Keyword Research & Clustering

Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: strategy/brand.md for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; about/me.md for personal voice; content/ideas.md and content/calendar.md for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md, and route durable learnings back to strategy/brand.md, about/me.md, or content/ideas.md.

Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.

Research keywords, expand them systematically, cluster by topic and intent, and prioritize for content strategy — all without expensive tools.

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Required Input

Ask the user for:

1. Niche/Industry — What space are you in?
2. Target Audience — Who are you writing for?
3. Business Goal — Traffic, leads, sales, authority?
4. Existing Content — Do you have a site/blog already?

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The 6 Circles Method

Generate 13 content ideas from a single seed keyword using nested topic clusters.

                    ┌─────────────────────┐
                    │   PRIMARY KEYWORD   │  ← 1 pillar topic
                    │   (Largest Circle)  │
                    └─────────────────────┘
                              │
            ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
            ▼                 ▼                 ▼
     ┌───────────┐     ┌───────────┐     ┌───────────┐
     │ Sub-topic │     │ Sub-topic │     │ Sub-topic │  ← 3 supporting themes
     │     A     │     │     B     │     │     C     │
     └───────────┘     └───────────┘     └───────────┘
            │                 │                 │
      ┌─────┼─────┐     ┌─────┼─────┐     ┌─────┼─────┐
      ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼     ▼
     [1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   [9]  ← 9 content pieces

Process:

1. Identify primary keyword — high-traffic, high-intent topic in your niche
2. Brainstorm 3 sub-topics — related themes that support the primary
3. Generate 3 pieces per sub-topic — specific articles addressing aspects of each

Content Types for Supporting Pieces

Type	Example
How-to Guide	"How to [achieve outcome] with [method]"
Comparison	"[Option A] vs [Option B]: Which is better for [use case]"
List Post	"[Number] [adjective] ways to [achieve result]"
Case Study	"How [persona] achieved [result] using [approach]"
Trend Analysis	"[Topic] trends in [year]: What's changing"
Beginner Guide	"[Topic] for beginners: Everything you need to know"
Tool Review	"Best [category] tools for [audience/use case]"
Problem-Solution	"Why [problem happens] and how to fix it"

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Seed Generation (50–100 Keywords)

Google Autocomplete & PAA

• Type [keyword] + a–z variations
• "how to [keyword]", "best [keyword] for", "[keyword] vs"
• Capture People Also Ask questions from SERP

Community Mining

Source	What to Extract
Reddit	Pain points, questions, terminology
Quora	Question patterns, answer gaps
Industry Forums	Niche-specific problems
YouTube Comments	Objections, confusion points
Amazon Reviews	Customer language, unmet needs

Reddit Mining Protocol

Search queries:

site:reddit.com "[niche]" + "how do I"
site:reddit.com "[niche]" + "help"
site:reddit.com "[niche]" + "struggling with"
site:reddit.com "[niche]" + "recommend"
site:reddit.com "[niche]" + "vs"

Extract: Questions asked repeatedly (content opportunities), complaints about existing solutions (angle differentiation), terminology and slang (keyword variations), upvote patterns (demand signals).

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Keyword Expansion Techniques

Modifier Categories

Question modifiers:

• What is {keyword} / How to {keyword} / Why {keyword} / When to {keyword}

Comparative modifiers:

• {keyword} vs {competitor} / {keyword} alternatives / best {keyword} / {keyword} comparison

Intent modifiers:

• {keyword} guide / {keyword} tutorial / {keyword} examples / {keyword} template / buy {keyword} / {keyword} pricing

Audience modifiers:

• {keyword} for beginners / {keyword} for {industry} / {keyword} for small business / {keyword} for enterprise

Expansion Procedure

1. Extract current topic scope and any exclusions
2. Propose expansions: synonyms, related terms, acronyms
3. Add explicit exclusions for common false positives
4. Document "why" for each change
5. Keep query count manageable — merge near-duplicates instead of adding many variations

