Key Takeaways
Google Search Console is a free tool that shows which search phrases are driving impressions and clicks to a website within a local neighborhood radius. Contractors can export that data as a spreadsheet, sort by position over the last 28 days, and build a working keyword list. Spot-checking rankings with the Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool, then tracking volume in a paid platform like SEMrush, completes the workflow.
- Search Console only reflects rankings within a local neighborhood radius, not an entire city or metro area.
- Exporting the Performance report as a spreadsheet and sorting by position over the last 28 days reveals the most actionable keyword data.
- Google hides a large portion of click data, so the exported list represents only the visible tip of actual search activity.
- The Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool lets contractors spot-check city-wide rankings for any keyword found in the export.
- SEMrush, priced roughly in the $100 to $200 per month range, automates position tracking across dozens or hundreds of keywords at once.
- Keywords with zero monthly search volume should be removed from any tracking list because ranking for them generates no traffic.
- One local SEO agency tracked visibility rising from 6 percent to 16 percent over roughly 30 days, which corresponded with an increase from 1 to 2 inbound calls per month to 5 to 15 calls per month.
Why Search Console Keyword Data Matters for Home-Service Contractors
Google Search Console gives home-service contractors a direct look at the exact phrases real searchers typed before landing on, or scrolling past, their website. Unlike third-party keyword tools that estimate demand based on panel data, Search Console pulls from actual Google index data tied to a verified domain. That distinction matters because a plumber in Asheville, North Carolina is not competing against a national average. The contractor is competing for the specific phrases people in that metro type when a pipe bursts at 11 p.m.
The tool is free, maintained by Google, and does not require any coding knowledge beyond an initial domain verification step. Verification typically involves adding a small snippet of code to a website header or uploading an HTML file to a server, both of which a web developer or hosting provider can complete in under 30 minutes.
Once verified, Search Console begins collecting impression and click data for every query that triggered the site in Google results. That data accumulates over time and becomes the foundation for a keyword list grounded in real local demand rather than guesswork. For a garage door company, an HVAC contractor, or a psychotherapist trying to attract clients in a specific metro, no other free data source comes close to the specificity Search Console provides. The process of turning that raw data into a usable keyword strategy involves five repeatable steps, each covered in the sections below.
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How do you find keywords in Google Search Console?
Finding keywords in Google Search Console requires logging into the platform, opening the target property, navigating to the Performance tab, selecting the last 28 days compared to the previous period, and exporting the results as a spreadsheet. Sorting that spreadsheet by position from smallest to largest reveals which queries the site already ranks for inside its local neighborhood radius.
What is the Performance tab and why does it matter?
The Performance tab is the primary reporting screen inside Search Console. It displays total clicks, total impressions, average click-through rate, and average position for all queries that triggered the site during the selected date range. Clicking the date filter and choosing the last 28 days versus the previous period adds a comparison column that shows whether positions are improving or declining over time, which is the signal contractors actually need to prioritize optimization efforts.
Why does the export show fewer clicks than the total displayed on screen?
Google deliberately limits the keyword-level data it surfaces in Search Console exports. A property might show 23 total clicks during a 28-day window, yet the exported spreadsheet might display only four or five query rows with click attribution. The remaining clicks are distributed across queries Google groups or omits from the export entirely. This means the exported keyword list is a sample, not a complete inventory. Contractors should treat it as a starting point for identifying patterns rather than an exhaustive accounting of all traffic sources.
How do you sort the spreadsheet to find the most useful keywords?
After opening the exported spreadsheet, add a filter to the header row and sort the column labeled last-28-days position from smallest to largest. Rows where the position value is zero typically represent queries with no ranking data for that period and can be ignored. The first non-zero rows represent phrases where the site already holds some position in Google results, making them the highest-priority candidates for optimization work.
Understanding the Local Neighborhood Limitation of Search Console
Search Console reports keyword positions based on searcher location, and that location is restricted to the general neighborhood or zip-code radius surrounding the verified business address. A business located in East Asheville, for example, will see position data reflecting searches conducted in East Asheville, not across the full Asheville metropolitan area.
This geographic constraint surprises many contractors who assume their Search Console data reflects citywide performance. It does not. The tool is showing performance within a bubble, not across an entire service territory. Contractors who serve an entire city, multiple cities, or regional markets need additional tools to understand their full competitive position.
