Years ago, Google ranked organic listings by exactly matching search queries to the text on a web page. Search engine optimization involved creating multiple pages with all kinds of keyword variations.
The result was an avalanche of inferior content ranking at or near the top for long-tail queries.
Search engines no longer rely on exact match keywords, but instead attempt to understand the intent and context of a query. It’s common for Google to rank a page that doesn’t contain a single query word.
For example, a Google search for “affordable airfares” produces first-page organic results containing mostly “cheap flights,” “last-minute flight deals” and the like. None of what I saw contained the exact phrase “affordable airfare.”
And the search for “kids trails in upstate New York” generates organic results for “family hikes in Albany and “easy hikes near New York” – both of which likely satisfy the searcher’s intent.
” from GoogleHow search works“The portal explains the process:
To return relevant results, we first need to establish what you’re looking for: the intent behind your query. To do this, we build linguistic models to try to decipher how the relatively few words you type into the search box correspond to the most useful content available.
This involves steps as seemingly simple as recognizing and correcting spelling mistakes and extends to testing our sophisticated synonym system which allows us to find relevant documents even if they don’t contain the exact words that you used.
Keyword research
Is keyword research important for SEO in 2024?
Although it no longer relies on exact match queries, Google’s algorithm still uses keywords. On the same “How Search Works” page, Google states:
The most basic signal that information is relevant is when the content contains the same keywords as your search query. For example, with web pages, if these keywords appear on the page, or if they appear in titles or body text, the information may be more relevant.
Further, Google says it also uses “other relevance signals” (presumably beyond keywords), “interaction data to assess whether search results are relevant to queries” and machine learning to make sense of data.
Google gives an example:
Think about it: When you search for “dogs,” you probably don’t want a page that has the word “dogs” hundreds of times. With this in mind, algorithms evaluate whether a page contains other relevant content beyond the keyword “dogs,” such as dog photos, videos, or even a list of breeds.
Yet the benefits of keyword research extend beyond SEO.
Keywords:
- Help understand the needs of target customers.
- Review Demand – high search volume signals higher demand for a product or service.
- Guide site structure: Keywords with high search volume can be categories; lower volume subcategories.
- Identify potential high-traffic content ideas.
- Notify of new products or categories.
Keyword Optimization
Exact keyword optimization isn’t just dated. This can be counterproductive due to Google’s helpful content algorithm, which devalues websites targeting search engines rather than humans.
Instead:
- Search Google for topics and formats that it finds useful to researchers.
- Invite ChatGPT to create searcher profiles using your keywords, including their likely intentions and needs. Google uses AI in a similar way to identify what content best serves searchers.
- Identify related keywords for products that solve similar problems.
- Consider content elements for a keyword that improves engagement, such as a table or checklist.
In short, keywords remain the “most basic signal that the information is relevant” to the query, according to Google. Use a primary keyword in a page’s title and meta description, but don’t force it.