keyword-research skill

---
name: keyword-research
description: Identify high-impact keywords using the 6 Circles Method. Use when planning content strategy, finding SEO opportunities, or discovering what your audience searches for.
---

# Keyword Research Skill

## Overview

Keyword Research identifies what your audience searches for. This skill teaches the 6 Circles Method to find keywords aligned with your positioning.

**Keywords**: keyword research, SEO keywords, search volume, keyword strategy, content planning, search intent, keyword analysis

## Core Methodology

The 6 Circles Method finds keywords at the intersection of:

1. **Aligned with your positioning** — Keywords that match your angle
2. **Your customer's language** — How they actually search
3. **Avoiding competitor blind spots** — Keywords competitors ignore
4. **Good search volume** — People actually search for these
5. **You can write about** — You have expertise or perspective
6. **Drive business results** — Keywords that convert

## The 6 Circles Method

### Circle 1: Positioning Alignment

Start with keywords aligned with your positioning angle.

**Example**: If your positioning is "The project management tool for remote teams," your keywords should be about remote work, distributed teams, async communication.

**Not**: General project management keywords that competitors dominate.

### Circle 2: Customer Language

Use the language your customers actually use, not industry jargon.

**Example**: If your customers say "remote work tools," don't target "distributed workforce management solutions."

**How to find**: Review customer conversations, support tickets, social media comments.

### Circle 3: Competitor Blind Spots

Find keywords competitors ignore or underestimate.

**Example**: If competitors target "project management software," target "project management for remote teams" or "async project management."

**How to find**: Analyze competitor content. What keywords do they NOT target?

### Circle 4: Search Volume

Find keywords with meaningful search volume (100+ searches/month).

**Example**: "Project management" (100k+ searches) is too competitive. "Project management for remote teams" (1k searches) is better.

**Rule**: Target keywords with 100-10,000 searches/month for fastest ranking.

### Circle 5: Your Expertise

Only target keywords you can write about better than competitors.

**Example**: If you're a remote work expert, target "remote work" keywords. If you're a productivity expert, target "productivity" keywords.

**Not**: Keywords outside your expertise.

### Circle 6: Business Results

Target keywords that drive revenue, not just traffic.

**Example**: "How to manage remote teams" drives leads. "Remote work statistics" drives traffic but not leads.

**Focus**: Keywords with commercial intent.

## How to Use This Skill

1. **List Your Positioning Keywords** — What keywords align with your positioning?
2. **Add Customer Language** — How do customers search for this?
3. **Find Competitor Gaps** — What keywords do competitors miss?
4. **Check Search Volume** — Which keywords have 100-10,000 searches/month?
5. **Verify Your Expertise** — Can you write better content than competitors?
6. **Confirm Business Intent** — Will these keywords drive revenue?

## Keyword Clusters

Organize keywords into clusters:

```
Cluster: Remote Team Management
- remote team management
- how to manage remote teams
- remote team communication
- distributed team tools
- async team management
```

## Integration with Other Skills

Keyword Research works with:
- **SEO Content** — Your keywords guide what to write about
- **Content Atomizer** — Your keywords inform repurposing strategy
- **Positioning Angles** — Your positioning guides keyword selection

## Common Pitfalls

**Too Competitive** — Targeting keywords with 100k+ searches.  
**Too Niche** — Targeting keywords with <100 searches/month.  
**No Business Intent** — Targeting keywords that don't drive revenue.  
**Outside Your Expertise** — Targeting keywords you can't write about better.

## Next Steps

Once you've identified your keywords, move to Skill 06: SEO Content to create ranking content.