The speaker, drawing from their extensive experience, provides a walkthrough on utilizing SEMrush to dissect a competitor’s website, in this case, Planet Fitness, to glean insights that could inform one’s own keyword strategy. Here’s a summary of the insights shared:

SEMrush as a Preferred Tool: SEMrush is highlighted as a valuable, albeit paid, tool for SEO professionals, offering a robust API for integrating reporting and streamlining work processes. Despite its cost, the depth of data and analytics capabilities it provides makes it a favored choice over other tools like Moz, which may not offer as comprehensive data.

Competitor Analysis for Keyword Inspiration: The speaker emphasizes the importance of analyzing competitors, such as Planet Fitness, to understand the keywords they rank for. This approach allows businesses to uncover potentially lucrative keywords and phrases that could drive relevant traffic to their own sites.

Navigating SEMrush for SEO Insights: Through a live demonstration, the audience is shown how to use SEMrush to filter out irrelevant data (like branded queries) and focus on actionable insights such as non-branded keywords that relate to the gym and fitness industry. This hands-on guidance underlines the process of identifying keywords with sufficient search volume and manageable competition levels.

Gap Analysis to Identify Opportunities: An important strategy discussed is conducting gap analyses using SEMrush to compare one’s website against competitors. This method helps identify keywords that competitors rank for but your site does not, revealing opportunities to fill content gaps and capture additional market share.

Leveraging Free and Alternative Tools: Recognizing the cost barrier of premium tools, the speaker hints at future sessions where they might explore free tools and workarounds, such as using Google Ads for keyword discovery without incurring costs. This suggests an eagerness to equip participants with knowledge on accessing valuable keyword data without a hefty investment.

This part of the masterclass is geared towards demystifying the process of using advanced SEO tools to conduct competitor analysis and keyword research. By providing a clear demonstration and emphasizing the practical steps involved, participants are encouraged to explore these tools themselves, with a particular focus on identifying high-potential keywords that align with their business goals and audience interests.