Local SEO Keyword Research: A Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide

What Is Local SEO Keyword Research and Why Is It Important?

Local SEO is the process of optimising your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. In simple terms, you want your business to show up, and preferably at the top, when someone nearby searches for a service or product you offer.

But how does Google decide which businesses to display in local search results? When evaluating and ranking local results, Google looks at three main factors:

• Relevance – How well your business matches what someone is searching for.
• Distance – How close your business is to the location term used in the search or the searcher’s actual location.
• Prominence – How well-known and trusted your business is online. This can be influenced by factors like Google reviews, backlinks, citations, and brand authority.

👉 You can read Google’s official explanation of how local search rankings work here.

In short: Local SEO isn’t just about adding your city name into a few pages. It’s about building a strong, trustworthy online presence that’s relevant, nearby, and recognised as high-quality, both by search engines and by customers.

What Is Local Search Intent and Why It Matters

Before we start with keyword research for local SEO, you need to understand what people really mean when they type something into Google.

Local search intent simply means that the user wants to find products, services, or businesses near them. They’re not looking for general information; they’re ready to take action locally. That’s why local keywords are incredibly powerful for driving real customers.

Types of Local Searches You Need to Know

There are two main types of local searches:

• Explicit Local searches –these include a clear location term in the query.

👉 Example: “dentist in Bratislava”, “best coffee shop in Prague”, “sofas Madrid open now” .

• Implicit Local Sesearches – these don’t include a location, but Google understands the user’s intent based on their current location.

👉 Example: “dentist” or “plumber” searched while physically located in Bratislava.

Google uses location data from users’ devices, search history, and other signals to deliver the most relevant nearby results, even when the user doesn’t mention a city, region, or neighborhood.

Why does local intent matter so much for keyword research?

Because if you don’t align your keywords with local search behavior, you’ll miss out on the people who are ready to buy or book today.

💡 Important tip: When doing keyword research for local SEO, you’re not just looking for generic keywords like “dentist” or “coffee shop”. You need to uncover how people search locally, including phrases like “near me,” specific city names, neighborhoods, and even real-time modifiers like “open now” or “24 hours”.

Local SEO Keyword Research: Step-by-Step

Now that you understand how local search intent works, it’s time to get into the actual process of finding the best keywords for local SEO. Here’s a simple, actionable step-by-step system you can follow, whether you’re optimising your own site or doing SEO for local clients.

Step 1: Define Seed Keywords

The first step is defining your seed keywords – the basic words and phrases that describe your business, services, or products. Grab a notebook or open a spreadsheet; you’ll be writing things down step-by-step.

Think about:

• What services do you offer?
• What products do you sell?
• What types of services or products would people search for?

👉 Example for a dentist:

Seed keywords could be dentist, dental clinic, tooth extraction, teeth whitening, emergency dentist, and invisalign.

👉 Example for an auto repair shop:

Seed keywords might include car repair, oil change, brake replacement, tyre service, and vehicle inspection.

Tip: Try to list all your main services and product types first, before thinking about any location-specific terms. You’ll add the local context later during expansion.

Step 2: Expand Keywords and Capture Local Modifiers

Once you have your basic seed keywords, the next step is to expand them and add local flavour. This phase is where you start finding real search queries that people in your area use and build a complete list of keyword ideas.

How to Expand Your Keyword List (Free and Easy Methods)

You don’t need expensive tools to start expanding your keywords. Here are simple (and free) methods you can use:

Google Autocomplete
Start typing your seed keyword into Google and see what suggestions appear.

👉 Example: If you are in Spain, typing “coffee shop in…” shows suggestions like “coffee shop Madrid”, coffee shop Barcelona”, etc.

People Also Ask
Look at the “People Also Ask” boxes to find common questions related to your services.

People also search for
Scroll to the bottom of the Google search results to discover additional relevant queries people also search for.

Google Trends (city/region filter)
Use Google Trends to see how search terms vary by city or region, and uncover rising keyword opportunities.

AnswerThePublic
A great tool to visualise questions and phrases people ask around your seed topics.

Bonus for Website Owners: Use Google Search Console

If you already have a website, don’t skip checking your Google Search Console data.
Look under “Performance” → “Search Results” to find queries where you’re already showing up even if you aren’t ranking well yet. You might find valuable local queries hiding there, ready for optimisation.

Capturing Local Modifiers

When expanding keywords, pay special attention to local modifiers, words that signal local intent.

Examples:

• Location Names: city, district, neighborhood (e.g., “Bratislava, Staré mesto, “, New York”, “Central Park”)
• “Near me” phrases: dentist near me, brunch café near me
• “Open now”, “24 hours”, “emergency”: urgent care open now, emergency dentist 24/7
• Service-specific modifiers: mobile dog grooming Bratislava, car repair service Madrid

Don’t Forget to Recognize Search Intent During Expansion

Recognising search intent early helps you target the right keywords with the right pages.

