check out my SEMRush article<\/a> a few months ago that I made on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 5: Isolate for declined positions number six through 10 in your organic search results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If we take the example of Zapier here, what we’re trying to isolate for are the long tail keywords that we recently dropped out of favor in. In other words, these are the keywords that we used to be on the second half of the first page, but now they potentially either dropped to the very bottom of the first page or even the top of the second page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem with this is that if you’re ending up on the second page of the search results, you typically aren’t going to get any meaningful organic traffic that way. So let’s take a look at how we might do this and SEMRush. In order to do this, what you’re going to want to do is go back into the organic research section of SEMRush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you’re going to want to look for positions six through 10. And as you do this, what you then do is you go to this position changes section and then select declined. And what this will show you is it will show you the trends as to what you might be potentially losing some specific traffic around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, you’ll notice things that if we were to go back and filter for our how to content, we might be able to find that we are losing positions in how to delete duplicates in Excel, how to make a graph in Excel, how to capture screenshots on Mac. And even if I wanted to just look up for my Google related content, I could search for the word Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you can see, some of the keywords that we are losing out on now from this decline report. The reason why this is important is because oftentimes you don’t have to actually create an entirely new piece of content to get an existing piece of content to work its way back up in the ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, you just need to refresh that content with more information or more valuable or more concise information that really addresses the search intent behind the long tail phrase you’re targeting. So every few months or so, I recommend that you check out these declined rankings so you can do a quick lift for yourself in getting those pages back on track without having to necessarily invest in an entirely new piece of content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another benefit of this is that it makes your post even more authoritative than it may have already been. And so you’ll continue to get even more back links and other people linking to your site, which will then rise all boats for your organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you’re done with position six through 10, you can apply the same strategy for positions one through five. The reason why this is really important is because if you have dropped from positions one through five, that means you’re now below the fold in the Google results. So let’s go ahead and take a look at how this might look in Zapier’s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going back to the organic research tab in SEMRush, all we need to do is go here and then change our range from six through 10 to one through five. Run this filter. And then if I want to run for that, how to phrase again, I can search for how, and I’ll start to see some of the things that we are starting to lose our placements in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the ones that I would focus more on are the ones that are out of the top three places. So maybe I’d isolate this further to three to five, or I might just look for the ones in which now they’re in position, you know, four or five. So this one, for example, how to create a great survey, how to download Excel sheet from Google drive, et cetera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always recommend that aside from these two filters that you play around with the other filters. So for example, the same thing I’ve always done, which is a hundred to about a thousand or 2000. When you filter out for these, these are the ones that are actually going to make the biggest impact in your efforts. So you can see here that we’ve dropped down to fifth place for how to find average on Google sheets. And we also have lost some placements on other things like how to make a chart in Google sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are two things that I want you to remember when it comes to using your SEMRush account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The first one is a common lesson that I teach you, which is to always follow where the traffic already exists. I really don’t believe in investing in content marketing that is a total gamble. In other words, I like to look for where there’s already existing search intent because that’s what we know is actually going to have people on a monthly basis looking for information.<\/li>
- The second thing I want you to remember is to identify content gaps and then fill them as quickly as possible. If you’re doing well in one area, there’s always another area in the ship that you can put your attentions towards.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
If you liked this article, be sure to check out my YouTube channel<\/a> to get new videos every single week. I’ll help take you from zero to self-starter as you grow your business, get more customers, and hone your business acumen. Also, feel free to share this with anybody that you think might benefit from learning how to make the most of using SEMRush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n