Pillar guide · 8 chapters · 28 min read

Keyword research. The first hour of any SEO project that actually works.

Find the words your customers type into Google. Read what they actually want when they type them. Decide which ones are worth chasing and which ones are noise. Then build a content plan around that. This is how we run keyword research for Perth clients in 2026, without the spreadsheet theatre.

Oliver Wood
By Oliver Wood · Founder & Managing Director
Reviewed by Harrison Sharrett · Last updated
A keyword research workspace in a sunlit Perth office. A whiteboard in the background is covered with a hand-drawn keyword cluster mind map, with topics connected by lines and grouped into colour-coded zones. In the foreground, a laptop displays an abstract keyword spreadsheet with green-highlighted opportunity columns. Beside the laptop: a fan of coloured marker pens, an open notebook with a pen, a steaming coffee mug, and a few crumpled paper drafts.
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The chapters in this pillar, from the step-by-step research workflow through to clustering and competitor gap analysis.

What keyword research actually is

A keyword is any phrase a person types into Google. Keyword research is the work of finding the keywords that are relevant to your business, sorting them by how often they get searched, what the searcher wants when they type them, and how hard it is to rank for them. The output is a prioritised list of topics, each mapped to a specific page you intend to publish or improve.

That is the textbook version. Here is the honest one. Keyword research is three jobs stacked on top of each other:

  1. Demand discovery. What are people actually searching for in this niche, and how often? Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Search Console and Ahrefs give the numbers.
  2. Intent reading. What does the searcher want when they type each phrase? A how-to article, a comparison, a product page, a phone number, a definition? The live SERP tells you the answer in 30 seconds.
  3. Difficulty judgement. Given who is currently ranking for each phrase and where your domain sits, which ones are worth attempting in the next 6 to 12 months? Difficulty scores help. The live results help more.

Skip any one of these and you produce a keyword list that looks impressive but does not earn revenue. We have inherited several Perth clients with 800-row keyword spreadsheets that never shipped a single ranking page, because nobody ever filtered for intent or difficulty. Volume by itself is a trap.

The point of the exercise is not the list. The point is the decisions the list lets you make. Which pages to write next quarter. Which existing pages to merge or kill. Which questions to answer in your FAQs. Which terms to weave into your title tags. Done properly, keyword research is the upstream document every other SEO decision flows out of.

Why it matters for Australian businesses

Australia is a thinner search market than the US or the UK, and that changes the maths. The same phrase that gets 50,000 searches a month in America might get 1,500 here. Australian search volumes for niche commercial phrases are often in the 10 to 300 range. If you read American SEO advice and chase head terms in the thousands, you can spend a year writing content that no Australian was ever going to type into Google in the first place.

The flip side is opportunity. Lower volumes mean lower competition. The SERPs for Australian commercial queries are not as dense with global authority sites as the US equivalents. A Perth services firm willing to write five sharp pages around the right 30 keywords can outrank the templated Sydney chains for years.

Three Australia-specific things to know going in:

  • Location modifiers do a lot of work. "Plumber" might be a national term. "Plumber Fremantle" is a local commercial query with five competitors instead of 5,000. Most Perth businesses should be doing 70 percent of their keyword research with a location modifier attached, not without.
  • AU English versus US English changes the result set. Optimisation and optimization return different SERPs in Google.com.au. Spelling sloppiness in your keyword research will lead to writing for a different country's intent.
  • Google's "Discussions and forums" feature is heavy in the Australian SERP. Reddit and Whirlpool threads now appear in about half the commercial queries we monitor. That is both a competitor and a research tool: read the threads to find the questions Australians actually ask, then write the page that answers them.

For more on the local angle, see why SEO matters for Australian businesses. For the Perth-specific keyword examples we use with clients, the local keyword research chapter goes deeper.

How keyword research works in 2026 (AI Overviews changed the rules)

The fundamentals have not changed in fifteen years. You still find what people search for, score it, and pick winners. What has changed sits on top of that pipeline.

The single biggest shift: AI Overviews

Google now generates an AI Overview at the top of many informational searches. It synthesises an answer from three to eight cited sources and pushes the regular blue links below the fold. Our working position, after watching click-through data across client accounts and the publicly reported studies through 2025 and early 2026, is that AI Overviews shave 20 to 30 percent off click volume on informational queries. Commercial queries are less affected because Google still wants to monetise the ad slot at the top.

