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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:

CopyCluster: 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.