Why You Should Give Up Your Target Keywords For Lent

When people think of Search Engine Optimization for their website, they think of keyword targeting, content optimization, targeted phrase link building, and so on. What they often DON'T think about, however, is creating content that works smarter, not harder. So, in the spirit of Lent, where people are giving up their actions they consider to be a vice, I'm encouraging people to give up thinking about their website through exact matched keyword terms, and instead think about your site within the context of keyword themes. Now, when I say to "give up your keywords for lent", I'm not actually asking people to stop writing content for their website that is targeted to high volume search traffic, or to not incorporate search queries people use to search for your products or services online everyday. No, what I'm asking is for people to back away from their obsession with exact match keyword terms being tied to one single page, and limiting yourself to that one term. The problem is focusing on one term only for a product or service, and then optimizing your relevant page for that exact term, limits the visitors who will find your site. This limitation has become even more problematic in recent months, as Google has made several algorithm and system updates. First, when Google went to a secure search for all their users, specific keyword phrases used organically were no longer passed on to businesses. This reduced the specific keyword term information we had available to us, letting us know which specific term brought which group of people in (unless you paid for the information, which is another blog post!). Second, Google updated their search algorithm to better understand user intent and website context with their Hummingbird update, meaning, the context you use around your keywords became just as important as the keyword itself. The switch here became a focus on better overall content on a page, and not just on keyword stuffing, so to speak. Taken altogether, the reduced information on keywords and contextual upgrades, it means Google is less concerned about one keyword phrase you're trying to rank for, and is more concerned about the overall information you are providing on your site. So, if this is what Google's focus is now, it should probably be your focus too. Hence, give up your keywords! And think about your keyword themes. Let's look at an example. Let's say we want to optimize a page on the Ecreative website to attract searchers needing SEO services. There are a lot of terms we would have traditionally picked to isolate and optimized. Here are a handful we probably would have researched and picked from:

As you can see, some of these terms wouldn't be ideal for us. "SEO" and "Search Engine Optimization" by itself are pretty broad, and could attract people looking to learn about SEO, rather than those needing SEO services. "SEO Companies" is an attractive term, but doesn't hit our target niche. "B2B SEO" is the best fit of what we offer and our target market, but it only is estimated at 170 searches per month. So what do we do? You recognize your limitations, and you pick a theme. The Search Engine Optimization Service page we have currently ends up hitting several of these keyword theme ideas, rather than just one single keyword from the list above. Notice in the screen shot here how we've picked up on several keyword themes from the list, and offered opportunity on the page for search engines to pick up on the intent around the term, and other longtail keyword variations, helping us capture all the potential different ways someone may search for our services:

Now, certainly, there are instances where our content could be considered too broad, and we may run the risk of attracting unqualified visitors to the site who won't request services. But I ask, where's the harm in that? You are bringing free traffic to your website, people who may gather information, find something useful, link back to you, or increase your brand exposure to someone who is at least curious about SOMETHING you offer. If someone is simply looking to learn SEO and they find the Ecreative site, great. Now someone who is familiar with SEO has associated Ecreative as an expert in the field. That kind of impression marketing has a place in organic optimization, too. In the end, it's important to not limit yourself in the new ways search engines are presenting information to users. When I ask you to give up your keywords, it's not a request for you to randomly add content to your website, but rather a request for you to add robust, important, thematic content to your website, content that doesn't limit you or short-change your customer. To learn more about keywords, keyword themes, or search engine updates, contact us today.