What that does to keyword research:

  • Pure informational keywords ("what is...", "how does...") are worth less than they used to be unless you can be the citation inside the AI Overview rather than just a blue link below it.
  • Commercial and transactional keywords are worth more than they used to be. Searchers ready to buy still click through.
  • The keywords that get cited inside AI answers tend to be long-tail and specific. A page built around "best SEO agency Perth for trades" is more likely to be quoted than one built around "best SEO agency".

The other big shift: AI search engines

ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Gemini and a handful of smaller players now answer commercial questions and recommend brands directly. Keyword research is creeping into a second layer where you also research what people prompt those engines with. Prompt patterns are not the same as Google patterns. People ask ChatGPT longer, more conversational questions than they type into Google. For the full picture, see the AI Search pillar.

What has not changed

  • Search intent is still the primary lens. If anything, intent matters more than ever, because pages that mismatch intent get filtered out of AI summaries entirely.
  • The SERP is still your best research tool. Google curates the top ten results to its current best-guess of what searchers want. Reading the SERP for a query tells you more than any keyword tool's score.
  • Long-tail is still where small businesses win. Always was. More now than ever.
A pyramid diagram with three tiers showing Australian keyword search volumes and conversion rates. The narrow Head tier at the top contains high-volume, brutally competitive keywords like 'SEO' at around 22,000 searches a month nationally with a 1-2% conversion rate. The Torso tier in the middle holds moderate-volume keywords like 'SEO Perth' at around 880 a month with 3-5% conversion. The wide Long-tail base contains low-volume but specific commercial keywords like 'SEO for plumbers Fremantle' at around 20 a month, with 8-15% conversion and very little competition.
Where Australian businesses actually win, with real volumes from our retainer dataset.

The 8 sub-topics that make up keyword research

This pillar splits into 8 chapters. Each one covers a sub-topic you will hit the moment you sit down to plan content for an Australian business in 2026.

A four-by-two grid presenting the eight keyword research chapters: how to do keyword research step by step, understanding search intent, keyword difficulty explained, long-tail keyword strategy, local keyword research with Perth examples, free keyword research tools reviewed, keyword clustering for topical authority, and competitor keyword gap analysis. Each card has a numbered green circle and a brief one-line description.
  1. How to do keyword research, step by step. The six-step workflow we run on every new client retainer, from blank spreadsheet to mapped content plan.
  2. Understanding search intent. The four intent categories, how to read them off the SERP in 30 seconds, and why intent mismatch is the most common reason content fails to rank.
  3. Keyword difficulty explained. What Ahrefs, SEMrush and Moz are actually measuring, why their scores disagree, and how to use them without getting fooled.
  4. Long-tail keyword strategy. Why the small numbers add up to the biggest pool of revenue traffic and how to build a long-tail program that compounds.
  5. Local keyword research (Perth examples). The location-modifier framework we use across our WA service-area clients, with the actual phrase lists.
  6. Free keyword research tools, reviewed. The honest version of the free tool stack. What each one is good at, what each one is rubbish at, when to start paying.
  7. Keyword clustering for topical authority. How to group hundreds of related keywords into a small number of clusters that map cleanly to pages.
  8. Competitor keyword gap analysis. The fastest way to find the keywords your competitors rank for and you do not, plus the ones you both rank for that they outrank you on.

Our framework: the four-layer keyword filter

Every keyword we ship into a client plan goes through four filters in this order. Skip a filter or change the order and the spend gets wasted.

A vertical funnel diagram filtering around 2,000 raw keyword candidates down through four sequential layers. Filter 1 Relevance to the business reduces the list to about 800 keywords. Filter 2 Search intent reduces it to about 400. Filter 3 Difficulty versus current authority reduces it to about 200. Filter 4 Revenue fit produces the final output: a focused list of 80 to 150 keywords mapped to specific pages.
The order matters. Most agencies run these filters in reverse and ship 800-row spreadsheets that never become content.

Filter 1: Relevance to the business

Does this keyword represent a search the business can credibly answer with a page, a service or a product? If the business is a Perth law firm specialising in family law, "best wills templates" is not relevant. If it is a roofing company, "what does a roof cost per square metre" might be the most relevant keyword on the entire list. Relevance is the easy filter and most agencies still get it wrong because they import a giant generic list and forget what the business actually does.

