Keyword research is the process of finding the exact words and phrases your potential customers type into Google when they are looking for what you sell. It tells you what people are searching for, how many of them are searching, and how difficult it will be to appear in those results. Without it, you are guessing what to write about, which pages to build and which adverts to run.
Most small business owners skip keyword research because it sounds technical. It is not. The basic process takes an afternoon, uses tools that are either free or inexpensive, and gives you a list of topics your website should cover. The businesses that do this work consistently outperform those that write content based on gut feeling, because they are answering questions people are actually asking.
This guide walks you through how to do keyword research from scratch. It is written for business owners and beginners, not SEO professionals, and every section starts with a direct answer you can act on.
What is keyword research and why does it matter?
Keyword research is the process of identifying the search terms your target customers use when they look for your products or services online. It matters because those search terms are the bridge between what you offer and the people trying to find it.
Think of it this way. If you run a plumbing business in Colchester, you might assume people search for “plumber Colchester”. They probably do. But they also search for “emergency plumber near me”, “boiler repair Colchester”, “leaking tap fix cost” and dozens of other variations. Each of those searches represents a person with a specific need. Keyword research reveals those needs so you can create pages and content that meet them.
Without keyword research, you are writing for yourself rather than for your customers. You might optimise your homepage for “plumbing services” when your actual customers are searching “how much does a plumber charge per hour”. You would never know the opportunity existed.
The output of keyword research is simple: a list of search terms, each with an estimate of how many people search for it each month, and an indication of how competitive it is. That list becomes the foundation for your website content, your blog topics, your advert campaigns and your SEO strategy.
How do you find out what people are actually searching for?
Start with what you already know, then use tools to expand and validate it. The best keyword research combines your industry knowledge with real search data.
Step one – write down what your customers ask you
Before opening any tool, write down every question customers ask you on the phone, by email or in person. “How much does it cost?”, “Do you cover my area?”, “How long does it take?” These are real search queries. People ask Google the same questions they ask you.
Also note the words your customers use. They may say “shutters” while you say “plantation shutters”. They may say “logo” while you say “brand identity”. The words that matter are theirs, not yours.
Step two – use Google itself
Type one of your services into Google and look at three things:
Autocomplete suggestions. Start typing and Google shows you what other people search for. These are real, popular queries.
People also ask. The expandable question boxes that appear in search results. Each one is a genuine query that Google considers related to yours.
Related searches. At the bottom of the results page. These show you variations and related topics you may not have considered.
This costs nothing and takes ten minutes. Write everything down.
Step three – use a keyword research tool
Free and low-cost tools give you search volume (how many times a term is searched each month) and keyword difficulty (how hard it will be to rank). The most accessible options are:
Enter your seed terms (the services and phrases from steps one and two) and export the results. You will typically get dozens or hundreds of related keywords, each with a monthly search volume.
How do you decide which keywords to target first?
Target keywords where the searcher clearly wants what you sell, the search volume is worth pursuing and the competition is not overwhelming. That combination is where small businesses find their best opportunities.
Prioritise using three factors:
1. Intent. A keyword like “boiler repair Colchester” has strong commercial intent. The searcher wants a plumber and is probably ready to call. A keyword like “how does a combi boiler work” is informational. Both are useful, but the commercial keyword is more likely to produce an enquiry.
2. Volume. Higher search volume means more potential visitors, but do not dismiss low-volume terms. A keyword searched 20 times per month in your town might represent 20 people who are ready to buy. For a local business, that is meaningful.
3. Competition. Some keywords are dominated by national brands, comparison sites and large directories. A local business is unlikely to rank for “best plumber UK” but can absolutely rank for “emergency plumber Braintree”. Keyword tools show a difficulty score that helps you judge this, though it is never perfectly accurate.
In our client work, the most productive keywords for SMEs are almost always the specific, local, intent-rich terms that bigger competitors overlook. Start with those and expand outward as your site gains authority.
What is the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords?
Short-tail keywords are broad, usually one or two words, like “plumber” or “web design”. They have high search volume but vague intent and fierce competition. Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases like “how much does a website cost for a small business” or “emergency plumber Chelmsford Sunday”. They have lower volume but clearer intent and less competition.
For most SMEs, long-tail keywords are where the real value sits. A visitor who searches “how much does a new kitchen cost in Essex” is much further along in their buying decision than someone who searches “kitchens”.
The long-tail searcher is comparing options, checking prices and getting ready to enquire. That is the visitor you want on your website.
A practical approach is to target a mix. Use a handful of broader terms for your main service pages and build blog content around the longer, more specific questions your customers ask. Over time, ranking for many long-tail terms also helps your site rank for the broader ones.