What are the four geographic levels contractors typically care about?
Most home-service contractors fall into one of four geographic tiers. First is the immediate neighborhood, which is what Search Console actually measures. Second is the full city, meaning the contractor wants to rank across all of Asheville, not just one district. Third is multiple cities, where a contractor might target Asheville, Greenville, Charlotte, Spartanburg, and Knoxville simultaneously. Fourth is nationwide, which applies to e-commerce or specialty product businesses that ship or serve clients across state lines. Search Console is most useful for contractors in tiers one and two, with tier two requiring supplemental tools to measure performance beyond the neighborhood radius.
Does Search Console show rankings for other cities a contractor wants to target?
No. Search Console is anchored to the verified business address and reflects local searcher behavior near that address. A plumber based in East Asheville cannot use Search Console to determine whether they rank for searches conducted in Weaverville or Arden. Measuring performance across a broader geographic footprint requires either manual rank checking through the Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool or a paid rank tracking platform like SEMrush.
How does understanding the neighborhood limitation change keyword strategy?
Recognizing that Search Console data is hyperlocal helps contractors calibrate expectations. A keyword that shows a position of three in Search Console may only reflect ranking within a small radius. The contractor could be ranked 15 or 20 in a broader city-level search for the same phrase. Building a keyword strategy that accounts for this gap means treating Search Console data as an input to a larger research process rather than a complete picture of competitive standing. Contractors who want to learn more about how many phrases to actively pursue can review guidance on how many keywords to focus on for SEO before building out a final target list.
Building a Keyword List from the Exported Spreadsheet
Once the spreadsheet is sorted by position, the next step is to manually review each row and highlight queries that are relevant to the business. A marketing agency might highlight phrases like “Asheville SEO service,” “small business marketing companies,” “local SEO firms,” and “digital marketing agency.” An HVAC contractor would highlight phrases tied to repairs, installations, and seasonal maintenance. A psychotherapist would flag terms like “EMDR therapy” or “anxiety counseling Asheville.”
The filtering process is equally important. Not every query that triggered impressions is worth pursuing. Phrases like “best collection agency” or “Google algorithm update” might appear in a marketing consultant’s export but are irrelevant to the services being sold. Removing those rows keeps the working keyword list focused on phrases that could convert a searcher into a paying customer.
How do you decide which keywords from the export are worth keeping?
A keyword is worth keeping if it describes a service the business offers, includes a location modifier that matches the service area, or represents a problem a potential customer is actively trying to solve. Generic industry terms without location modifiers can also be valuable if search volume supports them. Phrases that describe competitors, unrelated industries, or informational queries the business has no interest in ranking for should be removed from the list to avoid diluting focus.
Should a contractor include every keyword variation in the working list?
Not necessarily. Many query variations express the same intent. “Asheville plumber,” “plumber in Asheville,” and “plumbers near Asheville NC” all represent the same searcher need. A contractor can consolidate these into a single primary target and treat the variations as supporting phrases. Tracking dozens of near-identical variants inflates the keyword count without providing additional strategic clarity. Keeping the list to meaningful, distinct intent categories produces a cleaner framework for content and optimization planning. For contractors in specific verticals, reviewing industry-specific keyword research, such as the breakdown of garage door SEO keywords, illustrates how to organize phrases by service type rather than tracking every surface variation.
What format should the final keyword list take?
A simple spreadsheet with columns for the keyword phrase, current position in Search Console, monthly search volume from a third-party tool, and a notes column tracking content assignments works well for most contractors. This format allows the list to be sorted by opportunity, meaning phrases with moderate to high volume where the site ranks between positions 8 and 20 represent the fastest path to incremental traffic gains with focused optimization effort.
Spot-Checking City-Wide Rankings with the Google Ads Preview Tool
The Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool is a free resource inside the Google Ads interface that allows anyone to simulate a Google search from any city, state, or zip code without affecting personal search history or personalized results. It is the most straightforward way to check where a website ranks across an entire city rather than just within the Search Console neighborhood radius.
To use it, a contractor navigates to the tool, enters a target keyword from their working list, sets the location to the city they want to measure, and reviews the results page. The tool displays map pack results separately from organic blue-link results, which matters because appearing in both placements simultaneously, as some agencies do for their own branded searches, can capture a significantly larger share of clicks than appearing in only one section.
How do you count positions accurately in the preview tool results?
