For your business5 min read

How to do keyword research for a small business (without paid tools)

Paid SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush cost £100+ per month and overkill for most local businesses. With a free toolkit and 30 minutes, you can identify the keywords that will actually generate enquiries.

Quick answer

To do free keyword research, use Google autocomplete to find what real people type, mine the 'People also ask' and 'Related searches' boxes for related questions, look at competitor page titles for terms they target, and check Google Trends for seasonal demand. For local businesses, prioritise long-tail keywords with local intent (e.g. 'emergency plumber Hove') over broad single-word terms — they convert better and are easier to rank for.

Step-by-step

Start with Google autocomplete

Open an incognito window and type your core service slowly into Google: 'plumber in...', 'plumber for...', 'plumber near...'. Google autocomplete shows you the actual phrases real people are searching. Repeat with variants: 'emergency [service]', 'cheap [service]', '[service] cost', 'best [service]'. This is real first-party data from Google about what your prospective customers are typing. Spend 10 minutes here and you'll have 30-50 candidate keywords, all with proven search volume because Google wouldn't suggest them otherwise.

Mine People Also Ask and Related Searches

Search your top keyword on Google and scroll down. The 'People also ask' box shows real questions Google has identified as related. The 'Related searches' block at the bottom shows other phrases users search after this one. Click each PAA question — it expands and reveals more questions. These are gold for blog content and FAQ pages because they answer the actual questions your customers ask. Each PAA question is a potential blog post or FAQ entry.

Reverse-engineer competitor pages

Open the top 3-5 results for your main keywords. Look at their page titles, H1 headlines, and H2 subheadings — these reveal the keywords they're targeting. Use Google's free Chrome extension 'SEO Meta in 1 Click' or just view source (Ctrl+U) to see meta titles and descriptions. Build a list of every distinct keyword phrase your top competitors use across their service and location pages. If multiple competitors target a keyword, it's almost certainly worth targeting.

Use free volume estimation tools

For free search volume data, three tools cover most needs. Google Trends (trends.google.com) shows relative interest over time and seasonality — essential for knowing when to publish. Bing Webmaster Tools includes a free keyword research feature with real volume numbers, often a reasonable proxy for Google volumes. Ubersuggest's free tier gives 3 free searches a day with volume estimates. None of these are as comprehensive as Ahrefs or Semrush, but combined they're sufficient for local SEO decisions.

Layer in local modifiers

For most local service businesses, the highest-converting keywords combine your service with a location modifier. The patterns to test: '[service] [city]' ('plumber Birmingham'), '[service] near me' (no location word — Google auto-localises), '[service] in [neighbourhood]' ('plumber in Edgbaston'). Hyper-local terms have lower search volume but much higher intent — someone searching 'plumber Edgbaston' is far closer to booking than someone searching 'plumber'. Build location pages targeting each suburb or town you serve.

Prioritise intent over volume

A keyword with 2,000 monthly searches sounds better than one with 80 — but the 80-search keyword 'emergency boiler repair Camden' converts at maybe 8%, while 'best boiler 2026' (high volume, research intent) converts at under 0.5%. Group your candidate keywords by intent: transactional (buyer ready to book), commercial (comparing options), informational (learning). For most service businesses, transactional keywords are 80% of the value even though they're 20% of the volume. Target informational keywords only after transactional coverage is complete.

Tips & best practices

▸Use Answer the Public's free tier (3 searches/day) to find question-based keywords clustered by 'who/what/where/when/why/how'. Excellent for blog post and FAQ planning.
▸Set up a free Google Search Console account — once your site has any traffic, it shows the actual queries you're already ranking for, often revealing low-effort keyword wins you didn't know about.
▸Don't obsess over exact monthly volumes. For local SEO, knowing a keyword has 'some' volume is enough; the difference between 50 and 200 searches doesn't change strategy.

Common questions

Do I need paid SEO tools as a small business?

Not for local SEO. The free toolkit (Google autocomplete, PAA, Google Trends, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools) covers 90% of what a local business needs. Paid tools like Ahrefs or Semrush become worthwhile when you're competing nationally, doing content marketing at scale, or have an SEO professional working with you.

How many keywords should I target on each page?

One primary keyword and 2-5 closely related variants per page. Each page should have a clear focus — don't try to rank one page for 20 different terms. If you have 20 keywords worth targeting, build multiple pages, not one over-optimised one.

What's the difference between short-tail and long-tail keywords?

Short-tail keywords are 1-2 words with high volume and high competition ('plumber'). Long-tail keywords are 3+ words with lower volume but higher intent and easier ranking ('emergency boiler plumber Stoke Newington'). Small businesses should focus almost entirely on long-tail keywords — they're cheaper to rank for and convert much better.

How long does keyword research take?

For a typical local service business, 1-2 hours of focused work produces a solid keyword map of 20-50 prioritised terms. Trying to do it perfectly takes much longer with diminishing returns. Set a timer, ship a list, and refine as you see what actually ranks and converts.