Seo Keyword Research

seo-keyword-research — Keyword Research & Strategy

Research Process

Step 1: Seed Keyword Expansion

Start with broad seed terms and expand systematically:

Seed Sources

| Source | Method | Example | |--------|--------|---------| | Product features | List core features/benefits | "project management", "task tracking" | | User pain points | Common problems your product solves | "team collaboration issues", "missed deadlines" | | Competitor brands | Competitor product names | "asana alternative", "trello vs" | | Industry terms | Domain-specific vocabulary | "agile methodology", "sprint planning" | | Question patterns | what/how/why/when/where + topic | "how to manage remote teams" |

Expansion Techniques

1. Semantic expansion: Synonyms, related terms, variations
2. Modifier expansion: best/top/free/cheap/vs/alternative + keyword
3. Long-tail generation: 3-5 word phrases with specific intent
4. PAA mining: Extract "People Also Ask" questions from SERP
5. Autocomplete harvesting: Google/Bing/YouTube autocomplete suggestions
6. Forum mining: Reddit, Quora, industry forums for real user language

Step 2: Keyword Metrics Analysis

Core Metrics

| Metric | Source | What It Tells You | |--------|--------|-------------------| | Monthly search volume | GSC, DataForSEO, SEMrush | Demand level | | Keyword difficulty (KD) | DataForSEO (0-100) | Competition intensity | | CPC | Google Ads, DataForSEO | Commercial value | | Search trend | Google Trends, DataForSEO | Seasonality, growth | | SERP features | SERP API analysis | Opportunity type | | Click-through rate | GSC (existing keywords) | Actual traffic potential |

Keyword Difficulty Interpretation

| KD Score | Difficulty | Typical Requirements | |----------|-----------|---------------------| | 0-20 | Easy | Quality content, basic on-page SEO | | 21-40 | Moderate | Strong content + some backlinks (10-30 referring domains) | | 41-60 | Hard | Authority content + significant backlinks (30-100 RDs) | | 61-80 | Very Hard | Domain authority + comprehensive content strategy (100+ RDs) | | 81-100 | Extremely Hard | Years of authority building + PR + brand signals |

Cross-reference: references/keyword-difficulty.md for industry benchmarks.

Search Volume Caveats

• Volume is a range estimate, not an exact number
• Seasonal keywords: always check 12-month trend (e.g., "tax software" peaks Jan-Apr)
• Zero-volume keywords may still drive valuable traffic (emerging terms, long-tail)
• Volume ≠ traffic — CTR varies by SERP features and position

Step 3: Search Intent Classification

| Intent | Signals | Content Type | Conversion Proximity | |--------|---------|-------------|---------------------| | Informational | what, how, why, guide, tutorial | Blog post, guide, video | Low (awareness) | | Commercial | best, top, review, comparison, vs | Comparison page, review | Medium (consideration) | | Transactional | buy, price, discount, coupon, order | Product page, pricing | High (decision) | | Navigational | [brand name], login, support | Homepage, support page | Varies |

Intent Validation

Always verify intent by checking actual SERP results:

• If top 10 results are all blog posts → informational intent
• If top 10 are product pages → transactional intent
• Mixed results → blended intent (target the dominant format)

Step 4: Competitor Keyword Gap Analysis

Gap Types

| Type | Definition | Action | |------|-----------|--------| | Missing keywords | Competitor ranks, you don't | Create new content | | Weak keywords | Both rank, competitor higher | Improve existing content | | Strong keywords | You rank higher | Defend and optimize | | Unique keywords | Only you rank | Protect competitive advantage |

Gap Analysis Process

1. Identify 3-5 SERP competitors (domains ranking for your target keywords)
2. Extract their ranking keywords (DataForSEO Domain Keywords API)
3. Cross-reference with your GSC keyword data
4. Filter: Volume ≥ 100, KD ≤ yourdomainDR + 10, relevant to business
5. Prioritize by: Opportunity = Volume × (1 - your_visibility) × relevance