Map pack positions are counted separately from organic results. A business appearing as the third map pack result holds position three in maps regardless of where organic listings appear on the page. Organic results are counted sequentially down the page, meaning a result appearing after two ads and three map pack listings might visually appear mid-page but holds organic position one. Contractors should track both map and organic positions independently to understand their full visibility profile for each keyword.
What does it mean if a competitor appears in both maps and organic results?
A competitor appearing in both the map pack and organic blue-link results is capturing what practitioners sometimes call a double listing. Because roughly 30 to 40 percent of clicks in local search results go to map pack results and another significant share goes to organic results, holding a position in both sections for a high-intent keyword effectively doubles exposure relative to a business appearing in only one section. Identifying which competitors hold double listings for priority keywords helps a contractor understand how much ground needs to be recovered and which optimization areas, Google Business Profile versus on-page SEO, deserve more immediate investment.
Is manual spot-checking practical for agencies managing multiple clients?
Manual spot-checking through the preview tool works adequately for a single business tracking 10 to 20 keywords. For an agency managing 15 to 20 clients, each with 50 to 100 target keywords, manual checking becomes impractical within a reasonable weekly time budget. At that scale, automated rank tracking software provides the same data continuously without the time investment, which is why most professionals managing multiple accounts move to paid tools once client volume reaches that threshold.
Using SEMrush to Automate Keyword Position Tracking
SEMrush is a paid keyword research and rank tracking platform priced roughly in the $100 to $200 per month range, with lower-cost options for single-domain tracking. The platform allows contractors and agencies to import a keyword list, assign it to a project tied to a specific domain, and receive daily or weekly position updates without any manual spot-checking.
Within the SEMrush position tracking interface, a contractor can view a metric called visibility, which is measured on a scale of zero to 100. Most local businesses starting SEO work show visibility scores in the two to ten range. A score of 16 after roughly 30 days of active content publishing and link building represents meaningful progress. One local agency example shows visibility moving from 6 percent to 16 percent over approximately that window, with inbound call volume increasing from one or two per month to five to fifteen per month as a direct result.
How do you import keywords from Search Console into SEMrush?
After building the working keyword list in a spreadsheet, a contractor opens the SEMrush Position Tracking tool, selects the relevant project, and uses the add keywords function to paste or upload the list. SEMrush then begins pulling daily position data for each phrase. When new keywords are added mid-campaign, the overall visibility score may temporarily fluctuate as the tool recalibrates the baseline against the expanded keyword set, which is normal and not a sign that rankings have dropped.
What should a contractor do with keywords that show zero search volume in SEMrush?
Keywords showing zero monthly search volume in SEMrush should generally be removed from the tracking list. Ranking number one for a phrase nobody types produces no additional traffic or leads. Examples from a real SEMrush audit include terms like “local SEO services North Carolina,” “SEO agency Asheville,” and “SEO company Asheville,” all of which showed no measurable search volume despite sounding relevant. Removing zero-volume keywords keeps the visibility score meaningful and prevents a false sense of progress from inflated keyword counts. Contractors working with an experienced search engine marketing team typically have volume thresholds reviewed and cleaned on a quarterly basis.
How long does it take for SEMrush to show accurate position data after adding keywords?
SEMrush typically requires 24 to 48 hours after a keyword is added to pull initial position data. After that initial crawl, positions update daily for most plans. The first two to four weeks of data often show more volatility than later periods because Google is simultaneously indexing any new content tied to those keywords. Contractors should wait at least 30 days after a content or optimization change before drawing conclusions from position trend lines in the platform.
Reading Visibility Scores and Connecting Rankings to Lead Volume
Visibility scores in SEMrush translate loosely into practical business outcomes, but the connection is not perfectly linear because keyword volume, competition level, and conversion rate all vary by phrase. The most useful way to interpret a visibility score is as a directional indicator. A score rising from 6 to 16 over 30 days tells a business that its average ranking position across tracked keywords improved meaningfully during that period.
The more concrete measure of progress is inbound contact volume. In one documented case, a local agency tracked its own SEO performance and observed that moving from 6 percent to 16 percent visibility corresponded with inbound calls increasing from roughly one to two per month to five to fifteen per month. That four-to-seven times increase in lead volume came from a combination of blog content, on-page optimization, and link building, not from any single tactic in isolation.
What visibility score should a local contractor aim for?
