A SMB client I consult with was recently asking me what keywords to insert into their copy. Since they've yet to test with PPC, I gave them the standard tool-based data and suggested that they find out what meets their business goals best by following up with PPC.

But as a small business with an offline location, I realized they can develop keyword research that larger players either couldn't do or would take too long to implement because of bureaucratic layers, legal approval etc.

Ask clients to fill out a short survey when they walk in and are waiting to be served. (Let's suppose this is a car repair shop.)

Q1: Is this your first time buying this service (here or elsewhere)?  

Q2: Have you bought other similar services before (here or elsewhere)?  

Q3: When was the last time you bought similar services?  

Q4: Are you a new or returning client?  

Q5: Please describe the service as if you were explaining it to a friend who needs a lot of detail to understand what you're talking about.   

Q6: In addition to [obvious feature of service, eg getting tires balanced], what motivated you to buy this service?  

Explanations for the questions:

Qs 1-4: The first four questions tell you about the commercial value/interest this person represents to your business. Will they be a high lifetime value client? Do they need education on the topic? You can obviously adapt the questions as needed to your business.   

Q5: The fifth question will reveal the keywords people use to think of your services - especially as more of these answers accumulate, you'll begin to observe patterns amongst them. In combination with the first four questions, you can get an idea what keywords are likely used by the highest value clients.  

You find out what people are assiduous about getting their car serviced vs slackers, first timers vs repeat clients etc.  

This is a variation on a technique I used to find longtail keywords to bid on in my first ever PPC campaign. I also presented it at SMX Advanced 09:  

Note: This survey variation on the listening technique is really the original idea of budiwaluyo, who used it for a language that was unsupported by keyword tools.  

Q6: The sixth question will help you shape your copy by repeating back the benefits described by your clients.

Eg. If they say 'to feel better about myself' you can orient the copy to that message. If they say their friends are doing it, you can cite statistics about how common a procedure it is. And so on to highlight the benefits that will speak to them.  

So yeah, I didn't use any graphics, bullets, or other clever stuff that Calamier (of Georgio.us) showed you need to hit the SEOmoz homepage. But did you guys learn something substantial reading this?   

Gab Goldenberg writes his own advanced SEO blog and provides SEO consultations, mostly to online entrepreneurs.