One post tagged with "keyword research"

If you spend time in SEO communities — Reddit's r/SEO, Twitter/X SEO circles, Slack groups like Traffic Think Tank — you've probably noticed a pattern emerging in 2025 and into 2026. People keep talking about the same three-tool combination. Not Ahrefs. Not Semrush. Not some $500/month enterprise platform.

They're talking about DataforSEO, KeywordsEverywhere, and Claude Code.

The combo sounds almost too simple. An API for bulk SERP data. A browser extension for search metrics. An AI coding agent. But together, they form what many B2B marketers are calling the most powerful SEO stack available — at a fraction of what you'd pay for traditional tools.

Here's why this stack works, what each tool brings to the table, and how you can use all three together to dominate B2B search.

The Problem with Traditional SEO Tools​

Before we get into the stack, let's talk about why people are moving away from the incumbents.

Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush are excellent. Nobody's arguing that. But they have three major problems for B2B teams:

1. They're expensive. Ahrefs starts at $99/month for a hobbyist plan. The plan most B2B teams need (Site Explorer with decent limits) runs $199–$449/month. Semrush is similar. For a startup doing $500K ARR, that's a real line item.

2. They're built for browsing, not building. You can look up keywords one at a time. You can export CSVs. But if you want to do something programmatic — like analyze 10,000 keywords across 50 competitors and cluster them by intent — you're stuck copy-pasting between tabs.

3. They don't integrate with your workflow. The data lives inside their platform. Getting it into your content calendar, your CMS, your team's Notion — that's manual work.

The DataforSEO + KeywordsEverywhere + Claude Code stack solves all three.

What Each Tool Does​

DataforSEO: The Data Engine​

DataforSEO is an API-first SEO data provider. Instead of giving you a dashboard to click around in, it gives you raw API endpoints that return SERP data, keyword data, backlink data, and more.

What you get:

• SERP API — Pull the top 100 results for any keyword, in any location, in any language. Get titles, URLs, snippets, featured snippets, People Also Ask, and more.
• Keywords Data API — Search volume, CPC, competition score, keyword difficulty, and historical trends for any keyword.
• Backlinks API — Full backlink profiles for any domain. Referring domains, anchor text distribution, new/lost links.
• On-Page API — Crawl any page and get technical SEO data (page speed, meta tags, schema, etc.).
• Competitor Discovery — Find which domains rank for overlapping keywords.

Why B2B marketers love it: DataforSEO charges per API call, not per seat. You might spend $50–$200/month depending on volume — way less than Ahrefs. And because it's an API, you can pull exactly the data you need and process it however you want.

Pricing reality: SERP API calls run about $0.002 each. Keyword data is roughly $0.05 per 1,000 keywords. For most B2B use cases, you're spending a fraction of what you'd pay for a traditional tool.

KeywordsEverywhere: The Scout​

KeywordsEverywhere is a browser extension that overlays search metrics directly into Google's search results, YouTube, Amazon, and other platforms.

What you get:

• Search volume — Monthly search volume for any keyword, right in the search bar.
• CPC data — What advertisers are paying per click (a strong proxy for commercial intent).
• Competition score — How competitive the organic results are.
• Trend data — 12-month search volume trends so you can spot rising and falling topics.
• Related keywords — "People also search for" and long-tail variations.
• SERP analysis widget — Word count, links, and DA for the top 10 results.

Why B2B marketers love it: It's the fastest way to validate keyword ideas. You don't need to leave Google. You search for something, and instantly see whether it's worth pursuing. Credits cost about $1 per 1,000 keywords — absurdly cheap.

The real value: KeywordsEverywhere is your reconnaissance tool. It's where you generate hypotheses. "Is this keyword worth targeting? What's the intent? Is search volume growing?" You answer those questions in seconds, right inside your browser.

Claude Code: The Operator​

Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding agent. It runs in your terminal and can write, execute, and iterate on code autonomously.

What you get:

• Script generation — Describe what you want in plain English, and Claude Code writes the Python/Node.js/whatever script to do it.
• API integration — It can write scripts that call the DataforSEO API, process the results, and output structured data.
• Data analysis — Feed it a CSV of keywords and it'll cluster them by intent, calculate opportunity scores, and generate content briefs.
• Automation — It can build entire workflows: pull data → analyze → output reports → save to files.