There is no universal target because visibility scores depend on how many keywords are in the tracking list and how competitive each phrase is. A contractor tracking 20 high-competition keywords will show a lower visibility score than one tracking 20 low-competition phrases, even if the first contractor is actually performing better in terms of traffic and leads. A more useful internal benchmark is month-over-month improvement. Consistent upward movement of two to four percentage points per month, sustained over six to twelve months, indicates healthy SEO momentum for most local home-service businesses.
How does content publishing affect position tracking results?
Publishing new blog posts or service pages targeting specific keywords from the tracking list generally produces position improvement for those phrases within 30 to 90 days, depending on domain authority and competition level. In the agency example above, blogging was cited as one of the contributors to the visibility increase from 6 to 16 percent. However, publishing content alone does not guarantee ranking movement. The content must target a phrase with measurable search volume, cover the topic with sufficient depth, and be supported by a technically healthy website.
Should contractors track rankings for keywords they have not yet published content for?
Yes, adding not-yet-ranked keywords to a tracking list before publishing content establishes a pre-optimization baseline. Knowing that a phrase currently sits at position 45 before a new page is published makes it possible to measure the precise ranking lift the content produced. Without a pre-publication baseline, it is impossible to separate the effect of a specific content piece from other concurrent optimization work happening on the site.
Common Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid
Several repeatable mistakes reduce the effectiveness of a keyword research process based on Search Console data. Recognizing them in advance saves contractors from spending optimization resources on phrases that will not produce business outcomes.
The first and most common mistake is treating Search Console data as a complete picture of keyword opportunity. Because Google limits the data visible in exports, the working list from Search Console will always be incomplete. Pairing it with a paid tool like SEMrush for volume and competition data produces a more accurate starting point.
Why is tracking keywords with no search volume a problem?
Tracking zero-volume keywords inflates the keyword list without providing any pathway to traffic growth. An agency or contractor that reports ranking for 150 keywords but half of them receive no searches is presenting a misleading performance picture. The 75 keywords with actual search volume are the ones driving outcomes. Filtering out zero-volume phrases ensures that reporting reflects real market demand, and that optimization resources are directed toward phrases people actually type.
What happens if a contractor only tracks branded keyword variations?
Branded keywords, those that include the business name, are generally easy to rank for because they have low competition. Tracking them alongside non-branded local intent keywords can make overall performance look stronger than it is. A plumbing company ranking first for its own business name but ranking 40th for “Asheville emergency plumber” has a significant gap in capturing demand from searchers who do not already know the brand. A well-structured keyword list should be weighted toward non-branded, service-plus-location phrases where competition determines the outcome.
Is it a problem to rely entirely on Search Console without a paid tracking tool?
For a single business with a small keyword list and a modest budget, relying on Search Console combined with free manual spot-checking through the Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool is a functional approach. The limitation is time. Manual position checking for 50 keywords across five target cities would require several hours per week. At that scale, a paid tool paying back in recovered staff time within the first month is a reasonable business case. Contractors deciding between DIY tracking and professional management should factor in what their own time is worth per hour against the cost of automated tracking tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Search Console free to use?
Yes, Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google. Any website owner can set it up by verifying domain ownership through the Search Console interface, which typically requires adding a meta tag to the site header, uploading an HTML verification file, or using a DNS record. Verification options depend on what access the contractor has to their hosting environment or DNS settings. There are no paid tiers or hidden costs for accessing the keyword and performance data the tool provides.
How far back does Search Console data go?
Google Search Console retains data for 16 months on the standard Performance report. Contractors who set up their property today will not have historical data from before the setup date, so the earlier a property is verified, the more historical trend data will be available for analysis. Comparing the last 28 days to the prior period is the most actionable short-term view, while 12-month comparisons are more useful for identifying seasonal patterns in search demand for services like HVAC maintenance or landscaping.
How do you find keywords in Google Search Console?
Log into Search Console, open the verified property, click the Performance tab, set the date range to last 28 days compared to the previous period, and export the data as a spreadsheet. Sort the exported spreadsheet by the position column from smallest to largest. The rows with the lowest position numbers represent phrases where the site already holds a ranking. Review each row, keep phrases relevant to services offered, remove unrelated queries, and use the resulting list as the foundation for further keyword research and content planning.
Why does my Search Console export show so few keywords?
