How does an SEO company research target audience?
By combining what your business already knows about its customers with what search and analytics data show, and by being clear about what each source can and cannot tell. The aim is not a list of keywords but a working picture of the people behind the searches: what they are trying to do, what they already understand, what worries them, and the words they use. That picture then decides which pages get written, in what order, and in whose language.
Start with the people who talk to customers
Sales and support staff hear the questions prospects ask, the objections that stall a decision, and the words customers use for their problems. A company interviews them and reads call notes, support tickets, and reviews. Support tickets can show where customers were confused or could not find an answer, which points to pages the site is missing. This is first-hand material no keyword tool provides.
Read the searches you already receive
Search Console shows the queries that brought your pages impressions and clicks, from Google’s own data. Two limits matter. Google’s help on Performance report dimensions explains that some queries are left out of the report to protect user privacy, so the list does not include every search. And it shows only searches where your site already appears, so it reveals your current audience more than the one you are missing; keyword research fills that gap. Within those limits, the wording of queries is revealing: technical terms suggest experienced users, plain definitional questions suggest beginners, and comparison and price terms suggest someone close to a decision.
Use demographic data with its limits in mind
Google Analytics can report age, gender, and interests, but its guide to the Demographic details report explains where that comes from: Google signals, which draws on users signed in to a Google Account with Ads personalization turned on. It states that “Only aggregated data from users who consent to sharing demographics data are included in the report”, and that data thresholds may hide figures when user counts are low. The result describes a subset of your visitors, not all of them, and turning on Google signals is a privacy decision to settle with whoever handles privacy for your business.
Look where your audience searches beyond Google
Some audiences research on YouTube, in forums, in marketplace reviews, or by asking AI assistants. A company should check which of these your customers use, by asking them and by looking at where competitors’ customers ask questions, rather than assuming. What people ask in those places adds questions and phrasing that do not show up in search data.
Turn it into something the team uses
The output should be a short description of each audience group the business wants to reach: its situation, its main questions at each stage of a decision, the terms it uses, and the evidence behind each point. Each planned page should name the group and the question it serves. A profile built on interviews and search data, with its gaps stated, is more useful than an invented persona with a name and a stock photo.