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Hi Reader,

You may have heard people saying that keyword research is dead.

That with AI search, LLMs, zero-click results, and Google “answering everything”, keyword research just doesn’t matter anymore.

And on the surface, I get why people think that.

But here’s the truth 👇

Keyword research is not dead. Not even close.

Why people think keyword research is dead

Most of the “keyword research is dead” arguments boil down to this:

• “AI doesn’t use keywords”
• “Google understands intent now”
• “You should just write ‘helpful content’”

And yes – search engines / LLMs are much smarter than they were 10 years ago.

But smarter doesn’t mean random.

Search engines, LLMs and humans still rely on language.

They still need to understand:

• what a page is about
• who it’s for
• and what problem it solves

As Search Engine Journal recently put it in their article on How LLMs Interpret Content:

“This might sound suspiciously like keyword research still matters – and yes, it absolutely does. Not because LLMs are dumb, but because search behavior (even AI search) still depends on how humans phrase things.”

Long story short…

• People still search using specific words.
• While AI understands those specific words have synonyms, more often than not, it still surfaces content that includes those specific words.
• When a human lands on a blog post, they judge whether that blog post has the information they want based on whether it includes the specific words they used to get there.

But here’s the most compelling reason of all…

It works.

Let me give you some very real examples from my food blog...

Keyword example #1

I published a blog post targeting this keyword part way through 2025.

• It now gets ~500 pageviews per DAY
• That keyword has an average RPM of $25
• That’s $375 per month from a single blog post

Keyword example #2

I published post on this keyword in 2024.

• It also hovers around 500 pageviews per DAY
• With an average RPM of $42
• That’s $630 per month from ONE blog post

Keyword example #3

This one was also published in 2024.

• It gets around 10,000 pageviews per MONTH
• And an average RPM of $49
• That’s $490 per month

That’s $1,495 per month… from just three keywords!

And here’s the kicker 👇

These are not even my best keywords.

My best-performing keywords are from years ago (and yes – I used keyword research for those too). I wanted to share some more recent examples so you can see that keyword research is still working right now.

Why I use (and recommend) KeySearch

Every single one of these keywords was found using KeySearch.

KeySearch costs $24 per month.

From just those three keywords alone, it’s already paid for itself many, many times over.

But it gets better…

If you use my coupon code PB30OFF you get 30% off – that brings it down to just $16.80 for a whole month of KeySearch!​

It gets even better…

Because you can very easily:

• Buy KeySearch for one month
• Do all your keyword research for the year
• Cancel before the month is out

That’s a WHOLE YEAR of keyword research for less than the price of a takeaway pizza🍕

Keyword research = the ultimate productivity hack!

This is the part most people miss.

Imagine:

• Writing 10 blog posts - with no keyword research
• Each gets 100 pageviews per month
• Total = 1,000 pageviews

Now compare that to:

• Writing 1 blog post - using keyword research
• That gets 1,000 pageviews per month

Same traffic.

But one-tenth of the effort.

All because you did keyword research.

In other words, keyword research lets you:

• Write less
• Publish less
• And earn more

Which, honestly, is the best part of all!

Want to go deeper?

I’ve written two detailed posts that walk you through exactly why I love KeySearch and how I use it:

​My full KeySearch review​

​How I use KeySearch for keyword research (step-by-step)​

The bottom line

Despite what you might hear…

✔ Keyword research still works
✔ It can be extremely worthwhile
✔ And it’s one of the best ways to earn more while working less

If you want a tool that’s affordable, effective, and genuinely pays for itself, I highly recommend KeySearch.

​Grab KeySearch here and use code PB30OFF for 30% off​

(PRO TIP: Don’t put this off until that mythical ‘one day’ in the future that probably won’t happen – do it right now, otherwise who knows how much $$$$ you’ll miss out on in lost revenue by NOT doing keyword research!)

Here’s to working smarter – not harder!

Eb 😊
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​Eb Gargano
​eb@productiveblogging.com​
​www.productiveblogging.com​

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P.S. Want to do a whole year’s worth of keyword research for less than the price of a takeaway pizza? Go grab KeySearch here!​

P.P.S To access the 30% off discount, you'll need to sign up for the free trial and answer a few basic market research questions.

After that, you'll be prompted to select your plan – the STARTER tier is usually enough for most people, but you'll need to move the toggle to 'monthly', as the discount is only available for monthly plans.

Once you've done that, you'll be able to enter the discount coupon PB30OFF at the bottom of the page.

Finally, enter your payment details and hit START TRIAL. You'll get 7 days for free and then pay $16.80 for the next month. (Be sure to cancel it before the month is out if you only want to pay for 1 month!)​
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