Google limits the keyword data visible in Search Console exports. A site that received 23 total clicks during a 28-day window might show only four or five keyword rows with click data in the export. The remaining clicks are distributed across queries that Google either groups under “other” or omits entirely. This is a deliberate data policy, not a technical error. The exported list represents a useful sample of keyword activity but should be supplemented with third-party tools and manual rank checking to build a more complete picture of how searchers find the site.
Can Search Console show rankings across an entire city?
No. Search Console reflects rankings within the local neighborhood radius surrounding the verified business address, not across an entire city or metro area. A business in East Asheville will see position data based on searches conducted near East Asheville, not searches conducted across greater Asheville. To measure city-wide ranking performance, contractors need to use the Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool set to the target city location, or a paid rank tracking platform like SEMrush that measures positions from a specified geographic location.
How much does SEMrush cost for a single business?
SEMrush pricing ranges roughly from $100 to $200 per month depending on the plan tier, with some lower-cost entry options available. For a single business tracking keyword positions for one domain in one city, the lower-tier plans typically provide sufficient functionality. Agencies managing 15 to 20 clients require higher-tier plans that support multiple tracked domains and larger keyword list volumes. Pricing changes periodically, so checking the SEMrush website directly for current plan options is recommended before committing to a subscription.
How long does it take to see keyword ranking improvements after starting SEO?
Ranking improvements for non-branded local keywords typically appear within 30 to 90 days for phrases where the site already holds some position, such as rankings between 8 and 30. For phrases where the site has no existing position, meaningful ranking movement usually takes three to six months of consistent content publishing, on-page optimization, and link building. The timeline varies based on domain authority, competition level for the target phrase, and whether technical SEO issues on the site are creating crawling or indexing barriers that slow progress.
What should I do after building a keyword list from Search Console?
After building the keyword list, the next steps are to check search volume for each phrase using a tool like SEMrush, remove any phrases showing zero monthly volume, spot-check current city-wide rankings using the Google Ads Preview and Diagnostics tool, and prioritize phrases where the site ranks between positions 8 and 20 as those represent the fastest opportunity for traffic growth. From there, assign each priority keyword to a specific page or planned content piece, set a publication or optimization schedule, and track position changes monthly to measure progress against the baseline.
Start Measuring What Searchers Actually Type Before Hiring an SEO Contractor
A keyword list pulled from real Search Console data costs nothing and takes under an hour to build. That list tells a home-service contractor exactly which phrases are already triggering impressions in Google, which ones deserve optimization investment, and which low-volume phrases can be safely set aside. The process described above, exporting the Performance report, sorting by position, spot-checking city-wide rankings, importing into SEMrush, and removing zero-volume phrases, creates a repeatable research cycle that improves with each passing month as more data accumulates.
Contractors who complete this process before engaging an SEO agency arrive at that conversation with specific data about their current position rather than vague assumptions. That data makes it easier to set realistic timelines, evaluate whether proposed keyword targets have actual search demand, and hold an agency accountable to measurable position changes rather than subjective claims.
For contractors ready to move from data collection to active optimization, speaking directly with a local SEO team that works exclusively with home-service businesses in competitive metro markets is the logical next step. Call PushLeads at 828-348-7686, email jeremy@pushleads.com, or run a free site audit at pushleads.com to see how the site currently performs for a target search phrase before any commitment is made.
Full Transcript
The complete spoken content of the video above, in text.
