Keyword Researcher — Volume, Intent, and Content Planning

When to Use Keyword Researcher vs. Other Skills

| Skill | Use When | |-------|----------| | keyword-researcher (this) | Volume, intent, competition, SERP data, content mapping | | psychographic-keyword-research | Emotions, pain points, ICP language, psychological triggers | | serp-intent-analyzer | Deep SERP competitive intelligence for a single keyword | | intent-analyzer | Decoding hidden psychological intent behind queries |

Best results: run keyword-researcher AND psychographic research, then merge outputs.

The 5 Modes

Mode 1: Quick

Fast keyword list. Input a seed keyword, get 20+ buyer-intent keywords sorted by estimated search volume.

Output: Lowercase keywords, one per line, grouped by tail length (broad, mid-tail, long-tail). Includes LSI terms and commercial/transactional variants.

Trigger: "quick keywords", "keyword list", "give me keywords for [topic]"

Mode 2: Strategy

Comprehensive 800+ word keyword strategy report. Covers: competitive landscape, semantic clusters (6 tiers), intent classification matrix, content architecture template, featured snippet targets, technical SEO notes.

Trigger: "keyword strategy", "full keyword research", "keyword report"

Mode 3: Cluster

PAA and autocomplete-based clustering. 30-60 row table with: Cluster | Keywords | Intent | PAA Questions | Suggested Title | Meta Description.

Trigger: "cluster keywords", "PAA clustering", "topic clusters"

Mode 4: Plan

Content calendar from keyword clusters. Maps keyword clusters to titles + meta descriptions + intent + publishing priority. Ready for editorial scheduling.

Trigger: "content plan", "content calendar", "keyword to content"

Mode 5: SERP

SERP competition analysis for a URL or keyword. Extracts keyword density, LSI terms, entities, PAA questions from top results. Identifies content gaps.

Trigger: "SERP analysis", "analyze competition", "content gaps"

Quality Rules (All Modes)

1. Buyer intent bias — Prioritize commercial and transactional keywords over purely informational
2. Local signals — When geo is provided, include geo-modified variants (city, "near me")
3. No fluff keywords — Exclude "introduction to", "what is" unless informational intent is specifically requested
4. Lowercase output — All keywords lowercase unless proper nouns
5. Core word retention — Every keyword must retain at least one word from the seed keyword
6. De-duplicate — No repeated keywords across output
7. E-E-A-T alignment — Strategy and plan modes include E-E-A-T signal recommendations

Keyword Priority Framework

When scoring which keywords to target first:

| Score Factor | Weight | |-------------|--------| | Buyer intent (commercial/transactional) | 35% | | Search volume | 25% | | Competition (SERP quality gap) | 25% | | Topical authority alignment (already ranking adjacent terms?) | 15% |

High-priority keyword = high buyer intent + moderate volume + weak SERP competition + topical alignment.

Chaining Keyword Research to Content

Keyword research output feeds directly into:

• koray-topical-map — keyword clusters become topical map nodes
• koray-content-brief — target keyword + intent from research populates the brief
• merlino-magic-blog — use keyword + title from any mode as blog input
• paa-content-engine — cluster mode PAA questions drive content engine
• featured-snippet-optimizer — SERP mode identifies snippet targets

Cross-References

• dataforseo-keywords — live search volume and competition data via DataForSEO API
• kw-generator — programmatic keyword generation for large-scale campaigns
• topic-cluster — topic cluster architecture after keyword research is complete
• find-topics-to-write — opportunity identification within existing topical maps

#seo-sop #seo #keywords #content-planning #serp #research