Keyword research: finding what your customers actually search

Keyword research is how you discover the words your customers type into Google when they look for what you sell, and what they actually want to find when they type them. For a small business it comes down to three steps: collect the language customers already use, check it with Google’s free tools, and decide which page on your site answers each intent.

The common mistake is starting with the phrase that sounds right to you. An IT support company writes “managed technology solutions” on its homepage while its customers type “office wifi keeps dropping”. Keyword research closes that gap.

What is keyword research and why does a small business need it?

It is the process of gathering, checking and choosing the searches most likely to bring you customers. Small businesses need it precisely because they cannot write about everything; they have to pick the few topics that matter most.

The research shapes almost every part of your site: what you call your service pages, which articles you write, what goes into headings, and which terms are worth paying for in search ads. Without it, your website speaks the language of your business. With it, your website speaks the language of your customers.

Where should keyword research start?

With your customers, not with a tool. Tools are excellent for checking and expanding a list, but the first and most accurate words come from conversations you already have.

Where to look:

• Emails, website chats and WhatsApp messages: how people phrase their first question
• Phone calls: what they ask just before deciding
• Google reviews, yours and your competitors’: the words people use to describe the service
• CRM notes and sales calls: questions and objections that come up again and again
• Your front line team: they know exactly how customers talk

Write everything down, including phrases that sound unprofessional to you. Those are often exactly what people type.

Which free tools help with keyword research?

Google gives a small business most of what it needs, for free:

• Autocomplete: start typing a search and see how Google completes it
• People also ask: the box in the results, full of real questions
• Related searches: at the bottom of the results page
• Google Search Console: shows which searches your site already appears for, and how many people click
• Google Ads Keyword Planner: gives rough search volumes and more ideas
• Google Trends: shows seasonality, for example when people start searching for bike servicing

Paid tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush add competitor data and difficulty scores. They are useful later, but not essential when you start.

What is search intent?

Search intent is what the person wants to achieve with a search. Two similar phrases can hide completely different goals, and each goal needs its own kind of page.

Take a vet clinic:

• Learn: “why is my dog scratching so much” suits an article or an FAQ
• Compare: “neutering at six months or one year” suits a comparison page
• Book: “vet open Saturday in Bristol” suits a service or location page with booking
• Find a specific business: a search for the clinic’s name suits the homepage and the Business Profile

The easiest way to spot intent is to search the phrase yourself and look at what Google shows. If every result is a guide, a sales page will struggle to rank there. If the results are businesses on a map, the intent is local.

How do language and location change your keywords?

The same need is described in different words depending on where your customers live and which language they think in. Check the variations of every important term:

• Spelling: “optimise” and “optimize”, “colour” and “color”
• Regional terms: “solicitor” and “lawyer”, “estate agent” and “realtor”, “mobile” and “cell phone”
• Singular and plural: “accountant” versus “accountants near me”
• Other languages: in cities like Lisbon or Bangkok, many customers search in their own language as well as in English
• Everyday phrasing: “how much is”, “what to do if”, “open now”

Local searches deserve special attention. Many include a town, a neighbourhood or “near me”, and many more have no location at all because Google assumes the searcher wants something close. Local pages only work when they contain something genuinely local: the areas you cover, how quickly you can get there, work you have done nearby.

How do you do keyword research, step by step?

1. List your services and products in your customers’ words, not your internal jargon.
2. Collect questions and phrases from chats, calls, reviews and your team.
3. Expand with Google’s tools: autocomplete, People also ask and related searches.
4. Check volume and seasonality in Keyword Planner and Google Trends. Look for orders of magnitude, not exact figures.
5. Label the intent of each search: learn, compare, buy or find.
6. Group into topics. Searches with the same intent belong on the same page. “Bike repair” and “bike mechanic” are probably one page.
7. Choose by relevance, intent and competition. A small search that brings customers beats a big one that brings browsers.
8. Map each topic to a page: an existing page to improve, or a new one to write.
9. Track in Search Console and revisit the list every few months.

How do you know which keywords are worth the effort?

A good keyword for a small business passes three tests: it relates directly to what you sell, its intent matches a page you can build, and the competition is realistic. High search volume is a bonus, not a requirement.

Longer, specific searches such as “e-bike battery not holding charge” are typed by fewer people. But those people know exactly what they need, and fewer businesses compete for them. For a small business, these long tail searches are often the most valuable ones.

Example: an independent bike shop

A neighbourhood bike shop that also does repairs wants more enquiries from Google. Its site has one page called “Workshop”.

After a week of listening, the owner’s list includes “bike service near me”, “gears slipping”, “same day puncture repair”, “e-bike battery replacement” and “best bike for commuting up hills”. Google Trends shows interest in servicing rising as the weather warms up.

The research becomes a plan: a page for servicing, a page for e-bike repairs, a spring tune-up page that gets refreshed every year, and short guides to common problems, each with a button to book or send a WhatsApp message. Instead of one vague page, the site now has pages that each answer a real search. How to write those pages is covered in our guide to website content writing that ranks.

A keyword research checklist

• You collected phrases from real customers, not only from tools
• You checked spelling, regional terms and other languages
• Every search is labelled with an intent
• Searches with the same intent are grouped on one page
• Every topic has one clear page on your site
• You have a short list of local searches, with towns or areas
• You have set a date to review the data again

Start with how your customers talk

Good keyword research does not start with a giant spreadsheet. It starts with listening to how your customers speak, then using tools to confirm and expand what you heard. At Kaede Digital, every small business website we build begins with this kind of mapping, so the structure, headings and content follow what people really search. If you also run search ads, the same list is just as useful there, as we explain in Google Ads for small business. For the bigger picture, read our SEO starter guide for small business.

FAQ

How many keywords should one page target?

One main keyword plus a few close variations with the same intent. A page that tries to serve many different intents usually serves none of them well. If a search has a different intent, it deserves its own page.

Do I need paid tools for keyword research?

Not at the start. Autocomplete, People also ask, Search Console and Google Ads Keyword Planner are enough for most small businesses. Paid tools become useful when you want deep competitor analysis or work at a larger scale.

What if almost nobody searches for what I sell?

Check whether customers describe the problem in different words, because people often search for the problem rather than the solution. If your service is genuinely new, focus on searches about the problem it solves and support them with other channels such as social media.

How often should I update my keyword research?

Revisit it every few months and whenever you add a new service. Search Console will show new searches your site starts appearing for, and those are good clues for your next pages.