What words do your customers use? Free keyword research
You know your own trade so well that you use your own words. A florist talks about "funeral arrangements", customers search for "funeral bouquet" or "flowers for a funeral". Keyword research is finding out which words your customers really use, so your pages answer those questions. You don't need a paid tool for that. This article lists the free sources and what each source does and doesn't tell you.
1. What your customers say themselves
The best source isn't online: the questions you get every week, on the phone, in the shop and by email. Write them down for a few weeks, in the customer's own words. "Do you also deliver on Sunday?" is a search query in the making. Also look at reviews, questions on forums and the search function on your own site.
2. Search Console: the real search queries
If your site is in Google Search Console, open the Performance report and choose the Queries tab below the chart. You'll see what your site already appeared for in Google (impressions) and what was clicked. These are real figures from Google for your site, not estimates. Good to know:
- Search queries from very few people are left out of the table by Google, to protect the privacy of searchers. They still count in the total at the top. That's why the rows never add up to the total.
- The table shows at most 1,000 rows and the data goes back 16 months.
- Look at the position per search query, not just the average for the whole site.
- Search queries with a lot of impressions where you're almost at the top are your opportunities: Google already finds your page relevant. A better title, description or page can then make the difference.
- Filter out your company name ("doesn't contain"), otherwise you won't see how you're doing with people who don't know you yet.
Don't have Search Console yet? Read Submitting your website to search engines (Google and Bing).
3. Google itself: autocomplete and related questions
Type your word into Google's search box and see what appears as a suggestion. According to Google, these predictions reflect real search queries, although they're not simply the most popular ones. Add a letter after your word to see more variations. Many results pages also show questions people ask and, at the bottom, related searches. Each question is a possible subheading or a possible article. Search in a private window, so your own search history counts less.
4. Google Trends: comparing and seasons
Google Trends shows no numbers, but a scale from 0 to 100: 100 is the highest point in your graph. Words with too few searches show as 0. Trends is handy for comparing two words, for seeing when something peaks during the year (so your page is ready on time) and for seeing differences between regions.
5. The Keyword Planner in Google Ads
The Keyword Planner gives an estimate of the number of searches per month and new ideas. You need a Google Ads account, with the account setup completed. You don't have to run an ad. The figures are rounded, and many users without a running campaign only see a range, such as 100 to 1,000. So use the planner to compare words, not to predict visitors.
6. Keyword Research in Bing Webmaster Tools
In Bing Webmaster Tools, under SEO, you'll find the Keyword Research section. You'll see related keywords, questions that include the word and how often it's searched for on Bing, filterable by country, language and device. The numbers are lower than Google's, but the questions in particular are useful.
Choosing and making a list
A short word like "flowers" is searched a lot, but you're competing with big web shops and you don't know what the searcher wants. A longer search term like "flowers delivered sunday amersfoort" is searched less, but fits exactly what a local business offers. Ask three questions for each word:
- Does what the searcher wants match what I offer? Search for it and see which results Google shows.
- Can I make the best page for it, with real knowledge or a real offer?
- Which page will it become? Improve an existing one or create a new one, but never two pages for the same question.
| Keyword | Source | Page | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| order funeral bouquet amersfoort | autocomplete, customers | /funeral-flowers | adjust title and text |
| funeral ribbon text | questions block, Bing | new article | write |
| flowers delivered sunday | customers | /delivery | mention sunday |
A search volume is a direction, not a promise. A word that's searched little, but for which you have the best answer, often brings in more than a popular word for which you'll never become visible.
Giving the words a place
Use the keyword where it fits naturally: in the title, the main heading and the first paragraph. Not more often than a reader finds pleasant; stuffing pages with keywords falls under Google's spam policy. In the AI Builder you adjust the title and description per page under SEO. You can read how to write a page that gives answers in Writing a page that gets found. You can read how to set the title and description in Setting the title, description and alt text per page.