In this post, you will know how to find the right keywords to optimize for your cleaning business site and get more eyeballs to it.
You should know that Google gives you a chance to generate traffic to your website if you rank on top of organic search.
However, you can only do that if you know what keywords to optimize for your site pages.
If you do, then you can properly optimize your website and help the search engine index your site for your target keyword.
For starters, you need to learn what it takes to run a successful keyword research.
What factors to look for in keyword research?
If done correctly, local keyword research will make your cleaning service business a power player.
Once you target the right keywords, the number of customers that will approach you is about to increase.
And ultimately, you’ll dominate the local scene and generate more sales for your business.
When conducting keyword research, here’s a list of factors to keep in mind:
Local search volume
This refers to the precise average number of people searching for a word or phrase every month in a region or country. The higher the number, the more reason for you to include this keyword in your SEO campaign.
The importance of local search volume ties itself to the fact that if people cared about a product or service, they’d search for it online. If a keyword reveals a high local search volume, consider targeting it or checking out related keywords.
If it doesn’t, let it loose. Unless you offer something that people care about, you may not thrive in a niche.
To make this relatable, let’s imagine a situation where you’re offering free cleaning services in a specific area for people who own cats. And as much as the offer seems irresistible from your point of view, it can be a useless freebie. If the residents of the area you targeted aren’t cat owners, they won’t have a need for your service soon.
Beyond that, here are tips on handling the information about a keyword’s local search volume:
- Go for keywords with low competition – Don’t compete with big names. Lots of searches for a specific keyword won’t matter if you can’t compete with established and authoritative cleaning businesses.
- Mind local language – Go for high-volume keywords that are based on a territory’s regional language. After all, winning over a regional area means you should feature a relatable piece on your website.
- Take note of contextual relevance – High search volume won’t cut it if a keyword is irrelevant or doesn’t put sense into your website.
Global volume
Now, let’s look past a region or country and focus on the number of people from all over the world searching for a keyword. You can refer to this as the global volume.
Most tools only allow you to search for a keyword’s volume by country. If you explore other tools, though, you’ll see that they let you view the overall searches from different countries.
You must wonder why global volume matters when we’re discussing local SEO here. Well, the global volume tells you that someone from a portion of the world is searching for a keyword you plan on targeting.
And where global volume is concerned, it’d be helpful to keep these things in mind:
- Most countries have their own versions of Google – google.ca (for Canada) and google.fr (for France), for example, exist
- Google search results vary based on location – A keyword may be a hit on google.com. However, about 10 people are the only ones searching for it on google.ca.
- Global volume informs you of the right competition – Note that a keyword’s global volume holds weight. However, focus on the local search volume.
KD (Keyword Difficulty)
Sometimes called SD (Search Difficulty), this refers to an aggregate score. It describes how easy or difficult it is to rank a page optimized for a particular keyword on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). The lower the score of a keyword, the easier it is to rank.
Expecting the same score from all tools? You shouldn’t because each tool calculates for the KD differently.
Here are the reasons for learning the difficulty of a keyword improves the keyword research process:
- Determines your content’s natural flow – Pick keywords based on your level of content creation. Remember, keywords with a high KD score can be challenging to insert naturally into your content.
- Helps you target the right keywords – Avoid irrelevant keywords. Instead, choose those with a good KD and can get you on top of Google.
- Leads to fewer competition – While challenging to rank for, keywords with a high KD are usually less competitive search terms. They’re difficult to work on, that’s why!
Clicks or CTR
The number of clicks that the top-ranking pages receive from users when searching for a keyword? That’s the CTR (Click-Through Rate).
The higher the CTR, the better. And to maximize the clicks to your page, you want a keyword with a high CTR.
Often, though, ads or People Also Ask and other featured snippets rain down on organic pages’ parade. They end up distracting searchers.
According to an Ahrefs’ study, they receive a portion of the CTR — the average CTR of featured snippets is 8.6%.
The good thing is that you can bypass this small setback. Here’s how:
- Increase visibility – For example, include your main keyword in a URL
- Generate urgency – Use countdown timers.
- Generate a CTA – A CTA (Call to Action) will encourage readers to click on a URL. So, use words like “click here” or “download.”
Keyword intent
This refers to the reason a specific keyword is used as a search term. It raises concerns revolving around what a searcher plans to do next.
Did they search this way because they plan on buying something? Did they want to learn more information? Or did they want details that can help them get to a specific website?
Regardless of their reason, keyword intent matters. It helps Google provide the most relevant search result to searchers. And therefore, it’s a major factor that contributes to Google’s effectiveness.
Here are the different types of keyword intent:
Commercial
If a searcher is on the lookout for specific products or services, their intent is commercial.
Examples:
- Rain City Maids review
- Best professional cleaning service in Kirkland
- Quick and effective cleaning service
Informational
Searchers with informational intent want nothing but information. Their goal is to have their questions answered.
Once a search result satisfies them with the information they need, they’re good to go. And if you optimized your cleaning business with the information they need, you just landed on their good side.
Examples:
- Who offers house cleaning services in Kirkland, WA
- About Rain City Maids
- Advantage of professional cleaning services in Kirkland, WA
Navigational
If they’re on the hunt for a specific website, a searcher’s intent for using a keyword is navigational.
Examples:
- Rain City Maids website
- Contact Rain City Maids
- Professional house cleaning service Rain City Maids website
Transactional
A searcher’s intent is transactional if they’re looking to purchase products or services.
Examples:
- Kirkland, WA cleaning service payment method
- Rain City Maids cleaning services cost
- Rain City Maids coupon
Long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords contain at least three words. They’re the longer and more detailed versions of a short-tail keyword.
