--- title: SEO & PPC Strategy — Keyword Research Workflow — 2026-04-05 type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2025-12-03-weekly-call-w-gilbert-105982888.md tags: - seo - ppc - keyword-research - citrus-america - google-search-console - ahrefs - chatgpt - spyfu - skag - workflow layer: 2 client_source: Citrus America industry_context: food-beverage transferable: false --- # SEO & PPC Strategy — Keyword Research Workflow — 2026-04-05 ## Overview During a weekly call between Mark Hope and Gilbert Barrongo, the team identified a core SEO problem for Citrus America: high-intent commercial keywords are ranking on page one of Google but in positions 8–11, producing high impressions and near-zero click-through rate. The session established a repeatable keyword research workflow (GSC + Ahrefs → ChatGPT) and produced a concrete set of SEO and PPC recommendations to address the ranking gap. **Primary objective:** Move commercial intent keywords from positions 8–11 into the top 5, which is the threshold where CTR becomes meaningful. --- ## The Core Problem Citrus America ranks on page one for high-value commercial queries such as *"commercial citrus juicer"* — but at positions 9–11. At those positions: - **Impressions are high** (the site appears in results) - **CTR is very low** (users rarely scroll past position 5) - **Revenue impact is minimal** despite the organic visibility > "You end up with high impressions because you're on the front page, but low click-through rate because you're low on the front page." — Mark Hope The fix is not to find new keywords. It is to push existing high-intent rankings up the page through content, technical SEO, and internal linking. --- ## Keyword Research Workflow A three-step workflow was established for accounts with existing history. This is now the standard approach for Citrus America keyword research. ### Step 1 — Google Search Console: Export Queries - Go to **GSC → Performance → Search Results** - Set date range (3 months recommended) - Scroll to the **Queries** table (what users actually searched to land on the site) - **Export as Excel** (CSV can cause ChatGPT parsing issues) ### Step 2 — Ahrefs: Export Organic Keywords - Open the Citrus America project in Ahrefs - Navigate to **Organic Keywords** - Filter to positions 1–50 (uncheck 51+ buckets to focus on actionable rankings) - **Export as UTF-8 CSV or Excel** > Note: Queries (GSC) = what people searched. Keywords (Ahrefs) = what we rank for. They overlap but are not identical. Both perspectives are needed. ### Step 3 — ChatGPT: Combined Analysis & Recommendations Upload both files to ChatGPT and prompt in sequence: 1. *"Evaluate these queries for citrusamerica.com"* → upload GSC file 2. *"These are the organic keywords we rank for now"* → upload Ahrefs file 3. *"Consider the query report and the keywords report, and give me a combined summary and recommendations"* ChatGPT will surface: - Brand vs. commercial keyword performance split - Position gaps for high-intent terms - CTR weaknesses - Content and technical recommendations Follow up with: *"Give me additional core commercial keywords we should be targeting that are not in this list."* --- ## Findings for Citrus America (This Session) | Category | Finding | |---|---| | Brand queries | Ranking #1, ~50% CTR — healthy | | Commercial intent keywords | Positions 8–11, very low CTR — **primary problem** | | Informational/recipe traffic | Ranking #1 for "margarita recipe" — intentional (bar/tavern audience), not a concern | | Overall keyword count | 252 organic keywords in Ahrefs, growing | **Key insight from ChatGPT combined analysis:** > "You rank for the right commercial topics, but too low. Get commercial citrus juicer from position 11 to position 5 or better." --- ## Recommendations ### SEO Tasks (→ Melissa / Yash / Gavin) | Task | Owner | Notes | |---|---|---| | Build or expand core commercial landing pages | Yash | Category pages are weak; this is the highest-leverage fix | | Rework title tags & meta descriptions | Yash | Target high-intent commercial terms; improve CTR directly | | Internal linking overhaul | Yash | Pass authority to commercial pages from supporting content | | Create high-intent supporting blog content | Gavin | Target commercial keywords identified in ChatGPT output | **Example content types suggested by ChatGPT:** - Commercial juicer comparison guides - Category-specific landing pages (e.g., hotel orange juice machines, bar citrus juicers) - Supporting blog posts around mid-intent commercial queries ### PPC Tasks (→ Gilbert) - Create **Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs)** for each high-intent commercial keyword identified in the ChatGPT output - Use exact, phrase, and broad match modifier within each SKAG - Monitor the **Search Query Report (SQR)** after launch to identify adjacent terms - Do not group multiple commercial terms into one ad group — split them individually **Example SKAG targets from this session:** - commercial citrus juicer - commercial orange juicer machine - hotel orange juice machine - supermarket orange juicer machine - self-service juice machine --- ## Competitor Analysis via SpyFu SpyFu was introduced as a complementary research tool. Two use cases were demonstrated: ### SEO Combat (Organic) - Go to **SEO Research → Combat** - Add CitrusAmerica.com + 2 competitors - Read the Venn diagram: - **Overlap zone** = shared keywords (less interesting) - **Competitor-exclusive zone** = keywords they have that we don't → **highest value for gap analysis** - Rotate through competitor pairs to build a broad picture ### PPC Overview (Paid) - Go to **PPC → PPC Overview**, enter a competitor domain - View their **Google Ads History** to see actual ad copy - Click **Keywords** to see what terms they were targeting - Useful for ad copy inspiration and keyword gap identification > SpyFu is most useful for larger advertisers. If a competitor has low ad spend, the database may not have enough data. --- ## Action Items - [ ] **Gilbert** — Create Citrus America SKAGs for all high-intent commercial keywords from ChatGPT output; monitor SQR weekly - [ ] **Gilbert** — Call Melissa to walk through SEO/PPC recommendations from this session - [ ] **Gilbert** — Share this Fathom recording with Melissa - [ ] **Melissa** — Assign Yash: title tags, meta descriptions, internal linking overhaul - [ ] **Melissa** — Assign Gavin: blog content targeting commercial intent keywords - [ ] **Yash/Gavin** — Build or expand core commercial landing pages for Citrus America --- ## Related - [[wiki/clients/current/citrus-america/_index]] - [[wiki/knowledge/seo/gsc-ahrefs-chatgpt-keyword-workflow]] - [[wiki/knowledge/ppc/single-keyword-ad-groups]] - [[wiki/knowledge/seo/position-vs-ctr-page-one-trap]]