How to Do Keyword Research for a Small Business (Free Tools)

Most small business websites are written in the owner’s language, not the customer’s. A clinic calls it “musculoskeletal therapy”; patients search “back pain treatment near me.” A bakery lists “celebration cakes”; customers type “custom birthday cake.” That gap is why good websites still get little search traffic.

Keyword research closes it. It’s the process of finding the exact words and questions people type into search engines, then shaping your pages around them.

You don’t need expensive software to do it. This guide uses free tools from Google and Bing and a simple spreadsheet. Plan on 2 to 3 hours for your first round.

What keyword research is and why it matters

A keyword is any word or phrase someone types into a search engine. Keyword research means finding which of those phrases:

1. Your potential customers actually use
2. Match what you sell or know
3. You have a realistic chance to rank for

The output is a short list of target phrases mapped to pages on your site. That list guides what you write, what you title each page and which new pages to create. It also feeds directly into paid search if you run Google Ads.

New to the concept of search rankings? Start with our guide to what SEO is, then come back.

Understand search intent before you collect keywords

Every search has an intent behind it. Matching that intent matters more than matching the exact words.

The quickest way to check intent is to search the phrase yourself and look at what ranks. If the top results are all how-to articles, a sales page probably won’t rank there. If they’re all local business listings, you need a strong Google Business Profile and location page.

The free keyword research toolkit

A few notes on these tools:

• Keyword Planner is designed for advertisers, so you’ll need to finish setting up a Google Ads account, including billing information, to use it. You don’t have to run ads to research keywords.
• Google Trends numbers are not search counts. Google says the values are scaled from 0 to 100 relative to the peak for your chosen time and place. A 50 means half as popular as the peak in that view.
• Search Console only shows searches where your site already appeared. That’s perfect for improving existing pages but won’t reveal brand-new topics.

Step-by-step: how to do keyword research

Step 1: Brainstorm seed topics from customers

Write down 10 to 20 things customers ask you about, buy from you or complain about. Pull from your inbox, call notes, reviews and FAQs. Use their words, not industry jargon. These are your seed keywords.

For a landscaping company, seeds might include “lawn care,” “sod installation,” “drainage problems in yard,” “how often to aerate lawn” and “landscaper near me.”

Step 2: Expand with Google’s own suggestions

Type each seed into Google and note:

• Autocomplete suggestions as you type
• People also ask questions on the results page
• Related searches at the bottom of the page

Try adding modifiers: your city, “cost,” “near me,” “best,” “how to,” “vs” and “for [type of customer].” Put everything in a spreadsheet with 1 keyword per row.

AI chatbots can help you brainstorm variations quickly, as covered in our guide to using AI chatbots for everyday tasks. Treat their output as ideas to verify, not as data. They don’t know real search volumes.

Step 3: Check volume and trends

Paste your list into Keyword Planner’s “Get search volume and forecasts” option, and set your location to your service area. Add columns for average monthly searches and competition.

Then check your top candidates in Google Trends to spot seasonality. A pool service company will see very different interest in June than in January, which affects when to publish and promote.

Don’t throw out low-volume phrases. For a local business, a phrase with modest monthly searches and strong buying intent can be worth far more than a popular informational term.

Step 4: Mine Search Console for quick wins

If your site has been live for a few months, open the Performance report in Search Console. Sort queries by impressions and look for:

• Queries with many impressions but few clicks (your title or description may need work)
• Queries where your average position is roughly 8 to 20 (page 1 or 2, where small improvements can move you up)
• Queries you didn’t expect (new page ideas)

Step 5: Judge difficulty by looking at the results

Free tools don’t give reliable “difficulty” scores, but you can judge by eye. Search each phrase and look at the top 10:

• Are they big national brands and directories, or local businesses like yours?
• Do the ranking pages actually answer the question well?
• Is there a map pack with local listings?

If small sites rank with thin pages, you have a good chance. If every result is a national brand with a 5,000-word guide, pick a more specific phrase.

Step 6: Group keywords and map them to pages

Group phrases that mean the same thing (“lawn aeration cost,” “how much does aeration cost,” “price to aerate a lawn”) into 1 cluster. Each cluster gets 1 page and 1 primary keyword.

Key takeaway: One page, one main topic. If 2 pages on your site target the same keyword, they compete with each other. Combine them or give each a clearly different focus.

Step 7: Prioritize and build a simple plan

Score each cluster on 3 things: business value (does it lead to sales?), realistic ranking chance and effort to create the page. Start with high-value, easier clusters, usually your core service and location pages. Then add informational articles that answer common questions.

A sample keyword map

Here’s what a finished map might look like for a small landscaping company.

Keep the map in a spreadsheet. Our Google Sheets vs Excel comparison can help if you’re choosing a tool.

Common keyword research mistakes

• Chasing the biggest numbers. High-volume terms are often broad and competitive. Specific phrases convert better.
• Ignoring intent. Trying to rank a sales page for an informational query rarely works.
• Writing for the keyword instead of the reader. Google’s spam policies treat keyword stuffing as spam. Use the phrase naturally in the title, heading and text, then focus on being useful.
• One page for everything. A single “Services” page can’t rank for 12 different services.
• Never revisiting the list. Search behavior changes. Review Search Console every month or 2.

Where to start this week

1. Write 15 customer questions in a spreadsheet.
2. Expand each with autocomplete and People also ask.
3. Check volumes in Keyword Planner and seasonality in Google Trends.
4. Pick 5 clusters with clear business value.
5. Map each to an existing page or a new one.
6. Update those pages using our on-page SEO checklist.

Local businesses should also read our guide to showing up in near me searches. Online stores can pair this process with our guide to SEO for product and category pages. Unfamiliar terms are defined in our glossary.

Conclusion

Keyword research isn’t about gaming search engines. It’s about learning how your customers describe their problems and making sure your website uses the same language. Start with what customers already tell you, expand with free Google tools, check demand and intent, and give every important topic its own page. Repeat the process every few months, and your site will keep growing in step with what people actually search.

Sources

• Google Ads Help: Use Keyword Planner — what Keyword Planner shows and account setup requirements
• Google Ads Help: About Keyword Planner forecasts — definitions of top-of-page bid ranges
• Google Trends Help: FAQ about Google Trends data — how the 0 to 100 scale is calculated
• Search Console Help: Performance report — clicks, impressions, CTR and average position
• Bing Webmaster Tools: Keyword Research — Bing’s free keyword tool
• Google Search Central: Spam policies — keyword stuffing treated as spam