Keyword research: finding the words your customers actually use
You say 'brand identity solutions'; your customer searches 'logo design price'. Free ways to close the gap between the two.
Businesses describe themselves in industry language. Customers search in everyday language. Keyword research is finding the gap between the two.
Your words and your customer's words differ
An accountant writes "financial advisory services"; the customer searches "how much to register a company". If that second phrase appears nowhere on the site, that search never reaches you.
Three free sources
1. Google itself. Type your business into the search box and stop; the autocomplete suggestions are real searches. So are the "Related searches" at the bottom of the results page.
2. Search Console. The most valuable source for anyone who already has a site. The "Performance" section shows which terms people find you with. Terms where you appear but nobody clicks are the first opportunity to work on.
3. Your customers. What words do they use in emails and messages to you? Those words should appear on your site.
Intent matters more than volume
Instead of a generic term searched 10,000 times a month, target one searched 100 times that carries buying intent.
- "web design" → could be research, could be a student
- "web design prices manchester" → looking for a quote
The second brings you more work from fewer visitors.
Long tail
Searches of three or four words are called the long tail. Competition is low, intent is clear, and it's the one area where a small business can realistically rank first.
Not "restaurant menu" but "how to make a digital QR code menu".
What to do once you've found them
Give each keyword its own page. Target the same term on three pages and those pages compete with each other, and all three fall.
Place the term naturally in four places: the page title, the main heading, the first paragraph and the URL. Don't force it through the rest of the text — Google already understands synonyms.
- #seo
- #keywords
- #research
