You already have a grid of services and places, plus a first guess at which cells matter. Now you need numbers. Local numbers mislead in particular ways: national totals that aren't yours, zero volumes for searches that happen every day, and difficulty scores built for a different contest. This lesson is the procedure for getting local keyword data you can act on.
Start with Search Console, because it's your searchers
Google Search Console's Performance report lists the searches your site already appears for, with impressions, clicks and average position for each query. For a local business it's the only keyword data about your actual customers rather than a national estimate.
- Open the Performance report and filter queries containing your town name. That's your service-plus-place demand, already measured.
- Filter queries containing "near me". These are real people near you who saw your site, so note which services they wanted.
- Filter by page to your homepage and read its top queries. Whatever the homepage draws most is the bare service term Google already associates with you.
- Sort by impressions and look for queries with many impressions and few clicks. You're being shown and passed over, usually because the title doesn't name the place or the service clearly.
The report has two limits. It filters by country and device but not by city, so you can't see where a searcher stood. And it only covers searches you already appear for. A cell where you have no page produces no rows, so an empty result means "no data", never "no demand".
Check volume, and read local volume correctly
Now put numbers on the grid cells with the free Keyword checker, which reports volume, difficulty and intent for a keyword in the market you choose. Local volume differs from national volume in two ways that catch people out.
The market is the country. "Boiler repair" returns volume for the whole country, and almost all of it comes from places you don't serve. Only the service-plus-place cells ("boiler repair leeds") can be read literally.
Zero is common, and it misleads. The tool's own help page says ultra-niche terms genuinely measure zero monthly volume while still being worth a page. Town-level terms are the textbook case. Most of that demand is typed as the bare term and localised by Google, so it never shows up against the place name.
So rank your cells against each other instead of against a threshold. A cell with any measurable volume in a town you serve is a strong one. A zero cell with evidence behind it and a good fit can still earn a page on fit alone. For a second opinion, Google's Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account) can split a keyword's volume by location, and Google Trends shows relative interest by region.
Sort by intent before you pick a page
Local searches cluster near the paying end of the ladder, though not all on the same rung, and the rung decides the page. "Emergency plumber" wants a phone number on the first screen. "Boiler service cost" wants a price range, then a booking link. "How often should a boiler be serviced" wants an answer and a gentle link to your service page.
Paste your cell list into the free Keyword intent checker. It places each keyword on a buying ladder that runs from emergency at the top to informational at the bottom, and you read the output as page instructions:
- Emergency and transactional terms go to service and location pages, with the call-to-action above the fold.
- Commercial terms (comparisons, "best", "cost") go to service pages with pricing and proof.
- Informational terms go to guides that link down to the service.
For the informational end, the free People Also Ask finder pulls the question boxes Google shows around a keyword. Each one is a heading you can answer on the relevant service page or in a short guide. Search intent in the SEO track covers the general version of this idea.
Judge competition by the results page, not a score
Difficulty scores summarise the strength of whatever currently ranks. The Keyword checker's help notes that the number is comparative, not absolute, so a given score in a local market is a different fight from the same score nationally. Use it to order your own cells, then confirm by looking at the actual results.
Search each one yourself in a private browser window and note four things:
- Is there a map pack? If so, the first contest is your Business Profile, and the categories and reviews chapters matter more than the page.
- Who is in the organic results below it? National directories and lead-generation sites mean you need a strong, specific page to break in. Local businesses with thin pages mean a good page can compete soon.
- Do the ranking pages name the place in their titles? If they do, Google is rewarding explicit place targeting for this search, and your page should name it too.
- Does an AI overview appear, and which local sources does it name? Those are the sources to study.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free tool for local keyword research?
Google Search Console, because it shows the queries real people near you used to find your site. Pair it with the free Keyword checker for volume and the Keyword intent checker for intent. Google's Keyword Planner and Google Trends add a location split and regional interest as a second opinion.
Why does my local keyword show zero search volume?
Tools often can't see town-level demand. Most people type the bare service term and Google localises the results, so the place-name version registers little or nothing. A zero can still be worth a page if you have evidence of demand, such as Search Console impressions, and a real service in that town.
Should I target "near me" keywords?
Don't build pages around the phrase itself. Use Search Console's "near me" queries to learn which services nearby people want, then target those services with the town named on the page. Your Business Profile and your location signals do the "near" work.
How do I tell if a local keyword is too competitive?
Look at the results page, not the difficulty score. A map pack means your Business Profile has to win first. National directories ranking below it mean you need a strong, specific page, while thin local pages mean you can compete sooner.
What to take away
- Search Console is the only local keyword data about your real searchers. Read it first and treat empty results as missing data, not missing demand.
- Keyword volume is a national figure unless the place is in the keyword, so only service-plus-place cells can be read literally, and zeros are normal.
- Intent decides the page: emergency and transactional terms go to service and location pages with the call-to-action first, informational ones to guides that link down.
- Judge competition by looking at the results page: whether there's a map pack, who ranks beneath it, and whether they name the place.
Next
You now have a ranked list of local keywords with a page for each. Start building those pages in Service pages that rank.