Keyword Research

Most keyword research is backwards. People start with tools, get overwhelmed by data, and end up with a spreadsheet they never use.

This skill starts with strategy. What does your business need? Who are you trying to reach? What would make them find you? Then it builds a content plan that actually makes sense.

No expensive tools required. Just systematic thinking.

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The core job

Transform a business context into a prioritized content plan with:

• Keyword clusters organized by topic
• Priority ranking based on opportunity
• Content type recommendations
• A clear "start here" action

Output format: Clustered keywords mapped to content pieces, prioritized by business value and opportunity.

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The process

SEED → EXPAND → CLUSTER → PRIORITIZE → MAP

1. Seed — Generate initial keywords from business context
2. Expand — Use the 6 Circles Method to build comprehensive list
3. Cluster — Group related keywords into content pillars
4. Prioritize — Score by opportunity and business value
5. Map — Assign clusters to specific content pieces

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Before starting: Gather context

Get these inputs before generating anything:

1. What do you sell/offer? (1-2 sentences)
2. Who are you trying to reach? (Be specific)
3. What's your website? (To understand current content)
4. Who are 2-3 competitors? (Or help identify them)
5. What's the goal? (Traffic? Leads? Sales? Authority?)
6. Timeline? (Quick wins or long-term plays?)

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Phase 1: Seed Generation

From the business context, generate 20-30 seed keywords covering:

Direct terms — What you actually sell

"AI marketing automation", "fractional CMO", "marketing workflows"

Problem terms — What pain you solve

"can't keep up with content", "marketing team too small", "don't understand AI"

Outcome terms — What results you deliver

"faster campaign execution", "10x content production", "marketing ROI"

Category terms — Broader industry terms

"marketing automation", "AI marketing", "growth marketing"

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Phase 2: Expand (The 6 Circles Method)

For each seed keyword, expand using 6 different lenses:

Circle 1: What You Sell

Products, services, and solutions you offer directly.

Example: "AI marketing automation", "marketing workflow templates", "fractional CMO services"

Circle 2: Problems You Solve

Pain points and challenges your audience faces.

Example: "marketing team overwhelmed", "can't measure marketing ROI", "content takes too long"

Circle 3: Outcomes You Deliver

Results and transformations customers achieve.

Example: "automated lead generation", "consistent content publishing", "marketing that runs itself"

Circle 4: Your Unique Positioning

What makes you different from alternatives.

Example: "no-code marketing", "AI-first approach", "community-driven marketing"

Circle 5: Adjacent Topics

Related areas where your audience spends time.

Example: "startup growth", "indie hackers", "solopreneur tools", "productivity systems"

Circle 6: Entities to Associate With

People, tools, frameworks, concepts you want to be connected to.

Example: "Claude AI", "n8n automation", specific thought leaders, industry frameworks

Expansion techniques

For each seed, find variations using:

Question patterns:

• What is [keyword]?
• How to [keyword]?
• Why [keyword]?
• Best [keyword]?
• [keyword] vs [alternative]?
• [keyword] examples
• [keyword] for [audience]

Modifier patterns:

• [keyword] tools
• [keyword] templates
• [keyword] guide
• [keyword] strategy
• [keyword] 2025
• [keyword] for beginners
• [keyword] for [industry]

Comparison patterns:

• [keyword A] vs [keyword B]
• best [category]
• [tool] alternatives
• [tool] review

Output: Expanded list of 100-200 keywords from seed terms

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Phase 3: Cluster

Group expanded keywords into content pillars using the hub-and-spoke model:

                    [PILLAR]
                 Main Topic Area
                      |
        +-------------+-------------+
        |             |             |
   [CLUSTER 1]   [CLUSTER 2]   [CLUSTER 3]
    Subtopic       Subtopic       Subtopic
        |             |             |
    Keywords      Keywords      Keywords

Identifying pillars (5-10 per business)

A pillar is a major topic area that could support:

• One comprehensive guide (3,000-8,000 words)
• 3-7 supporting articles
• Ongoing content expansion

Ask: "Could this be a complete guide that thoroughly covers the topic?"

Pillar Validation (Critical Step)

Before finalizing pillars, run these 4 checks:

Most keyword research fails because pillars are chosen based on what the business WANTS to talk about, not what the market ACTUALLY searches for.

1. Search Volume Test Does this pillar have >1,000 monthly searches across its keyword cluster?

• If YES: Valid pillar
• If NO: Not a pillar. It may be a single article or shouldn't be created at all.

Example failure: "Claude marketing" (zero search volume) chosen as pillar because the product uses Claude. Market searches "AI marketing" instead.

