Eduard Albu

Posted on Dec 18

Week 6: Golden Keywords, Honest Limitations, and Why I’m Building a Directory Hit List

#buildinpublic #seo #webdev #sass

Week 6 taught me something I wish I knew from day one: keyword difficulty matters more than search volume.

I found keywords with 135,000 monthly searches and a difficulty score of 3. Three. Out of 100.

This week I shipped two new tools, discovered "golden keywords" hiding in plain sight, and learned that being honest about your product's limitations can actually be a competitive advantage.

Here is everything that happened between December 12 and 18, 2025.

The Golden Keyword Discovery

Let me start with the insight that shaped this entire week.

When building the Favicon Generator, I did my usual keyword research. The obvious target was "favicon generator" with 12,100 monthly searches. Solid volume. But then I checked the difficulty score: 65 out of 100.

That means ranking on page 1 would require competing against domains with thousands of backlinks. As a new site with around 20 referring domains, that is not a winnable fight. Not yet.

So I dug deeper.

I started searching for keyword variations, looking for phrases that meant the same thing but had lower competition.

Then I found them.

Keyword	Volume	Difficulty
"generate a favicon"	135,000	3
"how do i create a favicon"	74,000	17
"create a favicon for free"	60,500	22

These are what I am calling "golden keywords": high search volume, low difficulty, same user intent.

The users searching "generate a favicon" want exactly what users searching "favicon generator" want. But the second phrase is 20 times easier to rank for.

This changes everything.

I have been chasing head keywords with massive competition when I should have been hunting for these golden variations from the start.

Two New Tools Shipped This Week

Week 6 added two more tools to QuickTools.one, bringing the total to 15.

Favicon Generator

Create favicons from images or text, with automatic resizing to all the formats modern browsers need (16x16, 32x32, 180x180, etc.).

Try it: https://quicktools.one/favicon-maker

This one targets the golden keywords mentioned above. I optimized the title and description around "generate a favicon" and "create a favicon for free" instead of just "favicon generator."

The page also includes a detailed guide section explaining how to add favicons to websites, targeting the informational query "how to add favicon to website" (9,900 volume, difficulty 18).

PDF Unlock

Remove passwords from PDFs you own, processing everything locally in the browser.

Try it: https://quicktools.one/pdf-unlock

This tool required a different approach because of a technical limitation: you cannot crack unknown PDF passwords without server-side processing. That would require uploading files and running brute-force attacks, which defeats the entire privacy-first positioning of QuickTools.one.

So instead of hiding this limitation, I made it a feature.

The tool only works if you already know the password. You enter the password, it removes the restrictions, and you get an unlocked PDF. All locally. No uploads. No privacy concerns.

The page copy is honest about what it can and cannot do. And I positioned the limitation as a privacy benefit: "We cannot crack passwords because we never see your files."

This turned out to be a competitive advantage. Most PDF unlock tools either require uploads (privacy risk) or charge money for server-side cracking (expensive). QuickTools.one offers a middle ground: free, private, instant unlocking if you have the password.

The keyword "unlock pdf" gets 33,100 monthly searches with difficulty 38. Secondary keywords like "remove password from pdf" (18,100 volume, difficulty 22) and "unlock pdf without password" (12,100 volume, difficulty 27) provide additional traffic opportunities.

Traffic Growth Continues

Week 6 brought 864 visitors, up 28% from Week 5.

But the most interesting part is the traffic source breakdown.

Source	Visitors	Share
ChatGPT	243	75%
Google	49	15%
Bing	10	3%
Other	7%	Various

ChatGPT now sends 75% of my referral traffic. Up from 71% in Week 4.

I built this entire project around Google SEO. I optimized titles, wrote blog posts, submitted sitemaps, chased backlinks. And an AI chatbot casually sends 5x more visitors than the world's largest search engine.

New referrers this week include huntscreens.com (a directory site), WeChat (somehow QuickTools reached Chinese users), and various social platforms.

The ChatGPT traffic validates something: building genuinely useful tools with good UX matters. AI recommendation systems seem to pick up on quality signals.

Content Strategy: Supporting Tools with Blog Articles

Each tool page targets the main keyword. But there are dozens of long-tail variations that a single page cannot capture.

This week I published two blog articles specifically to support the new tools:

"How to Make a Favicon for Your Website" targets:

"how to make a favicon for a website"
"favicon ideas"
"create favicon photoshop"
"create favicon in canva"

These are informational queries. People searching them want guides, not just tools. The article provides value, then naturally links to the Favicon Generator.

"How to Remove Password from PDF" targets:

"remove pdf password in adobe reader" (difficulty 4)
"unlock pdf adobe acrobat" (difficulty 5)
"remove pdf password on mac" (difficulty 5)

I also addressed "unlock pdf without password" honestly, explaining why that is not possible without server-side cracking and why our approach protects their privacy instead.

Each article includes comparison tables (targeting featured snippets), step-by-step instructions, and multiple JSON-LD schemas for rich results.

The 100 Directory Hit List

Last week I mentioned that backlinks are the primary bottleneck for new domains.

This week I got systematic about it.

I created a checklist of 100 directories to submit QuickTools.one to. Not random directories. Curated ones organized by tier:

High authority product directories (Product Hunt, AlternativeTo)
Indie hacker communities (BetaList, Launching Next)
Tool-specific directories (ToolPilot, Futurepedia)
Developer platforms (Dev.to, HackerNews)
Design communities (Dribbble Resources, Designer News)
Browser extension directories (already listed)
Privacy-focused directories (PrivacyTools, Prism Break)

I filtered out directories that would not accept QuickTools:

B2B-only platforms like G2
Desktop software directories like Softpedia and CNET Download (they require downloadable installers, not web apps)

First submission this week: PitchWall.co. Currently in review.

The goal is consistent outreach. A few submissions per week, tracked in a spreadsheet, compounding over months.

Other Updates

Browser Extension v2 Released

Updated the Chrome, Firefox, and Edge extensions to include all 15 tools. Added ?ref=extension tracking to measure how much traffic comes from extension users.

PWA Analytics

Added ?ref=pwa tracking for users who installed QuickTools as a Progressive Web App. Now I can see returning PWA users separately from browser visitors.

FAQ Expansion

Expanded the FAQ section from 12 to 28 questions. Each FAQ targets a specific long-tail keyword. Organized by category (PDF, image, video) with helper functions for filtering.

Landing Page Rewrite

Rewrote the SEO content section on the homepage. Removed corporate-speak ("comprehensive suite", "seamless experience"). Made it conversational. Added internal links to 10 tools instead of 4.

Week 6 Summary

Metric	Value
Tools live	15
New tools	2 (Favicon Generator, PDF Unlock)
Blog articles	2 new
Visitors (week)	864 (+28%)
Top traffic source	ChatGPT (75%)
Directory submissions	1 (PitchWall)
Directory hit list	100 curated

Key Lessons

1. Hunt for golden keywords

Same search volume can have wildly different difficulty scores. "Favicon generator" at difficulty 65 vs "generate a favicon" at difficulty 17. Always check variations.

2. Turn limitations into differentiators

Cannot crack PDF passwords without a server? Position it as a privacy feature. Being honest about what you cannot do builds trust.

3. Support tools with content

Tool pages target head keywords. Blog articles capture long-tail informational queries. Together they build topical authority.

4. Get systematic about backlinks

Random submissions do not compound. A tracked list of 100 directories with priority tiers creates consistent progress.