Library·SOP·SEO
Map a relevant competitor’s ranking queries to the pages and topics behind them, then choose a practical next SEO action for your own site.
Last reviewed: · Editorial review
Clarity, structure and references reviewed in this version. This is not a test in a live account.
Map a relevant competitor’s ranking queries to the pages and topics behind them, then choose a practical next SEO action for your own site.
This SOP covers:
This does not cover:
A search competitor shares relevant search results with you, but may not sell the same thing. Pick one whose audience and pages can teach you something useful.
Make your own copy of the Semrush Competitor Keyword Page Map. Keep the supplied tabs and fictional example. In Start Here, enter your site, audience, market, main products or services, and topics you do not serve. Save the copy in a place your team can open later.
Organic rankings are appearances in unpaid Google results, and a query is the words someone types into Google. In Semrush, use the Organic Rankings Competitors report to find sites that share some ranking queries. Treat overlap as a lead only: choose a domain whose audience, market, and page topics match an area your business can serve. Check an intended competitor the same way. In Start Here, record the domain and why it is a useful search comparison.
Choose the competitor’s root domain, subdomain, folder, or one URL. Use the smallest scope covering the pages you want to study. A country database is the country’s Google results Semrush uses; choose where your intended readers search. Choose Computer or Phone to match how they search. Keep country and device the same in later comparisons, and record the scope, database, device, and report date in Start Here.
Keep the raw export intact, then group its keywords by the pages and reader needs they appear to serve.
Export the Positions report within your paid-plan limits and record whether the available rows cover its full result count.
Open Organic Rankings → Positions for the same competitor, scope, country database, and device recorded in Start Here. Select Organic and clear the table filters. In Start Here → Positions result count, record the full count for this view, not just the rows on screen. Add Organic beside the recorded scope and keep this view selected for every export.
Use Export to save the available rows as CSV or Excel. Pro currently lists a 10,000-row report allowance; check your paid-plan limit, and remember trials may block exports. If one file cannot hold the full table, use supported position ranges to cover positions 1–100 without gaps or overlap. For example, use 1–10, 11–20, 21–50, and 51–100, splitting any range still over the cap. Keep original files and enter each file’s exact range or filter, name, and data-row count without its header in one Export Register row.
Compare the sum of exported data rows with the unfiltered report count. If rows are missing or the count does not match, mark Export status Capped and record the known or unknown remainder. Leave Complete until the later import step confirms all three totals match.
Combine the registered export files on Keyword Rows while preserving each original file.
Select Keyword Rows before importing the first CSV or Excel file. Choose File → Import → Replace current sheet so only that tab changes. Keep the export’s original columns and header.
For every later file in Export Register, choose Append to current sheet if offered. Otherwise, open the file and copy only its data rows below the last row in Keyword Rows. Remove each repeated header: use Data → Create a filter, filter Keyword to the header label Keyword, check that matching rows are export headers, delete those rows, then clear the filter. In that file’s Export Register row, enter imported data rows without the header.
Compare report total, exported rows, and imported rows. Fix any missing batch, repeated row, or counted header; if the totals still differ, mark Export status Capped and explain the limit. Mark Complete only when all three totals match.
Build a complete URL-to-query index, then separate page topics that serve different reader needs.
Select a cell in Keyword Rows and choose Insert → Pivot table. Choose Existing sheet and set the destination to Page Index!A8. In the editor, add URL under Rows, Keyword beneath URL, then Keyword under Values summarized by COUNTA. Compare the pivot total with Start Here → Imported data row count and the Export Register imported total.
In Page Plan, add one row for each reader task or topic you may act on. Use the Page Index URL and count to find the source rows; filter Keyword Rows by that exact URL. List the query rows or terms for each group. Separate different reader tasks or result formats, and keep branded or irrelevant groups visible with a reason not to pursue them.
Compare the Semrush intent labels and search-result types in each group. Split terms that need different formats, such as a product page versus a how-to guide. Keep queries together when they serve the same need and the results show the same kind of page.
Search intent is what someone hopes to do after a search: learn, compare, reach a known site, or buy. Semrush labels it Informational, Commercial, Navigational, or Transactional. Check those labels against the page and results.
Open a Page Index URL. Read its title, main heading, and format; in Page Plan, write what the page helps its reader do or understand.
Choose one query from the Page Plan group. Open its Semrush SERP view or search Google with the same country and device recorded in Start Here. Record the query, visible result formats, useful answer, and Semrush intent if shown. If the results differ from the competitor page or other queries in the group, split the group and check one query for each new group.
In Page Plan, record the representative query, Semrush intent, rank, estimated traffic, search volume, keyword difficulty, and useful SERP feature. Use the matching Keyword Rows entry when possible; write Not available for missing fields rather than guessing.
A useful keyword map ends with a reasoned choice for your site, not a copy of the competitor’s rankings.
Choose a disposition for each relevant Page Plan topic. Compare its reader need with your audience and offer, then check whether your site already has a suitable page.
Search your own site for the same reader need. Record the closest URL in Page Plan, or write No matching page if you did not find one.
Choose the matching option: Keep existing page when your page answers the same question in the needed format and you have no useful addition or correction to recommend; Improve existing page when it serves the same need but can be more useful; Create a page when the need fits your offer and no suitable page exists; Add to a page when a missing section answers the same need; Monitor when facts or readiness are missing; or Do not pursue when the audience, market, or offer does not fit. Write one reason beside the choice.
Order the topics marked Improve, Create, or Add by business fit, result-page fit, evidence, and readiness. Explain why the first one is more useful or more achievable than the next one.
Put a topic first when it clearly serves your audience and offer, the search results match a page you can provide, and you have the facts and expertise to make that page useful. If two topics fit equally well, prefer the existing page you can improve or the clear gap you can fill soon.
Write one sentence for the first action explaining why it comes before the next plausible action. For any topic you put on Monitor, note the missing fact or resource and who can provide it.
For a new page or a substantial rewrite, record its reader, purpose, representative query, supporting query group, page format, and the specific information that would make it more useful than a copy of the competitor. Follow the linked SOP to turn that page choice into a writer-ready brief.
