> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parallellabs.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Keyword Research

> Search demand, cost per click, and competition for any keyword.

Keyword Research answers the basic question behind every content decision: **is anyone actually searching for this?** Enter a keyword and get back its search volume along with related terms you may not have thought of.

## Running a Search

1. Select your company from the sidebar
2. Go to **Content Engine** → **Keyword Research**
3. Enter a **Keyword** — for example, "project management software"
4. Choose how to **Sort by**: Volume, CPC, Competition, or Keyword
5. Click **Search**

You get the keyword you typed — marked with a **Seed** chip — plus related keywords, each with its own metrics.

## Reading the Results

| Column          | What it tells you                                              |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Volume**      | How many searches per month                                    |
| **CPC**         | What advertisers pay per click — a proxy for commercial intent |
| **Competition** | How hard the term is to compete for                            |
| **Trend**       | Whether interest is rising or falling                          |
| **Saved**       | Whether you've starred it                                      |

High CPC with moderate volume often beats high volume with no CPC: it means the traffic is worth money to someone.

## Saving Keywords

Tick the keywords worth keeping and click **Save Keywords**. Saved keywords go to [Keywords](/engage/content-engine/seo-keywords), where they're stored with their metrics for later.

## Credits

A lookup costs **25 credits**, and results are cached — repeating a search you've already run is free, and the results line tells you which happened (`25 credits used` or `served from cache, no credits used`).

**Refresh Data** deliberately re-purchases metrics at full cost. Use it when you think the numbers have gone stale, not as a matter of routine.

## Tips

1. **Search the phrase your customer would type**, not your product's internal name.
2. **Mine the related keywords.** The seed term is rarely the best one — the list around it is the point.
3. **Read volume and competition together.** A low-volume term you can actually rank for beats a high-volume term you can't.
4. **Let the cache work.** Re-running a search costs nothing; refreshing costs 25 credits.

## Next Steps

* [Review your saved keywords](/engage/content-engine/seo-keywords)
* [Check domain authority](/engage/content-engine/seo-domain-overview)
* [Find ranked content opportunities](/engage/content-engine/seo-opportunities)