The Role of Keywords in Search Engine Optimization in 2022

Contrary to what some believe, keywords still matter. Keywords are not outdated, out of style, useless, or anything of the sort. If anything, the opposite is true. They can help your users, they can help Google, and they can also help your search engine optimization in 2022 and beyond. 

Keywords Let you Know What Your Users Want 

When your users type keywords into Google, they’re trying to go in a certain direction. They’re telling Google where they would like to go, even if they aren’t 100% sure how to get there. 

Keywords, in a very real way, provide “breadcrumbs” or “clues” as to what the user is actually looking for. For example, a person who types “birdcage” into a search engine may be looking for an aviary in their area, or they could be looking for the best cage to keep their pet bird in, they may be looking for more information about different bird cages, and so forth.

It’s up to Google (or another search engine) to parse their meaning and provide them with the best answers. Keywords can show user intent. 

Consequently, you want to rank for the keywords that are going to be able to connect to your potential customers and clients at different steps of their journey. 

For example, if you’re a personal injury lawyer, you want to be able to rank for “informational” keywords, so as to be able to send those prospective clients to landing pages, blogs, and other forms of content that can provide information about what to do after an accident, how to deal with insurance companies, when to reach out for medical treatment, and so forth. 

Additionally, you’ll also want your law practice to rank for keywords for when prospective clients want to get an attorney, “personal injury attorney in Los Angeles,” and so forth. For those keywords, you’ll want to link to content that shows your portfolio, your expertise, past settlements, awards, and so forth. 

Keywords and content, working together, can still greatly boost your SEO. 

They’re a Driver of Search Engine Optimization Traffic 

In fact, you could argue that keywords are one of the, well, “key” drivers of traffic. If you rank at the top of the Google results, you’re going to get more clicks than everyone else. Studies have shown that the very top result gets anywhere from ¼ to ⅓ of all the total clicks. 

So, it still matters to rank highly. 

That said, “¼ to ⅓ of all the total clicks” of a keyword that no one’s searching for is still, well, zero. 

That’s why it’s so important to focus precisely on the keywords that are competitive enough to get you noticed. Building a content strategy around having the right volume and the kind of content that people want to read (that provides real solutions) can keep you competitive in the keywords that matter. 

Thus, you’ll be more competitive in your business, as well. 

With Keywords, You Can Find your Target Audience 

Many companies believe that they know exactly what their target audience is online. We’ve found that they may not realize all of the ways that they can use their keywords (and then, subsequently, their content) to reach more of that audience. 

One of the first services we provide is a kind of “competitive analysis.” To simplify it, we look at how our clients’ keywords and content are doing versus their competition. 

More often than not, what we find is a kind of “content gap.” 

A client, no matter how well-funded or structured, often doesn’t have content that serves a certain audience. Or, even if they do, that content isn’t ranking or in many cases, optimized. 

For example, many of our clients are rehab and addiction treatment centers in Southern California. 

So many of them will want to rank for keywords such as “addiction treatment in Van Nuys” or something similar. That makes sense, it’s a good idea. 

However, what they may not have is “addiction treatment in Sherman Oaks,” “rehab in Valley Village,” “detox Burbank,” or other similar pages that can reach more people who they would be able to help. 

So, we quickly get to work in helping them to create that content and rank for it, so as to boost their search engine optimization as well as their business. 

The Role of a Digital Marketing Agency in 2022 and Beyond 

Keywords are, in all likelihood, never going away. 

As long as there is SEO and digital marketing, businesses are going to want to rank for the keywords that matter to their business. 

That said, not every business is able to spend the time it takes to do what’s necessary to rank for those keywords. 

In fact, few businesses can. 

That’s where we come in. We’ve helped businesses in so many industries to be able to find the keywords that their customers/clients are using, and then climb those rankings. 

For a free consultation with our search engine optimization experts to see how we can help you, call us at (888) 477-9540.