Are Keywords Still Relevant to SEO?

Alan Robezzoli • September 27, 2021

Keyword research and SEO - are keywords still relevant?

As an internet marketing agency focusing on SEO, we often hear comments like this: "I hear keywords aren't that relevant to SEO any longer." Sometimes we even hear something like this: "I’ve heard that Google frowns on the use of keywords, and focusing on them can actually hurt our website’s ranking.” These concerns are valid; however, keywords are still a vital part of any SEO strategy.

It is true that Google – the most popular search engine in the world - has changed its algorithm over the years, creating a need for SEO strategies beyond keywords, and stuffing your website with keywords will hurt your website’s ranking. However, understanding what words or phrases your target market uses to search for your product or service and using those words and phrases correctly helps improve your website’s ranking, increase website traffic, and improve conversion rates.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are the words or phrases people type into search engines, such as Google, to find what they’re looking for. For example, if you’re looking for homeowner’s insurance, you might type in something like “homeowners’ insurance.” Someone else might type in “cheap homeowners’ insurance” or even “What type of insurance pays to replace my stuff if it is stolen?” or any number of words or phrases that make sense to the person searching.

There are two primary types of keywords:

Short-Tail Keywords - also known as head terms – are shorter search queries (typically less than three words) that cover broader topics. An example of a short-tail keyword is “Buy plants.” They are general inquires that don’t contain a lot of specific details about what you are searching for. This type of keyword tends to get a lot of search traffic but also delivers a lower conversion rate.
Long-Tail Keywords are longer search queries that contain more details about what you are looking for. An example of a long-tail keyword would be “buy plants that do well in the shade.” This type of keyword typically gets less search traffic but also provides higher conversion rates.

What Makes a Good Keyword?

So, how do you determine what words people are typing into search engines to find your product or service? The answer: common sense and keyword research. First, think about words and phrases you would use to find your product or service.

Then use keyword research tools to add additional keywords to your list and determine which keywords or phrases will help improve your website’s ranking the best.

You should consider three things when doing keyword research:

How relevant the words and phrases are to your product or service
How often people are using those words and phrases to search (search volume)
How much competition is there for those words and phrases (keyword difficulty)

Ideally, you want to find keywords or phrases that people frequently use to search for your product or service. But the tricky part is that established or popular sites will also be using some of those exact keywords or phrases to rank well in search engines, lowering your chance of ranking high with those keywords or phrases. It is definitely a balancing act.

Once you know what keywords people are using and which will help your website’s ranking, you can include them on your website.

How to Optimize Keywords

Understanding which keywords and phrases to use is just the first step. You also need to optimize those keywords for SEO.

Here are a few tips:

Run an SEO audit on your website
Include keywords in the URL, titles, title tags, descriptions, headings throughout the text, image titles, and alt texts.
Don’t force keywords – use them where they make sense within the text (see “What is Keyword Stuffing?” below)
Create a good user experience – the content should be relevant and easy to read, your website should be easy to navigate, and pages should load quickly
Consider search intent, which is the purpose of an online search. Google has made it a priority to improve its algorithm to help determine people’s search intent and will rank pages higher that fit the search intent behind the search query.

Do Not Use Keyword Stuffing

Google defines keyword stuffing as “the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site's ranking in Google search results.” Keyword stuffing creates a bad user experience and can lower your website’s ranking.

Examples of keyword stuffing include:

Lists of phone numbers that don’t add value
Blocks of text listing cities or states the webpage is trying to target
Repeating the same keyword or phrase within the text so that it becomes unnatural

The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to create valuable and informative text that uses keywords and phrases appropriately – where they make sense within the text.

Keywords and an Online Marketing Strategy

Keywords are only a tiny part of an Online Marketing Strategy. Give Power Marketing International a call today at 484-297-6395 or contact us online. We can help with keyword research, website design or redesign, additional SEO strategies, search engine advertising, social media marketing and advertising, content marketing, and email marketing.

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