Do keywords still have an important role to play in content?

In the ever-evolving landscape of content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), one question remains: Do keywords still have a role to play in content? With the rise of semantic search, voice assistants, and search engine algorithm updates like the Late 2022 Useful Content Update, it’s natural to wonder if keywords are starting to lose their relevance. In this blog post, we’ll explore the role of keywords in today’s content landscape and discuss their importance in driving organic traffic and user engagement.

The super short answer is yes, keywords still have a huge role to play in content, they just need to be used properly.

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A brief evolution of keywords in SEO

We won’t go back to the very beginning, but if we look at the last decade or so (before the Panda algorithm update of 2011), it was perfectly acceptable to “stuff” your web pages with keywords. This black hat technique focused on adding as many keywords and their variants to each page as possible. In the early 2000s, this worked well for businesses; Google would assume that the content was relevant due to the sheer density of exact match keywords on a web page.

The Panda update then changed things. Targeting low-quality websites and thin content pages with little or no added value, pages with keywords were demoted in search results. The reason is that these pages added less value to the web compared to those written for users instead.

As we move closer to today, the prevalence of voice...