Local keyword research is the work of finding the exact phrases your customers type into Google, so you can put those phrases where they’ll do the most good. It sounds technical, but the core method is straightforward and you can do a useful version of it in an afternoon with free tools. Guessing at what people search is where most small businesses go wrong; they optimize for the words they’d use internally, not the words a customer actually types.
Here’s a practical way to do it yourself. When you want the full strategy built and applied across your site, that’s where Evergreen’s SEO services come in, but you’ll get a lot of value just from understanding the method.
Start with how customers describe their problem
Before any tool, write down how your customers talk. They rarely use industry terms. A homeowner doesn’t search “HVAC remediation,” they search “furnace not working Kitchener” or “AC repair near me.” List the problems you solve and the everyday language people use to describe them. This raw list is the foundation, and it’s often more accurate than anything a tool spits out, because you know your customers.
Add the local layer
Local searches usually carry geographic intent in one of two ways. Some people add a place name (“plumber Waterloo,” “cafe Cambridge”), and others use “near me” and let Google handle location. You want to account for both. Think through the towns and neighbourhoods you serve across Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, and pair them with your core service terms. This is also why your service-area pages and profile matter, which ties back to the basics in our checklist for local SEO.
Use Google’s own free suggestions
Google hands you keyword ideas for free. Start typing a search and watch the autocomplete suggestions; those are real phrases people use. Search one of your terms, then scroll to the “People also ask” boxes and the “related searches” at the bottom. Each of those is a genuine query worth noting. Do this for a few of your core services and you’ll quickly have a list grounded in real behaviour rather than guesswork.
Check volume and competition with a free tool
Tools like Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account) give you rough search volumes and a sense of competition. You’re not chasing the biggest numbers. For a local business, a phrase with modest volume but clear local intent and buyers ready to act is worth more than a high-volume term that’s vague or national. Prioritize phrases that signal someone nearby who’s ready to call.
Want a shortcut? Send us your top services and we’ll suggest the local phrases worth targeting first.
Sort keywords by intent
Not every keyword is equal. Someone searching “emergency plumber Kitchener” is ready to hire now. Someone searching “how to fix a leaky tap” wants to do it themselves and may never call you. Both have a place, but the ready-to-buy phrases deserve your service pages and profile attention, while the informational ones suit blog content. Knowing the difference keeps you from optimizing your money pages for window-shoppers.
Put the keywords to work
Research is useless until you apply it. Use your priority local phrases naturally in your page titles, headings, and body copy, in your Google Business Profile categories and description, and in the content you publish. Don’t stuff them; write naturally and let the right phrases appear where they fit. Spread your terms across pages rather than cramming everything onto one, since each page can target its own focus. If you’re still not appearing for the terms you’ve targeted, our piece on why a business isn’t showing up helps you work out what’s blocking you.
Revisit it over time
Search behaviour shifts, and so does your business. Revisit your keyword list a couple of times a year, watch what terms actually bring people to your site, and adjust. Local keyword research isn’t a one-and-done task; it’s a habit that keeps your content pointed at what people are really searching for.
Book a Call
If you want the right local keywords found, prioritized, and built into your site properly, we can handle it. Book a call and we’ll turn customer search behaviour into traffic that converts.