to find certain uh search phrases in google for your business so let’s jump right into it um and so this particular training is how to find seo keywords with search console so i’m just going to go through a little powerpoint and from here we’re going to rock it here so those you guys who don’t know it this is going out to my facebook and youtube but uh my background is in graphic design and i work for an ad agency when i first graduated but for a number of years i worked for an executive recruiter here in asheville where i’m based and on the side i started making websites and learning how to get websites to the top of google and one of my experiments was uh really successful actually a lot of them were but one of them uh was reaching the top of google really by 2000 2008 2007 2008 and it was generating about 20 000 dollars of business a month so i was like this is pretty exciting i’m going to start you know doing web design and helping clients show up in google and so i created push leads and did some online mentoring for the first couple years that really had been working with local companies the last it’s probably been the last seven or eight years doing digital marketing so that’s my background but let’s get into search console so what is search console there’s google provides a lot of different tools and one of them is called search console it’s a free tool essentially search console tells people how people are finding you in google and so that’s really important essentially it helps you find keywords that people are searching for right so for example for me i do seo which is you know showing up in google right so if i want to know how people are finding me um then you know i need to find out what people are looking for right and so seo seo services or asheville seo these are all keywords that people are looking for and so it also shows you kind of what people are clicking on and the other last thing to make a note of is that that it’s only local searches so this console search console tool will not show you where you are in a city but only like in your neighborhood so let me show you what i’m talking about okay so here’s the little map of dot uh map diagram of asheville and um you know this is the part of asheville that my company is based out of right it’s technically in east asheville and so um for whenever you know so for when you’re using search console essentially you have a little bubble or a neighborhood essentially in your city that um where you’re showing up okay and so basically um search console is showing me that where i’m show where i’m ranking or i’m showing up in google in this neighborhood right but i wanted to know where i was in all of asheville search console will not show you that so search console just shows you your local neighborhood um and so really you have like about essentially four different areas you know that people care about showing up in google they care about your neighborhood your city or other cities right so asheville greenville charlotte spartanburg knoxville these are other cities so most of the companies i work with just care about showing with showing up in one city and google not multiple cities but other clients i work with actually want to show up in multiple cities or the fourth level they want to show up nationwide so we’ve got a client in california that wants to show up nationwide for a variety of high quality uh makeup lighting material excuse me makeup lighting sort of products and so they’re tracking nationwide but i said like i said most clients just care about showing up in a city so just be aware that when you set up search console it’s only going to show you where you are in your neighborhood and you can find keywords where you are in your neighborhood and then you can add them to tools or just mainly track where you are in all of your city okay so just feel free to ask me a question if you as i go along and link it past this all right so um so let’s talk about how to find keywords in search console essentially what we’re going to do is log into search console and if you haven’t ever done that you don’t know what i’m talking about you can um you know there’s plenty of tools that show you how to do this but it’s called search console you just google search console and then click on the first result if you haven’t ever used this tool you’ll need to actually set up connect your website or your domain to search console and that really just involves a couple different technical tweak tools and tweaks right to get in there you know to verify it but anyway after it’s set up then you can then open up your domain so my domain is push leads for my business name and what i’m going to do is i’m going to log into it okay and then next we’re going to do is open up my property and then third thing is i’m going to click on the performance tab and i’m going to uh compare the last 28 days the previous period okay so here’s uh the performance tab and then i’m going to click on this little thing here that says what date range and i’m going to click compare tab compare the last 28 days to previous period so what this is telling me is hey i’m showing up excuse me i’ve received 22 clicks this month versus last month um and uh let’s see and then i can see what people are searching for down here right but what we really care about is not really what’s on this page but using this export button okay so we’re going to export this as an excel spreadsheet and what this will do is open up a spreadsheet that we can then find searches okay so just catching us up here what you’re going to do then is export the spreadsheet and you’re going to filter the spreadsheet and sort by the last 28 days okay so we’re going to do is here’s the spreadsheet and i’m and i’ve actually already sorted this spreadsheet and what i’m going to do here is it will sort it sort of by one of these factors here like last 28 days clicks so usually it starts with that google doesn’t tell you all the clicks i can see that somebody searched for marketing companies in asheville and they clicked on me but you remember i had like 23 clicks this is only showing four right so google doesn’t show you they show you like at the tip of the of the iceberg and it’s not the whole thing so anyway but what we can do is look at this one the last 28 days position which basically means where are you in google in your neighborhood over the last 28 days so when i click on sort the smallest to largest i’m going to ignore all these zeros and i’m going to go down to the very first one okay and these are all searches so asheville seo service right best digital agency small business marketing companies local seo firms asheville seo ppc and here’s seo services asheville north carolina so anyway these are all searches in google okay and so what i can do is go down this list and highlight them