SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool: How to develop an enchanted content strategy (tutorial)

Keyword research is fundamental to any digital marketing strategy. Whether you’re writing a blog post, planning your next SEO audit or running a paid search campaign, you need to know what your target audience is searching for.

Content marketers use keywords to guide their strategies and optimize their messaging. Keyword research can help you generate new ideas for content or improve your existing web pages to drive more organic traffic and achieve SEO success. Monitoring keyword metrics allows you to refine your keyword strategy over time.

If you’re using a platform like Google Ads, your keyword strategy — including understanding keyword difficulty and keyword intent — will impact everything from the potential reach of your campaign to its overall cost. Selecting the right relevant keywords can improve your ad performance and return on investment.

With over 1.7 billion people using Google daily to conduct searches, you need powerful keyword research tools to understand the language your customers are using to search for information and find products and services. A comprehensive keyword research guide can help you navigate this process. That’s where the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool — a leading SEO tool — comes in. This Semrush keyword research tool provides in-depth insights into search engine behavior, helping you identify opportunities you might have missed with a free keyword research tool.

What Is the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool?

You don’t need a magic wand to see what your customers are searching for online, but the technology that makes it possible may seem enchanted at first glance. Tools like Semrush’s Keyword Magic act as a keyword explorer, unveiling the queries and topics that matter most to your audience.

Semrush leverages machine learning algorithms, trusted data providers and a host of other technologies — much like using a unique identifier or unique ID for data tracking — to provide up-to-date information to its over four million users. By analyzing search engine data, website traffic, advertising databases, user attributes and social media activity, Semrush provides digital marketers with highly valuable insights.

Among the many useful tools Semrush offers is the Keyword Magic Tool — also known as the Semrush KW Magic Tool — which enables you to analyze groups of keywords relevant to your market. Its robust filtering and grouping options make it easy to segment keywords for each of your campaigns, providing valuable keyword suggestions and keyword ideas to refine your keyword strategy builder. You can explore keyword intent to ensure your content aligns with what users are searching for.

Who Should Use the Keyword Magic Tool?

If you want to rank on the first page of Google (you do) and your competitors also want to rank highly (they do), you need some way of gaining a competitive advantage. The Keyword Magic Tool provides a comprehensive keyword overview, including keyword difficulty and personal keyword difficulty scores, allowing you to spot opportunities for bringing more traffic to your web pages and paid ads.

If you do any digital marketing, you need a keyword research tool — plain and simple. Investing in an effective SEO tool like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool can make all the difference. Without one, you’ll be left in the dark, making educated guesses about which search terms are most popular with your target audience and your SEO audit might miss critical opportunities. A keyword explorer helps you shine a light on these valuable insights.

No matter how well you know your customers, you shouldn’t make assumptions about their search habits and intent. You will be surprised at how people search for the same topics differently, often using long-tail keywords and varied phrases. In addition, the chances of you stumbling upon a lucrative niche keyword — or discovering all the relevant keywords — on your own are slim to none.

Pros and Cons at a Glance

The Semrush Keyword Magic Tool may seem simple at first glance, but it’s hiding a powerful engine beneath the surface that can drive your SEO success. It provides detailed keyword metrics that empower you to make informed decisions.

Pros:

• Instant results. Just type in a seed keyword and you’ll get thousands of keyword suggestions and relevant keywords.
• Configurability. Make your search as narrow or wide as you want, filtering for long-tail keywords or specific keyword intent.
• Content ideation. Filter your results with questions for an instant selection of potential content topics.
• Easy reporting. Select your favorite keywords and move them directly to the Keyword Manager tool or export them to .XLSX or .CSV — making your keyword tool even more efficient.

Cons:

• Overwhelming results. If this is your first keyword research tool, you might find the breadth of results, keyword metrics and options within the keyword explorer difficult to take in all at once.
• Knowledge requirements. Semrush expects you, as a digital marketer, to know your SEO best practices, so reviewing a keyword research guide may be beneficial.
• Few niche results. If you begin with a niche seed keyword, your results will be limited.

How to Use the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool to Outrank Your Competitors

Once you’ve decided on the subject of your campaign, it’s time to identify some keywords that will help your customers find your content. Here’s how to do that with the Keyword Magic Tool:

1. Pick a Seed Keyword

The first step is to choose a keyword that will act as a seed keyword to generate a list of related keywords. For best results, start with a keyword that’s broadly related to the subject of your campaign. This will help the tool provide keyword suggestions and keyword ideas, including long-tail keywords you might not have considered.

When you click the search button, you’ll see a results page. The main table contains a list of all the related terms found by the tool, along with essential keyword metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty. Along the left side, you’ll see groups of keywords in the keyword explorer.

2. Adjust Match Modifiers

By default, the tool shows all keywords possibly related to your search. Depending on your results, you may want to narrow them down. Above your results, you can choose from the following:

Broad match: The default setting returns all related keywords in all their forms, without any order.

Phrase match: Returns in the same form as your seed, excluding verb variations, without any order.

Exact match: Returns keywords in the same form and same order as your seed.

Related: Returns keywords determined by search engines to have a related meaning to your seed.

Utilizing these match modifiers helps you focus on specific keyword variations that match your target keyword approach and keyword intent. Adjusting these settings allows you to hone in on relevant keywords that align with your content marketing strategy.

3. Use Filters to Narrow Your Search

For more granular results, you can use the advanced filters drop-down menu. This feature allows you to get very specific. For example, you can specify which keywords must be included in your results while excluding others.

You can also filter for word count, search volume, keyword difficulty, cost-per-click, competitive density, SERP features and results in SERP. This helps you identify opportunities to target a featured snippet or other SERP features.

Alternatively, you can filter for keywords phrased as questions. This is a great feature for generating new blog topic ideas and enhancing your content creation process with fresh keyword suggestions.

4. Check Out Keyword Groups

Use keyword groups to explore subtopics related to your seed keyword. Each group uses an additional keyword to add another dimension to your search, often revealing long-tail keywords and specific keyword intent. Exploring these groups can help you target your content and ads toward specific customer needs and user attributes. Each group contains subgroups, including new related keywords with each layer.

5. Look for SERP Features to Target

With the Keyword Magic Tool, you can see which keywords generate SERP features like Instant Answers, Product Carousels, Reviews and more. Targeting these SERP features, such as aiming for a featured snippet, can significantly boost your visibility. Content deemed authoritative by Google earns these features, which can make them more attractive to users. Monitoring these opportunities via tools like Google Search Console can contribute to your SEO success. These keywords can be more competitive, but the rewards are greater.

6. Export Your Chosen Keywords

Once you’ve identified a few keywords to target, you can select them by checking the boxes next to each keyword. You can move these to the Keyword Manager within Semrush as a list, streamlining your content creation process.

Alternatively, you can export them to a spreadsheet file.

From there, you’re ready to start creating content. Use your selected keywords to shape your content and ensure it provides value to your audience, ultimately contributing to your SEO success.

Now Go and Make Some Marketing Magic

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, you need a keyword research tool. While there are many great options — like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Pro — Semrush offers a suite of tools that can be easily integrated into your workflow. The Semrush keyword research tool not only aids in keyword discovery but also supports your SEO audit and overall strategy.

We recommend the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool because it’s user-friendly, offers accurate results and makes it easy to kickstart your next search campaign. Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool serves as an excellent keyword research guide. Whether you’re a veteran content marketer or just beginning to dive into the world of search marketing and content marketing, this tool will help your customers find you when they’re searching online.

Have you tried the Keyword Magic Tool? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

Editor’s note: Updated February 2025.