Keyword research for Nepal means finding the exact words your customers type into Google, in English, Devanagari Nepali and Romanised Nepali, and then giving each important search its own page. You can do most of it with free tools and your own customer conversations. The hard part is not the tools. It is judging intent and spelling.
I’m Apar, a designer in Bharatpur who also handles search visibility for clients in Nepal and abroad. This guide sits under my main article on SEO in Nepal and how local businesses get found on Google and in AI answers. Here I go deep on one job only: working out what people search, and deciding which page on your site should answer it.
What is keyword research, and what does it actually give you?
Keyword research is the process of listing the real phrases people search for, checking how often and why they search them, and matching each phrase to a page. A keyword is simply the words someone types or speaks, such as “dental clinic in Chitwan” or “trekking shoes price in Nepal”.
What you get at the end is a plan, not a list. Each row says: this search, this intent, this page. It stops you guessing, which is how most small business sites end up with a homepage that tries to rank for everything and ranks for nothing.
Why does keyword research matter for a business in Nepal?
It matters because nearly every search in Nepal happens on one engine, so the words you choose decide whether you appear there at all. Statcounter’s search engine figures for Nepal gave Google a 95.78% share in September 2026.
The same source shows that 65.11% of web traffic in Nepal came from mobile in September 2026, according to its device share report. People on a phone type whatever is quickest, so a Nepali keyword list needs messy, real spellings, not only the tidy brochure phrase. When your page uses the customer’s words, Google can connect the two. When it uses your jargon, the enquiry goes to a competitor who wrote the way people talk.
How do people in Nepal actually type their searches?
People in Nepal search in a mix of English, Devanagari Nepali and Romanised Nepali, and there is no published data on the exact split. Be wary of any guide that claims to know it.
English is still the default for many commercial searches.
For products, services and prices, many searches I see in client Search Console data are in English, often with “Nepal” or a city name added, such as “laptop repair Kathmandu” or “hotel in Sauraha”.
Romanised Nepali is common, but it has no fixed spelling.
A 2026 paper by Patel, Dhami, Sherpa and Khadka, published in the ACL Anthology, states that “Romanized Nepali is the dominant medium of social media communication in Nepal”. That finding is about social media, not Google, but it tells you how your customers are used to typing.
The catch is spelling. A 2019 Kathmandu Post column by Dinesh Kafle noted that “kids routinely shorten bhanchha to van6, mostly for speed and expediency.” One Nepali word can appear in five spellings, so a single Romanised keyword is really a small family of variants.
Devanagari and voice searches add a third and fourth layer.
Some audiences search in Devanagari, and voice adds another route: Onlinekhabar reported in August 2017 that Google added Nepali voice typing among 30 new languages. I check Devanagari for every client, and build a dedicated page only when the data shows real demand.
Which free tools should you use for keyword research in Nepal?
The most useful free tools are Google Search Console, Keyword Planner, autocomplete and Trends, backed up by the questions your customers already send you. None is perfect for Nepal, so I combine them.
| Tool | What it shows you | Its limits in Nepal |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Real queries that already showed your site, with clicks, impressions and average position | Only works once your site is live and getting impressions |
| Google Keyword Planner | New keyword ideas and search volume estimates | Needs a Google Ads account with billing details; hides very low volume terms |
| Google autocomplete | The phrases Google suggests as you type | No numbers, and suggestions change with location and device |
| Google Trends | Whether interest in a topic rises or falls, and when | Small Nepali topics often show too little data |
| Your inbox and Messenger | The exact words customers use when they ask you questions | Needs you to collect them on purpose |
Two details matter here. Google describes Keyword Planner as “a free keyword search tool to help advertisers build keyword lists”, yet the Google Ads Help page on Keyword Planner says you must complete account setup “by entering your billing information to access basic features”. The same page warns that “Keywords with very low search volumes” are not discoverable. Many Romanised Nepali searches fall into that bucket, so “no data” does not mean “nobody searches it”.
That is why Google Search Console is my favourite source. Its Performance report has a queries dimension that “groups your data by the search query users typed”, filterable by country. It is the truest list of Nepali spellings you will get.
What is search intent, and why does it matter more than volume?
Search intent is the reason behind a search: to learn, compare, buy or find a place. A small keyword with clear buying intent usually beats a big, vague one for a local business.
| Intent | Example search in Nepal | Best page to answer it |
|---|---|---|
| Learn | how to treat back pain at home | A helpful blog article |
| Compare | best gym in Bharatpur | A clear service page with prices, facilities and reviews |
| Buy or book | trekking pole price in Nepal | A product or booking page |
| Find a place | physiotherapy near Chitwan Medical College | Your Google Business Profile and a contact page |
Google itself tells you the intent. Search the phrase on your phone and look at what ranks. If the first page is all shops, a blog post will struggle there.
How do you build a keyword list step by step?
You build a keyword list by starting from what you sell, expanding it with customer language and tools, then trimming it to searches that fit your business and area.
- List your services and products as a customer would say them, not as your price list does.