Why B2B marketers love it: You don't need to be a developer. You describe what you want — "Pull the top 20 results for these 500 keywords, extract the word count of each ranking page, and cluster the keywords by topic" — and Claude Code writes and runs the script.

The paradigm shift: Before Claude Code, using DataforSEO's API required a developer. Now, any marketer who can describe what they want in English has access to the same programmatic SEO capabilities that enterprise teams pay six figures for.

How the Three Tools Work Together​

Here's where it gets powerful. Each tool has a role in the workflow:

1. KeywordsEverywhere → Scout and generate keyword hypotheses
2. DataforSEO → Pull bulk data to validate and expand those hypotheses
3. Claude Code → Automate the analysis and generate actionable output

Let's walk through three real workflows.

Workflow 1: High-Intent Keyword Discovery​

Goal: Find keywords that indicate someone is ready to buy a B2B solution.

Step 1: Scout with KeywordsEverywhere

Search Google for your core terms — "visitor identification software," "AI sales dialer," "B2B intent data." KeywordsEverywhere shows you search volume, CPC, and related keywords right in the SERP.

Look for keywords with:

• CPC above $5 (high commercial intent)
• Search volume between 100–2,000/month (realistic to rank for)
• Growing trend (not declining)

Export the related keywords and "People Also Ask" data. You'll typically generate 200–500 keyword ideas in 30 minutes.

Step 2: Bulk validate with DataforSEO

Take your keyword list and use Claude Code to write a script that:

• Calls the DataforSEO Keywords Data API for all 500 keywords
• Pulls search volume, CPC, competition, and keyword difficulty
• Filters for high-intent signals (CPC > $5, competition < 0.6)
• Groups keywords by semantic similarity

Here's what you'd tell Claude Code:

Write a Python script that:
1. Reads keywords from keywords.csv
2. Calls DataforSEO Keywords Data API for each keyword
3. Returns search volume, CPC, competition, and keyword difficulty
4. Filters for CPC > $5 and keyword difficulty < 40
5. Outputs a ranked list sorted by opportunity score (volume × CPC / difficulty)
6. Saves to high_intent_keywords.csv

Claude Code writes the script, runs it, and you have a prioritized list of high-intent keywords in minutes.

Step 3: Analyze the SERP landscape

For your top 50 keywords, use Claude Code to pull SERP data via DataforSEO:

For each keyword in high_intent_keywords.csv (top 50):
1. Call DataforSEO SERP API
2. Extract the top 10 results: URL, title, word count
3. Identify which domains appear most frequently
4. Flag keywords where no result has > 2000 words (content gap)
5. Output a competitor frequency matrix

Now you know which keywords are underserved, which competitors dominate, and where the content gaps are.

Workflow 2: Competitor Content Analysis​

Goal: Understand what content your competitors are ranking for and find gaps.

Step 1: Identify competitors with KeywordsEverywhere

Search your core keywords and note which domains keep appearing. KeywordsEverywhere's SERP analysis widget shows you the top domains instantly.

Step 2: Pull competitor keyword profiles with DataforSEO

Use Claude Code to write a script that calls DataforSEO's Competitor Discovery and Ranked Keywords APIs:

For each competitor domain in competitors.txt:
1. Pull all keywords they rank for (top 100 positions)
2. Get search volume and current ranking position
3. Find keywords where they rank #1-3 that we don't rank for at all
4. Find keywords where we both rank but they outrank us
5. Output a gap analysis with opportunity scores

Step 3: Build content briefs from the gaps

Take the gap analysis and have Claude Code generate content briefs:

For each keyword gap with opportunity score > 70:
1. Pull DataforSEO SERP data for the keyword
2. Analyze the top 5 ranking pages (word count, headings, topics covered)
3. Generate a content brief with:
   - Recommended title (with keyword)
   - Target word count
   - H2/H3 outline based on competitor content
   - Unique angles not covered by competitors
   - Internal linking suggestions

You go from "I wonder what our competitors are doing" to "here are 20 content briefs prioritized by opportunity" in a single afternoon.