Quick clues:

• “How to”, “best”, “guide” = informational
• “Near me”, city/district names = navigational/transactional
• “Buy”, “appointment”, “order” = transactional

Step 3: Analyze What Keywords Your Competitors Use

Once you’ve expanded your keyword list, it’s time to spy (ethically!) on your competitors. Analysing what keywords they target can reveal valuable opportunities you might have missed and show you what’s already working in your local market.

How to Analyze Competitor Keywords

Start by checking what keywords your top local competitors use on their important pages. You can gather a lot of valuable insights simply by looking at:

• Page Titles (Title Tags)
  👉 What keywords are they placing at the beginning of their titles?
• Meta Descriptions
  👉 Are they using local terms like city names or districts to attract clicks?
• H1 Headings
  👉 Are their H1 headings optimized for local intent (e.g., “Dentist Bratislava – Emergency Dental Care”)?
• URL Slugs
  👉 Do their page URLs include target keywords or location terms (e.g., /dentist-bratislava or /emergency-plumber-prague)?
• Subheadings (H2, H3)
  👉 What secondary keywords are they targeting deeper in the content?
• On-page Content
  👉 What words and phrases are naturally repeated throughout their main text? Are they answering specific local needs?

Tip: You don’t need expensive tools for this basic competitor research. You can use free browser extensions like Detailed SEO Extension or MozBar to quickly view titles, H1s, and meta descriptions directly on competitor websites.

Important: Check the Page Type Too

When analysing competitor keywords, you also need to check what kind of page ranks those keywords have. Is it a detailed service page describing a specific offer? A location landing page targeting a city or district? A blog post answering a question? Or maybe an FAQ page covering multiple queries? Understanding the type of page helps you match your strategy to what Google is rewarding.

For example, trying to rank a service page for a keyword might not work if most top results are blog posts.

Step 4: Clean and Filter Your Keyword List

After expanding your keywords, you’ll probably have a pretty large list. But not every keyword you collected will be useful. So now it’s time to clean and filter your list for better focus.

How to Clean and Filter Your Local SEO Keyword List

Here’s what you should do:

• Remove Duplicates
  Check for duplicate keywords that appear multiple times and keep only one clean version.
• Eliminate Irrelevant Keywords
  Some keywords may seem related but don’t actually fit your services or business goals.
  👉 Example: If you run a dental clinic in Ostrava, you don’t need keywords like “DIY teeth whitening at home” unless you plan to create educational blog content around it.
• Filter by Local Relevance
  Focus on keywords that have a clear local intent – either explicitly (with city or district names) or implicitly (service keywords that are locally searched, like “emergency plumber near me”).

Tip: Don’t be afraid to trim aggressively. It’s better to work with a focused, relevant list than a bloated one that dilutes your SEO strategy.

Quick Workflow for Keyword Cleaning

1. Organise your keywords in a spreadsheet or keyword tool.
2. Use filters to remove duplicates automatically.
3. Manually review remaining keywords for relevance to your business and target locations.
4. Monitor keywords for which you could realistically create content or landing pages that align with search intent.

A well-cleaned keyword list sets you up perfectly for the next steps: analysing search metrics and planning your optimisation strategy.

Step 5: Basic Keyword Metrics Check

Now that you have a clean and relevant keyword list, it’s time to do a basic check of the most important keyword metrics. This step helps you prioritise keywords that are not only relevant but also realistic and valuable for your local SEO strategy.

What Metrics Should You Check?

• Search Volume
  👉 How many people are searching for this keyword each month?
  For local SEO, a lower search volume compared to national keywords is not a concern. Local queries are often more targeted and have higher conversion potential.
• Keyword Difficulty (KD)
  👉 How hard will it be to rank for this keyword?
  Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Ubersuggest, or Marketing Miner estimate keyword difficulty scores and give you an idea of how competitive a term is.
• Relevance and Intent
  👉 Does the keyword match what your target customer would search for when they are ready to visit, buy, or book?
  A keyword might have volume, but if it doesn’t fit your service or audience, it’s not worth targeting.

How to Check These Metrics

• Ahrefs (Paid tool) → Deeper keyword analysis, including parent topics, traffic potential, and keyword difficulty.
• SEMrush (Paid tool)  → Offers a comprehensive overview, especially useful for broader keyword strategies.
• Marketing Miner (Great value for Central Europe markets like Slovakia and Czechia) → Offers keyword data for regional markets often underrepresented in global tools.

Advanced tip: If you’re doing SEO for clients, tools like Ahrefs make it much easier to see how to do keyword research for local client SEO efficiently.

