Local SEO keywords: how to find the searches your customers use
Local SEO keywords are the words people type to find a business like yours nearby: what you sell plus where, such as "seafood restaurant Monterey" or "sunset sail Key West". Find them in Google's autocomplete, your Business Profile's search terms and Search Console, then give each group of searches one page that answers it.
Key takeaways
- Start from what customers call your food, trip or room, which is often different from the name on your menu or price list.
- Your Business Profile already lists the search terms people used to find you, refreshed at the start of each month.
- Someone typing "near me" gets results by where they stand, so the town and neighbourhood words on your pages matter more than the phrase itself.
- Give each group of searches one page, and skip copies of the same page with only the town name swapped, which Google treats as doorway spam.
Why do keywords matter for a local business?
Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Distance you can't change, and prominence grows slowly with reviews and links. Relevance is how well your listing and website match the words in the search, and that part you control today. A café whose site never says "brunch" has nothing for Google to match when someone in town searches "brunch near me". Choosing keywords means finding those words before you write your pages, so the local pack has a reason to show you.
How do you find local SEO keywords?
1. List what you sell in your customers' words
Write down every dish type, trip, room and service, then add the plain words a visitor would use. Google's starter guide warns that people new to a topic search with different words than experts do, so "trattoria" may also need "Italian restaurant", and "RIB tour" may also need "speedboat tour".1
2. Add the place words people pair with them
Put your town, neighbourhood, island or nearby landmark next to each service: "wine bar French Quarter", "guesthouse near Pike Place Market". When a search names no place, as with "near me", Google works out distance from where the searcher is, so what you control is your address and the place names on your pages.9
3. Read Google's autocomplete
Type each service and your town into Google and note the predictions. They come from real searches and take the searcher's language and location into account. Your own past searches shape them too, so use a private window, and try the languages your guests search in.2
4. Check the searches that already find you
Your Business Profile's performance view lists the search terms people used to find your business; it is updated at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to show.3
5. Read the queries in Search Console
If your website is in Search Console, its Performance report lists the queries that showed your pages, with clicks, impressions and average position. A query with many impressions and few clicks is one where you appear but rarely get chosen.4
6. Compare demand in Keyword Planner
Google Ads' Keyword Planner suggests related keywords and estimates how often each is searched per month. In a small town many good searches show very low numbers. Use the estimates to choose between wordings of the same idea, and keep a search your guests clearly make even when its number is small.5
7. Give each group of searches one page
Group searches that want the same answer: "seafood restaurant" and "fish restaurant" belong on one page, "private dining" on another. A tour company gets a page per trip, a guesthouse a page per room type. Don't make near-identical pages for every nearby town; Google's spam policies name pages aimed at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page as doorway abuse.7
8. Use the main search in the title and first heading
Name the page for its search in plain words, such as "Sunset kayak tour in San Diego", and say it once in the first heading. Google's title guidance asks for distinct, descriptive titles and warns that repeating the same phrase several times can make a result look spammy. The free website grader shows the titles your pages have now.6
9. Keep keywords out of your Business Profile name
Your profile's name must match the sign. Google's guidelines say extra words in the name aren't permitted and can get the profile suspended, so "Rosa's Taqueria" stays "Rosa's Taqueria", not "Rosa's Taqueria Best Tacos Austin". Put the services in the categories, the description and your website instead.8
10. Check where you rank for each main search
Take the main search for each page and look up where you place from your own address with the free local rank checker. Check the same searches again each month after the pages change, since ranking moves slowly. Our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps covers what else moves it.9
Checklist
- Services listed in customers' words
- Town, neighbourhood and landmark words added
- Autocomplete read in a private window
- Business Profile search terms checked
- Search Console queries checked
- Searches grouped, one page per group
- Main search in each page's title and first heading
- Business Profile name exactly as on the sign
- Rank checked for each main search
Questions
What are local SEO keywords?
They are the searches that combine what you offer with a place, like "tapas bar Chicago" or "airport shuttle Denver", plus the searches with no place at all that Google answers locally because of where the person is, like "pizza" or "bike rental".
How do I find local keywords for free?
Read Google's autocomplete for each service and town in a private window, check the search terms in your Business Profile's performance view, and look at the queries in Search Console's Performance report if your website is set up there.
Should I put "near me" on my website?
There is little point. Google answers a "near me" search with the searcher's location, so what helps is your address, your town and neighbourhood names on the page, and a complete Business Profile.
Can I add keywords to my Google Business Profile name?
No. Google requires the name you use on your sign and storefront, and says extra words in the name can get the profile suspended. Describe your services in the categories and the description instead.
How many keywords should one page target?
One main search and the close variations of it, such as "seafood restaurant" and "fish restaurant" in the same town. A different service, trip or room type gets its own page.
Should I make a page for every nearby town?
Only if you have something real to say about serving that town, such as a pickup point or a separate location. Pages that only swap the town name are what Google's spam policies call doorway abuse.
Sources
- Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide · read
- Google Search Help, How Google autocomplete predictions work · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Understand your Business Profile performance & insights · read
- Search Console Help, Performance report (Search results) · read
- Google Ads Help, Use Keyword Planner · read
- Google Search Central, Influencing your title links in search results · read
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search: doorway abuse · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google · read
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