In modern local SEO, broad generic keywords (“lawyer,” “restaurant”) are saturated and expensive battlegrounds. Sustainable growth lies in the mid-tail: more specific terms with clear search intent and moderate traffic volume—like “labor lawyer for freelancers in Bilbao” or “vegan tasting menu in central Valencia.” These keywords are less competitive, easier to rank for, and—most importantly—attract highly qualified customers. But how do you find them? The answer is already on your website, and the tool to uncover it is Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

Step 1: Discover Your Hidden Organic Keywords in GA4

While Google Search Console is the primary source for search data, GA4 offers a powerful complementary perspective: it shows which terms are actually driving sessions and conversions on your site. Here’s how to access this data:

In your Google Analytics 4 account, go to “Life cycle” > “Acquisition” > “Traffic acquisition”.
In the results table, click the dropdown labeled “Session default channel group” and change it to “Session manual term”.
Filter by “Session default channel group” = “Organic Search”.

What you’ll see is a list of keywords users actually typed to reach your site and start a session. This report is pure gold because it filters out noise—it doesn’t show all impressions, only searches that led to real clicks. This is where you’ll find those mid-tail gems already working for you, even if you’re not actively optimizing for them.

Look for patterns: terms that include your city, neighborhood, specific service, or intent modifiers (“price,” “near me,” “best”). These are your most immediate growth opportunities.

Step 2: Verify Search Volume and Cost Using Google Ads Keyword Planner

This step is critical. Imagine a business sees just one organic search for “lawyer” in Google Search Console or GA4 and builds its entire SEO strategy around that term—it would likely fail. However, Google Ads Keyword Planner provides invaluable data: estimated monthly search volume and cost-per-click, which directly signal commercial demand.

If you discover a keyword like “criminal defense lawyer Murcia” with ~1,000 monthly searches and a high CPC, you know there’s real business intent behind it. That’s where you should focus your efforts—because if you can rank for it, you’ll attract genuinely interested prospects.

Step 3: Validate Local Potential with Rank Tracker from Ranku

Finding a keyword in GA4 is just the first step. Confirming its search volume via Google Ads is the second. The third—and crucial—step is to validate its performance in today’s hypercompetitive local landscape. This is where Rank Tracker from Ranku comes in.

A keyword might drive web traffic, but that doesn’t guarantee visibility at the exact moment and location a potential customer searches. For example, someone looking for “labor lawyer for freelancers in Bilbao” will likely search from their phone while walking downtown. If you’re not visible in that context, you lose the opportunity—regardless of your overall web traffic.

As you execute your local SEO strategy—through content, authority building, internal linking, video, and more—your rankings will shift. Rank Tracker helps you measure those changes so you don’t have to guess.

Rank Tracker from Ranku solves this by letting you monitor your rankings across the three critical local SEO universes, independently and from precise geographic locations:

Desktop: Are you visible when a customer researches deeply from their home computer?
Mobile: Do you appear in the top 3 when someone searches from their phone on the street?
Google Business Profile (GBP): Are you in the Map Pack when someone searches directly in Google Maps?

By entering your GA4-discovered mid-tail keyword into Rank Tracker, you can instantly see:

Your exact position in each of the three environments.
Who your direct competitors are for that search.
How your visibility shifts when you change the simulated search location (e.g., city center vs. a peripheral neighborhood).

This validation is essential. It lets you prioritize content and optimization efforts strategically. If a keyword drives solid GA4 traffic but ranks poorly on Mobile and GBP, you know to focus on optimizing your Google Business Profile and improving mobile UX—not just publishing more blog posts.

Conclusion: From Data to Local Action

The workflow is clear and powerful: use GA4 to discover which keywords already attract your audience, then use Rank Tracker from Ranku to understand and dominate how you’re perceived in the real-world local search landscape. This combination bridges the gap between web traffic and actual local conversions.

It’s not about guessing which keywords might work—it’s about identifying the ones already working and ensuring you’re flawless at every touchpoint where customers evaluate you. With this approach, you turn analytics into a precise roadmap for local market growth.

👉 Try Ranku free for 14 days and start validating your best mid-tail opportunities today.