Step 6: (Optional) Advanced Tip: Analyze SERP Features for Important Keywords

Analysing SERP features (Search Engine Results Page elements) is part of advanced keyword research strategies for local SEO. It’s a powerful way to refine your strategy by looking closely at what actually appears on Google when someone searches for your target terms.

By analysing SERP features, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how Google handles specific local queries and what type of content or optimisation you’ll need to compete successfully.

This step is optional, but it can give you a significant advantage, especially in more competitive local markets.

What Should You Watch for in Local SERPs?

• Are you seeing a Local Pack at the top – the map with three highlighted businesses? If so, your Google Business Profile optimization will be just as critical as your website SEO.
• Sometimes, standard organic listings dominate, such as blog posts, service pages, or category pages.
• Other times, you might notice “People Also Ask” boxes full of common questions – great inspiration for FAQ sections or blog posts.
• For more informational searches, Featured Snippets (those short answer boxes) may appear, offering an opportunity to capture attention quickly.
• And don’t forget about full Google Business Profiles, which often show up prominently, especially on mobile searches.

Each of these features signals what kind of content Google favors for that query.

Local Pack = the map section with 3 top businesses you often see at the top of Google results.

Tip: If a keyword consistently triggers a Local Pack, then having a fully optimized Google Business Profile and building local citations, and gathering reviews becomes just as important as creating new pages on your website.

How to Analyze SERP Features Quickly

1. Search your important keywords manually in an incognito browser window (to avoid personalized results).
2. Observe:
   • Is there a Local Pack?
   • What’s ranking higher: service pages, blog posts, Google Business listings?
   • Are there Featured Snippets or People Also Ask boxes?
3. Take notes. Prioritise keywords where you can realistically compete based on the SERP structure.

Step 7: Keyword Organization and Mapping

At this point, you should have a solid list of cleaned, relevant local keywords and a good understanding of how they behave in search results. Now it’s time to organise and map them into a structure that supports your SEO goals.

How to Organize Your Keywords for Local SEO

Group your keywords based on:

Service relevance
👉 Which service or product does this keyword relate to??

Local intent
👉 Does the keyword clearly signal a local search? (e.g., “wedding photographer Brno”, “emergency plumber Malaga”)

Commercial potential
👉 Is the user ready to take action, or just researching? Prioritize high-intent keywords for service and landing pages.

Opportunity
👉 Can you realistically compete for this keyword based on difficulty and current SERPs?

Create Logical Keyword Clusters

Building keyword clusters (logical groups of related keywords) makes it easier to plan content and SEO optimisation. Instead of trying to create a new page for every keyword, you should group closely related keywords together into clusters. One strong page can naturally rank for several related terms.

👉 Example of a keyword cluster for a dental clinic in Bratislava:

• pediatrician Bratislava
• pediatric clinic in Bratislava
• pediatric care Bratislava

👉 Example of a keyword cluster for a vegan café in Prague:

• vegan café Prague
• best vegan brunch Prague
• vegan bakery Prague
• gluten-free vegan desserts Prague

Tip: One main page (like your “Vegan Café Prague” landing page) can naturally include related terms like “vegan brunch”, “gluten-free options”, and “best vegan desserts”  helping you rank for multiple variations without keyword stuffing.

Assign Keywords to Specific Pages

Finally, map your keyword clusters to the right pages on your website:

• Service Pages → Main service keywords (e.g., “emergency dentist Vienna”)
• Location Landing Pages → If you serve multiple cities or districts, create localized landing pages (e.g., “Plumber Madrid”, “Plumber Barcelona”)
• Blog Articles → Answer informational queries (e.g., “how to find the best vegan café in Prague”)
• FAQ Pages → Address common questions (great for capturing People Also Ask results)

Pro Tip: Keyword mapping also helps avoid keyword cannibalization (when multiple pages compete for the same keyword). This is a common mistake that weakens SEO performance.

Remember: effective keyword mapping means every page has a clear focus, supports a specific user intent, and fits naturally into your site structure. This is how a simple local SEO keyword research output can look.

Step 8: Plan for Optimization

Once your keyword research is complete and your keyword clusters are mapped to specific pages, it’s time to turn your research into action. The next step is optimising your website and Google Business Profile to ensure your local SEO keyword research efforts deliver real results.

Where to Focus Your Optimization Efforts

Website On-Page SEO

Make sure each important page on your website is fully optimized for its target keywords:

• Include the main keyword naturally in the title tag, H1 heading, and meta description.
• Use related secondary keywords in H2/H3 subheadings, and throughout the page content where it makes sense.
• Optimise image alt texts with descriptive terms (without keyword stuffing).
• Ensure your URL slugs are short, clean, and include important keywords when relevant.
• Add internal links between related pages using natural, keyword-rich anchor text.

