The keyword is dead; you heard this, right? In the last few years, in various popular SEO forums and gatherings, we all hear people say that keyword is not essential anymore. They think this way because Google is consistently transforming its algorithm by implementing artificial intelligence aka. AI into its algorithm. But people are getting it all wrong, and I’ll tell you why in just a minute. But prior to explaining that, let me tell you, the keyword was, is and will be the main focus of the SEO industry always. Therefore it’s better that you get a free keyword builder tool (there are few good ones, I’ll recommend the best one at the end, keep reading) and start researching your keywords if you can’t afford a paid keyword research tool right now.
Why Keyword is still relevant
The keyword is far from dead, but it’s Google who is changing the way it interprets keywords into search results, since the last couple of years. For example, today if we search using a term like “nearest theatre screening avenger the infinity war,” Google would return a search result where you’ll actually see your nearest theatre screening that movie! But you didn’t tell Google what’s your location is, so how it shows the exact nearest theatre? Before I answer that, did you notice that Google actually disregarded the original search terms of yours, which was “nearest theatre screening avenger the infinity war,” and have given you the result based on actually what was your intention behind that search term? In the previous time, before the hummingbird and rankbrain update, Google would have shown you the result based on your search term literally, not considering the actual meaning of that term. In simple words, Google implemented AI into its algorithm, and now it understands the inner meaning, the real intention of the visitor and provides search result based on the same. Google got smarter definitely; however, that doesn’t mean keyword research isn’t necessary anymore, far from that. We’ll get there shortly.
How Google understands your question
Before that, let’s understand what Google did with your search term there. First when Google see words like “nearest” or “near me,” it understands that you want something close to your location. Now, Google knows where you are at that time by your IP address and GPS location data (if you’re using a phone with location enabled). And then, thanks to its AI feature, Google converts your search term which was actually this – “nearest theatre screening avenger the infinity war,” into this – “theater screening avenger the infinity war 10001”. Here 10001 is your zip code, which Google calculated combining both your IP address location data and GPS location data. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Now, you can clearly see why it’s not surprising that people are saying keyword isn’t a ranking factor anymore. However, It’s not like that. The keyword is still vital as it was a decade ago. It’s the way Google translate that keywords, has been changed drastically. You still need to know what keyword people search, like “nearest theatre screening avenger the infinity war.” But instead of mindlessly putting this exact keyword literally into your site heading, content, everywhere – you should now use these keywords to understand what people are looking for and create your site and its content based on that “intent.” Without knowing what keywords people are searching, how would you know what product you should sell, isn’t it? This is just basic rule, so don’t let anybody tell you that keyword isn’t relevant anymore, because you know actually, the opposite is true.
Now, as you know, the keyword is crucial, you need to research and build a handy list of keywords, even before you start putting content in your site. And that’s not done there. You must do this keyword research at least once in a while and update your list with all new trending keywords in your niche. Plenty of free keyword builder tools you will find in Google by just a simple search. Or you can use the ultimate one, Google keyword planner, which is free and provides exact search volume of the generated keywords.
