How Often Should You Do Keyword Research? Trends to Watch

Most businesses carry out keyword research once, usually when their website is built, and then leave it alone for years. On the surface, nothing seems wrong. Your site looks good, your content feels relevant, and your services haven’t changed.

But search behaviour has.

People use different wording now, Google interprets queries differently, and competitors constantly update their content. Even if your website looks the same, its relevance in the search results can quietly fade. This is something we see all the time when helping clients improve visibility through SEO services.

To stay visible, your keywords need to align with how people search today, not with how they searched when your site was first launched.

Before we get into the details, here’s the quick version.

They influence everything:

• your visibility
• how Google understands your pages
• whether the right people find you
• your competitive landscape

This makes keyword research one of the foundations of long-term SEO and content planning. If you’re new to SEO, you may find our guide on what SEO actually means helpful.

And the world of search evolves faster than most business owners realise.

• “candid wedding photography” → “natural wedding photos”
• “bespoke website design” → “affordable website packages”
• “mobile friendly website” → “responsive website design”

In fact, we see this all the time when working on web design projects. The services remain stable, but the search terms evolve.

Google now uses systems like BERT, MUM, and SGE (Search Generative Experience) to interpret longer, more conversational searches. This shift is also driven by how people actually use the web, especially on mobile. We covered this in detail in our guide to mobile web design and the rise of voice search.

When your competitors refresh their pages and align with modern terminology, they naturally start to outrank sites that don’t evolve. This is a big part of ongoing off-page SEO and building web authority over time.

For most small and medium businesses, we recommend a simple rhythm:

Every 3–6 months

• new search terms appearing
• shifting language
• early signs of declining rankings
• competitor page updates

• your impressions fall
• your clicks drop
• your ranking slips
• your enquiries quieten

Nothing about your service changed, only the language your audience uses. If you want to spot these drops early, our guide to understanding your analytics explains what to look for.

And Google rewards sites that keep up.

In wedding photography, for example:

• “candid wedding photography” declined
• “natural wedding photos” rose
• “documentary wedding photography Dorset” remained strong
• “modern rustic wedding photography” emerged as a trend

Same service. Different words. Different results.

The same applies in the world of web design

• “bespoke website design” declined
• “affordable website packages Dorset” became more common
• “AI website builder support” suddenly appeared
• “web designer near me” became less critical as Google more reliably interprets local intent automatically

You’re checking whether your site still speaks the language your customers use today.

Here are the signs to look for:

These often become valuable long-tail keywords that convert extremely well.

A small drop in rankings early on is a warning sign worth acting on.

You don’t need enterprise-level software. Here’s what we actually recommend:

• modern search language
• competitor behaviour
• Google’s evolving understanding
• seasonality
• AI-assisted search changes

And if you’d like help staying on top of it, we’ve created a Keyword Research Refresh Package designed for small businesses who want to stay competitive without the cost of a full rebuild. Simply get in touch for more details.

Google’s evolving algorithms also take technical performance into account. If you haven’t reviewed your site’s performance recently, here’s a guide explaining why website speed affects visibility.

If you’d like a fresh look at your keywords or support planning your strategy for 2026, you can find out more information on the Keyword Research Refresh by getting in touch directly.