Keyword research means finding the words your customers type when they need you, then deciding which of those searches deserve a page. For a BC service business, the most useful version is done town by town, because the province's geography makes each community its own small search market. You can do most of it yourself in an afternoon.
Start with what customers already tell you
Before opening any tool, write down how real customers describe their problem. Your own phone and inbox are the richest source. Spend twenty minutes going through the last month of calls, texts and emails and note the exact words people used.
You'll usually find three kinds of phrasing:
- Problem words: "no hot water", "breaker keeps tripping", "roof leaking around the chimney"
- Service words: "drain cleaning", "panel upgrade", "re-roof"
- Place words: town names, neighbourhoods, landmarks, or "near me"
Customers rarely use industry language. A homeowner in Chilliwack doesn't search for "residential electrical service upgrade"; they search for "200 amp panel upgrade cost" or "electrician Chilliwack". Your page plan should speak their language, not yours.
How town names change searches in BC
Town names matter more in BC than in many provinces, for a simple reason: distances and terrain split the population into separate markets, and searchers know it.
In a dense area, many people search without a town name and let their phone's location decide. In smaller or more spread-out places, people often add the town to make sure they get someone who will actually come. Someone in Quesnel knows a Prince George firm might not drive down for a small job, so "furnace repair Quesnel" is a natural search.
There's also the municipality effect in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria. Residents of Saanich, Langford, Delta or Port Coquitlam often search with their own municipality's name rather than "Vancouver" or "Victoria". Statistics Canada's 2021 counts put Saanich's population at 117,735, larger than the City of Victoria's 91,867. A Victoria-area business that only targets "Victoria" misses a big share of local searches.
Use Google itself as a research tool
Google shows you a lot about how people search, for free.
- Autocomplete. Type your service and a town slowly into Google and note the suggestions. "Roof repair Pen..." will show you how Penticton residents tend to finish that search.
- People also ask. Search your main service and town, then open the "People also ask" questions. Each one is a candidate for a section on a service page or an article.
- Related searches. Scroll to the bottom of the results page for more phrasings.
- The map pack. Look at which businesses appear and which categories they use. If every map result is three towns away, competition in your town may be thinner than you think.
Do this from the town in question if you can, or ask someone there to send screenshots. Results change with location, so searching "plumber Nelson" from Vancouver doesn't show you exactly what a Nelson resident sees.
Judge demand honestly in small towns
Keyword tools are built on averages and are weakest for small places. In a town of 8,000 people, many local searches will show as zero or "no data" even though real people search every week.
A better approach for small BC towns is to estimate demand from population and your own experience:
| Town | 2021 population | Practical demand signal |
|---|---|---|
| Kelowna | 144,576 | Tools will show data; use it |
| Kamloops | 97,902 | Tools mostly useful |
| Fort St. John | 21,465 | Tool data patchy; check autocomplete |
| Castlegar | 8,338 | Rely on enquiries and autocomplete |
If you already get two or three enquiries a month from a town without trying, a page for that town is very likely worth it. If you've never had a call from there and never go there, a page won't create a business that isn't there.
Check what you already rank for
If your website is connected to Google Search Console, its Performance report shows the actual searches where your site appeared, with impressions and clicks. Sort by impressions and look for:
- searches where you appear often but rarely get clicked (a title or page problem)
- town names you appear for without a dedicated page (a page opportunity)
- services you offer that never appear (a content gap)
Our Search Console guide for owners explains this report step by step.
Sort searches by intent and value
Not every search is worth the same. Group your list into four buckets:
- Urgent and local: "emergency plumber Langley", "no heat Prince George". These win through the map pack and a fast, clear service page.
- Planned and local: "kitchen renovation Nanaimo", "roof replacement Vernon". These need a strong service page plus supporting content.
- Research: "how long does a heat pump last", "cost to replace a roof in BC". These suit articles that link to your service pages.
- Not for you: DIY searches, job searches, product-only searches. Note them and move on.
Then rank by value. A search tied to your most profitable job in a town you already serve beats a bigger search for low-margin work in a town you rarely visit.
Turn research into a page plan
A simple plan for most BC service businesses looks like this:
- One page per main service, using the words customers use ("drain cleaning", not "drainage solutions").
- One page per town you truly serve, each with real local details. Our location pages service explains what goes on them.
- A short list of articles answering the research questions you found, each linked to the matching service page.
Keep a spreadsheet with four columns: search phrase, bucket, target page, and status. It becomes your SEO roadmap.
Mistakes to avoid
- Chasing volume over fit. The biggest number in a tool is rarely the right target for a local business.
- Building pages for every town in a regional district. Google's spam policies treat near-identical pages made for slightly different searches as doorway abuse.
- Ignoring neighbourhoods in big cities. In Vancouver or Surrey, neighbourhood and town-centre names can be more useful than the city name.
- Researching once and stopping. Search habits shift with seasons. Revisit your list every six months.
Where to go from here
If you'd rather have this done for you, our content SEO service starts with exactly this research, and the areas page shows how search differs across BC's regions. BCSEO.ca is a marketing service, not a contractor; this guide is about finding customers, not doing the work. Questions are welcome by call, text or email.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a paid keyword tool?
Not to start. Your call log, Google's own suggestions and Search Console cover most of what a local BC business needs. Paid tools help with larger plans and competitor research.
Why do tools show zero searches for my town?
Keyword tools round small numbers down and group similar searches. In towns like Kimberley or Merritt, real demand is often too small to show, but people still search. Judge small towns by population and your own enquiries instead.
Should I target the biggest keyword I can find?
Usually not. A broad term like 'plumber Vancouver' is highly contested and mixes many intents. A narrower term tied to your best job and your actual towns often brings better calls sooner.