How to find local SEO keywords for your city (with real Chicago and Denver data)

Short answer

List your services in your customers' words, pair them with the places you serve, check real search volume, and look at what Google shows for each search before deciding which page should target it. Expect most suburb-level keywords to show very little volume. That's normal, and it tells you where a dedicated page makes sense and where your Business Profile and main service pages should do the work.

Local keyword research looks simple: "service + city," done. In practice, the volumes surprise people. The town you assumed was your biggest market may barely register, while one 30 miles away shows real demand. If you're wondering how to find keywords for local SEO without guessing, the method below is the one I use, and I'll show you what it turned up when we ran it on our own services around Chicago and Denver.

01Why local keyword research is different

Two things make local search its own game.

First, location changes the results. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence↗︎: how well a business matches the search, how far it is from the searcher, and how well-known it is. Someone searching "plumber" in Evanston sees different businesses than someone searching "plumber" in Naperville, even with the same words.

Second, a lot of local intent is invisible in keyword tools. Many people search "plumber" or "plumber near me" and let Google figure out where they are. Those searches don't contain a city name, so "plumber evanston" can look tiny even when plenty of Evanston residents are looking for a plumber.

So local keyword research is less about finding magic phrases and more about understanding where demand exists and which page, or which profile, should catch it.

02How to find keywords for local SEO, step by step

1. List your services in your customers' words

Write down every service you want more of, then rewrite each the way a customer would say it. You might say "HVAC system replacement"; your customer types "new furnace cost" or "AC not cooling." Sources: your quote requests, call notes, reviews and the questions your team answers by phone.

2. Add the local and intent modifiers

For each service, build variations with:

• Places: your city, nearby towns, neighborhoods, the county, "near me."
• Urgency: emergency, same day, 24 hour, open now.
• Money: cost, price, quote, estimate.
• Customer type: commercial, residential, for small business, for restaurants.
• Problem phrasing: "water heater leaking," "website not showing on Google."

You'll end up with a long list. That's the point. You'll cut it down with data.

3. Check real search volume

Run the list through a keyword tool. We use Semrush; Google's Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account, though Google requires billing information to be set up before you can use its keyword ideas. Note monthly volume and competition for each phrase.

Two cautions. Volumes are estimates and averages, so treat 10 versus 20 as "both small." And a zero doesn't mean nobody searches; it means too few for the tool to measure reliably.

4. Look at what Google actually shows

For your most important keywords, search them yourself (ideally from the area, or using a location-specific search tool) and note:

• Is there a map pack? If yes, your Google Business Profile competes there, and proximity matters a lot.
• What ranks organically? Local business websites, directories, national brands, or articles? If it's all directories, a strong presence on those directories may matter as much as your own page.
• Are there AI answers? For many service searches, Google's AI features now summarize options. Your profile, reviews and service pages all feed into them.

This step tells you which asset should target each keyword: your Business Profile, a service page, a location page, or an article.

5. Mine the data you already have

• Search Console shows the queries your site already appears for, including local variations no tool lists.
• Your Business Profile performance report shows the search terms people used to find your business↗︎, updated monthly.
• Your own leads. Ask new customers what they searched. You'll hear phrases no tool predicted.

6. Map keywords to pages

Now decide where each keyword lives:

• One page per service, targeting the service name and its close variations.
• Location pages only where there's real demand and something real to say: a team, a service area with its own needs, projects you've done there.
• Your Business Profile handles a lot of "service near me" demand through categories, services, reviews and proximity.
• Articles for question-style searches ("how much does X cost," "how long does X take").

03What real Chicago and Denver data shows

We ran this process for our own services, web design and SEO, across the towns around our two offices. Here's what Semrush's US data (monthly averages) shows for some of them:

And the other end of the scale: most Chicago and Denver suburbs show somewhere between 0 and 20 searches a month for "web design" or "seo" plus the town name. Arlington Heights, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park and Englewood came in around 10; Wheaton and Golden around 20.

My read on the pattern:

• Cities with their own identity and economy show real demand. Naperville, Joliet and Rockford in Illinois; Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Loveland in Colorado. People there search by their city's name.
• Inner suburbs mostly don't. Someone in Oak Lawn is more likely to search "web design chicago," "near me," or nothing local at all. Their demand exists; it just isn't labeled with the town.
• The biggest numbers aren't always where you'd expect. "seo colorado springs" is the largest figure in this set, for a city well south of Denver, and bigger than anything we found for Chicago's suburbs.

Your industry will look different, so run your own numbers. But I'd bet the shape is similar: a handful of standout towns and a long tail of near-zero suburbs.

04What we did with it

We built location pages only where the data showed demand and where we had something specific to say. Our main market pages are Chicago and Denver, where our teams are. We didn't create a page for every suburb within an hour's drive, because pages written for searches that barely exist, with the town name swapped in, aren't useful to anyone. Google's spam policies call this doorway abuse↗︎, and specifically name "multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page." The same policies list "blocks of text that list cities and regions that a web page is trying to rank for" as keyword stuffing.

If you want the full method for building location pages that are worth ranking, read our guide to local landing pages. For a deeper look at the Chicago and Denver numbers, see our post on local search in Chicago vs Denver.

05What about "near me" keywords?

"Near me" searches are real and common, but you don't win them by writing "near me" on your page. Google already knows where the searcher is; distance does most of the work. What you control is relevance (your categories, services and page content match the search) and prominence (reviews, mentions, a strong website). Focus there.

And don't put keywords in your Business Profile name. Google's guidelines say your name should be your real-world business name and that adding unnecessary information "isn't permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile"↗︎.

06Mistakes I see often

• Targeting only the metro head term. A term like "plumber chicago" is where every competitor in the region is fighting. The towns where you actually work may be easier and closer to your customers.
• One page per suburb, same content. Thin, duplicated, and against Google's doorway policy.
• Ignoring volume entirely. Writing a page for a town with zero searches and no special reason to exist is time better spent on your service pages.
• Trusting tools over customers. If your phone keeps ringing from one town the tools say is tiny, believe your phone.

07Where to start

Spend an afternoon on steps 1 through 3 for your top five services and the ten places you most want to work. Sort by volume. Search the top twenty yourself and note what Google shows. You'll come out with a short list: a few city or area pages worth building, service pages to strengthen, and a clearer picture of what your Business Profile should be catching.

If you'd rather we run the research and build the plan, that's part of our local SEO service.

08Frequently asked questions

Should I target keywords with zero search volume?

Sometimes. If a phrase is very specific and close to a sale, it can still be worth covering inside a broader page. Just don't build standalone pages for terms nobody searches.

How many local keywords should a page target?

One main topic per page, plus its natural variations. A service page about water heater replacement can rank for dozens of related phrases without listing them.

Do I need a separate page for every town I serve?

No. Build them where there's real demand and something real to say, and let your Business Profile and service pages cover the rest of your service area.