But How do I use “Near me” Keywords in Content Naturally?

You don’t need to force awkward phrases like “coffee shop near me” into your sentences. Instead, Google understands “near me” based on your location signals, like your business address, your Google Business Profile, and your page content mentioning your city, district, or neighbourhood. In your content, you should naturally mention your location, service area, and proximity instead.

👉 For example, you can write: “Looking for a cosy coffee shop in downtown Vienna? Visit us just a few minutes from the main square!”

Tip: Focus on creating strong, local content that makes it clear where you are. Google will connect your business to “near me” searches based on relevance and distance.

Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization

Your GBP (formerly Google My Business) is essential for appearing in the Local Pack and Google Maps results. Make sure to:

• Use consistent business name, address, and phone number information.
• Choose the most accurate categories for your business.
• Write a keyword-rich, customer-friendly business description.
• Add high-quality photos and keep them updated.
• Encourage customers to leave positive reviews and respond to them promptly.
• Post regular updates or offers directly through your GBP profile to boost engagement signals.

Tip: Website SEO and Google Business Profile optimization work best when combined. Even if your website ranks well, a weak GBP profile can cost you valuable visibility in local search results.

Keywords Alone Won’t Guarantee Local SEO Success

Finding the right keywords and optimizing your content it’s not the only thing that matters. Even the best keyword strategy won’t help if your business doesn’t offer a good user experience both online and offline.

Local SEO success also depends heavily on trust, accuracy, and usability.

Keep Your Business Information Accurate and Updated

Search engines and your customers expect your business information to be correct and up-to-date. Imagine this: a customer finds your restaurant through Google, drives across the city, only to discover you’re closed because you didn’t update your holiday opening hours. Chances are, they won’t just leave disappointed, they might leave a bad review, too.

💡 Tip

Always keep your Google Business Profile and your website updated with:

• Correct opening hours, including holiday changes.
• Current phone number and address.

Build Trust with Reviews and Customer Engagement

Reviews matter more than you might think. Positive reviews, quick responses to customer feedback, and active profile management help build trust and credibility, both in Google’s eyes and in your customers’ minds.

A well-optimised profile with strong keyword use but poor reviews will still struggle to perform well in local search rankings.

Tip: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and always respond professionally, even to negative feedback.

Make Sure Your Website is Fast, Clear, and Easy to Use

If your website is slow, confusing, or outdated, visitors will quickly leave, no matter how well your keywords are optimised. Google also takes user experience signals into account when ranking local results.

Make sure your website:

• It loads quickly on both mobile and desktop devices.
• The website has a clear, user-friendly navigation structure.
• Features an easy-to-find contact page with:
  • An embedded Google Map.
  • Simple directions on how to reach you (especially useful if your location is tricky).
  • Clickable phone numbers and contact forms for instant action, especially important for mobile users.

Tip: Think about your website from a first-time visitor’s perspective: Is it clear who you are, where you are, and how to contact you within 5 seconds?

Local SEO Keyword Research: Key Takeaways

Let’s quickly recap the process you can follow to find the best keywords for local SEO success:

• Understand local search intent before starting keyword research. Focus on what local customers are actually searching for, not just broad generic terms.
• Define your seed keywords based on your services and products. Think clearly about everything you offer, not just your main categories.
• Expand your keyword list using Google Autocomplete, People Also Ask, Google Trends, and other tools. Capture important local modifiers like city names, “near me,” “open now,” and district keywords.
• Analyse competitors to spot keyword opportunities and content gaps.
• Clean and filter your keyword list to remove duplicates and irrelevant terms.
• Check basic keyword metrics like search volume, difficulty, and relevance to prioritize smarter.
• (Optional) Analyse SERP features to better understand the types of content Google favors for local queries.
• Organise and map keywords into logical clusters and assign them to the right pages like service pages, location landing pages, blog articles, and FAQs.
• Prepare an optimisation plan for both your website and your Google Business Profile.

Conclusion

Finding the right keywords for local SEO is about understanding your customers’ real search behaviour, recognising local intent, and aligning your website and online presence with what Google and your audience actually want to see.

By following a smart, structured keyword research process, you’ll stop guessing and start targeting the terms that truly bring in local traffic, leads, and sales.

Remember, local SEO is competitive, but it’s also full of opportunities if you know where to look. Start with the basics, apply what you’ve learnt here step-by-step, and you’ll be well on your way to outranking your local competitors and growing your business faster.

And if you ever feel stuck, don’t forget: sometimes small optimisations like targeting a district-specific keyword or polishing your Google Business Profile can make a big difference.

Frequently Asked Question