Keyword Research for Small Business: A Step-by-Step Method

Keyword research sounds like a job for expensive software, and the search results for it are mostly tool vendors selling subscriptions. A small business in Bali or Makassar can get most of the value from the tools Google provides, plus its own enquiry data and a notebook. This guide sets out a method we would use ourselves. It is based on Google’s documentation as we read it on 17 October 2026, and we mark where we are giving our own opinion.

What keyword research is for

Google’s SEO starter guide puts the idea simply: “Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content.” It adds that people who know a topic well may use different words from newcomers, and that you do not need to guess every variation, because “Google’s language matching systems are sophisticated.” Two related points from the same guide: Google Search “doesn’t use the keywords meta tag,” and “keyword stuffing is against Google’s spam policies.”

So the aim is not a spreadsheet of 500 phrases. It is one clear main phrase for each important page, chosen because real customers use it.

Step 1: Start with what Google already shows you

If your site is in Search Console, open the Performance report. Google says it shows “what search queries are most likely to show your site.” The metrics include impressions (“How many times your site appeared in Search results”) and average position (“The average position of the topmost result from your site”). Our Search Console guide covers the setup.

Sort the queries by impressions and look for two things. These are our suggestions, not Google’s:

• Many impressions, few clicks. The page appears, but the title may not match what the searcher wants. See title tags and meta descriptions.
• Average position on page two or three. These are often a sensible place to start, because the page is already relevant enough to appear.

One caution from Google: even if a query is listed, “you might not see your site in results if you run the same query in Google Search,” because results depend on the time, place, device and recent history of the person searching. A new site has little data, so move on to step 2.

Step 2: Write down how customers actually talk

Open WhatsApp, Instagram messages and your email inbox. What words do customers use in their first message? Copy them exactly. If you serve both locals and visitors, the same service may be described in Indonesian and in English, and the two groups may not use the same words. Test both instead of assuming.

Then use two tools Google provides:

• Autocomplete. Google says that as you type, “it tries to predict what you’re looking for.” Predictions can be personalised: when you are signed in, Google says “you’ll receive personalized predictions and recommendations in Google Search.” Treat them as ideas, not data, and try a private window.
• Google Trends. You can compare up to eight groups of terms and choose a region. Google says it divides each data point by the total searches in that place and time “to compare relative popularity,” so Trends tells you which phrasing is more popular, not how many searches there are. It also says “Trends only shows data for popular terms,” so a small local niche may show nothing. And because “You won’t get results for misspellings, spelling variations, synonyms, plural, or singular versions of your terms,” test variants one at a time.

Step 3: Use Keyword Planner, but read it for what it is

Google describes Keyword Planner as a tool that “helps you research keywords for your Search campaigns.” In other words, it is built for advertising. Its help page says you must complete account setup, including billing information, to use basic features such as getting keyword ideas. We did not find a statement on that page about charges when you are not running ads, so read the sign-up screens carefully.

When you have it open, read the numbers with care:

• Average monthly searches. By default the figure is “averaged over a 12-month period,” and Google says “Your search volume statistics are rounded.” Use it as a rough size, not an exact count.
• Competition. Google defines it as “The number of advertisers that showed on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google.” That describes advertisers, so in our reading it is not a measure of how hard a page is to rank in the ordinary results.
• Location. Google notes that the data is specific to “the location and Search Network targeting that you’ve selected,” so set the place your customers are in.
• Low volume. Google says “Keywords with very low search volumes” may not be discoverable at all. A phrase that few people search can still deserve a page if the people who do are ready to buy. That is our opinion.

Step 4: Match one phrase to one page

A keyword list is only useful when each phrase has a home. For each important page (home page, a service page, a guide), choose:

• one main phrase,
• two or three close variations to use naturally,
• what the searcher is trying to do: learn (a guide), compare (a service page) or get in touch (a page with clear contact options).

Put the main phrase where a reader expects it: the title, the main heading, the opening paragraph and the page address, written the way you would say it aloud. Avoid two pages chasing the same phrase, because they compete with each other; combine them or give each a distinct purpose. For local searches, add the place where your customers would, such as the area, and make sure your Google Business Profile says the same thing. If you add structured data later, see what schema markup does and does not do.

A one-hour worksheet

1. Write ten questions customers ask before they buy.
2. Rewrite each one in the words customers use, in Indonesian and English where you have both audiences.
3. Type each into Google and note the autocomplete suggestions.
4. Compare your two or three most important phrasings in Google Trends, using your region.
5. Open Search Console and note the queries you already appear for.
6. Choose one main phrase per page and rewrite the title and heading to match.
7. Note the date of each change and check Search Console again after a few weeks. Results take time, as we explain in how long SEO takes.

If a phrase brings visits but no enquiries, the problem may be the page rather than the keyword, so read why your website gets visitors but no enquiries. If you would rather work through this with someone, read how to hire an SEO provider, then tell us about your business and see our SEO services.