How do you turn keyword research into actual website content?
Group your keywords by topic, then create one page or blog post for each topic group. The goal is to match each page to a cluster of related searches so that one piece of content can rank for several keywords at once.
For example, if your keyword research reveals these terms:
- “how much does SEO cost”
- “SEO pricing UK”
- “is SEO worth it for small business”
- “SEO monthly cost”
Those all belong to one topic: the cost and value of SEO. You would write one thorough blog post covering that topic rather than four thin pages that each target a single keyword.
For each page or post, follow these principles:
Use the primary keyword in your page title, main heading and opening paragraph.
Use secondary keywords naturally in subheadings and body text. Do not force them in where they read awkwardly.
Answer the searcher’s question directly in the first two sentences of the relevant section. This is what Google and AI search tools are looking for.
Write enough to cover the topic properly, but no more. Length should serve the reader, not a word count target.
One warning: keyword research tells you what to write about, but it does not write for you. A page stuffed with keywords but lacking genuine expertise will not rank well and will not convert visitors into enquiries. The content still needs to be useful, specific and honest.
How often should you do keyword research?
Review your keyword list at least every six months, and check for new opportunities whenever you add a service, enter a new area or notice a shift in customer questions. Search behaviour changes, new competitors appear, and terms that were irrelevant a year ago may now have meaningful volume.
You do not need to start from scratch each time. Keep your original research in a spreadsheet, add new terms as you find them, and note which pages on your site cover which topics. Over time, this becomes a content map that shows you exactly where the gaps are.
Seasonal businesses should pay particular attention to timing. A garden maintenance company will see different search volumes in March than in November. Knowing when people start searching for your services lets you publish content before the demand arrives, not after.
What are the most common keyword research mistakes?
The most common mistake is skipping it entirely and assuming you know what your customers search for. The second most common is doing the research but never acting on it.
Other mistakes we see regularly in client work include:
Targeting only high-volume, competitive terms. Chasing “web design” when you are a small agency in Ipswich is a fight you will not win quickly. Start with the terms you can realistically rank for.
Ignoring search intent. Ranking for “what is SEO” brings you people who want a definition, not people who want to hire an SEO agency. Match your content to the intent behind the search.
Keyword stuffing. Repeating a keyword unnaturally throughout your page does not help. Google has been penalising this for years, and readers notice it immediately.
Creating a separate page for every tiny keyword variation. “Plumber Chelmsford” and “Chelmsford plumber” do not need two pages. Google understands they mean the same thing.
Treating keyword research as a one-off task. Your competitors are doing this work regularly. If you did it once two years ago and never revisited it, your content plan is out of date.
Focusing on volume over value. A keyword with 50 searches per month that leads to paying customers is worth more than one with 5,000 searches that attracts people with no intention of buying.
An honest caveat: keyword research gives you direction, not certainty. Search volume estimates are approximate, difficulty scores are imperfect, and ranking for a term does not guarantee enquiries. It is the best starting point available, but it works best when combined with real-world judgement about your customers and your market.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to pay for a keyword research tool?
Not to get started. Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account (you do not need to run adverts to use it), and Google’s own autocomplete and “People also ask” features give you genuine keyword ideas at no cost. Paid tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs offer deeper data and competitive analysis, which become valuable as your SEO work matures, but they are not essential on day one.
How many keywords should I target?
There is no fixed number. A small local business might identify 30 to 50 useful keywords. A larger business with multiple services and locations might have several hundred. The important thing is that each keyword group has a corresponding page on your site. An untargeted keyword is just a line in a spreadsheet.
Can I do keyword research for Google Ads as well as SEO?
Yes, and you should. The same research informs both. Google Keyword Planner was originally designed for adverts, so it also shows estimated cost-per-click and competition for paid searches. Keywords that are too competitive for SEO in the short term can still be targeted profitably through paid adverts, and the data from those campaigns can tell you which terms actually convert into enquiries.
The short version
Keyword research is the process of finding out what your customers actually type into Google. Start by listing the questions customers ask you, use Google’s free features to expand that list, then validate with a keyword tool to see search volumes and competition levels. Prioritise terms where the searcher clearly wants what you sell and the competition is manageable.
Group related keywords into topics, create one strong page per topic, and revisit your research every six months. The businesses that do this consistently build websites that attract the right visitors, not just traffic, because every page answers a question someone is genuinely asking.
If you want help identifying the keywords that matter most for your business, or if you have a list but are not sure how to turn it into content, our SEO service includes keyword research as a standard part of the process. We will show you exactly what your customers are searching for and where the realistic opportunities sit.
