It’s hard to say SEO was ever easy.
But thinking back to the state of things in 1999 or so, it’s tempting to say that the process was much more straightforward.
Find a keyword you want to optimize for, blast it across your website, and reap the rewards.
We probably don’t need to tell you that these days, things are significantly more complicated. In fact, even selecting keywords is a complicated labor that some people claim isn’t even worth the effort.
What exactly is going on with SEO keywords these days?
Are keywords dead like so many sensational headlines proclaim?
Or is there something more going on underneath the hood of Google’s keyword consideration?
Contents
The Standard View of the “Keywords Are Dead” Gang
Let’s start by analyzing the assertions of the people we’ll affectionately refer to as the “keywords are dead” gang. Folks in this camp believe that SEO keywords have changed so dramatically that it’s basically no longer worth practicing keyword research or optimizing for specific keywords the way we used to.
And to be fair, they have some legitimate points.
Ever since Hummingbird in 2013, Google has introduced many updates and modifications to expand its capabilities of understanding human queries, based on natural language. Rather than simply processing the keywords in your query and finding examples of them on the web, Google now attempts to perform semantic processing, digesting the meaning of your query so it can provide you the most relevant results.
These abilities have grown to become even more sophisticated, essentially creating a kind of abstract barrier between the keywords you put in your search query and the keywords it searches for in online content. Keyword critics suggest that there’s practically no relationship between keyword searches and the keyword optimization work you do as part of your SEO strategy.
These critics suggest the best path forward is to write the best possible content you can, appealing to your target audience with subjects that they genuinely want to see.
The Biggest Counterpoint
There’s a problem with this argument, however.
If you look at the search engine results pages (SERPs) for many different types of queries that substantially relate to each other, you’ll notice profound differences. If all keywords within the umbrella of one category of meaning are identical, we would expect all SERPs for those queries to be the same.
But this simply isn’t the case.
Instead, we find significant differences for individual keyword variations. Even if the usual suspects are mostly the same, there can be significant ranking differences from queries that are not especially different in terms of meaning.
What does this mean for us?
It means that at the very least, the exact words and phrasing in a given query play a role in determining the results. More likely, it shows that tweaking your SEO strategy to better understand and align with strategic keyword targets can have a massive impact on your bottom-line results.
The Problems With Relying Too Heavily on Keywords
That said, there are some problems with relying too heavily on keywords, including:
- Research blinders. Keyword research is never perfect. Google is notoriously tight lipped about the keyword-related information it gives to brands, so as not to encourage ranking manipulation, and many of the tools we do have are insufficient at helping us understand the nature of each keyword. On top of that, we are all affected by our own biases and limitations, restricting our ability to understand keywords from an objective point of view. If you rely too heavily on findings in your keyword research, you might be led astray.
- Content limitations. If you become too focused on optimizing for keywords, your content is probably going to suffer. If it’s vitally important to include the keyword in your title, in various headlines, and throughout the text, you could end up phrasing it in an unnatural way and weakening the value of your content. When it comes to offsite content, you might be tempted to stuff unnatural keywords into your link anchor text. We know that content quality is one of the most important elements of a successful SEO strategy, so if your keyword focus is too dominant, you could end up suffering here.
- Goal confusion. Building an SEO strategy around keyword optimization can also lead to goal confusion. People pursue SEO for different reasons, but generally, they’re interested in more visibility and traffic. If your strategy revolves around strategically valuable keywords, you might disproportionately focus on keyword rankings. Keyword rankings can be an excellent indicator of your strategy’s impact and the growth of your authority, but focusing too much on keyword rankings can pull your attention away from more important targets, like organic traffic. It’s possible to be at rank one for a number of keywords, yet have much less traffic than a competitor with worse rankings.
- Semantic variation interference. Even if keywords are more valuable than detractors believe, we do have to consider the impact of semantic variation and Google’s semantic processing of queries. A critical part of your strategy is including synonyms, similar words, and phrasing variations. This is something relatively easy to account for, especially if you have good content writers, but a keyword-centric focus can make you neglect it.
- Competition. Competition is a complicated variable in the realm of SEO keywords. Historically, it has been one of the most important considerations, as competition for a given keyword generally increases the amount of time, money, and effort required to optimize for it. However, there are some modern theories that suggest that competition is overblown as a factor, and that even highly competitive keywords are worth including in your campaign. This is partially because ranking below the top three can still be incredibly valuable. If you rely too much on objective metrics from your keyword research, you may miss out on valuable ranking opportunities that could otherwise propel your campaign forward.
