My Proven SEO Keyword Research Cheat Sheet

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Hey, how’s it going?

Connor here, and I’m back with another SEO cheat code!

I’ve been an entrepreneur, marketer, and SEO for 10+ years, and if there’s one skill that I know makes or breaks every SEO (and GEO) strategy…

It’s keyword research.

That’s because your keyword strategy:

• Determines whether you’re ranking first or are buried on page 17 of SERPs.

• Signals AI to either pick up your content or ignore it completely.

• Is the difference between boosting traffic or flatlining…forever.

So if you’re not confident your keyword strategy is it, I’m here to give you the exact process I use to get all my businesses to rank.

Need a pro to handle your SEO? That’s a guaranteed way for hassle-free ranking. Our guys at TrioSEO have been crushing SEO and GEO for years.

Grow your SEO and GEO revenue.

Use My Process to Dominate Keyword Research

1/ Brainstorm Like Your ICP

Think like your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

Interview customers, read forums, and analyze customer support tickets to find out:

• What they’re Googling at 2 AM

• What problems are giving them the biggest headache

You can also check what’s already working on Google Search Console.

2/ Analyze Keyword Difficulty and Volume

Next, filter your keyword pool.

Use Semrush or Ahrefs to analyze:

• Search volume: Queries with a search volume of 100 to 5,000 a month are easy targets to boost traffic fast.

• Keyword difficulty: Go for search terms with a KD score of 30 and below if you’re just starting.

3/ Look at “Suggested” Keywords

Now, look at “People Also Ask” on Google Search and suggested queries on Ahrefs to find keywords related to the ones already in your pool.

Look for long-tail gems that:

• Are easier to rank for

• Have a higher search intent

• Have a greater conversion potential

4/ Steal from Your Competitors

Research your strongest competitors and analyze:

• What keywords they’re ranking for

• What content types and pages are driving the most traffic

• Where you’re winning that they’re not

Once you have the data, build on what’s working for them–but make it better.

5/ Shortlist 100+ Keywords

Organize your keywords so that they map out the SEO funnel:

• Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU): Awareness

• Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU): Consideration

• Bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU): Decision

6/ Label Intent and Prioritize

Be unapologetically picky!

Select the best 30, then narrow the list down to 15…then 5.

Consider these factors when making your pick:

• Business value

• Ease of ranking

• Current content gaps

7/ Repeat Quarterly

Search behavior shifts. Your strategy has to keep up.

Set a quarterly schedule to:

• Refresh keyword data

• Track performance

• Add fresh ideas

Keyword Research Is the Backbone of Your SEO

Your keyword strategy determines whether your business ranks on Google, and even on ChatGPT as AI evolves.

Don’t overlook it just because you don’t know how.

Follow my proven SOP and start dominating!

And if you like resources like this, check out my SEO course, The SEO System. Learn my exact process for turning websites into lead machines.

Next Week: Top Digital Marketers to Follow in 2025

Like SEO, digital marketing evolves fast.

Listening to experts in the space can help you get ahead of the curve and keep your strategy fresh. 

Find out the voices I trust and listen to next week!

Cheers,

Connor

Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1. My SEO Course: “The SEO System” teaches the exact daily, weekly, and monthly SEO processes I’ve used to scale multiple companies to 6, 7, & 8 figures in sales. Available for pre-sale now!

2. TrioSEO: Hire me & my team to create SEO content for your business. We’ll create a comprehensive SEO plan, execute, & keep you updated so your business gains more traffic, leads, & sales. Get a Free SEO Audit.

3. Promote yourself to 100,000+ SEOs, marketers, & entrepreneurs by sponsoring this newsletter and my social channels. (Booked out 1 month). Email me for info.

Connor Gillivan has been building six, seven, and eight-figure businesses for the past 10 years with SEO. It’s my personal mission to create a community and services that help you grow your business by finding more people who would benefit from what you. When I started out, I wanted to make the community an inclusive, welcoming table where everyone can come to get help using high-end SEO strategies to take their businesses to the next level. After several years, and over 3000 combined followers across Facebook and LinkedIn, I will always aim to get better at what I do every single day. In addition, my primary focus is on my relationship with you. This way every time you interact with me, you end up getting ideas that take your project to the next level. I particularly appreciate when my following provides feedback via testimonials, reviews, and comments left on my site or social media accounts. Because with that feedback, I can use it to make your next experience even better than the last. Since I put so much effort into my relationship with you, I hope that any investment in me is exactly the way you hoped it would be. Because by choosing to utilize my services, it’s my promise that I will provide an experience that you will love over and over again. Now, as much as I care about making the world a better and more efficient place for businesses like yours, I also care about your privacy. I’m committed to the right to your privacy and strive to provide a safe and secure user experience. My Privacy Policy, to which you can find a link at the bottom of my website homepage, explains how I collect, store and use personal information, provided by you on my website. It also explains important information that ensures I won’t abuse the information that you provide to me in good faith. By accessing and using my website, you can trust that what you want to be kept private, will be kept private. If at any time you would like to read the Privacy Policy and get a better understanding of your rights and liabilities under the law, feel free to visit my site, find the privacy policy in the footer, and read it. If there is something you are concerned about or wish to get more clarity on, please let me know by replying to this email. The Privacy Policy also informs you of how to notify me to stop using your personal information. If you wish to view my official policies, please visit my official website.

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