How to Use Semrush to Create an AI-Powered Content Strategy

This article is sponsored by our friends at Semrush.

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Scaling quality content is hard. It can also be expensive.

That’s why people turn to AI writing tools that can create content in minutes, promising to 10x your content production overnight. 

But can they research competitors, find winning keywords, analyze search intent, and write content that actually ranks? 

That's where Semrush’s Content Toolkit changes the game. 

Unlike basic AI content generators, it combines powerful AI with real SEO data to help content marketers create high-quality, optimized content at scale. No more choosing between speed and quality — you can have both.

What Is the Semrush Content Toolkit?

The Semrush Content Toolkit is an AI-powered content solution that combines Semrush's wealth of SEO data with smart content generation technology. It uses real search and competitor data to inform every piece you outline, write, and optimize.

The toolkit doesn't just generate text. It analyzes your competitors' top-ranking content, identifies high-opportunity keywords, and creates content briefs based on what actually works in your industry.

The toolkit includes five main components that work together:

• Topic Finder: Discovers content ideas using real search volume and competition data
• SEO Brief Generator: Creates detailed content outlines based on competitor analysis
• AI Article Generator: Writes full blog posts using your brand voice and SEO requirements
• Content Optimizer: Evaluates your existing content and suggests improvements for SEO and readability
• Chrome Browser Extension: Lets you optimize and rewrite content anywhere online 

Who Should Use It?

The Content Toolkit is ideal for all kinds of content marketers:

• Freelancers use the AI writing assistant to deliver higher-quality work faster. Instead of spending hours researching competitors and keywords manually, you can generate data-backed briefs and even entire articles in minutes. 
• Agency teams use it to maintain consistency across multiple clients and writers. You can create detailed briefs that any team member can follow, then use the AI generator to produce first drafts that match each client's brand voice. 
• In-house marketing teams use the toolkit to scale their content production without hiring additional writers. You can generate topic ideas that align with business goals, create articles that are optimized for search engines, and improve the performance of your existing content. 
• Content managers use it to streamline team collaboration. Writers get clear, data-driven guidelines, while editors can confidently optimize content with specific suggestions.

How Much Does It Cost? 

The Semrush Content Toolkit costs $60/month for unlimited standard articles and 5 SEO-boosted ones. (This is much less than it costs to pay a freelancer or agency to write just one article.) 

Use this link to try it for free for 7 days.

3 Steps to Build Your Content Strategy with the Content Toolkit

Step 1: Choose the Right Topics

Start with Topic Finder to discover content ideas that have real traffic potential. 

It doesn’t just find topic ideas based on what people might search for. Instead, it shows you topics with real search potential, backed by Semrush’s database of 26+ billion keywords. 

Plus, it’ll explain the search intent — in other words, what the searcher is really looking for. This way, you don’t waste time creating content that never converts.

Just enter a seed keyword related to your business and Topic Finder returns a list of related topics with key metrics like:

• Search volume
• Average keyword difficulty
• Search intent

Pro tip: In general, you should aim for topics with high search volume, low average keyword difficulty, and commercial or transactional intent.

Once you find a topic you want to write about, hit the “Start writing” button. From there, you can either write the article yourself, generate the article with AI (see Step 3), or create an SEO brief.  

Step 2: Create Helpful Outlines

Use the SEO Brief Generator to turn your chosen topics into detailed content briefs. 

This is super useful for writing teams. It lets you take winning topic ideas from Step 1 and pass them on to your writers with a ready-made structure.

The brief includes everything you need to create a competitive article: 

• Recommended headings
• Keyword clusters to include
• Optimal word count
• Title suggestions

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Plus, you can easily edit the brief right within the tool itself. This lets you add your brand voice and style requirements, and you can add, remove, or reorder sections before you send it to your writer.

This way, writers know exactly what to create, and you know the content will be optimized from the start.

And if you’re the writer, this level of detail makes it easy for you to start creating high-quality content.

Step 3: Write Amazing Content

The Article Generator doesn’t just draft generic posts for you like any typical AI article writer.

It creates optimized content based on your inputs combined with Semrush’s extensive SEO data. This means it nails the search intent, includes keywords that actually make sense, and it sticks to your brand voice.

The end result? A complete, optimized draft.

Pro tip: While the content is high-quality, you'll still want to add your expertise, update facts, and ensure it matches your goals. 

You can edit the content right within the tool, then hit the publish button when you’re ready to post. 

Bonus: Optimize Your Existing Content

Content Optimizer helps you improve your existing articles. You don’t always need to start from scratch, and this lets you boost the performance of content you already have that isn’t performing as well as it could.

Just upload any piece of content to get an instant performance score. The tool analyzes your article across three key areas: SEO optimization, readability, and tone.

The SEO analysis checks if you're targeting the right keywords and using them effectively. It compares your content structure against top-ranking competitors and suggests missing elements.

The tool also flags overly complex sentences, suggests shorter paragraphs, and recommends word changes to improve readability and flow. 

Better readability can lead to lower bounce rates and higher engagement. So this is a quick way to improve the performance of your content, from both a ranking and conversion rate perspective.

Build Your Own Winning Content Strategy 

You no longer have to choose between creating content quickly or creating content that ranks. The Semrush Content Toolkit does both.

In just three steps you can:

1. Use Topic Finder to discover content ideas backed by real search data
2. Generate detailed SEO briefs that guide your (or your team’s) writing process
3. Create full articles that are designed to rank

Supercharge your own content strategy with a 7-day free trial of the Semrush Content Toolkit.

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