SEO Guide
Keyword Research for Local Service Businesses, Using Free Tools
Keyword research sounds like something that requires an expensive subscription and a spreadsheet with ten thousand rows. For a national e-commerce shop, it might. For a plumber in Prescott Valley, a landscaper in Chino Valley or a cabin rental near Groom Creek, the most valuable research is free, takes an afternoon, and uses sources you already have.
The goal is not to find 'keywords' to sprinkle into pages. It is to understand the actual words people use when they need what you sell, and to make sure you have a page that answers each kind of search well. Get that right and the pages almost write themselves.
Start with what you already hear
Your best keyword list is in your phone log and your inbox. For a week, write down how customers describe their problem when they first contact you: not how you would describe it, but how they do. A customer rarely says 'tankless water heater installation.' They say 'my water heater is leaking,' 'how much is a new water heater,' or 'can you do it this week?'
Those phrases matter because they reveal three things at once: the words people use, the problem behind the words, and how close they are to hiring someone. Keep this list; everything else in this article builds on it.
Let Google show you the variations
Google itself is a free keyword tool, if you know where to look.
- Autocomplete. Start typing a phrase into Google and note the suggestions. They are based on real searches. Try your service followed by each letter of the alphabet, or followed by 'near,' 'cost,' 'how' and 'why.'
- People Also Ask. The expandable questions on many results pages are a ready-made list of what people want to know. Each one you open loads more.
- Related searches. The list at the bottom of the results page shows other ways people phrase the same need.
- Your competitors' pages. Look at what the businesses ranking above you have pages about. Not to copy their words, but to notice services or questions you have never covered.
Do these searches in a private browser window so your own history doesn't color the results, and remember that results vary by location. Searching from Dewey will look different from searching from Phoenix.
Sort searches into families
Once you have a list, you will notice the searches fall into a few families. For most local service businesses there are four, and each needs a different kind of page:
- The service: 'water heater installation,' 'drain cleaning.' These want a dedicated service page for each service, not one page listing everything.
- The place: the same service plus a town. These want your service page to say clearly where you work, and, if you serve several towns with real differences, a page per town done properly.
- The problem: 'water heater leaking from the bottom,' 'why does my drain smell.' These are people who may not know yet that they need you. A helpful article answers them, and points to the service page when the answer is 'call a professional.'
- The price: 'cost to replace a water heater.' People searching this are close to deciding. A page with an honest price guide earns their trust in a way 'call for a quote' never does.
This sorting is the most valuable step in the whole process. It tells you which pages your site needs, and it stops you writing ten near-identical pages chasing tiny variations of the same phrase.
Check which words you already show up for
If your site has been live for a few months, Google Search Console shows the actual searches it appeared for, how often, and how often people clicked. It is free and it is real data about your site, which no paid tool can match. Our Search Console guide shows where to find it.
Look for two things. First, searches where you appear often but rarely get clicked: those pages exist but their titles aren't convincing, which our article on title tags can help with. Second, searches you appear for on page two or three: Google already thinks you are somewhat relevant, so a better page can move you up.
What about search volume?
Paid tools and Google's Keyword Planner will estimate how many people search each phrase. For local businesses, treat those numbers with caution. Many local searches are too small for the tools to measure accurately, and a phrase searched only a handful of times a month in your area can still be worth a great deal if each search is someone ready to hire.
A better question than 'how many people search this?' is 'if someone searched this and found my page, would they be likely to call?' A few well-matched searches beat a lot of loosely related ones every time.
Map each family to one page
Now build a simple map: one row per page, listing the main phrase it targets, the related phrases it should also answer, and the family it belongs to. Two rules keep this map healthy:
- One main job per page. If two pages target the same main phrase, they compete with each other. Merge them or give them clearly different jobs.
- Use the customer's words in the important places: the page title, the main heading, the first paragraph and the subheadings. Write naturally; repeating a phrase over and over helps nobody.
Then look at the gaps. Common ones we see: no page at all for a service that brings in good money, no price information anywhere, and no helpful articles for the problem searches that come before a call.
Local wording matters
One last thing that national tools miss: the way people here describe places. People search for 'the Dells,' 'PV,' 'Quad Cities' and street names you would never think to target from a keyword tool. Listen for those in your calls and reviews, and use them where they genuinely describe where you work. It is a small touch, but it is one of the clearest signals that a page was written by someone local.
If you want help turning your list into a page plan, that is exactly what the local SEO bundle is for, or talk to us about it.
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