2. Product vs. Market Test Is this pillar something the MARKET searches for, or something YOU want to talk about?

Product-Centric (Wrong)	Market-Centric (Right)
"Our methodology"	"Marketing automation"
"[Your tool name] tutorials"	"[Category] tutorials"
"Why we're different"	"[Problem] solutions"
Features of your product	Outcomes people search for

The market doesn't search for your product name (unless you're famous). They search for solutions to their problems.

3. Competitive Reality Test Can you actually win here?

Check the top 3 results for the pillar keyword:

• All DR 80+ sites (Forbes, HubSpot, etc.)? Find adjacent pillar.
• Mix of authority and smaller sites? Winnable with great content.
• Thin content from unknown sites? High opportunity.

Don't choose pillars where you have no realistic path to page 1.

4. Proprietary Advantage Test Do you have unique content, data, or expertise for this pillar?

Advantage	Priority
Proprietary data others don't have	Prioritize highly
Unique methodology or framework	Prioritize highly
Practitioner experience (done it, not read about it)	Prioritize
Same info everyone else has	Deprioritize

If you have 2,589 marketing workflows and nobody else does, "marketing workflows" should be a pillar. If you're writing about "AI marketing" with no unique angle, you're competing on equal footing with everyone.

Validation Output:

For each proposed pillar, document:

Pillar: [Name]
Search volume test: PASS/FAIL — [evidence]
Market-centric test: PASS/FAIL — [evidence]
Competitive test: PASS/FAIL — [evidence]
Proprietary advantage: YES/NO — [what advantage]
VERDICT: VALID PILLAR / DEMOTE TO CLUSTER / REMOVE

If a pillar fails 2+ tests, it's not a pillar. Either demote it to a single article within another pillar, or remove it entirely.

Clustering process

1. Group by semantic similarity — Keywords that mean similar things
2. Group by search intent — Keywords with same user goal
3. Identify the pillar keyword — The broadest term in each group
4. Identify supporting keywords — More specific variations

Example cluster

Pillar: AI Marketing Automation

Clusters:

• What is AI marketing automation (definitional)
• AI marketing tools (commercial/comparison)
• AI marketing examples (proof/validation)
• Building AI marketing workflows (how-to)
• AI vs traditional automation (comparison)

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Phase 4: Prioritize

Not all keywords are equal. Score each cluster by:

Business Value (High / Medium / Low)

High: Direct path to revenue

• Commercial intent keywords
• Close to purchase decision
• Your core offering

Medium: Indirect path

• Builds trust and authority
• Captures leads
• Educational content

Low: Brand awareness only

• Top of funnel
• Tangentially related
• Nice to have

Opportunity (High / Medium / Low)

High opportunity signals:

• No good content exists (you'd define the category)
• Existing content is outdated (2+ years old)
• Existing content is thin (surface-level, generic)
• You have unique angle competitors miss
• Growing trend (check Google Trends)

Low opportunity signals:

• Dominated by major authority sites
• Excellent comprehensive content already exists
• Highly competitive commercial terms
• Declining interest

Speed to Win (Fast / Medium / Long)

Fast (3 months):

• Low competition
• You have unique expertise/data
• Content gap is clear

Medium (6 months):

• Moderate competition
• Requires comprehensive content
• Differentiation path exists

Long (9-12 months):

• High competition
• Requires authority building
• May need link building

Priority Matrix

Business Value	Opportunity	Speed	Priority
High	High	Fast	DO FIRST
High	High	Medium	DO SECOND
High	Medium	Fast	DO THIRD
Medium	High	Fast	QUICK WIN
High	Low	Any	LONG PLAY
Low	Any	Any	BACKLOG

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Phase 5: Map to Content

For each priority cluster, assign:

Content type

Type	When to Use	Word Count
Pillar Guide	Comprehensive topic coverage	5,000-8,000
How-To Tutorial	Step-by-step instructions	2,000-3,000
Comparison	X vs Y, Best [category]	2,500-4,000
Listicle	Tools, examples, tips	2,000-3,000
Use Case	Industry or scenario specific	1,500-2,500
Definition	What is [term]	1,500-2,500

Intent matching

Intent	Keyword Signals	Content Approach	CTA Type
Informational	what, how, why, guide	Educate thoroughly	Newsletter, resource
Commercial	best, vs, review, compare	Help them decide	Free trial, demo
Transactional	buy, pricing, get, hire	Make it easy	Purchase, contact

Content calendar placement

Tier 1 (Publish in weeks 1-4): Highest priority, category-defining Tier 2 (Publish in weeks 5-8): High priority, supporting pillars Tier 3 (Publish in weeks 9-12): Medium priority, depth content Tier 4 (Backlog): Lower priority, future opportunities

