keyword-research

name	keyword-research
description	This skill should be used when the user asks about "keyword research", "find keywords", "keyword ideas", "search volume", "keyword difficulty", "long-tail keywords", "keyword gap analysis", "keyword strategy", or needs to discover and evaluate keywords using DataForSEO.

Keyword Research Workflows

Chained workflows for discovering, evaluating, and prioritizing keywords using DataForSEO MCP tools. All tool references use the mcp__dataforseo__ prefix.

Workflow 1: Topic-Based Keyword Research

Start from a broad topic and expand into a prioritized keyword list.

Step 1 — Generate Seed Ideas

Call dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_ideas with 2-5 seed keywords. Set location_name and language_code to match the target market. Set limit to 100-200 for the initial pass.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_ideas
Params:
  keywords: ["project management software", "task management tool"]
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"
  limit: 200

Step 2 — Get Metrics in Bulk

Collect all discovered keywords and pass them to dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_overview for metrics. This tool accepts up to 700 keywords in a single call, making it far more cost-efficient than fetching metrics one-by-one.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_overview
Params:
  keywords: [<all keywords from Step 1>]
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"

Step 3 — Classify Search Intent

Pass the keyword list to dataforseo_labs_search_intent to classify each keyword as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional. Use this to segment your final list by funnel stage.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_search_intent
Params:
  keywords: [<keywords from Step 2>]
  language_code: "en"

Step 4 — Assess Difficulty in Bulk

Filter to promising candidates and run dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty to get difficulty scores for the entire set at once.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty
Params:
  keywords: [<filtered keywords>]
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"

Combine the results: sort by search_volume descending, filter by keyword_difficulty < 40 for quick wins, and group by search intent.

Workflow 2: Competitor-Based Keyword Discovery

Extract keyword opportunities from a competitor domain.

Step 1 — Pull Competitor Keywords

Call dataforseo_labs_google_keywords_for_site with the competitor domain to discover all keywords the domain is associated with.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_google_keywords_for_site
Params:
  target: "competitor.com"
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"
  limit: 500

Step 2 — Check Current Rankings

Use dataforseo_labs_google_ranked_keywords to see which keywords the competitor actually ranks for and at what positions.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_google_ranked_keywords
Params:
  target: "competitor.com"
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"
  limit: 500

Step 3 — Get Full Metrics

Pass the discovered keywords to dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_overview to retrieve search volume, CPC, competition, and difficulty.

Focus on keywords where the competitor ranks in positions 4-20 (vulnerable positions) and where search volume exceeds 100.

Workflow 3: Keyword Gap Analysis

Find keywords competitors rank for but your domain does not.

Step 1 — Intersect Domains

Call dataforseo_labs_google_domain_intersection with your domain and 1-2 competitor domains. Set intersections to identify keywords unique to competitors.

Tool: dataforseo_labs_google_domain_intersection
Params:
  targets:
    1: "competitor1.com"
    2: "competitor2.com"
  exclude_targets: ["yourdomain.com"]
  location_name: "United States"
  language_code: "en"
  limit: 300

Step 2 — Evaluate Difficulty

Pass gap keywords to dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty to find low-difficulty opportunities the competitors hold that you can capture.

Step 3 — Validate with SERP

For the top 10-20 candidates, run serp_organic_live_advanced to see the current SERP landscape and assess whether you can realistically compete.

Interpreting Keyword Metrics

Metric	Description	Guidance
search_volume	Average monthly searches	>100 for niche, >1000 for broad targeting
keyword_difficulty	0-100 score of ranking difficulty	<30 easy, 30-60 moderate, >60 hard
cpc	Cost per click in Google Ads (USD)	Higher CPC signals commercial intent
competition	0-1 advertiser competition density	>0.5 indicates high commercial value
competition_level	LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH	Quick filter for paid competition
search_intent	informational / navigational / commercial / transactional	Align with content type

Location and Language Parameters

Use full country names for location_name: "United States", "United Kingdom", "Germany", "France", "Australia". Use ISO 639-1 codes for language_code: "en", "de", "fr", "es", "pt".

Retrieve available locations via kw_data_google_ads_locations if unsure about the exact name string.

Filtering Syntax

DataForSEO Labs endpoints accept nested filter arrays. Use the following format:

[
  ["keyword_info.search_volume", ">", 100],
  "and",
  ["keyword_info.keyword_difficulty", "<", 30]
]

Common filter fields:

• keyword_info.search_volume — monthly searches
• keyword_info.keyword_difficulty — difficulty score
• keyword_info.cpc — cost per click
• keyword_info.competition_level — "LOW", "MEDIUM", "HIGH"
• serp_info.se_results_count — total SERP results for the keyword

Combine conditions with "and" / "or" strings between filter arrays.

Cost Optimization

1. Use keyword_overview first. It processes up to 700 keywords in one API call. Always batch keywords through this before using more expensive endpoints like keyword_ideas or keyword_suggestions.
2. Use bulk endpoints. bulk_keyword_difficulty and bulk_traffic_estimation process many keywords at once for a fraction of the per-keyword cost.
3. Set limits. Always set limit on discovery endpoints (keyword_ideas, keywords_for_site) to avoid pulling thousands of results when 200-500 suffice.
4. Filter server-side. Pass filters in the API call rather than retrieving all results and filtering client-side.

User: "Find easy keywords for a SaaS project management tool"

Workflow:

1. Call dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_ideas with seeds ["project management software", "task management app", "team collaboration tool"], location_name "United States", language_code "en", limit 200
2. Collect all returned keywords → pass to dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_overview (batch of up to 700)
3. Filter results: search_volume > 200 AND keyword_difficulty < 35
4. Pass filtered set to dataforseo_labs_search_intent to classify intent
5. Sort by search_volume descending, group by intent
6. Present: table of keywords with volume, difficulty, CPC, intent — prioritize commercial/transactional intent with low difficulty

User: "What keywords does ahrefs.com rank for that we don't?"

Workflow:

1. Call dataforseo_labs_google_domain_intersection with targets {"1": "ahrefs.com"}, exclude_targets ["yourdomain.com"], location_name "United States", language_code "en", limit 300
2. Pass resulting keyword list to dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty to assess ranking feasibility
3. Filter: keyword_difficulty < 50 AND search_volume > 500
4. For top 10 keywords, call serp_organic_live_advanced to inspect current SERP composition
5. Present: gap keywords sorted by opportunity score (high volume + low difficulty), with SERP context for top picks