banatie-content/research/keyword-research-2025-12-27.md

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# Keyword Research Summary — December 2025
**Date:** 2025-12-27
**Conducted by:** @strategist
**Tool:** DataForSEO (Google Ads Search Volume, Related Keywords)
**Budget spent:** ~$0.35
**Location:** United States
**Language:** English
---
## Topics Researched
### 1. Remote Claude Workspace / MCP Remote Access
**Keywords tested:**
- claude desktop mcp
- mcp server remote
- claude desktop remote access
- claude projects multiple devices
- remote ai workspace
**Key findings:**
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Competition | Verdict |
|---------|--------|----|-----------|----|
| **claude desktop mcp** | 880 | 8 | LOW (0.02) | 🟢 Strong opportunity |
| mcp server remote | 30 | - | LOW (0.23) | 🟡 Niche but viable |
| claude desktop (parent) | 18,100 | 30 | LOW (0.09) | 🟢 Massive topic |
**Trend analysis:**
- Peak in Apr-July 2025 (1,600-1,900 searches/month)
- Current: ~400-900/month (declining but stable)
- YoY growth: +666% from Dec 2024
**Strategic assessment:**
- **Best opportunity** among tested topics
- Low competition (KD 8) = easy to rank
- Transactional intent = readers ready to implement
- Parent topic (Claude Desktop) has huge volume → halo effect potential
**Distribution potential:** Dev.to, HN (Show HN), r/ClaudeAI
---
### 2. Claude Code / MCP Image Generation
**Keywords tested:**
- claude code image generation
- mcp image generation
- generate images cursor ide
- ai coding image workflow
**Key findings:**
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Competition | Verdict |
|---------|--------|----|-----------|----|
| claude code image generation | 10 | - | LOW (0.05) | 🟡 Emerging niche |
| mcp image generation | 10 | - | LOW (0.12) | 🟡 Emerging niche |
**Trend analysis:**
- Extremely low volume (10-30/month)
- Inconsistent pattern, no clear growth trend
- MCP peaked Jul 2025 (30/month)
**Strategic assessment:**
- **Not for traffic** — too low volume
- **Good for thought leadership** — early mover in MCP ecosystem
- **Betting on future growth** — if MCP goes mainstream, could 10-100x
- Historical parallel: early Docker tutorials
**Distribution potential:** r/modelcontextprotocol, r/ClaudeAI, niche communities
---
### 3. "Too Many Models" Problem / Consistency
**Keywords tested:**
- too many ai models
- consistent ai image generation
- ai image api comparison
**Key findings:**
All keywords returned **zero or negligible search volume**.
**Strategic assessment:**
- **Problem-aware keywords don't exist** — people experience the pain but don't search for it
- **Not an SEO play** — won't drive organic traffic
- **Thought leadership value** — articulates unspoken frustration
- **Social distribution** — HN, Reddit, LinkedIn (not Google)
**Alternative approach:**
- Write as opinion/manifesto piece
- Target comparison keywords ("stable diffusion vs flux")
- Focus on counter-positioning vs competitors
- Distribute via social/community channels
---
## Key Learnings
### 1. Parent Topic Strategy Works
**Example:** "claude desktop" (18.1k volume) vs "claude desktop mcp" (880 volume)
- Ranking for specific long-tail can drive halo traffic from parent topic
- Even low-volume keywords (880) are worth targeting if parent is huge
- Low KD + high-volume parent = excellent ROI
### 2. Problem-Aware Keywords Often Don't Exist
**Pattern identified:**
- Developers experience pain (choice paralysis, context switching)
- But don't search for the problem ("too many models" = 0 volume)
- They search for solutions or specific tools
**Implication:**
- Don't rely solely on keyword volume for content decisions
- Community signals (Reddit, HN, forums) reveal real pain points
- Thought leadership pieces need social distribution, not SEO
### 3. Emerging Topics = Early Mover Advantage
**MCP ecosystem example:**
- Currently 10-880 searches/month (very low)
- But competition is near zero (KD 7-12)
- Potential for 10-100x growth if ecosystem matures
- Risk: may never materialize
**Strategy:**
- Mix quick wins (high volume, low KD) with bets (low volume, emerging)
- Monitor trends — if MCP volume grows, double down
- Early content ages well (historical SEO value)
### 4. Intent Matters More Than Volume
**Transactional intent observation:**
- "claude desktop mcp" = 880 volume, transactional intent
- Readers are ready to implement, high engagement
- Better than 10k informational searches (low engagement)
**Ranking factors:**
- Low KD (7-12) = easy to rank in emerging topics
- Backlink profile matters less (avg 8-100 domains)
- Content quality + early timing = win
---
## Topic Opportunities Ranked
| Topic | Volume | KD | Intent | Effort | Verdict |
|-------|--------|----|----|--------|---------|
| 1. Remote Claude MCP | 880 | 8 | Transactional | Medium | 🟢 **Do first** |
| 2. Claude Desktop (parent) | 18.1k | 30 | Commercial | High | 🟢 Long-term target |
| 3. MCP Image Gen | 10-30 | <12 | - | Medium | 🟡 Thought leadership |
| 4. Too Many Models | 0 | - | - | Low | 🟡 Social/HN only |
---
## Budget Notes
**Total spent:** ~$0.35
**API calls made:**
1. Google Ads Search Volume (11 keywords) $0.15
2. Related Keywords for "claude desktop" (depth 1, 20 results) $0.20
**Remaining budget:** ~$9.65 for December
---
## Recommendations for Future Research
### High-Priority Topics to Validate
**AI coding workflow keywords:**
- "cursor mcp setup"
- "ai image generation api"
- "next.js ai images"
- "placeholder images api"
**Banatie-specific angles:**
- "consistent image generation"
- "project-based image api"
- "ai image cdn"
### Research Strategy
**Before writing any article:**
1. Check parent topic volume (use Related Keywords)
2. Verify intent (informational vs transactional)
3. Look at SERP features (PAA, video, featured snippets)
4. Check trend (growing vs declining)
**Budget allocation:**
- $0.50/article for validation
- Save budget for quarterly deep dives
- Use free tools (Perplexity, Brave) for initial discovery
### Topics NOT Worth Researching
Based on patterns observed:
**Don't research:**
- Problem-aware keywords without solution-seeking behavior
- Brand-specific queries ("cloudinary pricing" = already decided)
- Very broad topics with KD >70 (can't compete)
**DO research:**
- Solution-seeking keywords ("how to X", "X tutorial")
- Comparison keywords ("X vs Y")
- Integration/workflow keywords ("X with Y")
---
## Next Steps
1. **Validate emerging topics quarterly** — check if MCP volume is growing
2. **Track rankings** — monitor "claude desktop mcp" after publishing
3. **Expand parent topics** — if "claude desktop mcp" ranks, try related queries
4. **Test social distribution** — compare HN traffic vs organic for thought pieces
---
**Last updated:** 2025-12-27
**Next review:** 2026-03-27 (quarterly)