Why Keywords Are Still Important (+ How to Use Them to Rank Higher)

In this guide, discover why keywords are important as part of any content strategy and learn how to use them to maximise your rankings in search engines.

You spend your time creating content, but it’s nowhere to be found in the top 10 pages of Google.

Your content does you no good if your audience can’t see it.

That’s exactly what this guide was written for. After helping thousands of our clients boost their traffic, we’re here to teach you why keywords are important and how you can make use of them to attract more visitors.

By the end of this article, you’ll learn how to:

• Use keywords to help your increase your content’s visibility
• Discuss topics that make you a stronger authority in your niche
• Find keywords your target audience is searching for

Let’s get started.

What Are Keywords?

Keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines like Google when looking for something specific.

For example, a user looking for a gingerbread cookie recipe might search:

• “best gingerbread cookie recipes”
• “easy gingerbread cookie recipe”
• “gingerbread cookie recipe from scratch”

These phrases are all keywords related to gingerbread cookie recipes. 

When you perform a search, Google scours its vast index of websites to find the most relevant and valuable content matching those keywords.

Why Keywords Are Important

Keywords are important because they tell search engines what your article is about, and help you ensure you’re creating content that fulfils an existing need. By incorporating keywords into your content, you make it easier for searchers to find it.

By doing keyword research up front, you can align your content marketing strategy accordingly. 

The terms people are searching for inform what you write about  – and how you write it. You then can be confident your content fulfils an existing need.

By making use of keywords, you can:

• Find in-demand topics to write about
• Signal to search engines what your content is about
• Connect your article with its intended audience

When used effectively, search engines rank your content higher and you wind up with more (and more relevant) traffic.

Keywords vs. Topics

Keywords are the exact terms users are typing into search engines.

For instance:

“bodyweight exercises for men”

Topics, on the other hand, are concepts related to a given subject. They can give you insights into what a user may be interested in when conducting a search and help you structure your content to focus on all the important matters that are semantically related.

Search engines aim to understand topics on a web page so they can better determine the relevance of the content to a particular search query.

For instance, topics related to “bodyweight exercises for men” include:

• Bodyweight training
• Push up
• Lower body

But why is it important to understand the difference between keywords and topics?

Because if you want to rank, it’s no longer enough to simply add a keyword into your title and a few times in the body of your content.

Search engines are increasingly focused on understanding topical authority. This refers to how Google views your website’s credibility in its subject area.

To achieve topical authority, you should aim to:

• Produce high-quality, in-depth content
• Thoroughly cover a subject (and mention a high number of relevant topics)
• Answer related questions
• Build a network of related content

Search engine results often give clues about which topics they deem relevant for a given query.

For example, if all the top search results for the query “bodyweight exercises for men” discuss the topics of chin ups, push ups, and bodyweight workouts, it’s a sign you should at least mention these topics in your content as well.

How to Know Which Topics to Write About

You can use tools to find relevant topics for your articles.

Within our Writer Assistant tool, for example, we automatically calculate a topic score for your content:

Topic score is calculated by looking at the most common topics that appear in the top 20 search results for the given keyword.

To view your topic score, switch to the Optimize tab.

Click on Topic score to be shown the list of topics along with a recommendation for how many times to mention them in your article.

You can press the + button to add the topic into your content.

When you achieve the recommended number of mentions, the topic will be highlighted in green.

By covering the recommended topics in your content, you’ll increase its topical authority.

How to Find Great Keywords to Target

There are several different ways you can find keywords or content ideas that are relevant to your audience.

(Note: This is neither the time nor place to cover keyword research in detail – there are far more detailed guides delving into that topic. But let’s cover some high level ideas to get you started).

Brainstorming

As a business owner, you have your own set of knowledge and industry expertise. This can be a great starting point.

What are the most common questions your customers ask? What terms do you use when talking about your products or services? What words would your target audience search that you’d want your business to be found for?

Even if these don’t become the ultimate keywords you target, they can help define the buckets of content your website covers or act as seed keywords for further research.

Customer Feedback

Listen closely to your customers. 

Pay attention to the language they use when describing their problems, needs, and desires.  Feedback can be a goldmine for relevant keywords and topics.

You might look at:

• Reviews: What words do they use to describe the product or how it helps them?
• Customer service interactions: What are the recurring questions your customers have?
• Social media comments: How do customers and followers talk about your product or service?
• Surveys: How could you solicit feedback from surveys or analyse past data?

For instance, say you sell your own white label ginseng supplement. You’ve optimised your pages for descriptive keywords like “ginseng supplement” and “Korean red ginseng”.

But after some research, you notice a few trends in the way customers speak about your brand online.

Multiple users referred to your product as:

• “natural energy pills”
• “adaptogenic herbs”
• “herbal energy booster”

Many are claiming it helped them with stress relief, immune system support, and mental clarity. 

You can take these insights and update your articles and product pages to target related keywords.

Thanks to customer feedback, you are now aware of new keywords that you weren’t previously focused on.

Competitor Analysis

Analysing what competitors are doing can unlock new keyword opportunities and knowledge gaps to focus on.

Which topics are your competitors covering? Which keywords are they ranking for?

