Keyword Research That Earns Traffic, Not a 10,000-Row Spreadsheet
Most keyword research stops at search volume and hands you a CSV nobody opens. Mine maps intent, finds the topical gaps your competitors miss, and turns it into a publishing plan. You get 200 keywords that matter, each with a brief and a slot on your calendar.
Why your keyword list isn’t pulling traffic
Volume obsession
Chasing 50,000-volume head terms you’ll never outrank instead of the long-tails that actually convert and rank in months, not years.
Intent mismatch
Targeting informational keywords on a sales page, or commercial terms on a blog post. Google sends the traffic somewhere else.
Isolated keywords
No clusters, no hub-and-spoke structure, no semantic links. Single posts can’t build the topical authority Google rewards.
Copying competitors
Targeting only what the top 10 already rank for, while ignoring the gaps they left wide open for you.
Spreadsheet graveyard
5,000 keywords in a CSV with no priority, no briefs, and no order. So nothing gets written.
Stale research
Keyword data from two years ago. Search behavior shifted, AI Overviews changed the SERP, and your list never caught up.
What you actually get
A content strategy built on intent and competitive gaps, not a keyword dump. Every priority term ships with a brief.
- Seed expansion through Ahrefs plus manual research
- Search intent classified for every keyword
- Topical clusters mapped hub-and-spoke for authority
- Competitor gap analysis across your top 10 rivals
- SERP feature and AI Overview opportunities flagged
- A content brief for every priority keyword
- A 12-month editorial calendar in publishing order
- Quarterly refresh so the plan tracks on-page SEO shifts
Before and after
How I research your keywords
Seed discovery
I audit your content, study your niche, and pull seeds from your goals, customer questions, and competitor blind spots.
Expand & classify
Every keyword gets expanded in Ahrefs, tagged by intent, and scored on difficulty versus real opportunity.
Cluster architecture
Keywords organize into clusters with hub pages and supporting posts, each one building authority around a topic Google cares about.
Editorial calendar
You get a 12-month roadmap with briefs, priority order, and quarterly refresh cycles baked in.
What you get from keyword research
Keyword research that ends in a plan, not a spreadsheet dump. I map real search demand and intent to the pages you should build or optimize, so every piece of content has a job and a reason to rank.
🌱Demand and competitor mining
- Seed, autocomplete, and PAA expansion
- Competitor keyword gap analysis
- Search volume and trend data
- Branded vs non-branded split
🎯Intent and difficulty scoring
- Search intent tagged per keyword
- Keyword difficulty and realistic wins
- SERP feature and format analysis
- Priority score by value and effort
🗺️Topical map and clusters
- Keywords grouped into topic clusters
- Pillar and supporting page structure
- Internal linking map
- Cannibalization flagged and resolved
📝Content plan mapping
- Each cluster mapped to a URL
- New vs optimize-existing calls
- Suggested titles and angles
- A publishing priority order
Keyword research questions, answered
What do I actually get from keyword research?
You get a prioritized keyword map, not a raw list. Keywords are grouped into topical clusters, tagged by search intent and difficulty, scored by value, and mapped to specific pages to create or optimize. The output is a content plan your team can execute in priority order.
What tools do you use for keyword research?
I use Ahrefs and Semrush for volume, difficulty, and competitor gaps, Google Search Console for the queries you already earn impressions on, and autocomplete and People Also Ask for the long tail. The data comes from tools; the clustering and intent judgment is the part that makes it usable.
How many keywords will you find?
As many as the niche supports, but volume isn’t the point. A focused niche might yield a few hundred worth targeting; a broad ecommerce catalog, thousands. I filter aggressively to the keywords you can realistically rank for and that lead to conversions, then cluster them so you’re planning pages, not chasing terms.
How do you find low-competition keywords?
By combining keyword difficulty with real SERP analysis and your site’s current authority. A low-difficulty score means nothing if the SERP is owned by giants. I look for queries with weak or outdated results, clear intent, and enough demand to matter, which is where a smaller site can win.
How does this feed into a content plan?
Every cluster maps to a pillar page and its supporting articles, with an internal linking structure and a publishing order. You leave knowing exactly what to write next, why it will rank, and how each page reinforces the others, instead of publishing one-off posts that stand alone.
How long does keyword research take?
Usually 3 to 5 business days for a full map, depending on niche breadth and how many competitors need analysis. You get the clustered map plus a short walkthrough so the plan is clear before anyone starts writing.
Stop guessing what to write. Start knowing.
Get a keyword strategy built on intent, competitor gaps, and topical authority. Every term comes with a brief and a place on the calendar.
Get my keyword strategy →