Google Search Console: Find the Keywords You Almost Rank For

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By Brandon Aubey

In short: Google Search Console shows the searches where you sit on page two. Here is how to find them and move those pages up.

Most home service owners think SEO is a long, slow fight. SEO means showing up on Google when someone searches. Part of it is slow. But some of it is sitting right in front of you. Google is already showing your site for searches you don’t know about. You just aren’t getting the click yet. This post shows you how to find those searches and fix them.

Why page two is the easiest win

Here’s the thing. Almost nobody clicks to page two of Google. If your page sits at spot 11 through 20, you’re on page two. You’re close, but you get nothing from it.

Google already trusts that page a little. It thinks you’re a decent match. You don’t have to start from zero. You just need to close the gap. That’s a lot easier than ranking a brand new page.

Step one: find your page two keywords

You need Google Search Console. It’s free. If your site isn’t connected yet, do that first.

1. Open Google Search Console.
2. Click Performance, then Search Results.
3. Turn on Average Position. It’s a box above the chart.
4. Sort by position, or filter for positions 11 to 20.
5. Now sort those by impressions.

An impression means Google showed your page in the results. One person saw it, one impression. The keywords with the most impressions are the big ones. Lots of people search them. You’re almost there.

Say you’re a plumber in El Paso. You might see “water heater repair El Paso” at spot 14. Nobody clicks it. But hundreds of people search it every month. That’s the kind of keyword to go after.

Step two: see which page is ranking

Click the keyword. Then click the Pages tab. That shows you the exact page Google is showing. Sometimes it’s not the page you expected. That’s fine. Work with the page Google picked.

Step three: compare it to the number one result

Now search that keyword yourself. Open whoever is at the top. Read their page next to yours.

Ask a simple question. What do they have that I don’t? Usually it comes down to a few things.

• Original data. Real prices, real repair times, real numbers from your jobs.
• Stories. A short example of a real job in El Paso.
• FAQs. The questions customers ask you on the phone.
• Photos or details that prove you actually do the work.

Add whatever is missing. Don’t copy them. Just cover what they cover, then add what only you know.

If you want a shortcut, use an AI assistant. Paste in your page. Tell it the keyword and your current spot. Then paste in the top three competitor pages. Ask it what you need to add to be a better match. Then update your page with the parts that make sense. Check anything it says about your business before you post it.

The other report: high impressions, low clicks

There’s a second report worth running. This one is about pages people see but skip.

CTR means click-through rate. It’s the share of people who saw your result and clicked it. High impressions and a low CTR means Google shows you a lot. People just pick someone else.

In Search Console, click Performance, then Search Results. Click the small AI box. Ask it for queries with high impressions but low CTR in the last 28 days. Or export the table and paste it into an AI assistant. Ask it to find the pages with many impressions and few clicks.

You’ll get a list of your easiest fixes. Here’s what to do with each one.

1. Rewrite the page title to match the search. If people search “AC repair El Paso,” your title should say that. Not “Home” or “Services.”
2. Add a section on that page about the keyword. Use the words people actually type.
3. Add internal links from your other pages. Make the keyword the link text. If a blog post mentions AC repair, link those words to the AC repair page.

A better title alone can double your clicks. More clicks can also push the page higher. One change, two wins.

Do this once a month

Honestly, most owners save this idea and never do it. That’s the only real risk here. Put it on the calendar. Spend twenty minutes a month on it. Pick one or two keywords. Fix one page. Then check back the next month.

That’s really it. No tricks. Find where Google already likes you. Then give it a reason to move you up.

If you’d rather have us handle it, look at our SEO services. Or book a strategy call.

We can do this for you

You can do everything above yourself. Most owners do not have the hours. Dead River Management builds and runs it for home service businesses. We work in El Paso and across the country. You keep running jobs. We handle the search work. You judge us on booked jobs, not reports. See SEO services, read about the Demand Flow guarantee, or book a strategy call.

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