Filter 2: Search intent

Does the live SERP show pages that match what the business can offer? If "Perth SEO" returns a SERP full of agency homepages, that is commercial intent and a service business can rank there with a service page. If it returns a SERP full of how-to articles and Reddit threads, that is informational intent and a sales page will not rank no matter how many backlinks it earns. We cover the four intents in detail at understanding search intent, and how intent feeds into the page itself at content depth and word count myths.

Filter 3: Difficulty versus current authority

Where does the site sit today, and what difficulty bracket is reachable? A brand-new site cannot rank for KD 70 keywords in 12 months no matter how good the content is. The same site can rank for KD 20 keywords inside a quarter. Honest difficulty matching is the filter that separates the SEO plans that ship results from the ones that ship spreadsheets. The keyword difficulty chapter spells out our cut-off rules by site age and link profile.

Filter 4: Revenue fit

If this keyword ranked tomorrow, would the traffic it brought in actually convert for this business? A high-volume informational keyword that brings 5,000 students a month to a B2B legal site is worse than a 10-search-per-month commercial keyword that brings two business owners ready to engage. The revenue filter is where we cut the list to its final 80 to 150 keywords on a typical small-business plan. The long-tail strategy chapter shows why the small numbers usually win this filter.

One thing to call out. The order of these filters matters. Most agencies run them in the opposite order, starting with volume and difficulty and only checking relevance at the end. That is how you end up with 800-row spreadsheets that never become anything. Start with relevance and intent. The numbers are the last filter, not the first.

Where most businesses get stuck

We have run keyword research projects for several hundred Perth and WA businesses. The same six failure modes keep coming up:

What works
  • Pulling the seed list straight from sales conversations and Search Console queries rather than guessing.
  • Checking the live SERP for every shortlisted keyword before adding it to the plan.
  • Mapping each keyword cluster to exactly one URL, then writing a content brief from the cluster.
  • Quarterly refresh: add new keywords from Search Console, drop dead ones, re-score difficulty for anything that has shifted.
  • Pairing the keyword map with a conversion measurement plan so you know which pages earn money.
What kills momentum
  • Treating keyword research as a one-off project. A keyword map ages out in 90 days.
  • Optimising for volume only and ignoring intent. The classic agency mistake.
  • Targeting too many head-term keywords too early in a domain's life.
  • Letting one page chase 12 unrelated keywords. Hello keyword cannibalisation.
  • Ignoring the SERP feature mix (AI Overview, local pack, video carousel, featured snippet) and how it eats clicks.
  • Not auditing the existing content against the new keyword map before commissioning new pages. Half the time the page already exists and just needs a rewrite.

Tools and checklists worth using

You do not need a $400-a-month tool stack to do this properly. You do need these five:

  1. Google Search Console. Free. The Performance report shows every query your site already gets impressions for, with positions and click data. If your site has any history, this is the most valuable keyword research tool you own. Most Perth businesses we audit are not using it. See the technical SEO audit for the broader GSC setup.
  2. Google Keyword Planner. Free with a Google Ads account (no campaign needed). Australian search volumes, broad and exact match data, related keyword suggestions. It under-reports volume on low-search terms by lumping them into ranges, but the relative scale is accurate.
  3. Ahrefs Free Tools or SEMrush Free. Each offers limited daily searches with no credit card. Difficulty scores, related questions, top-ranking pages. Enough for a small-business plan.
  4. The SERP itself. Type the keyword into Google.com.au with location set to your target city. Read the top ten. That tells you intent, competitive depth, SERP feature mix, and what kind of page is expected. Free. Always available. Routinely ignored.
  5. A spreadsheet. Sheets or Excel. One row per keyword. Columns for volume, intent, difficulty, target URL, current rank, status. The spreadsheet is the keyword map. Without it, the research evaporates.

For the longer version with mini-reviews of each free tool we have actually used, see free keyword research tools, reviewed. For a quick check of your own site's keyword footprint, our free SEO audit tool pulls top queries and ranking pages alongside the technical and link data.

A 10-point keyword research checklist

  1. Have you pulled the seed list from at least three sources (sales, Search Console, competitor SERPs)?
  2. Has every shortlisted keyword been intent-scored against the live SERP, not guessed?
  3. Are there any KD-70-plus keywords on a domain under two years old? If yes, demote them.
  4. Is each keyword cluster mapped to exactly one URL?
  5. Has the primary keyword per URL been picked, and have the variants been recorded as supporting?
  6. Are local modifiers used wherever the business serves a defined area?
  7. Have you checked the SERP feature mix (AI Overview, local pack, video) for each priority keyword?
  8. Have you audited existing site pages against the new map to find rewrite candidates?
  9. Have you set a quarterly refresh date?
  10. Have you tied the keyword map to a conversion measurement plan?

