You can’t help wondering, are keywords in SEO still important? Search algorithms have become smarter and assign more weight to many variables. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something that almost everyone knows about, from bloggers to businesses. But few people know how to use it.
The importance of keywords was prevalent in the early days of SEO. Google was one of the first search engines to use keywords and phrases closely related to a search query. Google’s algorithm favors pages and domains that contain the exact phrase “coffee shops near me” if someone searches for “coffee shops near me.”
This has led to the dominance of keyword research and keyword-centric SEO strategies. Although it used to be possible to rank for the phrase by writing content or building links, this is no longer the case.
In 2013, Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update introduced semantic search capabilities. Google began to look at the context and not just scan for keywords. This required that SEO and content marketing strategies shift from a keyword-density emphasis.
So, do keywords matter in SEO today? How important are keywords in SEO? How can you implement the best content marketing and SEO strategies? Let’s dive right into answering these questions and more.
The Importance of Keywords
Keywords are phrases consumers use to search for what they want online. These terms are typically made up of one or more words that describe the product they are looking for. To type the keywords, they use the search bar of their browser.
Search engines have improved despite the problems of keyword spamming. While search engines still use keywords to rank web pages, they now do it in a smarter manner that filters out keyword spamming sites.
Users are provided with high-quality, valuable, relevant, focused, and quality content. Take note of these types of keywords that you could focus on when you create content. Focus is key. Otherwise, your thoughts will be scattered and not produce helpful or relevant content.
How Important Are Keywords in SEO
It’s time to dig deeper into why keywords in SEO remain relevant. Here are four ways that keywords continue to be a benefit to brands.
1. Target keywords drive traffic to your website.
Driving traffic to your site is a top reason why are keywords important in SEO. It would be best if you first got them there. You can capture their attention and turn them into customers once you have visitors to your website.
Marketers know how important it is to appear on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs). With an average 28.5% click-through rate, the #1 spot on the SERP has highly sought after.
Even with Google’s superior language processing capabilities, the importance of keywords still plays a vital role in indexing webpages. Marketers can target keywords to drive visitors to their website.
It is tempting only to focus on keywords with high volumes. However, these keywords are the most challenging and competitive to rank for. Long-tail keywords that are more specific about your products and services may result in a higher conversion rate despite the smaller number of visitors.
2. Keywords identify user intent.
Keywords can give you a good idea of what users are searching for.
Users will be unable to choose the proper term to search for the content they are looking for. Google and other search engines’ AI platforms can now interpret nuanced and intended meanings. This allows them to interpret the keywords searched and the meaning of the search.
Search engines will continue to use keywords in the titles and meta descriptions of your pages to index them and interpret them for the most relevant queries.
This could have the potential benefit of directing relevant users to your page, even if their keyword is not the same as your target keyword. As long as they interpret the intent of the search engine as being related to the subject of your webpage, this will be positive.
3. Keyword research increases your SERP ranking.
To help you understand how many keywords for SEO you need to rank, you must do thorough keyword research. You have many tool options, including the Moz Keyword Explorer. This tool allows you to search for opportunities to increase your SERP rankings.
These tools let you start with keywords relevant to your business and customers. You can then expand your search to find similar terms that could be worth ranking for.
These pages are easy to spot. These pages rank for keywords, either at the bottom or on the first page. But they are not yet in the top spot. Your page is ranking for this keyword already, so it’s possible that you can make some tweaks to improve your ranking without having to start over.
4. Keywords lead you to your target audience.
It is possible to have a clear idea of which keywords your company should rank for. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is relevant to your customers or that you focus on the best content that converts.
Keyword research can help you identify the needs of your target audience. This information will help you plan and structure your website content to meet those needs. It will be much more efficient to meet your audience at their level than to waste time and resources creating irrelevant content.
Your product might solve a customer’s problem. If your customer doesn’t know about your product, they will search for solutions to their problem using questions, not the product itself. These are the keywords you should be targeting.
The Bottomline
You can achieve more for your online presence as keywords continue to be essential to content marketing. Keywords in SEO drive traffic to your website, make sense of user intent, increase your ranking, and help identify the right target audience. They allow you to improve the user experience and rank in search engines for your blog or website.
Get Started With the Right Keywords Through ADMS
Keywords will still be relevant for some time, and they will continue to be used to give clues about the type of content that the searcher is looking to find from an organic search perspective.
Discover more about keyword research and everything SEO in Colorado Springs through Advanced Digital Media Services. Call us today to find out how keywords can add value to your business.