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Output format

Executive Summary

# Keyword Research: [Business Name]

## Top Opportunities
1. [Keyword/cluster] — [Why it's an opportunity]
2. [Keyword/cluster] — [Why it's an opportunity]
3. [Keyword/cluster] — [Why it's an opportunity]

## Quick Wins (3-month potential)
- [Keyword] — [Why quick]
- [Keyword] — [Why quick]

## Long-Term Plays (6-12 months)
- [Keyword] — [Strategy needed]

## Start Here
[Specific first piece of content to create and why]

Pillar Overview

## Pillar: [Topic Name]
**Priority:** [Critical / High / Medium / Low]
**Content pieces:** [Number]

| Cluster | Priority | Intent | Content Type | Target |
|---------|----------|--------|--------------|--------|
| [name]  | [H/M/L]  | [type] | [format]     | [date] |

90-Day Content Calendar

## Month 1
- Week 1-2: [Flagship piece] — [Target keyword cluster]
- Week 3: [Supporting piece] — [Target keyword cluster]
- Week 4: [Supporting piece] — [Target keyword cluster]

## Month 2
- Week 5-6: [Second pillar piece] — [Target keyword cluster]
...

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Example: Keyword research for "AI Marketing Consultant"

Context gathered

• Business: AI marketing consulting for startups
• Audience: Funded startups, 10-50 employees, no marketing hire yet
• Goal: Leads for consulting engagements
• Timeline: Mix of quick wins and authority building

Seed keywords generated

• AI marketing consultant
• AI marketing strategy
• Marketing automation
• Startup marketing
• Fractional CMO
• AI marketing tools

Expanded via 6 Circles (sample)

Circle 1 (What you sell): AI marketing consultant, AI marketing strategy, AI marketing audit, marketing automation setup

Circle 2 (Problems): startup marketing overwhelm, no time for marketing, marketing not working, can't hire marketing team

Circle 3 (Outcomes): automated lead generation, consistent content, marketing ROI, scalable marketing

Circle 4 (Positioning): AI-first marketing, no-code marketing, startup-focused marketing

Circle 5 (Adjacent): startup growth strategies, product-led growth, indie hacker marketing

Circle 6 (Entities): Claude AI marketing, n8n marketing automation, HubSpot alternatives

Clustered into pillars

Pillar 1: AI Marketing Strategy (Priority: Critical)

• What is AI marketing
• AI marketing examples
• AI marketing tools
• AI marketing for startups

Pillar 2: Marketing Automation (Priority: High)

• Marketing automation for startups
• No-code marketing automation
• n8n vs Zapier for marketing
• Marketing workflow templates

Pillar 3: Fractional Marketing (Priority: Medium)

• What is a fractional CMO
• Fractional CMO vs agency
• When to hire fractional marketing

Top 3 recommendations

1. "What is AI Marketing?" (Do First)

• Category definition opportunity
• Growing search trend
• Weak competition (thin content dominates)
• You have practitioner expertise
• Pillar guide, 5,000+ words

2. "AI Marketing Tools 2025" (Do Second)

• Commercial intent, close to purchase
• Existing content is generic/outdated
• Unique angle: practitioner reviews
• Comparison listicle, 3,000+ words

3. "Marketing Automation for Startups" (Quick Win)

• Specific audience match
• Less competitive than broad term
• Clear differentiation path
• How-to guide, 2,500+ words

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What this skill does NOT do

This skill provides strategic direction, not:

• Live search volume data (use free tools if needed)
• Automated SERP analysis (manual review required)
• Content writing (use direct-response-copy skill)
• Technical SEO audits (different skill set)

The output is a prioritized plan. Execution is separate.

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Free tools to supplement

If the user needs data validation:

• Google Trends (trends.google.com) — Trend direction, seasonality
• Google Search — SERP analysis, autocomplete, "People Also Ask"
• AnswerThePublic (free tier) — Question-based keywords
• AlsoAsked (free tier) — PAA relationship mapping
• Reddit/Quora search — Real user questions and language

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How this connects to other skills

keyword-research identifies WHAT to write about.

Then:

• positioning-angles → finds the angle for each piece
• brand-voice → ensures consistent voice across content
• direct-response-copy → writes the actual content

The keyword research creates the content strategy. Other skills execute it.

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The test

A good keyword research output:

1. Actionable — Clear "start here" recommendation
2. Prioritized — Not just a list, but ranked by opportunity
3. Realistic — Acknowledges competition and timelines
4. Strategic — Connects to business goals, not just traffic
5. Specific — Content types and angles, not just keywords

If the output is "here's 500 keywords, good luck" — it failed.