Short answer: Keyword research means finding the words your customers type into Google, how often they search them and which page of your site should answer each one. Start in Search Console, where the Queries tab shows the searches that already bring up your site. Then use Google Keyword Planner, which Google calls a free resource, for new ideas and monthly searches in your area and language. Give each page one main search and write it for people.
Start from your customers’ words
Google’s SEO starter guide asks you to think about the words people might search for to find your content. Someone who knows a topic well may search with different words than someone new to it. Google also says not to worry about every variation, because its language matching can relate a page to many searches.
Write down what you sell the way your customers say it, and the places you serve. Google’s tips for Keyword Planner point the same way: describe your category as customers think of it, such as “hiking boots”, with the right amount of detail. “Wedding venue” works better than “wedding”, which is too general, or “wedding venues for small weddings”, which is too specific.
From Google Search Central, “SEO Starter Guide”, and Google Ads Help, “Best practices for finding new keywords”, read November 2, 2026.
See the searches you already get, in Search Console
If your site is in Search Console, its Performance report shows which searches already bring people to it. Open the report and choose the Queries tab. Each row is a search people typed, with its clicks, its impressions and the average position of your top result. The report opens on the past three months.
We look first at searches with many impressions and a position past the first page: Google already shows your site for them, but not high enough.
Don’t worry if you search one of them and don’t see your site. Google notes that results depend on the time, place, device and recent history of the person searching. If your site isn’t in Search Console yet, our guide on how to get your website on Google shows how to add it.
From Search Console Help, “Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup”.
Find new keywords in Keyword Planner
Keyword Planner is part of Google Ads. Google calls it a free resource for advertisers, and it needs no separate account. To open it, you first complete your Google Ads account setup, billing information included, and create a campaign. If the account is in Smart Mode, switch it to Expert Mode.
- Sign in to Google Ads and click the Tools icon.
- Under Planning, choose Keyword Planner.
- Select Discover new keywords.
- Type a few words for your services, separated by a comma and a space. Add your website too, so Google leaves out ideas that don’t match what you offer.
- Click Get results.
- Set the location and the language you want, such as your city and Spanish, in the settings above the chart.
- Check the keywords that fit and add them to your plan, or keep them in Saved keywords.
If you already have a list, choose Get search volume and forecasts instead and paste it in. A keyword and a website together give more ideas than a website alone. Very rare searches and sensitive ones don’t show up at all.
From Google Ads Help, “Use Keyword Planner” and “Refine your new keywords in Keyword Planner”, and Google’s Keyword Planner page.
Read the numbers right
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Avg. monthly searches | How many times people searched the keyword and its close variants, on average, for the months, place and network you chose. Shown only for exact matches, and rounded |
| Competition | How many advertisers showed on the keyword compared with all keywords on Google. It counts advertisers, not the websites in the organic results |
| Top of page bid (low and high range) | What advertisers paid to show at the top, around the 20th and the 80th percentile, in the last 30 days |
| Organic impression share | How often a listing from your website showed up in web searches for the keyword |
Because the volumes are rounded, the searches for several places may not add up to the total you expect. Use the date range to see when a search peaks during the year, and break it down by device to see how much comes from phones.
From Google Ads Help, “About Keyword Planner forecasts” and “Refine your new keywords in Keyword Planner”.
Local and Spanish searches
For a local business, set the location to the city or the area you serve, and click Nearby to see places next to it. When a business also serves Spanish speakers, we run the same services in Spanish, with the language set to Spanish.
Google’s tips for Keyword Planner add a rule about places. Put a location in the keyword only if your customers aren’t where your service is. If you plan to target a location in your ads, leave it out of the keyword.
We use Keyword Planner this way for clients and for our own studies. For our study of Spanish and English searches in Miami-Dade, we took 30 trades and one “near me” search per language. Keyword Planner gave us the average monthly searches over 12 months, for Miami-Dade County and the whole US.
From Google Ads Help, “Refine your new keywords in Keyword Planner” and “Best practices for finding new keywords”.
Give each page one main search
We give each page one main search and never let two pages chase the same one, because they end up competing. Use that search where it reads naturally: in the title, the main heading and the opening lines.
Then write for people. Google says that varying your words naturally gives you more chances to show up, because you use more keywords. Repeating the same words over and over is keyword stuffing, which goes against Google’s spam policies.
Google Search doesn’t use the keywords meta tag. Keywords in the domain name or the URL path alone have hardly any effect beyond breadcrumbs, and content length alone doesn’t matter for ranking.
From Google Search Central, “SEO Starter Guide”.
Before you write the page
- Your services are written the way customers say them, with the areas you serve.
- You looked at the Queries tab of Search Console’s Performance report.
- Keyword Planner has your location and language set.
- You read Competition as a number about ads, not about Google’s organic results.
- Each page has one main search, and no two pages share it.
- The text reads naturally, with no keyword repeated over and over.
RememberStart with your customers’ words and with the searches Search Console already shows. Use Keyword Planner, set to your area and language, for new ideas and volumes. Give each page one main search and write it for people.
If you want us to do the research and write the pages, see our SEO services.
Quick answers about keyword research
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Google calls Keyword Planner a free resource for advertisers, and it needs no separate account. To open it, you complete your Google Ads account setup, billing information included, and create a campaign. If the account is in Smart Mode, you switch it to Expert Mode first.
How do I find keywords for my website?
Start with Search Console: the Queries tab of the Performance report lists the searches that already show your site. Then enter your services and your website in Keyword Planner’s Discover new keywords. Google says a keyword and a website together bring more ideas than a website alone.
How do I do local keyword research?
In Keyword Planner, set the location to the city or area you serve and use Nearby to add places next to it. Google suggests putting a location in the keyword only when customers aren’t where your service is. In bilingual areas, check the same services in Spanish too.
Does Google use the keywords meta tag?
No. Google’s SEO starter guide says Google Search doesn’t use the keywords meta tag. Keywords in the domain name or the URL path alone have hardly any effect either. Write each page naturally for the searches it answers.
Why does Keyword Planner show different numbers than Search Console?
They count different things. Keyword Planner estimates how often people searched a keyword and its close variants in the place you chose, rounded. Search Console counts how many times your own site appeared in Google’s results and how many times it was clicked.
Sources
All read on November 2, 2026. Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide. Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results). Google Ads Help: Use Keyword Planner, Best practices for finding new keywords, Refine your new keywords in Keyword Planner and About Keyword Planner forecasts. Google Ads: Keyword Planner.