Free & Accurate Local Keyword Research Tool

What is local keyword research?

Local keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search queries that users enter into Google to find services or products near them.

The goal of local keyword research is to determine which keywords to target on your pages so they appear to users in a specific geographic area.

For example, if you enter your seed local keyword into KWFinder, you can explore and analyze all the keywords that may be relevant to your local business:

Why is local keyword research important?

Local keyword research helps you better understand how people search on Google for products or services in a specific region.

If you own a business in a particular area and want to appear in search results for local users, you need to know what search queries people are actually using—rather than just guessing the most common keywords that come to mind.

Local keyword research reveals the specific keywords you should optimize your pages for so they appear to relevant users (and hopefully, potential customers).

How to do local keyword research?

1. Brainstorm your business

To start your local keyword research, you first need to brainstorm your business.

Expanding on your business ideas is an important first step, as it helps you clarify what you offer to customers in a specific area.

For example, let’s say you own an automobile repair shop in London.

It’s obvious that one of the most common keywords for your business would be something like “car service.”

But this isn’t the only query people type into Google when looking for car repairs—users often search for more specific services.

That’s why it’s important to brainstorm your business and come up with more detailed services (and keywords) that you offer, such as:

• car brake repairs
• brake fluid change
• car battery check
• car engine diagnostics

Create a list of the specific services you provide—these are the keywords that might interest users in your local area.

Once you’ve thoroughly brainstormed your business, it's time to expand and transform your ideas into specific keywords that real users are typing into search engines.

With our KWFinder tool, you can quickly discover the actual keywords people are using in your niche and location:

1. Open KWFinder and type in any of your brainstormed ideas.
2. Select the country where your business operates.
3. Choose a specific language.
4. Click the “Find keywords” button.

The tool will show you keywords users are searching for in your selected country—and may even reveal services you hadn’t considered.

You can enter your ideas one by one and review all related keywords that might be relevant to your business. In just a few clicks, you’ll have a well-organized list of services to target with your content:

This will help you gain a better understanding of how people search for the types of services you offer on Google and establish a solid foundation for your local keyword research.

Thousands of locations in KWFinder can assist you with local keyword research. Whether your target audience is in Los Angeles, Kansas, Berlin, France, or Adelaide, KWFinder has you covered.

Types of locations included in KWFinder

• Cities (e.g., London, Perth, Boston, Paris)
• Regions and DMA regions (e.g., Bratislava Region, Los Angeles DMA)
• Counties and Departments (e.g., North Yorkshire County, Paris Ile-de-France Department)
• States (e.g., New South Wales, Kansas, British Columbia)
• Countries (e.g., USA, Germany, Australia)

Simply start typing a location, select the one you're looking for from the dropdown menu, and KWFinder will display local search volume, along with all other metrics and the local SERP.

Tip: You can also analyze competitors in your region to discover the keywords (and services) they’re ranking for.

If you know their website URLs, simply follow these steps:

1. Select the “By Domain” tab in KWFinder.
2. Enter their domain or a specific URL.
3. Select your region
4. Click the “Find keywords” button.

KWFinder will display all the keywords your competitor is ranking for. You can sort them by ranking position and check whether any of those keywords are relevant to your business.

2. Perform SERP analysis (for local intent)

To optimize your website for relevant keywords, you need to determine whether those keywords carry local intent.

Some keywords might appear to have local intent, but upon closer inspection, you may find that the actual intent is different.

Fortunately, analyzing the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) for local intent is fairly straightforward. If you live in the same region as your business, you can simply enter individual keywords into Google and manually inspect the results.

Local intent in the SERP is usually indicated by two main SERP features:

• The “map pack” (also known as the local pack)
• Local businesses ranking among the top search results

Returning to our example of a car service business: if we examine the keyword “car brake repairs,” it’s clear that it has local intent. The SERP for this query displays a number of local businesses offering this service, along with a visible map pack.

On the other hand, the search query like “how to change car tire” has rather informational intent – it shows only pages with guides and step-by-step instructions that have nothing to do with local intent:

Pro tip: If you’re unable to check the SERPs for your keywords manually from your business location, you can use our free Google Location Changer for further inspection:

1. Enter your desired keyword
2. Choose a specific region and language
3. Press Enter

The tool will display the current SERP for the selected location in a new browser window.

Once you've analyzed all your keywords and examined their search intent, it's time to prioritize them based on their search volumes.

Keyword search volume gives you insight into how popular a term is among users in a specific region or country.

However, before you start sorting keywords solely by search volume and using them on your pages, it’s important to categorize them into two types: implicit and explicit keywords.

• Implicit local keywords are queries that don’t include the name of a specific location or region (e.g., “car service”). In general, people use implicit keywords more frequently—mainly because Google automatically provides location-based results tailored to the user, often showing nearby local businesses.
• Explicit local keywords are queries that do include the name of a region or city (e.g., “car service London”). Although these queries tend to have lower search volumes, they are highly relevant for local SEO because they signal strong local intent.

Implicit keywords usually have much higher search volumes. For instance, if we look at the keyword “car service” in KWFinder and set the country to the United Kingdom, we can see that it has a very high search volume:

Although this general keyword might be relevant to you, its search volume represents users across the entire country—not just those in a specific town or city.

On the other hand, if we check an explicit keyword like “car service London” in KWFinder, the search volume is much lower, but it accurately reflects how popular the term is within the city of London.

Search volumes for both implicit and explicit keywords will help you decide which pages to prioritize and create first for your local SEO.

4. Map out your local keywords

The next step in local keyword research is to determine which keywords deserve their own dedicated pages and which can be grouped together—then use this to create an overall content map for your business website.

It's not uncommon for keywords with only slight differences in wording to generate completely different search results.

That’s why it’s important to examine each keyword and its SERP carefully to decide whether to target it with a separate page or combine it with similar keywords on a single page.

Keep in mind, however, that determining which keywords should be combined on a single web page and which should not is a delicate practice that varies from niche to niche and business to business.

A good rule of thumb is to think pragmatically—if you can provide all the important information about a given service on just one page, it’s probably better to do so, rather than creating two or three separate pages.

5. Create and optimize your local pages

Once you’ve grouped your keywords and mapped out the structure of your website, it’s time to create and optimize your pages for those keywords.

To rank highly for your primary keywords and their related terms, you need to provide high-quality content that reflects the local intent behind them.

For example, if you want to create a page optimized for terms like “car tyre replacement,” “tyre replacement cost,” and “BMW tyre replacement,” you must provide content that helps users find relevant information in your specific area.

Simply adding these keywords to your service page won't make you appear as a local service for those particular search results. This approach could lead to keyword stuffing penalties.

A better strategy is to provide more detailed information about the tyre replacement service, pricing, and specifics for BMW tires in your business location.

This will help increase the relevance of your service page for your specific location, provide visitors with valuable information about service costs, and potentially improve your rankings for these queries within your region.