Step 5: Topic Clustering & Prioritization

Topic Cluster Model

Pillar Page: "Project Management" (high volume, broad)
├── Cluster: "Agile Project Management"
│   ├── "scrum vs kanban" (commercial)
│   ├── "how to run a sprint planning meeting" (informational)
│   └── "agile project management tools" (commercial)
├── Cluster: "Remote Team Management"
│   ├── "remote team communication tools" (commercial)
│   ├── "how to manage remote employees" (informational)
│   └── "remote work best practices" (informational)
└── Cluster: "Project Management Software"
    ├── "best project management software 2026" (commercial)
    ├── "free project management tools" (commercial)
    └── "asana vs monday vs clickup" (commercial)

Prioritization Formula

Priority Score = (Volume × CTR_potential × Business_value) / (Difficulty + 1)

Where:
- CTR_potential = estimated CTR for target position (pos 1: 0.30, pos 3: 0.12, pos 5: 0.06)
- Business_value = 1 (informational), 2 (commercial), 3 (transactional)
- Difficulty = KD score (0-100)

Priority Buckets

| Bucket | Criteria | Timeline | |--------|----------|----------| | Quick wins | KD 500, you rank #11-30 | This month | | Strategic targets | KD 30-60, Volume > 1000, high business value | Next quarter | | Long-term plays | KD > 60, Volume > 5000 | 6-12 months | | Defensive | Brand keywords, existing #1-3 rankings | Ongoing |

Step 6: Keyword Strategy Output

Keyword Map Template

| URL | Primary KW | Secondary KWs | LSI Terms | Intent | Volume | KD | Priority | |-----|-----------|---------------|-----------|--------|--------|-----|----------| | /blog/topic-a | [main keyword] | [2-3 secondary] | [5-10 LSI] | Info | 2,400 | 35 | High | | /product/feature | [main keyword] | [2-3 secondary] | [5-10 LSI] | Trans | 1,200 | 55 | Strategic |

Content Calendar Alignment

Map keywords to content calendar considering:

• Seasonality: Schedule content 2-3 months before peak season
• Trending topics: Fast-track emerging keywords (zero-volume → rising)
• Competitor gaps: Prioritize topics where competitors are weak
• Content clusters: Publish cluster articles before pillar pages

Quick Win Identification

Filter GSC data for immediate opportunities:

1. Keywords ranking #4-20 with high impressions (striking distance)
2. Keywords with high impressions but low CTR (title/description optimization)
3. Keywords ranking #1-3 without Featured Snippet (snippet capture opportunity)

Data Sources

Primary: Google Search Console

• Real click/impression data for existing keywords
• Brand vs non-brand segmentation
• Device and geo filtering
• 16 months of historical data

Secondary: DataForSEO Keywords API

POST https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/keywords_data/google_ads/search_volume/live

{
  "keywords": ["project management", "task tracking", "team collaboration"],
  "location_code": 2840,
  "language_code": "en",
  "date_from": "2025-01-01",
  "date_to": "2026-03-01"
}

Key endpoints: | Endpoint | Purpose | |----------|---------| | /v3/keywords_data/google_ads/search_volume/live | Volume + CPC + competition | | /v3/keywords_data/google_ads/keywords_for_site/live | Keywords for a domain | | /v3/dataforseo_labs/google/keyword_suggestions/live | Related keyword suggestions | | /v3/dataforseo_labs/google/keyword_ideas/live | Seed → expanded keyword list | | /v3/dataforseo_labs/google/keywords_for_categories/live | Category-based keywords | | /v3/dataforseo_labs/google/domain_intersection/live | Competitor keyword overlap |

Tertiary: SERP Analysis

Cross-reference with seo-rank-tracker for SERP feature data and seo-content-brief for content planning.

Scoring

| Category | Weight | |----------|--------| | Seed Keyword Coverage | 20% | | Search Intent Accuracy | 20% | | Competitor Gap Identification | 20% | | Topic Cluster Organization | 15% | | Prioritization Quality | 15% | | Strategy Actionability | 10% |

Output Format

Generate KEYWORD-RESEARCH-[topic].md with:

1. Keyword Universe (total keywords discovered, by intent type)
2. Top 50 Keywords (sorted by priority score with all metrics)
3. Topic Clusters (visual hierarchy with pillar → cluster → content)
4. Competitor Gap Matrix (your keywords vs top 3 competitors)
5. Quick Wins (immediate opportunities from existing rankings)
6. Content Calendar (recommended publishing sequence)
7. Keyword Map (URL-to-keyword assignments)

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: 01clauding
• Source: 01clauding/claude-seo-skill
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://clawpond.com/seo-skill

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.