How to find commercial-intent keywords that actually drive enquiries

The vanity-keyword trap\n\nMost SEO reports celebrate rankings for keywords no buyer ever types. "What is X" pages drive traffic; they don't drive revenue.\n\n## A four-filter framework\n\nFor every candidate keyword, ask:\n\n1. Would a buyer-ready customer search this?\n2. Is the SERP dominated by commercial pages?\n3. Can we credibly write the best page in the SERP?\n4. Does a top-three ranking change a real business number?\n\nIf any answer is no, drop it.\n\n## The keyword types that pay\n\n- Service + location — "commercial roofer Manchester"\n- Use-case + tool — "best CRM for small accountancy firms"\n- Comparisons — "Xero vs QuickBooks for ecommerce"\n- Bottom-of-funnel modifiers — "pricing", "near me", "for [industry]"\n\n## How long to wait\n\n4–8 weeks for local. 3–6 months for national organic. Anyone promising faster is selling smoke.