Local keyword research: the words your customers actually type.
You know what you call your services. Your customers often call them something else, and they add a town, a district or the word “emergency” when they search. Local keyword research finds the words people really use when they need your trade, so your profile and pages can match them. It is the groundwork that decides what every other page should be about.
Free five-point check · No obligation · You keep the findings either way
Signs your website is using the wrong words.
- Your pages describe services in trade terms that customers rarely search for.
- You get visits for things you do not offer, and few for the jobs you want.
- Your homepage tries to mention every service and every town at once.
- You have no idea which of your services people search for most.
- Someone once told you to “add keywords”, so the same phrase appears over and over.
Trades and customers speak different languages.
A trade business describes work the way the trade does. Customers describe the problem they can see. One person types the name of a fitting, another types what is leaking, dripping or tripping, and a third types the job and the town. All three might want the same job done.
Google tries to understand meaning, not just matching words, but a page that clearly uses the customer’s own language for a specific job is still far easier to match, and far easier for the customer to recognise as the right result.
Four layers of a local search.
1. The service words
The core terms for each job you do, including the everyday names customers use alongside the trade terms. This is where most of the surprises are.
2. The local part
Whether people add a city, a town or a district, or search with no place name at all and let Google use their location. In a borough of separate towns, customers often search with their own town’s name rather than the council area. That changes which places your pages and profile should name. See how this works in Torfaen or Rhondda Cynon Taf.
3. The intent
What the searcher wants right now. Someone searching for an urgent repair wants a phone number. Someone comparing options for a planned job wants to understand prices, timescales and who they can trust. The same service can need different content depending on which of those searches matter most to your business.
4. The longer, specific searches
Longer phrases that describe a particular problem or job. Individually they are searched less often, but they tend to come from people who know exactly what they need, and they are often less contested than the short, broad terms.
The biggest number is rarely the best target.
Keyword tools give estimates of how often a phrase is searched. For local trade searches those numbers are often small, rounded or missing altogether, especially for individual towns. A phrase that a tool reports as rarely searched can still bring the most valuable jobs you get all year.
So volume is one input, not the decision. The research also weighs:
- Whether the search matches work you actually want.
- Whether the people searching are in the areas you cover.
- Whether the results are dominated by directories, national brands or local businesses like yours.
- Whether your business can realistically compete for it.
Several sources, checked against each other.
- Google Search Console, if your site is connected: the real searches that already show your pages.
- Google’s own suggestions and the questions it shows for related searches.
- Keyword tools for estimated volumes, treated as a guide rather than fact.
- The search results themselves, to see what Google already shows for each phrase.
- Your own experience: the words customers use on the phone and in messages.
Research that turns into pages.
Keyword research is only useful if it changes something. The output is a short, plain plan rather than a spreadsheet of thousands of phrases:
- The main searches for each service you want more of, grouped by intent.
- Which searches deserve their own page, and which belong together on one page. That feeds directly into service page SEO.
- Which towns and districts are worth naming, and whether any area justifies its own page. See location page SEO.
- Suggested wording for your Google Business Profile services, so they match the language customers use. See Google Business Profile optimisation.
Not sure which searches matter for your business?
The free audit checks your profile, website, listings, reviews and competitors, and shows where your pages and the searches customers make do not line up.
Your knowledge of the work.
The jobs you want more of and the ones you would rather not do, the areas you cover, and the words customers use when they ring you. Access to Google Search Console helps if you have it. If not, it can be set up as part of the work.
What this does not do
It does not stuff phrases into your pages, and it does not promise traffic. It tells you what to write about and how to name it. The pages still have to be good enough to deserve the visit.
By what the pages start to appear for.
Once pages are built or updated around the research, Google Search Console shows which searches they appear for, how often, and how often people click. Over time, that shows whether the pages are reaching the searches the research identified, and the plan is adjusted from real data rather than estimates.
Where keyword research leads.
Service page SEO
Turning the research into one clear page for each main job.
Read more →Local SEO audit
A free five-point check that shows where to start.
Read more →Location page SEO
Deciding which towns deserve their own page, using real search evidence.
Read more →Keyword research is usually part of ongoing work rather than a one-off. See how pricing works, the full list of services, or get in touch.
Common questions.
Can i not just use a free keyword tool myself?
You can, and it is a good start. The harder part is judging which searches match the work you want, which are realistic to win locally, and how they should shape your pages. That is where most of the value is.
Why are the search volumes for my town so low?
Local trade searches are often small in number, and tools tend to round or hide very small figures. Low reported volume does not mean a search is worthless, especially for high-value jobs.
Do i need a page for every keyword?
No. Closely related searches usually belong on one page. Separate pages make sense when the intent is different, for example an urgent repair versus a planned installation.
Will this get me more traffic?
It shows what to target. Traffic depends on the pages themselves, your competition and how Google judges your site. Anyone who promises a number is guessing.
Find out where your pages and your customers’ searches do not match.
The free audit checks your profile, website, listings, reviews and competitors, and gives you the three fixes to start with.
Get my free audit →Takes 30 seconds · Reply from a real person · You keep the findings either way