Do Keywords Matter Anymore?

A handful of years ago, keywords were everything in the SEO world. Once you identified a few good keywords that were relevant to your industry, it was commonplace to include those keywords in your content as much as possible. Then Google started penalizing sites that were using spammy practices such as adding too many keywords to thin content. Since this time, Google has cracked down on all websites, and webmasters have had to be careful about the keywords they use and how they are applied.

For instance, today’s best practices include using a few good keywords and applying them naturally in the content. But the content has to be of a high quality, with supporting facts, subtitles and a creative headline. One has to wonder, then, do keywords really matter anymore?

Though keywords don’t steal the show like they used to, they are still important. Researching and targeting keywords remains a great foundation for SEO optimization. They are a starting point to your SEO strategy, and they can be of great value when used properly. The key is to identify the right keywords and apply them naturally in your content.

Research Keywords

Moz has a great blog about how to do keyword research from a beginner’s standpoint. Great tools to research keywords in your industry include Google AdWords, Google Trends and Wordtracker.com. Check out what people are searching for and what keywords your competitors are using. Compare these results to the keywords you’re using. It’s a good idea to assign each URL a unique keyword or two. Then you can start optimizing each page for those keywords.

Know the Language

One of the bigger issues that websites have is that they don’t use the right terms that people are searching for. Say you offer air conditioning repair to residential homeowners. You may use a lot of terms like “air conditioning units” or “central air conditioning” but your customers may be searching for “HVAC equipment” and “AC units.” You may have to change your language to align with the terms that people are searching for.

Understand Your Audience

It’s important to know which types of questions your audience is asking Google. You can then use these topics as inspiration for unique, industry-related content. When people search for answers to these common questions, your content will turn up in the search engines. The more content people see from your brand, the more loyalty and trust they will have.

SEO is so much more than using keywords, but don’t underestimate the value of them. It’s important to do your research and target good keywords so that your content continues to rank well.