Why Your SEO Shouldn’t Focus on Keywords, and What It Should Focus on Instead

Moz, an online authority on SEO, says, “Google is getting better and better at determining what’s relevant to you and what you’re looking for.” Ultimately, Google is no longer limiting its algorithms to keywords, which were once the primary way that relevance was determined. This new approach may sound more complex, but in reality, it can make your work easier.

The Old SEO Model Is Finished

In the past, the old SEO model was the guide that everyone followed. You yourself may have spent hundreds of hours researching keywords and then fitting them into your copy in hopes that it would help you rank highly. You may have created landing pages for the sole purpose of targeting an important keyword, thus driving traffic to your site, and may even have focused on using a certain keyword density. You have probably measured all of your successes and failures with conversions, CTRs, and traffic.

To be sure, this SEO model was important and has taken the industry far. However, it had many issues that made it difficult for amateurs and professionals alike, since these tactics were often infuriating to visitors. Thanks to the new search algorithms that are being used by Google, there is now an entirely new SEO model that should be followed.

The Current Model

While the old model focused on keywords, the new SEO model focuses on topics and people. Keywords still play an important role in terms of research, but the real heart and soul of today’s optimization centers its sights on topics and people. Does this at all remind you of social media? Social media is a huge system that gives people a platform to talk about things that are important to them. What if your company became a topic of conversation during these discussions, perhaps offering solutions? Can you see the potential power of this new model?

So how can you use the new SEO model, and what is involved? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Focus on topics and people.
• Although keywords are no longer the focal point, you still need to find the language that those in your market are using.
• Bolster your content and keywords with social media, word of mouth, quality backlinks, and email list building.
• Measure your success not by the number of visits, but on how your visitors behave (i.e. conversions, time on site, bounce rate).

The Finer Points of Focusing on Topics and People

It’s important that you really understand that topics and people should be the new focal points in your content. Even if you’ve been in this industry for many years, you shouldn’t assume that your audience won’t have new topics that concern them. The topics that people are discussing on the web change on a daily basis, but how can you keep up with all of these changes?

• Use social media. When people have problems and questions, they discuss them on social media, and this is an incredible source of information and inspiration. By spending a little bit of time finding these online communities, you can be supplied with an unending source of topics to discuss on your website.
• Talk to your existing customers or visitors. It’s obvious that there’s much to be learned by talking to your visitors. You can learn about the issues they’re facing and where they’re looking for solutions. You can either talk to the people directly through comments, or get information through surveys.
• Watch your competitors. It’s easy to find information just be keeping a close eye on what your competitors are doing. What are they discussing on their blogs or social media channels, and which of these posts gained traction? You can learn from both the good and the bad that your competitors do, potentially saving yourself a lot of time and stress.

Throughout all of this, remember that the quality of your content is the most important aspect. The new SEO model focuses on people, and people want valuable, information-dense material that actually serves the purpose of educating them. Google realized this, and that’s why they no longer focus on keywords—and you could follow suit. Below are the basic principles that should drive your content creation going forward:

• Focus on visitor experience.
• Make your content distinctive and unique.
• Target specific topics and keywords.
• Optimize your titles and tags for these topics and keywords.

Start by Bolstering Your Existing Content

Though SEO has changed, don’t start by deleting your existing content. Rather than doing this, use the ideas below to help you use your old posts and pages to increase your search engine visibility.

• Revisit existing posts and pages. Revisiting your older content can give you the opportunity to expand on it, making it more useful and relevant to your audience. Looking at your existing content can give you ideas about topics you can cover in more in-depth articles.
• Don’t think about keyword density. Stressing about the density of keywords in your articles probably won’t do much to move the needle for you. Spend your time and energy building content that’s helpful to your audience, and then make it easy for your visitors to navigate your website through your internal linking structure.
• Improve internal linking. Over the years you’ve been building your website, you’ve probably written dozens or even hundreds of articles. The simple act of returning to older posts and adding internal links to other relevant pieces of content will help your site become a better performer.

Reuse Existing Topics

The fact that the new SEO model focuses on topics and people will in some cases mean that you need to repurpose some of your existing content. It needs to be relevant and current, but the most important thing is that it needs to be engaging to your readers. Repurposing your content can be a powerful tool that will allow you to reach more people. If you aren’t sure exactly how to go about reusing your existing content, the tips below should be of help to you:

• Take existing topics to the next level. One of the most effective ways to entice readers is by using short-form list articles (a.k.a. listicles) to offer a high level of value in a short period of time. You likely have a lot of this content on your site already, but the next step is to take individual pieces from these articles and create in-depth articles that provide more specific information and examples.
• Use slideshow presentations. One of the best ways to be unique is to use other forms of media besides blog posts to share information. Creating a slideshow in your favorite presentation software can be enticing, and has a good chance of being shared by your visitors (especially if you upload it to a community like SlideShare).
• Use infographics. Infographics present helpful and information-dense media in an easy-to-consume way. Perhaps you could reuse your existing statistical information to make it more visually appealing. Post these infographics on your social media channels and you’re likely to reach a larger audience. In particular, pay attention to Instagram and Pinterest.
• Use video. Video should be part of every comprehensive content strategy. Video is easy to consume, fun to share, and, at this point, it’s still something of a novelty. Perhaps you could turn some of your how-to or top-ten articles into informative videos. This is the type of content that people love to share. Always be sure to embed your videos on your blog.
• Use audio. Podcasting is a form of media that is growing increasingly rapidly. In much the way that blogs are now standard, podcasts are likely to become a staple for every serious online business owner or marketer. This will allow you to reach people who want to consume information while they travel, thereby repurposing your existing content into a more mobile resource.

The New SEO Model Is Here to Stay

To summarize, it’s important that you remember that keywords are no longer a focus for search engines. We’ve talked about some of the things you can do to take your old content and reuse it, but also about guidelines to follow as you create new content.

Content is the heart and soul that will drive people to your website and focusing on the people in your audience and on the things they’re discussing will keep them coming back again and again.

It’s also crucial to remember that it’s important to create content that will be relevant both now and in the future. This will help you create quality content that will help you today, tomorrow, and a year from now. This will ensure that your ranking will increase over time as the value your website offers grows.