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.