Keyword Research. The right number for where you sell.
Search volume for every country, region and city, straight from Google Keyword Planner, plus difficulty, intent and the results page.
payroll software in three places: the country, a state, a city.
Sample · payroll software · 11 Oct 2026United StatesCountry
33,100searches a month
Sep 2025Aug 2026
- Keyword Planner
- 33,100
- Cost per click
- $128.41
- Bid competition
- 18 / 100
- Share of US searches
- 100.0%
- Share of US population
- 100.0%
CaliforniaState
United States
4,400searches a month
Sep 2025Aug 2026
- Keyword Planner
- 4,400
- Cost per click
- $87.72
- Bid competition
- 18 / 100
- Share of US searches
- 13.3%
- Share of US population
- 11.6%
San FranciscoCity
United States › California
170searches a month
Sep 2025Aug 2026
- Keyword Planner
- 170
- Cost per click
- $88.69
- Bid competition
- 21 / 100
- Share of US searches
- 0.51%
- Share of US population
- 0.24%
Real data. Search volume, CPC and bid competition: Google Keyword Planner, English, monthly average Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, checked 11 Oct 2026. Population: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 estimates.
Every number says where it came from.
A volume without a place, a language and a date is a guess. SEOmator shows all three on every figure.
Two sources, two jobs. Google Keyword Planner gives the searches, the cost per click and the bid competition for every country, region and city. A second keyword database adds what the planner can't: keyword difficulty, search intent, the features on the results page and who ranks there.
payroll software, San Francisco
170 a month
- Source
- Google Keyword Planner
- Place
- San Francisco, California, United States (city)
- Language
- English
- Period
- Monthly average, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026; the months ran 110–210
- Checked
- 11 Oct 2026
- Rounding
- Google rounds volumes into its own steps (10, 20 … 170, 210 …) and reports nothing under 10. We show what it gives, nothing finer.
- Second source
- Keyword difficulty 41, commercial intent (United States)
Same keywords, three markets
Searches a month
| Keyword | United States | California | San Francisco | CPC, US → SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| payroll software | 33,100 | 4,400 | 170 | $128.41 → $88.69 |
| payroll services | 12,100 | 1,600 | 90 | $232.01 → $133.10 |
| small business payroll | 2,400 | 320 | 10 | $274.98 → $142.15 |
| payroll software for small business | 12,100 | 1,600 | 70 | $172.23 → $101.65 |
| online payroll | 480 | 50 | 10 | $102.37 → $154.80 |
| payroll app | 1,000 | 110 | 10 | $123.75 → — |
| payroll system | 1,000 | 140 | 10 | $140.34 → — |
| hr and payroll software | 720 | 70 | 10 | $74.86 → — |
Real data, same check. The flagged keyword costs $142.15 a click in San Francisco and $274.98 across the US.
Six ways in. One list out.
Keyword Planner ideas, Google autocomplete, People Also Ask, question keywords, AI ideas from a topic, and the queries your own Search Console already shows. Each idea keeps its source, close variants fold into one cluster, and the list exports to CSV.
| Keyword | Source | Searches a month (US) |
|---|---|---|
| payroll processing software | Keyword Planner | 14,800 |
| payroll services for small companies | Keyword Planner | 9,900 |
| cloud based payroll software | Keyword Planner | 8,100 |
| restaurant payroll software | Keyword Planner | 4,400 |
| cloud based hr and payroll software | Keyword Planner | 3,600 |
| employee timesheet software | Keyword Planner | 2,900 |
| online payroll services | Keyword Planner | 1,900 |
| best payroll software for small business | Keyword Planner | 1,600 |
| What is the most used payroll software? | People also ask | 10 |
| Can I do my own payroll for free? | People also ask | Too few to report |
| What is the best easy payroll software? | People also ask | Too few to report |
| What is the best free payroll software? | People also ask | 30 |
Clusters
Google counts each group as one search, so each is one cluster: one page to write, not one per variant.
payroll software33,100
payroll computer software
payroll software for small business12,100
payroll program for small business, paycheck software for small business, small company payroll software
cloud based payroll software8,100
cloud payroll software
restaurant payroll software4,400
payroll restaurant software
Real data: 8 of the 1,006 ideas Keyword Planner returned for payroll software (US, 12 Oct 2026), and the People Also Ask questions on that day's results page.
The page you'd be up against.
Before you pick a keyword, see the results page it leads to: who ranks, what Google puts above them, and how many sites link to the top 10.
