand, difficulty, business value and delivery effort

Workshop: Participants create a competitor gap matrix and prioritised keyword-cluster backlog with target-page recommendations.

Day 3: Content optimisation and editorial briefing

• Content Audit configuration with Google Analytics and Search Console data
• Identifying declining, underperforming and cannibalising content
• On Page SEO Checker recommendations and optimisation ideas
• Target-keyword selection using intent alignment and SERP evidence
• Analysing ranking pages for structure, topical coverage and format
• Writing optimisation briefs for titles, headings, copy sections and metadata
• Internal-link opportunities and anchor-text selection

Workshop: Participants produce a page-level optimisation brief for an underperforming landing page, including a content recommendation and internal-link plan.

Day 4: Technical SEO auditing and issue triage

• Running and interpreting a Semrush Site Audit crawl
• Crawlability and indexability checks: robots directives, status codes and canonical tags
• Duplicate-content, HTTPS and sitemap issue interpretation
• Internal-link architecture and orphan-page investigation
• Core Web Vitals and performance issue context
• Site Health scoring limits and severity classification
• Technical remediation prioritisation by impact, effort, owner and validation method

Workshop: Participants triage a Site Audit issue log into a developer-ready remediation shortlist with rationale, priority and acceptance checks.

Day 5: Measurement, reporting and 90-day SEO planning

• Position Tracking setup for desktop, mobile, location and keyword groups
• Connecting Semrush findings with Google Search Console clicks and impressions
• Using Google Analytics 4 landing-page engagement and conversion data
• Defining leading and lagging SEO performance indicators
• Creating stakeholder reporting views for content, technical and commercial actions
• Building a 90-day roadmap with dependencies, owners and milestones
• Presenting recommendations, assumptions and risks to decision-makers

Workshop: Participants assemble and present a 90-day Semrush-led SEO action plan, KPI specification and management-ready prioritisation summary.

Tools & standards covered

Semrush, Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions