Keyword research
How to find the searches your customers actually make, judge which ones are worth pursuing, and match each one to the right page.
2 min read · updated 24 September 2026
Keyword research is finding out what your customers type into a search box, then deciding which of those searches your site should try to win. Done well, it stops you writing pages nobody looks for and shows you the questions people want answered before they buy.
Start with how customers talk
Your trade has its own vocabulary; your customers usually do not. A heating engineer says "combi boiler replacement", a customer types "new boiler cost". Write down:
- The services you sell, in plain words.
- The problems that make someone need you ("boiler not heating water", "damp on bedroom wall").
- The places you serve, because most local searches include a town or "near me".
Expand the list with real searches
Search engines' own suggestions are the best free source of real phrasing, because they come from what people type. The keyword ideas tool collects them for you and groups them:
- Questions ("how much does a new boiler cost") are good topics for guides and FAQ sections.
- Buying searches ("emergency plumber near me", "best", "cheap", "price") show someone ready to hire.
- Comparisons ("combi vs system boiler") catch people weighing up options.
Judge which keywords are worth it
Three things decide whether a keyword deserves a page:
- Intent. Does the search match what you sell? "Plumber jobs Leeds" has plenty of searches and no customers in it.
- Demand. Monthly search volume shows how many people search. Exact volumes come from tools connected to an advertising account; without one, suggestions at least prove a phrase is searched.
- Difficulty. How strong are the sites already on page one? If the top ten are national brands and directories, a new site will struggle. Keyword lists in the app estimate this from the Site Strength of the pages ranking now.
A good target is specific, clearly commercial and winnable: "emergency plumber Headingley" rather than "plumber".
Give each keyword one home
Group closely related phrases and give each group a single page. "Boiler repair Leeds", "Leeds boiler repairs" and "boiler engineer Leeds" belong on one page, not three near-identical ones competing with each other.
A simple plan looks like this:
- Home page: your main service and area.
- One page per service: boiler repair, bathroom installation, drain unblocking.
- One page per main area, only if you genuinely serve it and can say something specific about it.
- Guides answering the common questions, linking to the matching service page.
Track what you target
Once a page is published, track its keywords so you can see movement over weeks, not just check once. Rank tracking shows which changes actually cost or gained you visitors.