If you’re running Google Ads for your local business, one of the most important things you need to get right is your keyword selection.

The difference between a profitable Google Ads campaign and one that drains your budget comes down to the keywords you’re bidding on.

Choose the wrong keywords, and you’ll be paying for clicks from people who have no intention of becoming customers. Choose the right keywords, and you’ll be putting your business in front of people who are ready to buy.

Today, I’m going to walk you through exactly how to find high intent Google Ads keywords that will actually convert into leads for your business.

Let’s get into it.

What Are High Intent Keywords?

Before we dive into where to find keywords, you need to understand what makes a keyword “high intent.”

A high intent keyword is essentially a search term that indicates someone is closer to a buying decision. It’s specific, it shows clear buyer intent, and it’s a lot more likely to result in a conversion.

For example, if you run a tree service company:

High Intent Keywords:

• • • “tree trimming near me”
    • “tree removal Seattle”
    • “tree service company near me”

Low Intent Keywords:

• • • “trees”
    • “tree pruning techniques”
    • “how to trim trees”

The difference should be obvious. The high intent keywords show that someone is actively looking to hire a tree service company. The low intent keywords show that someone is either just browsing or looking for information.

When you’re building your Google Ads keyword list, you want to focus almost exclusively on those high intent keywords. That’s where the leads are going to come from.

Using Google Keyword Planner To Find Keywords

The best place to start when building your keyword list is Google’s Keyword Planner tool. It’s free, it’s built right into Google Ads, and it’s going to give you a ton of keyword ideas to work with.

Here’s how to use it:

Step 1: Access The Keyword Planner

From your Google Ads homepage, go to “Tools” at the top of the page. Under the “Planning” section, you’ll see “Keyword Planner.”

Click on that and then select “Discover new keywords.”

Step 2: Enter Some Seed Keywords

You don’t need to have a massive list to start with. Just drop in a few relevant keywords for your business.

For example, if you’re a tree service company, you might start with:

• “tree services”
• “tree services near me”
• “tree service company”
• “tree services [your city]”

The whole idea here is just to guide Google in the right direction. You’re basically saying “these are the types of things I’m looking for” and then Google will generate a bunch of related keyword ideas.

Once you’ve got a few seed keywords entered, hit “Get Results.”

Step 3: Set Your Location

Before you start pulling keywords, make sure you set your location targeting.

There’s a location setting at the top of the results page. Click on that and enter the general area where you want to get traffic from.

You don’t need to get super specific with individual zip codes here because the Keyword Planner only lets you target 10 locations at once. Just put in your city or county to get rough search volume data for your area.

This helps you see which keywords actually have search volume in your market.

Step 4: Sort By Search Volume

Once you’ve got your results, sort the list by “Average monthly searches.”

This will show you which keywords have the most search volume in your area, which is helpful for prioritizing which keywords to focus on first.

You can also leave it sorted by the first column “Keyword (by relevance)” because this can help you see what Google might end up showing your ads for based on the keywords you provided.

That can be great for adding in negative keywords (we’ll cover that in just a bit), so that you can weed out any irrelevant traffic your campaign could show up for.

Step 5: Pull Out High Intent Keywords

Now here’s where the real work begins. You need to go through that list and pull out only the high intent keywords.

As you scroll through the results, you’re going to see a mix of good keywords and keywords you want to avoid.

Keywords To Include:

• • • “tree trimming near me”
    • “tree removal [city name]”
    • “tree pruning service near me”
    • “tree service company”

Keywords To Avoid:

• • • Just “tree services” by itself (too broad)
    • “tree pruning techniques” (informational)
    • “lawn service” (not relevant)

The goal is to be selective. Don’t just grab every keyword that shows up. Focus on pulling those high intent keywords that indicate someone is actively looking to hire your services.

Step 6: Group Keywords Into Ad Groups

As you’re pulling keywords from the Keyword Planner, start thinking about how you’re going to group them into ad groups.

You might have one ad group for tree removal keywords, another for tree trimming, another for stump grinding, and so on.

This organization is going to be important when you actually build out your campaign because you want to make sure your ads are relevant to the keywords you’re bidding on.

Finding More Keywords Within Google Ads

Once you’ve got your initial keyword list from the Keyword Planner, there’s another great way to find even more keyword ideas directly within your Google Ads campaign.