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Free Tool Arsenal

Demand Research

Tool	Use For	Access
Google Keyword Planner	Volume ranges, competition	ads.google.com (free account)
Google Trends	Seasonality, rising topics	trends.google.com
Ahrefs Free Generator	150 suggestions with difficulty	ahrefs.com/keyword-generator
Ubersuggest	3 searches/day with metrics	neilpatel.com/ubersuggest

Intent Discovery

Tool	Use For	Access
Google Autocomplete	Real-time user queries	Type in search bar
People Also Ask	Question-based content	Scroll down in SERP
Answer the Public	Visual question maps	answerthepublic.com
AlsoAsked	PAA clustering	alsoasked.com

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Competition Assessment (Manual SERP Analysis)

For each target keyword, analyze top 10 results:

Signal	What to Look For	Opportunity If...
Content Depth	Word count, comprehensiveness	Top results are thin (<1000 words)
Freshness	Publication date, last update	Top results are 2+ years old
Format Match	Does format match intent?	Results don't match searcher need
Authority Gap	Domain strength of rankers	Small sites ranking (not all big brands)
Content Gaps	Missing subtopics, unanswered questions	PAA questions not covered

Sweet Spot Targets by Site Stage

Site Stage	Monthly Search Volume	Competition Level
New site (0–6 months)	100–500	Low
Growing site (6–18 months)	500–2,000	Low–Medium
Established site (18+ months)	1,000–10,000	Medium

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Clustering Algorithm

1. Extract seed topics — Identify main themes from expanded list
2. Group by semantic similarity — Keywords with overlapping meaning
3. Map intent — Assign Informational / Commercial / Transactional / Navigational
4. Identify pillar — Highest-volume, broadest term = pillar page
5. Map supporting — Lower-volume terms support pillar

Cluster Structure Example

PILLAR: "content marketing" (highest volume)
├── CLUSTER: "content marketing strategy" (commercial)
│   ├── content marketing plan template
│   ├── content marketing framework
│   └── how to create content marketing strategy
├── CLUSTER: "content marketing examples" (informational)
│   ├── B2B content marketing examples
│   ├── content marketing case studies
│   └── content marketing success stories
└── CLUSTER: "content marketing tools" (commercial)
    ├── best content marketing tools
    ├── content marketing software
    └── content marketing platforms

Intent Classification

Signal	Intent
"what is", "how to", "guide"	Informational
"best", "vs", "review", "compare"	Commercial
"buy", "price", "discount", brand	Transactional
Brand name, specific product	Navigational

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Prioritization Matrix

Score each keyword 1–10:

Keyword	Demand	Competition	Intent Fit	Opportunity
[keyword]	[1–10]	[1–10, lower=easier]	[1–10]	Demand − Competition

Prioritize: Opportunity score > 3, Intent fit > 6

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Output Format

# Keyword Research: [Niche/Topic]

## 6 Circles Content Plan

### Primary Keyword: [keyword]
- Monthly searches: [range]
- Competition: [low/medium/high]
- Intent: [informational/commercial/transactional]

### Sub-topic A: [theme]
1. [Article idea] — [target keyword] — [volume]
2. [Article idea] — [target keyword] — [volume]
3. [Article idea] — [target keyword] — [volume]

### Sub-topic B: [theme]
4–6. [...]

### Sub-topic C: [theme]
7–9. [...]

## Prioritized Content Queue

| Priority | Topic | Keyword | Volume | Difficulty | Opportunity |
|----------|-------|---------|--------|------------|-------------|
| 1 | [topic] | [keyword] | [vol] | [1–10] | [score] |

## Quick Wins (Low Competition, Decent Volume)
- [keyword 1] — [rationale]
- [keyword 2] — [rationale]

## Content Gaps Found
- [gap 1] — competitors missing [what]
- [gap 2] — outdated content on [topic]

## Community Insights
- Top pain point: [description]
- Common question: [question]
- Terminology used: [terms]

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Related Skills

• seo-and-aeo-strategy — SEO optimization and AI search visibility
• content-strategy-and-planning — Detailed content strategy from keyword research
• content-creation-and-marketing — Writing the actual content
• seo-and-aeo-strategy — Building SEO page plans at scale from keyword data