You can automate the process of researching competitor keywords with popular keyword search tools. This allows you to analyse competitor websites and see their top performing keywords.

But you can also do this manually by analysing your competitors’ websites.

Explore the blog page (typically /blog) to get a sense for the keywords they’re targeting.

Typically the keyword will be easy to spot within the title.

But when it’s not so obvious, check meta titles for clues.

Here you can deduce from the permalink that the blog post is targeting the keyword “remote work expenses”.

Internal linking structures can also give insights into keyword strategy.

SEO-focused content creators will often link an exact match keyword to another page on their site about that topic.

Stay alert and you can pick up on clues about which keywords you should be targeting.

Manual Research in Google

Conduct a manual search in Google using one of the keywords that are relevant to your business.

Scroll down and you’ll likely see a section in the SERPs called “People also ask.” Note that this isn’t present for all searches, but it is for the majority.

This gives you related questions that you can answer in your content.

You can also type the first few letters of a given search in the Google search bar and Google will suggest a number of searches. If you pay attention to the suggestions, you can find a number of long-tail keyword ideas.

At the bottom of the SERP page, there is also a section called “People also search for”. This displays a number of other related keywords. 

This type of manual research can take you down a rabbit hole and help you discover a number of new keyword opportunities.

Forums and Social Media

Your target audience is hanging out on social media and in niche communities online. These resources can be a goldmine for insights.

Reddit, Quora, and TikTok specifically are great places to discover pressing questions and pain points that your target audience are discussing.

Since all your competitors are using the same keyword research tools, you have a competitive advantage if you’re able to tap into new sources to find hidden gems.

Keyword Research Tools

Software tools can make your life easier by automating the keyword research process and helping you uncover new keywords.

For instance, when you start up a new Keyword Discovery project in Keyword Insights, it pulls keyword ideas from a range of sources including Google autocomplete, Quora, and People Also Asked.

You’ll also be able to see search volume data and other important metrics at a glance:

This helps you identify new long-tail keywords and emerging trends before your competitors.

5 Ways Keywords Are Important For Your SEO Strategy

Keywords are the foundation of SEO writing, and play an important role in helping attract visitors and boost rankings.

Let’s go over the various ways you can use your knowledge of keywords to your advantage.

1. Keywords Help Increase SERP Rankings

Google’s goal is to deliver the best possible results for every search. 

To determine which websites deserve the top spots in the rankings, they consider a number of factors – and keywords play a critical role.

Strategic keyword usage can help Google understand your content, and signal that it’s a relevant match for a searcher’s query.

When search engines crawl your site, they examine your keywords to check both the relevance and authority of your content for specific topics. High-quality content that strategically incorporates keywords can significantly boost your website’s ranking.

2. Keywords Can Dictate Your Content Strategy

What if you knew which keywords had the most searches? And the exact terminology your target audience was using?

Keyword research can reveal what your target audience is actively searching for.

This gives you valuable insights into:

• Pain points and challenges they’re facing
• Your audience’s precise interests
• What questions they have
• Whether they’re looking for information or to make a purchase
• Which topics are most popular (and can bring in the most traffic)
• The language used

Armed with this knowledge, you can map out an effective content strategy.

You know which topics to include, which questions to answer, and which types of content to create. Your content also becomes more relevant, because the topics and keywords your audience is searching dictate the points you discuss.

Content performs best when it’s both relevant and tailor-made for the audience.

3. Keywords Inform Your Content Ideas

When you understand the exact keywords people are already searching for, your content strategy is simplified. In this way, keywords dictate which pieces of content you create.

What’s not always so obvious is whether or not each separate keyword needs its own piece of content.

Sometimes keywords are so closely related that it’s better to group them together on the same page.

A tool like Keyword Insights can simplify the decision making process for us. Let’s walk through an example which illustrates this.

Let’s say you have a meal prep business but want more insights before deciding on which keyword(s) to target and how many separate pieces of content to create.

You can use “meal prep” as your seed keyword in Keyword Discovery.

This will give you a list of keywords from a range of different sources, including those that your competitors likely aren’t paying attention to.

You can click on the All Keywords tab then Get Search Volume. This will enrich your list of keywords with their monthly search volume.

You can then send them to Keyword Clustering, which automatically groups similar keywords together.

This gives you key information which can help you make decisions regarding content creation, including which keywords should be targeted together on the same page.

In this case, you’ve gained several key insights:

1) You’ve learned that one page is sufficient to target this entire cluster of keywords:

• meal prep chicken
• meal prep with chicken
• meal prep chicken recipes
• meal prep chicken breast ideas
• meal prep ideas with chicken
• best meal prep chicken recipes
• meal prep with chicken ideas

The keyword highlighted in green is the main keyword we recommend to target.

2) You’ve also identified several low-competition keyword clusters you could create separate articles for:

• meal prep ideas
• meal prep to lose weight
• meal prep healthy recipes

4. Keywords Build Relevancy

When visitors land on your page after conducting a search in Google, they quickly assess whether the content is relevant to their query.