When you’re inside an ad group looking at your keywords, you’ll see a blue plus sign that says “Add keywords.”

Click on that, and Google will show you a bunch of keyword suggestions that are relevant to that specific ad group.

This is a great way to expand your keyword list over time because Google is pulling these suggestions based on what’s actually performing well in your campaign and in your market.

A lot of times, you’ll find solid high intent keywords in these suggestions that you might have missed in the Keyword Planner.

Just go through the list, pull out the relevant high intent keywords, and add them to your campaign.

Critical: Use The Right Match Types

Here’s something really important that I see people get wrong all the time: you need to wrap your keywords in the correct match types before adding them to your campaign.

If you just copy and paste keywords into your campaign without match types, they’re going to be added as broad match keywords. That’s going to show your ads for a wide range of stuff that you probably don’t want to be showing up for.

There are three main match types in Google Ads:

[Exact Match] – Shows your ads for searches that are as closely related to your keyword as possible. You put brackets around the keyword.

“Phrase Match” – Opens things up a bit more, gives Google more freedom with what searches trigger your ads. You put quotes around the keyword.

Broad Match – Lets Google show your ads very broadly for loosely related searches. No special characters.

For most local service businesses, I recommend using either Phrase Match or Exact Match keywords. Never use Broad Match.

Broad Match will show your ads for way too many irrelevant searches, and you’ll end up wasting money on clicks that will never convert.

When you’re adding keywords to your campaign, make sure you wrap them in either “phrase match” or [exact match] before you add them. This will give you much better control over when your ads show up.

Don’t Forget About Negative Keywords

Finding the right keywords to bid on is only half of the equation. You also need to tell Google what you don’t want to show up for.

That’s where negative keywords come in.

A negative keyword is the opposite of a regular keyword. It tells Google what searches you do NOT want your ads showing up for.

As you’re building your keyword list in the Keyword Planner, you’re going to see search terms that aren’t relevant to your business. Add those to your negative keyword list.

For a tree service company, your negative keyword list might include things like:

• “jobs”
• “hiring”
• “careers”
• “lawn service”
• “landscaping”
• “DIY”
• “how to”

Every irrelevant click is money wasted. By building a comprehensive negative keyword list from the start, you’re going to save yourself a lot of budget on clicks that would never convert anyway.

This should be an ongoing process. As your campaign runs, check your search terms report regularly and add new negative keywords based on what you find.

Keep Your Campaign Structure Organized

As you’re building your keyword list, make sure you’re thinking about how you’re going to organize everything into your campaign.

Don’t just dump all your keywords into one ad group. That’s a recipe for poor performance.

Instead, group your keywords by theme into separate ad groups:

• One ad group for tree removal keywords
• One for tree trimming keywords
• One for stump grinding keywords
• One for location-specific keywords
• And so on

When you structure your campaign this way, you can write ads that speak directly to what someone searched for. This relevance is going to improve your click-through rates and your conversion rates.

If someone searches for “tree removal near me” and sees an ad specifically about tree removal, they’re much more likely to click and convert compared to just seeing a generic tree service ad.

Final Thoughts

Finding the right Google Ads keywords for your local business doesn’t have to be complicated.

Use the Keyword Planner to generate keyword ideas, focus on pulling out those high intent keywords that show clear buyer intent, wrap them in the right match types, and organize them into a well-structured campaign.

The businesses that get this right are the ones that see consistent lead flow and profitable campaigns. The ones that just bid on broad keywords and hope for the best end up wasting a lot of money and wondering why Google Ads doesn’t work.

Take the time to build your keyword list properly from the start, and you’ll be way ahead of your competition.

If you want to check out more content, follow this link to see my guide on running Dumpster Rental Google Ads.

Need Help With Your Google Ads Campaign?

If you’re a local business owner and you’re looking for help with Google Ads, whether you need a campaign built from scratch, want an audit of your existing campaign, or want someone to manage it for you, I can help.

Click the button below to apply for a consultation. I’ll personally review your application to see if I can help you out.

If it looks like a good fit, I’ll reach out and we can set up a quick call to discuss your specific situation and figure out the best path forward.

Thanks for reading!

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