Workflow 3: Content Strategy Automation​

Goal: Build a quarterly content calendar based on data, not guesses.

Step 1: Trend spotting with KeywordsEverywhere

Browse industry topics and track which keywords are trending up. KeywordsEverywhere's trend sparklines make this visual and fast.

Step 2: Validate with DataforSEO bulk data

Pull historical search volume data for your trending keywords to confirm they're actually growing, not just seasonal:

For each trending keyword:
1. Pull 24-month search volume history from DataforSEO
2. Calculate month-over-month growth rate
3. Flag keywords with consistent upward trend (not seasonal spikes)
4. Cross-reference with CPC trends (rising CPC = rising commercial value)

Step 3: Generate the calendar with Claude Code

Using the validated keyword list:
1. Cluster keywords by topic (semantic grouping)
2. Assign one pillar page per cluster
3. Identify 3-5 supporting articles per pillar
4. Prioritize by: opportunity score, trend momentum, content gaps
5. Output a 12-week content calendar with titles, target keywords, and briefs
6. Format as a CSV importable to Notion/Asana

You now have a data-driven content calendar that would take a traditional SEO agency weeks to produce.

Why This Stack Wins for B2B​

Cost Efficiency​

• DataforSEO: $50–200/month (API usage)
• KeywordsEverywhere: $10–30/month (credits)
• Claude Code: ~$20/month (Anthropic API)
• Total: $80–250/month vs. $500–1,500/month for enterprise SEO tools

Speed​

What takes a week with traditional tools takes an afternoon with this stack. The automation layer (Claude Code) eliminates the manual data wrangling that eats up SEO analysts' time.

Customization​

You're not limited to pre-built reports. Need a custom scoring model? Tell Claude Code. Want to weight keywords by your ICP's industry? Write a filter. The stack adapts to your specific B2B context.

Scalability​

Analyzing 100 keywords or 100,000 keywords costs the same in effort — you just adjust the API calls. Traditional tools gate this behind pricing tiers.

The Catch: You Still Need Strategy​

Here's the honest truth: this stack is incredibly powerful, but it requires SEO knowledge to use well. You need to know:

• What makes a keyword "high intent" for your business
• How to evaluate SERP difficulty beyond just a number
• When to go after a keyword vs. when to skip it
• How to structure content for topical authority

The tools give you data and automation. Strategy still comes from experience.

What If You Want This Without the DIY?​

Not every B2B team has the time or inclination to build their own SEO automation stack. That's exactly why platforms like MarketBetter exist.

MarketBetter's AI-powered platform does much of what this stack does — automatically. It identifies high-intent visitors on your website, analyzes buying signals, and helps your team act on them through AI chatbot, smart dialer, email automation, and a daily sales playbook.

The SEO insight layer — understanding which prospects are actively researching solutions, which keywords are driving qualified traffic, and which content is converting — is built into the platform. No API scripts required.

If you're a B2B team that wants the intelligence without building the infrastructure, book a demo with MarketBetter and see how AI-driven sales intelligence can power your pipeline.

Getting Started​

If you want to build this stack yourself, here's the quickest path:

1. Sign up for DataforSEO — Start with their sandbox environment (free) to test API calls.
2. Install KeywordsEverywhere — Buy 100,000 credits ($10) to start scouting.
3. Set up Claude Code — Install via Anthropic's docs, connect it to your terminal.
4. Start with one workflow — Pick the high-intent keyword discovery workflow above and run it for your top 10 seed keywords.
5. Iterate — Refine your scoring model, add more competitors, expand your keyword universe.

The SEO community isn't wrong about this stack. It works. The combination of raw data access, real-time browser intelligence, and AI-powered automation gives B2B marketers capabilities that were previously locked behind enterprise budgets.

The question isn't whether you should adopt AI-powered SEO tooling. It's whether you build it yourself or use a platform that's already built it for you.

Related reading:

• AI SEO Optimization for Content
• Best Content Optimization Tools
• The Complete AI SDR Tech Stack
• Signal-Based Selling Guide