Keyword research for business owners

Every SEO campaign begins with a target list, and the quality of that list determines almost everything that follows. This guide covers how the list should be built, and how to check the one you have been given.

Intent first, volume second

A phrase searched two hundred times a month by people comparing prices is worth more than one searched five thousand times by students writing essays. Sort every candidate phrase into one of four intents:

• Transactional. "emergency plumber bristol". Ready to buy. The most valuable and the most contested.
• Commercial. "best accountants bristol", "kitchen fitting cost". Comparing. Excellent value.
• Informational. "how long does a boiler last". Learning. Builds authority and captures people earlier.
• Navigational. Your own brand name. Important to hold, but not something SEO earns you.

A sensible campaign covers transactional and commercial terms first, then builds informational content to feed the top of the funnel. Doing it the other way round is how sites end up with lots of traffic and no enquiries, which measuring SEO ROI explains the cost of.

Why specific beats popular

"Accountant" is close to unwinnable and largely useless. "Self assessment accountant for landlords in Bristol" is winnable, has clear intent, and the person searching it is one conversation from becoming a client. Longer phrases have less volume individually and, in aggregate, account for the majority of all searches.

This is why sector pages work so well. Someone searching SEO for accountants in Bristol is far easier to serve well than someone searching a generic term, because you know precisely what they need.

Grouping phrases into pages

Phrases that mean the same thing belong on one page. "Emergency plumber Bristol", "24 hour plumber Bristol" and "plumber out of hours Bristol" are one page. "Boiler installation Bristol" is a different page, because the person wants something different.

Two pages targeting the same phrase is the most common self inflicted SEO problem there is. Google picks one, often the wrong one, and both underperform. On page SEO basics covers how to structure a page once you know what it is for.

Sanity checking an agency’s target list

A target list built from a tool export with no filtering is a warning sign, and belongs alongside the other SEO agency red flags. A good list is shorter than you expect and includes phrases you recognise from actual customer conversations.

If you want this done properly rather than doing it yourself, it usually sits within SEO consultancy Bristol or the first month of a retainer. You can compare Bristol SEO agencies and ask each how they would build the list.