🔑 Keyword Research: Identifying target keywords and content gaps...
Analyzes the niche, existing content, and competitor landscape to produce a prioritized keyword map with search intent, difficulty estimates, and page assignments.
Activation
When this skill activates, output:
🔑 Keyword Research, Analyzing niche and identifying opportunities...
Then execute the protocol below.
| Context | Status |
|---|---|
| User says "keyword research" or "find keywords" or "SEO keywords" | ACTIVE |
| User says "content gaps" or "keyword strategy" or "search terms" | ACTIVE |
| Planning content strategy based on search demand | ACTIVE |
| Optimizing existing pages with better keywords | ACTIVE |
| Writing content (keywords already chosen) | DORMANT: use blog-post |
| Running a full site audit | DORMANT: use site-audit |
Anti-patterns
| Trap | Reality Check |
|---|---|
| "Target the highest volume keywords" | High volume = high competition. New sites rank faster on long-tail keywords with lower volume but higher intent. |
| "One keyword per page" | Each page has a primary keyword and 3-5 semantically related keywords. Google understands topic clusters. |
| "Keyword research is a one-time task" | Search trends shift. New competitors appear. Revisit quarterly at minimum. |
| "We need to rank for our brand name" | You'll rank for brand terms naturally. Focus research on non-brand terms that bring new visitors. |
| "Volume is the only metric that matters" | A keyword with 100 searches/month and high purchase intent beats 10,000 searches/month with informational intent for a product page. |
Protocol
Step 1: Gather Niche Details
If the user hasn't provided details, ask:
I need context for keyword research:
- Niche/industry: what market are you in?
- Product or service: what do you sell or offer?
- Target audience: who are you trying to reach? (role, demographics, pain points)
- Competitors: 2-3 competitor domains (or I'll identify them)
- Current site: URL if live, or list of existing pages
- Goal: more traffic, more signups, more sales, thought leadership?
Step 2: Analyze Existing Content
Scan the project for current keyword coverage:
bash# Find all content pages find app/ pages/ content/ posts/ blog/ -name "*.tsx" -o -name "*.jsx" -o -name "*.md" -o -name "*.mdx" 2>/dev/null | grep -v node_modules # Extract titles and meta descriptions grep -rn "title\|description\|<h1\|<H1" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.jsx" --include="*.md" . | grep -v node_modules | head -30 # Find existing keyword targeting grep -rn "keywords\|tags\|category" --include="*.md" --include="*.mdx" --include="*.json" . | grep -v node_modules | head -20
Document current coverage:
| Page | Current Title | Primary Keyword (inferred) | Content Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| / | [homepage title] | [brand/product name] | Landing |
| /about | [about title] | [brand story] | Informational |
| /blog/[slug] | [post title] | [topic keyword] | Blog |
| /pricing | [pricing title] | [product pricing] | Commercial |
Identify gaps: Pages that exist but have weak or no keyword targeting.
Step 3: Generate Primary Keywords
For each page or content opportunity, suggest a primary keyword:
Keyword evaluation criteria:
| Factor | Weight | How to Assess |
|---|---|---|
| Search intent match | High | Does the keyword match what the page offers? |
| Achievable difficulty | High | Can this site realistically rank? (domain authority, competition) |
| Search volume | Medium | Enough monthly searches to justify the effort |
| Business relevance | High | Does ranking for this drive revenue or signups? |
| Current ranking | Medium | Already ranking 10-50? Optimize. Not ranking at all? Harder path. |
Primary keyword research process:
- Seed keywords: Start with 5-10 obvious terms the audience would search
- Expand: For each seed, identify variations using these patterns:
- How to [topic]
- Best [product category]
- [Topic] for [audience]
- [Topic] vs [alternative]
- [Topic] examples / templates / tools
- What is [topic]
- Filter: Remove keywords where the SERP is dominated by major brands (unless you are one)
- Prioritize: Rank by intent match + achievable difficulty
Step 4: Suggest Long-Tail Variations
For each primary keyword, generate 3-5 long-tail variations:
markdown### Primary: "project management software" Long-tail variations: - "project management software for small teams" (audience modifier) - "free project management software 2026" (qualifier + year) - "project management software with time tracking" (feature modifier) - "project management software for remote teams" (use case modifier) - "best project management software for startups" (intent + audience)
Long-tail pattern formulas:
| Pattern | Example | Intent |
|---|---|---|
| [keyword] for [audience] | "CRM for freelancers" | Commercial |
| best [keyword] [year] | "best CRM 2026" | Commercial |
| [keyword] vs [alternative] | "Notion vs Airtable" | Commercial (comparison) |