- Wasted time and money. Researching and optimizing for keywords is an intensive process. It takes many hours of work to do the proper research, especially if you have lots of keyword targets, and you’ll have to spend even more effort including those keywords at optimal frequency throughout your website and your content. If you focus too much on keywords, you could end up wasting time and money.
Why Keywords Still Matter in SEO
And we can confidently say that keywords still matter to all SEO campaigns.
- Direction and focus. Even if keywords didn’t have a direct impact in your strategic optimization, they would still play a role in helping you establish direction and focus in your campaign. You don’t have to highlight a one-to-one relationship between your keyword targets and the content you develop, but you can use your general keyword targets as inspiration for your content and onsite development.
- Strategic value calculations. Researching keywords can also help you make strategic value calculations. If you’re torn between two different topics, keyword research can help illuminate which broad category of keywords might be more valuable for your brand. You can also help you decide whether a highly contested keyword is worth including in your SEO objectives.
- Content development. Ideally, every piece of content you develop will have strategic value for your campaign. There are many ways to consider and calculate this potential value, but keyword research remains one of the best. The better you understand the relationships between valuable keywords in your industry, and how those relate to audience perceptions and your brand, the better your content is going to be.
- Objective targets. And of course, while they can be somewhat distracting, keyword rankings are an important metric to track in SEO. In fact, keyword rankings are some of the most objective and reliable targets you can focus on.
How to Use SEO Keywords Appropriately
So if keywords aren’t quite dead, but are significantly different from what they used to be, how are you supposed to use SEO keywords appropriately in your strategy?
- Do your research. Keyword research tools are abundant, so utilize them to the best of your ability. The better you understand the meaning of a keyword, its traffic patterns, its potential future, and its competition levels, the better you’ll be able to fit it into your campaign. Don’t go overboard here, as it is possible to spend too much time and energy on preliminary research, but do you exploit the resources available to you.
- Use keyword research as only one tool. Also remember that keyword research is only one tool for you to explore and decide on strategically valuable targets. Keyword research tools generally won’t be able to tell you how relevant keywords and phrases are to your brand, nor will they help you set broad goals for your SEO campaign. You’ll need to pull in audience data, competition data, and insights from your own intuition if you want a full picture of which keywords will be most relevant and valuable for your organization.
- Take competition ratings with a grain of salt. As we’ve already explored, the competition variable in keyword research is a bit controversial. A highly competitive keyword shouldn’t immediately be dismissed, and a keyword with minimal competition isn’t always a free grab. Take the competition ratings with a grain of salt.
- Review variations and synonyms. Google is a semantic analysis monster these days, so always review variations and synonyms to get a fuller picture of each keyword’s strategic value. You don’t need to become a micromanager including every precise variation in your work; however, it is important to incorporate many of these variations naturally. If you’re a good writer or if you have access to good writers, this shouldn’t be an issue.
- Use keywords as broad guides. There’s nothing wrong with measuring your keyword rankings or even making a certain keyword your primary target for the entire SEO campaign. But generally, you should use keywords and your research around them as broad guidelines. This will help you effectively prioritize content quality and audience relevance, which are much more important.
- Write the best content you can. Content quality is one of the most important factors for success in SEO. You cannot afford to compromise on it. If there’s ever a dissonance between the quality of your content and your ability to target strategically valuable keywords, always err on the side of making your content better. Note that this includes both onsite and offsite content.
- Measure your results. This should go without saying for an SEO professional with any experience, but definitely measure your results. Just because a keyword seems like a good target doesn’t mean it is, and just because your efforts should have you at rank one doesn’t mean they do. Carefully measuring and analyzing your results will help you determine which of your efforts are most useful – and help guide your research and implementation of keywords in the future.
- Keep adapting. That said, your analytic insights will only be valuable to the extent that your business is able to adapt. The most successful people in the SEO world aren’t ones with gigantic brains or a golden system for researching keywords, but instead are ones with flexible and adaptable mindsets.
We get it.
It kind of sucks.
Link building for SEO is a headache at times, and keywords are a thorn in your side.
But things get much easier when you have a qualified, competent, and experienced SEO partner to help you form the right strategy and execute it.
Ready to get started?
Contact us today!
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