SEO Content & The Role Of Keywords In 2020

The concept of search engine optimization (SEO) has immensely changed over the past decade. With several new algorithms rolling out every year, many SEO practices have become outdated. 

 

Many people still cling to those SEO techniques to improve their brand visibility.

 

But it’s sad.

 

The old tricks in the SEO rule book are of no use in 2020!

 

Writing SEO content was a matter of following certain guidelines. It was easy to trick search engines by stuffing keywords in the right proportions in all the right places. For example - adding the keyword in the H1, title tag and meta description. 

 

However, now the most important phrase in today’s SEO is the ‘Searcher’s Intent’. 

 

Content deliberately focussing on popular keywords won’t fetch you the desired results. It is 2020, and the foremost attribute of an ‘SEO friendly content’ is whether your content is answering the searcher’s question. If you want to get the upper hand in today’s competitive market, you can hire the best SEO company in Sydney.

 

In this write-up, we will discuss how to get along with Google’s algorithm to rank contents that satisfy users’ intent. 

How To Create SEO Friendly Content?

Delight your customers!

 

Yes! That’s the only way you can rank on Google. 

 

Remember, you have to write for the users and not the search engines. 

 

Reason? Google’s algorithm will pick the best result to a query just as a human would have chosen. 

 

Additionally, SEO friendly content must answer the searcher’s question and also have a high degree of trustworthiness. 

 

So, how can you create such content?

 

Read on to know more!

 

Clear & Comprehensive Content

When users search for something, they prefer a direct, specific and straightforward answer. And, not something vague. It is also important to write an easy to understand content. Don’t use complex words and avoid writing in the passive voice. Remove the duplicate content from your website.

 

A content that is comprehensive ticks the most important metric of Google’s high-quality content. You must be thorough and clear in your content.

 

E-A-T Content

E-A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. You can say, E-A-T is a concept by Google to not rank low-quality content. 

Expertise: 

The term ‘Expertise’ indicates that your content must meet and exceed the searcher’s intent. And, for creating such content, the first step is the keyword research. You need to understand the searcher’s intent behind the keywords that you discover. 

 

Authoritativeness:

Gaining authority comes after being acknowledged as an expert. When other professionals in your arena consider you as a source of worthy information, you become the authority. If you see that your content is getting widely shared consistently across social media channels, that’s a clue of gaining authority. 

 

Trustworthiness:

For Google proven trustworthiness is very significant. You can gain it by positive reviews on Facebook, Google My Business, and other such platforms. 

 

How can you gain trustworthiness?

 

  • A clear way to contact website owners
  • The website must associate with a physical location, like a store address
  • Mentioning a term of business or T&Cs page
  • If your website deals with transactions, mention the refund and return policies clearly

 

Google also considers links and mentions to gauge the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of your site. 

 

The agencies offering SEO services in Melbourne specialize in robust valid practices that can surely grow the authority of your business website. 

Are Keywords Important For SEO In 2020?

 

Of course!

 

We are talking about SEO content and the ‘Keywords’ are as much important as they were used to be a decade ago.

 

You must be thinking, then what has changed?

 

The perception of using keywords!

 

Don’t worry!

 

We have made it more clear in the upcoming sections of the write-up. 

 

‘Keywords’ To ‘Queries’ - The Shift

 

Suppose from now, we refer to ‘keywords’ as ‘queries’ or ‘searches’. 

 

Isn’t the terms ‘queries’ or ‘searches’ indicating that you need to answer them?

 

That’s what SEO content should be all about. 

 

Forget Keywords Stuffing!

 

If you are looking to rank in Google in 2020, your content must be created in such a way that it aligns with the search intent of the user. 

Input Vs Output

 

Here, the term ‘input’ indicates the keywords used by a searcher. And, ‘output’ is the content ranked by Google that relates to the keywords. As earlier discussed, if the keyword is a query, then the content must pinpoint how to answer the query. 

Google’s Algorithms & Keywords

 

The BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) update rolled out in October 2019. 

 

The BERT algorithm is related to natural language processing. It helps to understand the nuance and context of words in searches. This helps to get the result that best matches the queries. In simple words, BERT helps computers to understand languages just as humans do. 

 

BERT is sophisticated!

 

The algorithm understands what users are exactly looking for. BERT indicates that the content published must be unique, appropriate, and compelling

 

Your content must be super-specific!

 

And, don’t think about Keyword Density!

 

When Google has the capability to decipher the context of the content, there is no use of stuffing keywords.

 

With such updates, it is no more necessary to create long 2000-word content that talks about 10 different things. 

 

It’s much easier now - how?

 

Your content has to be more about answering the user’s question. Address the user query as quickly as possible and offer more value than your competitors. 

 

Well, now, we will discuss another significant algorithm of Google - RankBrain.

 

Google’s RankBrain algorithm rolled out in October 2015, and that’s when Google started to process keywords as concepts or intentions. BERT updates supplements RankBrain and together, they comprehend a keyword as a concept.

 

Key Takeaways

 

  • The content must be more ‘human-based’ - the language and tone of writing must be such that it correlates with the target audience.

 

  • Deliver high-quality content that is relevant to the user’s search queries.

 

  • Content with strong opinions performs well. 

 

  • Follow E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) concept.

 

Wrapping Up

 

With Google’s updates are getting smarter with time, the content marketers must clearly understand how to use keywords that will benefit the audience. Know your audience and deliver the complete solution to their queries. In this process, use the keywords as and when necessary. Remember, you have to write content for humans and not search engines. So, write in the natural language which is more absorbed by the users.