| how to [action] with [keyword] | "how to manage leads with a CRM" | Informational |
| [keyword] [feature] | "CRM with email automation" | Commercial |
| free [keyword] | "free CRM software" | Transactional |
| [keyword] examples | "CRM workflow examples" | Informational |
| [keyword] template | "CRM spreadsheet template" | Transactional |
Step 5: Identify Content Gaps
Compare your content against what competitors rank for:
markdown## Content Gap Analysis ### Topics competitors cover that you don't: | Topic | Competitor Ranking | Your Coverage | Opportunity | |-------|-------------------|--------------|-------------| | [topic 1] | competitor.com ranks #3 | No page | Create blog post | | [topic 2] | competitor.com ranks #7 | Mentioned briefly | Expand into dedicated page | | [topic 3] | competitor.com ranks #1 | Not covered | Create comparison page | ### Topics you cover but could improve: | Your Page | Current Ranking (est.) | Issue | Fix | |-----------|----------------------|-------|-----| | /blog/[slug] | ~page 3 | Thin content (500 words) | Expand to 1,500+ with more depth | | /features | Not ranking | Missing target keyword in title | Optimize title and H1 |
Gap identification methods:
- Review competitor sitemaps for content they produce
- Search for primary keywords and note who ranks in top 10
- Look for "People Also Ask" questions that no one answers well
- Check competitor blog categories for topics you haven't covered
Step 6: Map Keywords to Pages
Assign each keyword to a specific page (existing or to be created):
markdown## Keyword Map | Primary Keyword | Volume Est. | Difficulty | Intent | Assigned Page | Status | |----------------|-------------|-----------|--------|--------------|--------| | project management tool | High | Hard | Commercial | / (homepage) | Optimize | | best project management for startups | Medium | Medium | Commercial | /blog/best-pm-startups | Create | | how to manage remote team projects | Medium | Easy | Informational | /blog/remote-pm-guide | Create | | project management template free | Low-Med | Easy | Transactional | /templates | Create | | [brand] vs [competitor] | Low | Easy | Commercial | /blog/brand-vs-competitor | Create | | what is agile project management | Medium | Medium | Informational | /blog/agile-guide | Create |
Mapping rules:
- One primary keyword per page: no keyword cannibalization
- Group related keywords on the same page (primary + 3-5 secondary)
- Homepage targets the broadest commercial keyword
- Blog posts target informational and long-tail keywords
- Landing/product pages target transactional keywords
- Comparison pages target "[brand] vs [competitor]" keywords
Step 7: Prioritize by Search Intent
Classify and prioritize every keyword:
| Intent | Description | Content Type | Priority for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactional | Ready to buy/sign up | Product page, pricing, CTA landing page | Revenue-focused sites |
| Commercial | Researching options | Comparison, review, "best of" | SaaS, e-commerce |
| Informational | Learning about a topic | Blog post, guide, tutorial | Traffic + authority building |
| Navigational | Looking for a specific site | Homepage, brand pages | Already established brands |
Priority matrix:
| Low Difficulty | High Difficulty | |
|---|---|---|
| High Intent | ✅ Do first (quick wins with revenue impact | ⏳ Worth the investment) build authority content |
| Low Intent | ⚡ Easy traffic (good for brand awareness | ❌ Skip) high effort, low return |
Step 8: Output Keyword Map
🔑 Keyword Research: Complete Niche: [industry/market] Site: [domain] Pages analyzed: [count] existing Keywords identified: [count] primary + [count] long-tail Keyword map summary: Transactional: [count] keywords → [count] pages Commercial: [count] keywords → [count] pages Informational: [count] keywords → [count] pages Content to create: [count] new pages recommended Content to optimize: [count] existing pages with improvements Top 5 priority keywords: 1. [keyword], [volume] / [difficulty], [action: create/optimize] [page] 2. [keyword], [volume] / [difficulty], [action] [page] 3. [keyword], [volume] / [difficulty], [action] [page] 4. [keyword], [volume] / [difficulty], [action] [page] 5. [keyword], [volume] / [difficulty], [action] [page] Quick wins (low difficulty, high intent): - [keyword] → [page to create/optimize] - [keyword] → [page to create/optimize] Next steps: 1. Create content for top 5 priority keywords (use blog-post skill) 2. Optimize existing pages with assigned keywords (use meta-tag-optimizer) 3. Build internal links between related keyword pages 4. Track rankings monthly in Google Search Console 5. Revisit keyword map quarterly
Level History
- Lv.1: Base: Niche gathering, existing content analysis, primary keyword generation with evaluation criteria, long-tail variations, competitor content gap analysis, keyword-to-page mapping, search intent classification and prioritization, formatted keyword map output. (Origin: MemStack Pro v3.2, Mar 2026)
