“Find what your customers actually search for.”
Keywords are the bridge between what your customers type into Google and the content on your website. This module strips away the jargon and teaches you to find the exact phrases your ideal customers use when they are looking for businesses like yours. You will learn to use free tools, identify long-tail opportunities, and build a keyword list you can action immediately.
Keyword research sounds like something you need a marketing degree to do. You do not. At its simplest, keyword research is figuring out what words and phrases your ideal customers type into Google when they are looking for what you offer. Once you know that, you can make sure your website uses those same words in the right places. That is it. No jargon, no mystery.
The most important concept to understand is search intent. Not all searches are created equal. Someone searching 'what is concrete polishing' is looking for information. Someone searching 'concrete polishing Gold Coast quote' is ready to buy. These require different types of content on your website. Informational searches are great for blog posts. Transactional searches (the ones with buying intent) should lead to your service pages. Getting this wrong means attracting the wrong type of visitor or missing out on ready-to-buy customers entirely.
Here is where small businesses have a real advantage: long-tail keywords. A long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific phrase. 'Plumber' is extremely competitive. 'Emergency plumber Inner West Sydney' has far less competition and is searched by someone who needs help right now. These longer phrases convert better because the person knows exactly what they want. For Total Grind N Polish on the Gold Coast, targeting 'polished concrete floors Gold Coast' instead of just 'concrete polishing' was the difference between being buried on page five and appearing on page one.
You do not need expensive tools to do good keyword research. Google Keyword Planner is free (you just need a Google Ads account, which costs nothing to create). AnswerThePublic shows you the questions people ask about any topic. Google Trends lets you compare search interest over time and filter by Australia. And the simplest tool of all: Google itself. Start typing your service into Google and look at the autocomplete suggestions. Those are real searches from real people. We will use all of these in the activity section.
Understand search intent and why it changes which keywords you should target
Use free tools to find exactly what your customers search for
Identify long-tail keyword opportunities where you can rank faster
Build a prioritised keyword list you can start targeting today
Work through each prompt below. Take your time; these questions form the foundation of your SEO strategy.
Start with the obvious terms. What is your service or product? Add your city or region. Think about how a customer would describe what they need, not how you would describe it. Avoid industry jargon; use the words your customers actually use.
Service Example
1. Plumber Sydney 2. Emergency plumber Inner West 3. Hot water system repair Sydney 4. Blocked drain plumber near me 5. Licensed plumber Marrickville
Ecommerce Example
1. Natural skincare Australia 2. Australian made face cream 3. Organic moisturiser online 4. Sensitive skin products Australia 5. Vegan skincare brand
Your answer goes here...
Take each seed keyword and make it more specific by adding a suburb, a qualifier like 'cost,' 'near me,' 'best,' or a specific service detail. These longer phrases are where you will find real ranking opportunities with less competition.
Service Example
Seed: 'plumber Sydney' becomes 'emergency plumber Inner West Sydney open now' and 'licensed plumber Marrickville same day service'
Your answer goes here...
Put It All Together
See how Create & Grow applied this exact approach for real clients and their own brands.
When we started keyword research for Total Grind N Polish, they were trying to rank for 'concrete polishing,' a term dominated by national directories and large companies. Using Google Keyword Planner and autocomplete research, we discovered that their ideal customers were searching for much more specific terms: 'polished concrete floors Gold Coast,' 'concrete grinding cost Gold Coast,' 'epoxy floor coating Nerang,' and 'honed concrete Burleigh Heads.' Each of these had meaningful search volume but far less competition. We built dedicated service pages targeting each term, and within months they were on page one for multiple high-intent keywords. The lesson: go specific, go local, and match the exact words your customers use.
When building the Create & Grow Academy website, we did not just guess what to write about. We researched what Australian small business owners actually search for when looking for marketing education. Terms like 'SEO course for small business Australia,' 'branding course for beginners,' and 'digital marketing course affordable' guided our course naming, page titles, and blog topics. Every blog article on the Academy site targets a specific long-tail keyword that our ideal students are searching for. This is the same process you will learn in this module.
Here's a taste of the hands-on work you'll do in this module.
Using a structured worksheet and free tools, you will build a keyword list of at least 20 high-potential search terms for your business. You will categorise them by intent, estimate difficulty, and prioritise the ones that could move the needle fastest.
PREVIEW
Seed keywords: [your service] + [your city] Long-tail variations: [your service] + [suburb] + [qualifier] Example: 'concrete polishing Brisbane' → 'polished concrete floors Brisbane northside' → 'how much does concrete polishing cost Brisbane'
Total Grind N Polish were targeting 'concrete polishing' as their main keyword, competing against national companies and directories. Using the keyword research process, they discovered that long-tail phrases like 'polished concrete floors Gold Coast,' 'concrete grinding cost Gold Coast,' and 'epoxy floor coating Nerang' had significant search volume with far less competition.
The Result
By targeting these specific long-tail keywords on dedicated service pages, they climbed from deep in the search results to page one for multiple high-intent search terms within months. These specific phrases also converted better because the searchers already knew exactly what they wanted.
Seed keyword brainstorm
First keyword list builder (20+ terms)
Deliverable: A prioritised keyword list of 20+ search terms with intent labels and difficulty estimates
What are long-tail keywords and why do they matter for small businesses?
Ready to learn the full SEO system?
Join the waitlist and get notified when SEO Foundations launches.