Finding The Right Keywords For SEO (Without Having To Do A Marketing Degree First)

Last month we talked about how to do search engine optimisation. This time we’re zooming in on one of the parts that tends to confuse small business owners the most: how to find the right keywords for SEO.

Because here’s the thing. Most small businesses approach keyword research in roughly the same way:

You sit down.
Open Google.
Type something vaguely related to your business.
Then think, “Yes… that sounds like something people might search for.”

And sometimes you’re right.

But often you’re not. I’m sorry.

Finding the right keywords is less about guessing and more about understanding how people search, what they mean when they search it, and whether you realistically have a chance of ranking for it.

Done well, the right keywords can bring traffic, leads, and customers to your website month after month. Done badly, you end up writing blog posts nobody ever reads.

Let’s start with the biggest misunderstanding of all.

Keywords Aren’t Just Key Words – They’re Intent

A keyword might look like a simple phrase, but behind it sits a real person with a problem.

Someone typing “best accounting software for freelancers” is doing something very different from someone searching “accountant near me”.

One is researching. One is ready to buy.

This is why understanding search intent matters just as much as search volume.

Content strategist Beth Gladstone once summed this up perfectly:

“The best tip I could give for thinking about SEO is to swap keyword research for user research.”

In other words, start your keyword research with the user at the forefront of your mind.

Ask yourself:

• What questions do potential clients ask you?
• What problems do they want solved?
• What product or service are they trying to find?

If you run a small business, you already hear these questions every week.

Those questions are often your best keywords.

A Small Story About Keyword Guessing

A friend of mine runs a small strength training studio.

When they launched their website, they wrote several blog posts targeting a keyword they thought people would search for: “strength training exercises.”

It seemed sensible. The phrase has a monthly search volume of around 8.1K, according to SEMrush.

The problem? They were competing against huge fitness websites, international magazines, and YouTube channels with millions of subscribers.

The blog posts never ranked.

Then they changed approach and started targeting long-tail keywords like:

• strength training for beginners over 40
• strength training exercises for runners
• strength training for back pain

Much lower search volume. But far higher relevance.

Within a few months, their site started appearing on the search engine results page for those phrases, bringing in traffic from exactly the kind of clients they wanted.

That’s the difference between chasing big keywords and choosing the right keywords.

Start With What Your Customers Actually Search

The easiest way to begin keyword research is surprisingly low-tech.

Go to Google Search and start typing something related to your business.

Before you even finish the sentence, Google will suggest possible searches.

Those suggestions come directly from real search behaviour.

For example, type “small business accountant” and you might see:

• small business accountant near me
• small business accountant cost
• small business accountant for freelancers

Those suggestions are a goldmine.

They reveal how people phrase their search requests and what problems they’re trying to solve.

Google also shows related searches at the bottom of the search engine results page. Again, these come from real users.

If you’re looking for keywords that genuinely matter to your target client, this is a great place to start.

Use Keyword Research Tools (Without Getting Overwhelmed)

Once you have a rough list of ideas, it’s time to look at data.

Keyword research tools help you understand:

• how many people search a keyword
• how competitive it is
• what related keywords exist

There are plenty available, but a few stand out for small businesses.

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Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is free and still one of the most useful keyword tools available.

It shows:

• search volume
• related keywords
• keyword planning ideas

The numbers are sometimes broad ranges, but it’s still useful for identifying keywords worth targeting.

Hike SEO Strategy Tool

Hike SEO has a strategy tool as part of their main features which lets you find the right keywords for your business. You can then use this data as the basis for content planning.

What’s great about that is you can either do it yourself, or use their AI agent Kit to look for the right keywords for you and then give you a clear plan you can action.

Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz Keyword Explorer gives more detailed metrics such as keyword difficulty and potential click-through rate.

It’s particularly helpful when deciding whether you have a realistic chance of ranking.

SEMrush and Ahrefs

More advanced tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs Keywords Explorer go even further.

They allow you to:

• analyse competitor keywords
• run a Keyword Gap tool to see what competitors rank for
• estimate keyword difficulty and search volumes

These tools can feel overwhelming at first, but you don’t need to use every feature.

Focus on three metrics:

• search volume
• keyword difficulty
• relevance to your business

That’s usually enough.

AI Tools

Also these days, you can use an AI tool like Chat GPT or Gemini where you can often get the same data for zero cost.

