How Important Is Keyword Optimisation For SEO?

Keyword Optimisation is often held up to the ‘THE RULE’ that informs your entire foundation for your SEO efforts. Until search engines are able to enter our brains and read our thoughts, we’ll always need to use written language in order to make search queries. We need to use keywords to communicate.

However, are keywords really THAT important in the world of SEO?

It used to be important that you write your site content with exact matches of your keyword. But now, Google uses RankBrain, which is its machine-learning algorithm, to help process Google search queries. According to Google, RankBrain has become the third most important factor in determining the results that appear in your search queries (Source.)

RankBrain uses artificial intelligence to embed vast amounts of written language into mathematical entities, called vectors, that the computer can understand. If RankBrain sees a word or phrase it isn’t familiar with, the machine can make a guess as to what words or phrases might have a similar meaning and filter the result accordingly, making it more effective at handling never-before-seen search queries.

More importantly, though, how does RankBrain affect how you define your SEO strategy?

The first step of defining your SEO strategy has always been selecting the right keywords for your campaign. Failure to select the right keyword often meant your campaign was doomed before it even began.

The introduction of Google’s RankBrain means the algorithm that would determine search rankings is constantly learning and changing. We can therefore argue that keyword optimisation, while still an important part of SEO, is not as important as it once was.

Instead, user experience of your website is now king

This means that you do not have to place your keywords word-for-word in your site’s content. Instead, write your site content for the user. If you use synonyms and related terms, search engines like Google will still understand what your goal is.

Google is no longer trying to match the keywords you type into its search engine to the keywords of a web page. Instead, it’s trying to understand the intent behind the keywords you type so it can match that intent to relevant, high-quality content.

The bottom line: Search engines of the future aren’t going to punish folks for under-using keywords or failing to have an expertly crafted, keyword-optimized page title … but they will continue to punish folks for overusing keywords.

If you’re trying to choose between keyword optimisation and user experience, always choose user experience.

Adapted from our e-Book, “18 SEO Myths To Leave Behind in 2017”.

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