Don’t get too bogged down with keywords

Organic SEO always comes back to keywords. Perhaps this is because these are one of the few tangible ways SEOs can actually prove return on investment and effectiveness to clients. Or is it?

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, a solid keyword strategy is absolutely essential when planning a robust site and SEO strategy. Keyword research is also important not only because it allows you to identify areas where you could perhaps achieve quick wins and new niches, but also because it’s important to evaluate the effectiveness of keywords. When evaluating how effective keywords are, popularity of a keyword is not the only variable that you should consider. So, this post is not about dismissing the importance of keywords in SEO at all.

There are many other metrics which show that an SEO campaign is working. These include increased traffic, a wider diversity of keywords attracting organic traffic to the site and ultimately increased conversions (because you want to be getting the right traffic to your site). These things are all easily demonstrable through website analytics.

So when it comes to keywords, I find the best rule of thumb is to be natural. Think about things logically and jot down your ideas before starting with keyword research tools. Often your gut feel will be the correct instinct to follow. Use keyword research tools to broaden your keyword base and get some lateral ideas and suggestions. Evaluate these keywords and assign the most relevant and most effective to the pages you intend to optimise. This will form the backbone of your SEO strategy.

This is not the be all and end all though. Nothing is set in stone, and it’s not to say that the site won’t rank for a number of other key phrases that are relevant. This is why it’s so important to build thoroughly researched sites with great, original content. Rich content should naturally include relevant keyterms and phrases that you may not even have thought of identifying previously.

This in turn leads to what could be referred to as the “long tail” of keywords. These are terms which bring traffic to the site, that you’ve not specifically optimised for – and there are many. Realistically, most SEOs will only optimise each page for a maximum of three related phrases. However, more often than not, when one looks at analytics and which keywords have directed visits to those pages, there are frequently hundred(s).

The point I am trying to make here is that you don’t have to specifically optimise for every single stemmed alternative. With a solid keyword strategy in place and natural, full content planning, you will achieve rankings for a variety of relevant keywords. If along the way you discover additional words which you think might be more effective, you can always adapt your strategy accordingly.