Below is an image that will show you the difference in the number of words between a short-tail keyword and its long-tail version:
It’s just like how we optimized No More Chores’ (one of our clients’) websites, a company that offers house cleaning services in Toronto, Ontario:
Because they introduce more details, long-tail keywords are more effective. And it’s why you should target them first.
How to do keyword research for local business
Fortunately, you won’t be running out of free tools that can help you conduct effective local keyword research.
For instance, Google’s tools. With it being a search engine that matters the most, Google doesn’t leave you empty-handed.
Some of them are:
Google auto-suggest feature
Know how Google automatically suggests relevant searches when you start keying in keywords? I’m sure you do.
The good news is, you can take advantage of these Google autocomplete suggestions and use them as potential long-tail keywords.
As mentioned, long-tail keywords are among the factors that you should monitor to help you with keyword research. So, if you’re looking for ideas to use as long-tail keywords, Google’s auto-suggest feature has your back!
In the image below, we’ll key in “cleaning services arlington” on Google, to show you an example. In typing the keyword, three-word suggestions such as “cleaning services va” and “cleaning services tx” come up.
Below them are four-word suggestions. Now, check out the auto-suggestions at the bottom.
There, you’ll find “apartment cleaning services arlington va” and “house cleaning services arlington tx”. These suggestions contain five words. They are also more detailed — something you should really consider as long-tail keywords.
Google Trends
If you want to shed light on people’s interest in a particular keyword, use Google Trends. It’s a tool that lets you explore what the world is searching for — as its website says.
Another way to look at people’s interest in a keyword is to think of it as a keyword’s search volume. So, the higher the interest is, the higher the search volume — and the better.
Using Google Trends is a piece of cake. Head over to its website and enter a keyword in the appropriate field. Once the search results come in, you can look closely at how interested people are in that keyword.
A great aspect of using Google Trends is that you can use it to check out the interest for a keyword in a regional location. You can use this to get a clue of how interested the locals are in a keyword. More importantly, you get a clue of its local search volume.
In the following image, you’ll notice that we can view the interest over time of a keyword (cleaning services) in a location (Florida). What this means is that people in Florida have entered this search term on Google.
If you scroll down, you’ll find the interest for the same keyword by metro. To the right is a map that highlights the cities in Florida. And to the left, you’ll find a list of the names of specific cities in Florida, along with a number corresponding to the search volume for the keyword.
And if you scroll further below, you will find Related topics and Related queries. What can you do with this, you ask? Use them as ideas for potential keywords, too!
Take, for example, the second related query, “home cleaning services near me”. Because it’s a relevant search term for your cleaning business, you can create an optimized post centered on it.
Now, do you want to narrow down the search to a specific regional location? It’s possible with Google Trends, too.
To do it, simply change the location of your search. To follow up on the example above, we’ll keep our main keyword and still go with “cleaning services”. This time, though, we’ll change the location from Florida to a specific area in Florida.
To begin, change the location you previously set. So, under Florida, choose a more specific area.
For example, let’s say we’ll go with “Ft. Myers-Naples FL” — as the image below reflects.
Now, what if you want to look at a chart that describes a keyword’s trend worldwide — or its global search volume? Luckily, you can, too!
Specify Worldwide as the location.
Google Keyword Planner
You can also turn to another Google tool to help you gather more relevant information for the local keyword research process. You can use Google Keyword Planner to design your ad campaign. And if that’s about it, it’s free to use.
However, if you want to run your ad campaigns, get ready to shell out some cash.
Sign in to your Google Ads account
Start by going to the website for Google Ads. There, click Sign in or Go to Keyword Planner to use the tool.
Then choose Get search volume and forecasts.
Add keyword
On the next page, add your keyword (in this example, it’s “cleaning”). Here, I entered only one keyword. If you want to enter multiple keywords, you have that option, too.
Then proceed by clicking GET STARTED.
By then, you will land on a page that reveals forecasts for your keyword. On the page, you can get the details on how you can move forward and run ad campaigns for your keyword.
It’s there where you’ll see a rundown of how many clicks you’ll get. That, and Impressions, Cost, CTR, Avg. CPC, and Avg. Position. Just set your preferred Locations, Languages, and Search networks.
Collect information
From where you left off, you can also access the left sidebar. It’s where you can reap more information about your keyword.
You can also switch tabs and move past your keyword’s FORECASTS. Options include access to NEGATIVE KEYWORDS and HISTORICAL METRICS.
If you switch the tab to HISTORICAL METRICS, you can peek at more relevant information. This includes your keyword’s Avg. monthly searches, Competition, Organic average position, and more.
And while there is no column in the Keyword Planner that explicitly reveals a keyword’s search intent, you can also get that kind of information here.
See the columns named Top of page bid (low range) and Top of page bid (high range)? Those columns serve as proxy indicators of a keyword’s intent — commercial intent, to be exact.
If you’re looking to target a keyword that a potential buyer will search for, you can find it in these columns.
Specifically, if you’re trying to determine a keyword’s high commercial intent, check to see if it costs a lot. If advertisers are willing to spend a lot on a keyword, it means that it’s a hit commercially.
The keyword “cleaning” doesn’t specify any information. So, what I did was sifted through relevant Keyword ideas to find keywords that have set amounts in these fields.
As you can see from the image below, relevant keywords such as “rug cleaning”, “couch cleaner”, and “cleaning services” do.
Conclusion
Learning how to find the right keywords is not that difficult especially once you get the hang of performing the steps above.
However, the above process helps you to find keywords using Google Keyword Planner. And while it’s fine as a keyword tool can ever be, it doesn’t show you the factors that help you determine whether to go with a keyword or not.
In this case, you should check out our article on the different keyword tools that can determine the variables of each keyword. This way, you can make an informed decision as to which keywords to choose and optimize for.