What to read next

Once you have read this pillar, the natural next steps are:

All chapters in this pillar

  1. 01
    How to do keyword research, step by step
    The six-step workflow we run on every new client retainer. From a blank spreadsheet to a mapped content plan in half a day.
  2. 02
    Understanding search intent
    The four intent categories, how to read them off the SERP in 30 seconds, and why intent mismatch is the most common reason content fails.
  3. 03
    Keyword difficulty explained
    What Ahrefs, SEMrush and Moz are actually measuring, why their scores disagree, and how to use them without getting fooled.
  4. 04
    Long-tail keyword strategy
    Why the small numbers add up to the biggest pool of revenue traffic, and how to build a long-tail program that compounds.
  5. 05
    Local keyword research (Perth examples)
    The location-modifier framework we use across our WA service-area clients, with the actual Perth phrase lists.
  6. 06
    Free keyword research tools, reviewed
    The honest version of the free tool stack. What each one is good at, what each one is rubbish at, when to start paying.
  7. 07
    Keyword clustering for topical authority
    How to group hundreds of related keywords into a small number of clusters that map cleanly to pages and earn topical authority.
  8. 08
    Competitor keyword gap analysis
    The fastest way to find the keywords your competitors rank for and you do not, plus the ones you both rank for that they outrank you on.

Frequently asked

What is keyword research in SEO?
Keyword research is the process of finding the words and phrases people type into Google that are relevant to your business, then deciding which ones are worth building pages around. It combines volume data (how many people search the term), intent data (what they want from the result), and difficulty data (how hard it is to rank). The output is a prioritised list of topics mapped to specific URLs.
How long does keyword research take for a small business?
For a Perth small business with 5 to 15 services, plan a focused half-day for the first proper round. That gets you a seed list, an intent-scored shortlist of about 80 to 150 keywords, and an initial cluster map. The deeper competitor gap work usually adds another half-day. After that, the list gets updated quarterly rather than rebuilt from scratch. See our step-by-step workflow.
What are the most important keyword research metrics?
Three matter most. Monthly search volume tells you how much demand exists. Search intent tells you whether searchers are ready to buy, comparing options or still learning. Keyword difficulty tells you how strong the existing top ten is. Volume alone is a trap. A 10-search-per-month keyword with transactional intent often beats a 5,000-search-per-month keyword that only attracts students.
Are keyword difficulty scores accurate?
They are useful, not absolute. Ahrefs, SEMrush and Moz each score difficulty differently because their methodologies and link indexes are different. Treat them as a relative ranking for the keywords inside one tool, not as a universal score. Always pair the number with a glance at the live SERP for your country. The keyword difficulty chapter goes deeper.
How many keywords should each page target?
One primary keyword and a cluster of three to fifteen close variants. The primary keyword sets the page title and headline. The variants get woven into the headings and body. Trying to target many unrelated keywords on one page is the textbook cause of keyword cannibalisation later on.
Do long-tail keywords still matter in 2026 with AI Overviews?
More than ever. AI Overviews most often cite pages that closely match the exact phrasing of the query, and long-tail queries are where that matching is easiest. Long-tail also converts harder because the searcher has narrowed their intent. Brands competing for AI citation visibility now build out hundreds of long-tail pages where they used to build a handful of head-term pages.
What is the difference between a keyword and a topic?
A keyword is one specific search phrase. A topic is a group of related keywords that share the same underlying intent and can be answered by one page. For example, "how long does SEO take", "how soon will I see SEO results" and "SEO timeline for small business" are three keywords but one topic. Modern SEO is built around topics, not isolated keywords. The keyword clustering chapter shows how to group them.
Is free keyword research good enough, or do I need a paid tool?
For most Perth small businesses, the free stack is good enough for year one. Google Search Console, Google Keyword Planner, a free Ahrefs or Semrush trial, Keywords Everywhere on a small monthly credit pack, and the SERP itself will produce a workable plan. Paid tools earn their fee once you have ranking pages worth tracking competitively at scale. The free tools chapter reviews each option.
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