- Collect real questions from two or three months of Messenger, WhatsApp and phone notes, spelling mistakes included.
- Add location words. Your city, nearby towns, landmarks and neighbourhoods people actually use, such as Narayangadh, Lakeside or Baneshwor.
- Expand with autocomplete. Type each seed phrase into Google on a phone and note the suggestions in English and Romanised Nepali.
- Check Search Console. Export the queries list, filter to Nepal and add anything relevant you missed.
- Add Keyword Planner estimates where it has them, to compare rather than as exact truth.
- Group variants together. “momo”, “mo:mo” and the Devanagari form are one topic.
- Mark the intent and the target page for every row.
A spreadsheet with five columns is enough: keyword group, variants, intent, rough demand and target page.
How do you map keywords to the pages on your website?
Keyword mapping means giving each keyword group exactly one page, so your pages do not compete with each other. Here is a simple map for a made up physiotherapy clinic in Bharatpur:
| Keyword group | Target page |
|---|---|
| physiotherapy Bharatpur, physio clinic Chitwan | Homepage |
| back pain treatment, kamar dukhyo treatment | Back pain service page |
| physiotherapy cost in Nepal | Prices page or a cost article |
| exercises for knee pain at home | Blog article |
Two rules keep this safe. First, no near copies of one page for every city. Google’s spam policies name “Having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page” as doorway abuse. My guide to local SEO in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan shows how to do location pages properly.
Second, keep one language per page. Google’s guide to multilingual sites says it uses “the visible content of your page to determine its language” and recommends using “a single language for content and navigation on each page”, with no side by side translations. If Devanagari demand is real, give it its own page. Once the map is done, my on page SEO checklist for Nepali business websites shows how to place each keyword in titles, headings and text.
How much time and money does keyword research take?
For a small service site, a solid first round usually takes a few working days, and the tools above cost nothing beyond Keyword Planner’s billing setup. Effort grows with the number of products, locations and languages; a catalogue with hundreds of products takes far longer. My guide to what SEO costs in Nepal and how long it takes shows how this fits the bigger budget.
These are the keyword research mistakes I see most often in Nepal.
Most mistakes come from copying American advice, where tools have plenty of data.
- Chasing volume over intent. A broad term with global readers rarely brings a booking in Pokhara.
- Trusting “zero volume”. Keyword Planner hides very low volume terms, so a real Romanised search can look empty.
- Ignoring spelling variants. Choose a main spelling, then let close variants appear where they fit naturally.
- Stuffing every variant in. Google defines keyword stuffing as “filling a web page with keywords or numbers” to manipulate rankings. It reads badly and breaks the rules.
- Never looking again. New queries appear every month.
What I have learned doing keyword research for Nepali clients.
My biggest lesson is that the customer’s words beat the tools. On the Kathmandu Model Hospital SEO and content planning work, the most useful list came from how patients describe symptoms and departments, which often differs from how doctors name them.
The second lesson came from catalogue sites for medical suppliers such as Swan International and Mediaids, where buyers think in model names, brands and equipment types. The keyword plan followed the product data, and the pages followed the plan. My guide to SEO for online stores in Nepal goes further. Do the research properly once, then let Search Console tell you what you missed.
These are the questions business owners ask me most about keyword research.
Is Google Keyword Planner free to use in Nepal?
Google calls it free, but you need a Google Ads account with billing information entered to access its basic features. You do not have to run ads to use it. Expect gaps for small Nepali searches, because very low volume keywords are not shown.
How many keywords should one page target?
One main topic per page, plus its close variants and related questions. If two keywords need different answers, they need different pages.
Should I write Romanised Nepali on my website?
Use Romanised words where your customers naturally use them, such as dish names or common local terms, but do not fill pages with spelling variants. Write the main text in clear English or proper Devanagari, one language per page.
Can I do keyword research without paid tools?
Yes. For most small Nepali businesses, Search Console, autocomplete, Keyword Planner and customer messages are enough. Paid tools often have thin data for Nepal.
How often should I update my keyword research?
Review Search Console queries every month and refresh the full list once or twice a year. Also redo it when you add a new service, open a new branch or plan a festival season campaign.
Here is what I would do next if I were you.
Open Search Console, export your last three months of queries filtered to Nepal, and add real questions from your Messenger inbox to the same sheet. You will already know more than most competitors.
If you would like help turning that list into a page plan, take a look at my search and AI visibility service, or get in touch and tell me about your business.
These are the sources I used for this article.
- Statcounter, Search engine market share in Nepal, September 2026
- Statcounter, Desktop vs mobile vs tablet market share in Nepal, September 2026
- Patel, Dhami, Sherpa and Khadka, From Romanized to Devanagari, ACL Anthology, 2026
- The Kathmandu Post, Of millennials and mangled Nepali on social media, December 2019
- Onlinekhabar, Google provides voice typing service in Nepali, August 2017
- Google, Keyword Planner
- Google Ads Help, About Keyword Planner
- Search Console Help, Performance report
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search
- Google Search Central, Managing multi regional and multilingual sites