Just beware, AI loves to hallucinate, so be mindful of this!

Don’t Ignore Long-Tail Keywords

One of the biggest mistakes in SEO is targeting only short, competitive keywords.

These are often dominated by large websites with enormous backlink profiles and authority.

Long-tail keywords are different.

They’re longer phrases such as:

• “how to choose a small business accountant”
• “best CRM for small businesses in the UK”
• “how to find a personal trainer near me”

Each may have lower search volumes, but collectively they can bring a lot of organic traffic.

More importantly, they often signal clear intent, which means better conversions and more leads.

In many cases, ranking for ten long-tail keywords can bring more business than ranking for one huge keyword.

Look at What Your Competitors Are Ranking For

If another business is already ranking on the Search Engine Results Pages, that tells you something important.

Google believes their content answers the search. So you can take inspiration.

SEO tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs allow you to see:

• which keywords competitors rank for
• which pages bring them traffic
• which keywords you might be missing

This is often called a content gap analysis.

For example, if several competitors rank for a keyword you’ve never covered, that may be a useful topic for a blog post or service page.

Turn Keywords Into Content Ideas

Once you have a list of keywords, the next step is turning them into content.

This is where your Content Strategy comes in.

Different keywords suit different types of content:

For example:

Keyword: how to find a business accountant
Content: blog post explaining the process

Keyword: accountant for freelancers London
Content: service page

The key is alignment.

Your page should clearly answer the question behind the keyword.

Structure matters too:

• clear headings
• internal links to related content
• descriptive meta description
• optimised images with alt text

All of this helps search engines understand the page and improves the user experience.

A Quick Word About Headlines (They Matter More Than You Think)

Here’s a statistic worth remembering.

According to Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of the content.

That means your headline often determines whether anyone clicks your page on the search engine results page.

A good headline should:

• include the keyword naturally
• explain the value clearly
• make the reader curious enough to click

This is why titles and meta descriptions matter. They influence both clicks and traffic.

Read our guide to copy writing to find out more about headlines and why they matter.

Measure What Works (And What Doesn’t)

Keyword research isn’t a one-time task.

You should monitor how your keywords perform over time.

Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console (GSC) show:

• which of your keywords bring traffic
• which of your pages rank in Google Search
• how many clicks each page receives
• where improvements might be possible

You may discover that some pages unexpectedly attract traffic.

That’s useful data. It means Google already trusts that page, so improving the content could help it rank higher.

SEO Is Changing – But Keywords Still Matter

Search behaviour is evolving. HubSpot research found that:

• 31% of people use social media to search
• 12% use AI chatbots
• 88% still rely on Google

In other words, search engines still dominate.

At the same time, around 60% of searches now result in no clicks because Google answers the query directly on the page.

A lot of people have said this signifies the death of SEO, but that’s not quite true, it just means the goal is shifting slightly. Instead of just chasing traffic, businesses increasingly need to focus on:

• visibility
• brand awareness
• authority

SEO expert Rand Fishkin has spoken about this shift repeatedly – being visible in search results can build trust even when users don’t click.

The Long Game: Why Keyword Research Is Worth the Effort

Keyword research takes time. But when done well, it becomes the foundation of your entire SEO strategy.

The right keywords help you:

• attract the right audience
• create useful content
• rank on search engines
• generate leads and customers

The wrong keywords do the opposite. They waste time writing content nobody searches for.

So before publishing your next blog post, ask a simple question:

“Is this something my target client would actually type into Google?”

If the answer is yes, you’re probably on the right track.

If not, it might be time to revisit your keyword list.

If you find all this a bit overwhelming, we get it. Small business owners are busy time-poor people, so finding time to do SEO can be difficult. You might even think it’s not worth it anyway.

You would be wrong to think that as we have explained in our article about whether SEO is dead. It’s a very interesting read.

So if you want SEO done for you without paying agency prices, we recommend Hike SEO. You can do as much or as little yourself as you want or have time for.

Recommended SEO Tool:

If you’re a small business that wants to make SEO simple, we recommend using Hike SEO.

Their platform provides easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions that are fully customised to your goals and your website. You can even adjust how much time you want to spend on SEO month.

It’s by far the best SEO tool we have seen for time-poor business owners on a tight budget.

Click here to read our full review