digital marketing agency digital marketing company internet marketing agency i can highlight all this if i you know care about plumbing web design i can highlight that so these are all search phrases and um some of these don’t apply at all like collection agency best collection agency or google update algorithm you know i don’t really care about that keyword like you really care about searches or keywords that are important right so online marketing companies so i can highlight these keywords and then i can check to see where i am not just in my neighborhood but where am i in all of asheville okay and so that is a tool called it’s called the cert it’s called the ad preview and diagnostics tool it’s such a mouth you could tell an engineer wrote the name came up with the name of this tool ad preview and diagnostics tool anyway so i’m going to put my search in there yep and i can see here i’m seeing maps i’m seeing white fox and then whatever the name of this company is and then me so i’m number three in maps for this and let’s see i am not sure here i am i’m like a number five so let me count here so one two three four five six seven so for this particular search i’m number three here and also number seven so the name of the seo game is to show up in as many map searches you know somewhere in the top three and as many of these in the regular search as well um and so these guys white fox are showing up here and here so they’re getting the line share of the traffic but it’s okay we’ll take them out but if you’re like a psychotherapist one of my new clients is a psychotherapist and so she really cares about psychotherapist or emdr therapy or any number of keywords i i have another local plumber and they care about asheville plumbing asheville plumber so um finding all these keywords and then making a list of them and then you can spot check them and now there’s another thing you can do obviously spot checking your ranking is great but those of us who actually do seo for a living and you know we’ve got 15 20 ongoing clients or more you know we use tools to track this so instead of just manually checking it you can use a tool um yourself the one of the best tools that i’ve found is called sem rush and this tool looks like one or two hundred dollars a month might be cheaper for just you know one business but what you what you can do here is open this tool and you can click on view all keywords and i can see here um you know i can track my positions over time so what i’m going to do here is look at the last 30 days and i can see here on april 10th that i had about 6 6.59 what’s called visibility this is a number that really under goes in a scale of one to a hundred um and typically um most people have like a two or five or you know maybe a ten percent visibility you can see i’ve gone from a six percent visibility to a 16 visibility and part of that has been blogging but there’s other things that we’ve been doing as well to get the the ranking up and so as my current ranking has gone up we’ve gone from getting one or two calls a month to about five to ten five to 15 calls a week excuse me a month and that’s great i mean more leads are perfect so of course we practice what we preach we do our own seo and we can tell the difference here you can see we’ve gone from you know six percent up to 16 so what i can do is take these keywords in this list and i can highlight them like i have already done and filter by color i can then take all of these keywords and some of them i’m already tracking and i can add keywords to my tracker so i can just put them all in here add them to the project update and so now it will track these 100 i think i just added another 22 more keywords it will track totally and then it will influence it’ll make my visibility go to up or down you know based on adding the keywords but what we really care about is getting as many of these keywords that aren’t at the top to the top of google okay so it will then find out the ranking let me just refresh it takes about a minute and some of these keywords actually have no traffic um so if i scroll down here see it says volume here so i can see the volume is 10.
this one local seo services north carolina has no traffic right so i can delete that keyword i can scroll down and i can delete keywords that have no traffic so there’s no one actually even looking for these terms it’s not really like no one is searching for seo agency asheville no one’s searching for seo company asheville asheville ppc so i can delete these keywords that um that where there’s no traffic and that’s one of the things i’ve found when talking to other people that say they do seo is you know if you are doing seo but yet nobody is actually searching for any of these terms in google like what’s the point right so anyway i can go through and highlight and delete them and that’s another story for another day so just wanted to show you this whole process you can check your local rankings manually with that tool i showed you or use sem rush and that’s really it um if you have any questions just feel free to um you know leave a comment below this video or you can reach out to me um you can call me directly and have any kind of conversation with me anytime you want my local business phone number is 828-348-7686 and let me just make sure i’m seeing it right yep 828-348-7686 um and just feel free to you can also email me at jeremy at push leads and on my website if you go to pushleads.com um you can actually do a free seo audit with this will just tell you where you are in google for a search phrase and how well it really just will tell you how well your website is performing for a search phrase so you can fill that out and i generally will have a conversation with people that do these but feel free to do that and so let me just show you when you go to pushleads.com you’ll see this little tool here and you could just put in your url your search phrase and your name or email if you want to or whatever and then hit scan now and then this tool will tell me so i can even try this for push leads right now so i can go here i’m going to put asheville seo and just put my name and three four eight seven six eight six so when i hit scan now this tool will tell me how well my website is performing for this one search phrase so all you do is go to pushless.com and then you can do this um and and then it will then give you the result um and and what it will do is it emails it to you right and so on you’re in your email box you’ll get like the result you can look at it you can have the conversation um and go from there so awesome well let me know if you have any questions love to help you out with any questions um you know thoughts or concerns you have and uh i’m jeremy ashburn with push leads we play in traffic talk
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