How to do keyword research

Start with what you already know, before any tool. Your customers have been telling you their words for years, in enquiry forms, emails, phone calls and reviews.

Write down every service you offer, the problems people come to you with, and the exact phrases they use. "Boiler not firing up" and "boiler repair" are different searches by people at different moments. Both are worth knowing.

You don't need paid software to do good keyword research. These free sources cover most of it.

• Google Keyword Planner: free inside a Google Ads account. It suggests related searches and gives rough monthly volumes.
• Google Search Console: the Performance report shows the searches you already appear for, including ones you've never targeted.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: has its own keyword research tool, using Bing's data.
• Google's search box: autocomplete, "People also ask" and related searches show what people type next.
• Google Trends: shows whether interest in a search is rising, falling or seasonal.
• Your own data: site search, enquiry forms and the questions your team answers every week.

Search intent is what the person wants when they type a search. Get it wrong and the right visitors land on the wrong page, then leave.

There are four broad kinds. Informational searches want an answer ("how long does SEO take"). Commercial searches are comparing options ("best accountant in Leicester"). Transactional searches are ready to act ("book MOT Melton Mowbray"). Navigational searches want a specific site. Look at what already ranks for a search: that tells you which kind Google thinks it is.

Specific ones. A small business rarely wins a broad, national term against big brands, and doesn't need to. The searches that bring customers are usually longer and more precise.

• Service plus place: "emergency electrician Leicester" beats "electrician".
• Service plus problem: "flat roof leaking" brings people with a job to be done.
• Comparisons and costs: "how much does a loft conversion cost" reaches people planning to buy.
• Your sector's words: the trade terms your buyers use, even if they sound odd to outsiders.

This is the method we use, in order. Put the results in a simple spreadsheet as you go.

1. 1List your services and the problems they solve, in your customers' words.
2. 2Pull the searches you already appear for from Search Console's Performance report.
3. 3Put your list into Keyword Planner and Bing's keyword tool, and note related searches and rough volumes.
4. 4Search each main term in Google. Note autocomplete, "People also ask" and what kind of page ranks.
5. 5Mark each search by intent: answer, comparison or ready to buy.
6. 6Group searches that mean the same thing. Each group is one page.
7. 7Pick one main term for each group, plus a few close variants.
8. 8Match each group to an existing page, or plan a new one. Never give two pages the same main term.
9. 9Check back in Search Console after a few months and adjust.

One main search per page, with its close variants. The main term goes in the page title, the H1, the first paragraph and one subheading, written naturally.

If two of your pages chase the same search, they compete with each other and both tend to do worse. Merge them, or give each a clearly different focus.

Yes. People ask AI assistants longer, more conversational questions, but the assistants still search the web and read pages that answer those questions clearly. Add the questions your buyers ask to your research, and answer them plainly on the right page.