- Keyword difficulty
- 41 / 100
The top 10 average 86 referring domains.
payroll software
Google, United States, desktop, 12 Oct 2026
AI Overview cites
- ppatriotsoftware.com
- qquickbooks.intuit.com
- jjoinhomebase.com
- ssage.com
- ggusto.com
- yyoutube.com
- eequalpaytoday.org
- wwellness360.co
- ppaycor.com
- 1pPayroll software that automates every processpaycom.com
- 2pAffordable Payroll Software for Small Businesspatriotsoftware.com
- 3qBest Payroll Software for Small Businesses - QuickBooksquickbooks.intuit.com
- 4aThe 7 Best Payroll Software Providers for Small ...adp.com
- 5sPayroll Software Solutions and Systems | Sage USsage.com
- 6eBest Payroll Software for Small Businesses (2026)equalpaytoday.org
- 7jBest Payroll Software for Small Businessesjoinhomebase.com
- 8w14 Best Payroll Software Services in 2025workforce.com
- 9gPayroll Software for Small Businessgusto.com
People also ask
- What is the most used payroll software?
- Can I do my own payroll for free?
- What is the best easy payroll software?
- What is the best free payroll software?
Real data: one live results-page check for payroll software, 12 Oct 2026, 05:45 UTC. Difficulty and links from the second source.
Every column you'd open Ahrefs for.
Volume for any place, trend and forecast, the device split, CPC, bid competition, KEI, traffic potential, keyword difficulty, intent, the top 10 and how it moved. Tick one and it joins the row.
payroll software San Francisco
Local volume170
Trend, 12 months110–210
CPC$88.69
Bid competition21 / 100
Keyword difficulty41 (US)
Search intentCommercial (US)
Volume, trend, CPC and bid competition are the real San Francisco figures (Keyword Planner, 11 Oct 2026). Difficulty, intent and the top 10 are United States figures from the second source and the results page (12 Oct 2026). Columns marked In the app weren't part of this capture.
Add your rivals and see what they rank for that you don't, with the search volume for the city you sell in beside each keyword.
- MissingKeywords they rank for and you don't.
- SharedKeywords you both rank for, side by side.
- AllEvery keyword across you and your rivals.
What happens after you close this tab?
The agent turns the keyword you picked into a drafted page, written for the place you sell, and has it waiting the next morning. Nothing goes live until you approve it.
A morning in the app
Sample- 06:00Started on “payroll software” for San Francisco.
- 06:12Drafted a page for it from the B2B SaaS playbook.
- 06:13Waiting for your approval before anything goes live.
It asks before it changes anything.
The agent drafts the page and waits. Nothing reaches your site until you approve it, and you can edit every line first.
Page drafted for “payroll software” in San Francisco
Sample
Nothing is sent. This is a sample.
Every plan has the whole keyword toolkit.
Plans differ only in credits and support. Every feature on this page is on every plan, Free included, and unused credits on a paid plan roll over.
| Plan | Price | Credits a month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 500 |
| Standard | $49/mo | 10,000 |
| Expert | $250/mo | 50,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Keyword research questions
Where do the search volumes come from?
From Google Keyword Planner, for every country, region and city. A second keyword database adds keyword difficulty, search intent, results-page features and who ranks. Every figure names its source, place, language and date.
How local can I go?
Any country, region or city Google Ads can target. Each place keeps its own volume, cost per click, bid competition and 12-month trend.
Why doesn't a city's volume match its share of the population?
Because demand clusters. San Francisco has 0.2% of the US population but makes 0.5% of its searches for payroll software. Splitting a national number by population would have guessed 81; Google counts 170.
Why do some keywords show 10, or too few to report?
Google rounds search volume into its own steps and reports nothing below 10 a month. We show exactly what it reports rather than inventing finer numbers.
What's the difference between keyword difficulty and bid competition?
Keyword difficulty is about organic results: how hard the current top 10 is to break into. Bid competition is about ads: how many advertisers bid on the keyword. A keyword can be cheap to rank for and expensive to advertise on, or the other way round.
Can I see my competitors' keywords?
Yes. Enter any domain to see the keywords it ranks for, or compare your site with your rivals to find the keywords they rank for and you don't.
Can I save and export keywords?
Yes. Add keywords to lists, group them into clusters and export any list as CSV.
How do credits work for keyword research?
Each lookup uses credits. Plans differ only in credits and support, and every feature is on every plan.