How do you do local keyword research?
Find the service plus city terms people actually search, not the ones you assume.
Start from the services on your own site, add only the cities you genuinely serve, then validate every combination against real search data before you build anything. The order matters. Most bad local keyword lists come from starting with a map instead of a service list.
Step one: inventory what you actually sell
Pull every service from your site and your sitemap, then write down how customers describe each one in their own words. Those are rarely the same phrases you use internally. A customer searches AC not working, not HVAC diagnostic services. Your sales calls and your support inbox are better sources for this than any tool.
Step two: define the real service area
List only the places you will actually travel to and want more work in. Not every suburb in the metro. If you would decline a job in a town, that town does not belong on the list.
Step three: validate before you build
- Check volume for service plus city combinations in a keyword tool. Many city modified terms have almost no volume, and that is fine to know early.
- Read your own Google Search Console queries. This is the most underused local keyword source there is, because it shows what you already appear for and where you sit on page two.
- Read your Google Ads search term report if you run paid. Real queries with real conversions attached beat any estimate.
- Check your Business Profile performance data for the searches that surfaced your listing.
What to do with the result
Group by intent, not by city. One strong service page plus a small number of genuinely substantive city pages beats 40 near duplicate pages every time. If a city plus service combination has no measurable demand and no coverage behind it, do not build the page. Write about the service instead and let the profile carry the geography.
Related: Do you need a page for every city?, Stop obsessing over keywords, SEO services at LevelUp.