Using exact search keywords in your content and discussing related topics signals relevance to both users and search engines. This alignment between search terms and content helps visitors find what they’re looking for, encouraging them to stay longer on your page.

Imagine you’re searching for the “best gingerbread cookie recipe”. You click on a promising result, only to find an article that mentions cookies but actually focuses on industrial-sized ovens and dough mixers. The content isn’t relevant to your search intent as a home baker, so you’re likely to click away.

When you’re consistent and intentional with your keyword strategy, you demonstrate relevance to both Google and your readers. People find content that matches their search intent, Google sees positive engagement signals, and you establish yourself as a relevant source that Google can confidently recommend for related queries.

5. Keywords Help You Attract the Right Audience

By using the keywords your audience is searching, you ensure your content appears in front of users who want what you offer.

You don’t want just any visitor to come to your website, you want to attract visitors who have a genuine interest in your business. These are the users who are more likely to engage or make a purchase, and that’s exactly why it’s important to target the right keywords.

You might target informational keywords to educate your audience about topics related to your core offering.

You can also target commercial or transactional keywords to attract users who are shopping or ready to make a purchase.

Let’s go through an example to illustrate:

Imagine you run a Spanish language learning app.

You could use our Keyword Clustering tool with the seed keyword  “learn spanish”. 

The results show:

• “learn spanish puerto rican dialect”
• “Study spanish alphabet”
• “learn spanish youtube”

Note how the intent for each is “Article”, meaning users are searching for information.

These are keywords you can create educational content around to attract users who are interested in learning Spanish.

If you want to create content targeting specific buying keywords related to your products, or services, you can sort by Context (aka Intent).

Select ‘Commercial’ to filter for these types of keywords.

By considering your audience when selecting your keywords, you can ensure that your content reaches those most likely to be interested in it.

Common Keyword Mistakes to Avoid

Utilising keywords effectively isn’t about spamming them into your content. In fact, this will have the opposite effect that you intended.

There are certain actions you’ll want to avoid like the plague when it comes to keyword usage, and this is one of them.

Let’s go over some of the most common keyword mistakes.

Keyword Stuffing

Cramming too many keywords into your content is a major no-no. 

This is what’s referred to as “keyword stuffing”. It destroys the readability of your content, which results in a terrible user experience.

Google views this practice as an attempt to manipulate search rankings, and your website can get penalised for it.

Instead, use keywords naturally in your content where relevant but don’t force it. 

Google is sophisticated enough to recognize context and understand synonyms, so prioritise creating content that’s both helpful to users and optimised for search.

Cannibalizing Content

Creating separate pages targeting highly similar keywords can work against you in SEO. Google may view these pages as competing content and select only one to rank, which can dilute your visibility.

Instead, similar keywords should all be targeted on the same page to create one consolidated resource. This is where the concept of clustering comes into play.

Using the Keyword Clustering tool, you can see that all of these keywords should be grouped together:

Instead of creating multiple articles for “learn spanish language” and “learn spanish speaking online”, you can target them both in one comprehensive article.

Ignoring Search Intent

Focusing solely on keywords without considering user intent will backfire. 

Ensure your content matches what a user is searching for. 

If they’re seeking information, you’ll want to create an informative article. If the user has commercial intent, you’ll want to create a product page.

You wouldn’t want to create a blog post on “The History of Robot Vacuum Cleaners” to target a transactional intent keyword like “buy robot vacuum cleaner”, for instance.

To avoid this mistake, ensure you understand the types of search intent. 

Then align your content with the correct intent for the keyword you’re targeting.

Where to Place Keywords in Your Content

You should add keywords into your content without making their usage feel forced. 

There’s definitely an art to this. It’s a delicate balance between strategically placing keywords and ensuring your writing stays human and natural.

Here’s where to place keywords for maximum impact:

• Title: Your title is the first impression for both search engines and users. Include your primary keyword in the title to signal relevance.
• Meta Description: This brief summary appears below your title in search results. Craft a compelling description that incorporates relevant keywords and entices users to click.
• Headings and Subheadings (H2, H3 etc.): Organise your content with clear subheadings to break up text. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally within these headings to improve readability and signal structure to search engines.
  • Note: There should be only H1 heading on every page and that should be your article title (which is typically formatted as H1 automatically by your CMS). 
• Body Content: Place keywords or their synonyms throughout your body content in a natural way, ensuring they flow seamlessly with your writing. Remember, Google can pick up on context, so it’s important not to over-optimise.
• Image Alt Text: Use descriptive alt text for all images, incorporating keywords where relevant. This makes your content more accessible and improves its visibility in image searches.
• Permalink: If possible, include your primary keyword in your URL, keeping it concise and descriptive.

A Final Word

Content should be created to fulfil a demand you already know exists.

By understanding keywords, you can deliver the information your ideal audience is actively searching for, and ensure your content is keyword-optimised.

That way searchers click through more often. They stay on your website longer. Google takes notice, and your rankings increase.

The cycle continues.

Your website’s visibility keeps increasing, you get more traffic, and slowly but surely become the go-to resource in your niche.

Now you can see why keywords are important: they help you boost traffic and establish more authority and trust.

We’re excited to see how you put your newfound knowledge into practice.