Keyword tools have a specific blind spot in small markets. Ask one about "furnace repair Wallaceburg" and it will likely report zero or ten searches a month, which sounds like a phrase not worth targeting. In practice that phrase might represent four genuine emergencies a month, each worth several hundred dollars, from people who are ready to call the first credible result.
Volume estimates in the low tens are essentially noise. What you need instead is evidence of the words real local people use — and there are four free sources of exactly that.
Source 1: Google Search Console (start here)
If your site has been live for a few months, Search Console holds a list of the actual phrases people typed before seeing your site. Not estimates — records.
- 01Open the Performance reportSet the date range to the last twelve months so seasonal terms appear, and switch on the Impressions and Position metrics alongside Clicks.
- 02Sort by impressions and read the query listThese are searches where you appeared at all. High impressions with low clicks means you are visible but not compelling — usually a title tag problem, sometimes a mismatch of intent.
- 03Filter to positions 8–20This is the most valuable slice on the whole report. You are close enough that a modest improvement to the matching page can move you onto page one, where clicks actually happen.
- 04Look for queries with no matching pageIf people find you searching something you have not written a page about, that is a page waiting to be written, with proven demand behind it.
- 05Export itDownload the query list to a spreadsheet. It becomes the backbone of your content plan for the next year.
Source 2: Google itself
The search box is a keyword tool. Every suggestion it makes is drawn from real searches.
- Autocomplete. Type your service slowly and note every suggestion, then add each letter of the alphabet after it — 'plumber chatham a', 'plumber chatham b' — to surface a much wider set.
- People also ask. The expandable question box. Every one is a heading for your FAQ section, and expanding one loads more.
- Related searches. The block at the bottom of the results page.
- 'Searches related to' on Maps. Different suggestions from web search, and closer to local intent.
- Google Trends. Free, and useful for a real question in a seasonal business: when does 'air conditioning repair' start climbing in Ontario? Set the region to Ontario and look at a five-year view.
Source 3: your Google Business Profile
The Performance report on your profile includes the search terms people used to find your listing. For a local business this is often better data than anything on the website side, because it captures the map-first searches that never touch a website.
Pay attention to the split between discovery searches — category and service terms from people who did not know you existed — and direct searches for your name. A profile that is nearly all direct searches is serving people who already know you; the discovery half is the growth.
Source 4: your own customers
The most under-used source, and the one that produces phrasing no tool will ever suggest, because customers describe problems rather than services.
- Read your last fifty enquiry emails and texts. Copy out the exact phrasing of the problem. 'My basement smells like sewage' is a real query; 'drain services' is a category.
- Note what people say on the phone. Keep a sheet by the phone for two weeks.
- Ask three recent customers what they searched. Most remember, and the answers are often surprising.
- Read your reviews. Customers describe what you did in their own words — those words are search terms.
- Read competitors' reviews. The complaints reveal what buyers worry about, which is the objection content that converts.
Sorting what you gathered
You now have a messy list. Group it by intent, because intent determines what kind of page each phrase needs.
| Intent | Example | What it needs | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ready to buy | emergency plumber chatham | A service page with price, availability and a phone number | Highest |
| Comparing | cost to replace eavestrough ontario | A pricing guide or comparison article | High |
| Researching | how often should eavestroughs be cleaned | A guide article with an FAQ block | Medium |
| Fixing it themselves | how to unclog a downspout | A tutorial — builds trust and captures the ones who give up | Lower |
| Looking for you | the marketing guru chatham | Your home page and Business Profile | Already covered |
Then apply a simple three-column score in a spreadsheet: value of a customer from this search, effort to produce and rank the page, and honest chance of competing. A high-value, low-effort, winnable phrase beats a glamorous one you have no realistic shot at.
Modifiers worth deliberately covering
Local searches cluster around predictable patterns. Once you have your core services, run each through these:
- Place: service + town, service + 'near me', service + region.
- Urgency: emergency, same day, 24 hour, after hours, weekend.
- Price: cost, price, how much, cheap, affordable, quote.
- Qualifier: best, licensed, insured, certified, local, family owned.
- Problem phrasing: what customers say when something is wrong, in their words.
- Comparison: X vs Y, repair or replace, worth it.
Checking whether it worked
- Note the date you published or updated the page.
- Wait four to eight weeks. Checking weekly tells you nothing except that rankings fluctuate.
- In Search Console, filter the Performance report to that page and compare the periods before and after.
- Look at impressions first. Impressions rising while clicks stay flat means the page is being found but the title is not earning the click — a ten-minute fix.
- Look at average position for the specific query you targeted, not the site overall.
Common questions
- Do I need a paid keyword tool for local SEO?
- No. For a single local business, Search Console, autocomplete, your Business Profile data and your own customer conversations cover it. Paid tools become worth it when you manage many sites or compete nationally.
- What if a keyword tool says my target phrase has zero searches?
- In a small market, treat low reported volume as unreliable rather than as absence. Tools round and suppress low numbers. If customers phone you saying that phrase, it has volume that matters to your business regardless of what the tool reports.
- How many keywords should one page target?
- One primary phrase and the natural variations of it. A good page for 'eavestrough cleaning Chatham' will also rank for 'gutter cleaning Chatham', 'eavestrough cleaner near me' and dozens of long-tail phrasings without any of them being targeted separately.
- Should I target 'near me' searches?
- Not by writing 'near me' into your copy — it reads badly and does not help. 'Near me' results are resolved by the searcher's location against your Business Profile, so the way to win them is proximity, categories and prominence.