Your SEO Keyword Strategy is Broken: Here's Why (and What To Do About It)

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Most attempts to rank for certain keywords fail because they are built on antiquated strategies and incorrect assumptions. Some sites are losing rankings and traffic faster than ever before, while others are growing dramatically. What drives results for growing sites? This webinar will show you how to build a refreshed keyword strategy that delivers improved rankings and high-quality traffic.

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Your Keyword

Strategy is BrokenBest practices for modern SEO with ROI.

Nate Dame, CEO & Founder at Propecta | @seonate | nate@propecta.com

Engage!

Follow @propecta to interact during the event.

Comment & ask questions via hashtag:

#brokenkeywords

The Good ol’ Days

SEO was Cheap & Straight Forward

Back in the day, ‘all you had to do’ was

choose a package and watch it work.

What about the user?

What Changed?

Early/Mid 2000’s

Keywords

Other

Ranking

Factors

Circo 2010

Keywords

Other

Ranking

Factors

Harsh Realities

2014

Keywords

Other

Ranking

Factors

Near Future?

Other

Ranking

Factors

What’s Replacing Keywords?

Not just one ranking factor!

● Google’s more sophisticated understanding

of user’s needs

● Personalization

● Anti-low-quality-content updates

● Machine learning algorithms

● Artificial intelligence?

The Aftermath

The ‘Blond Hair’ Situation

No bad jokes,

promise!

The ‘Blond Hair’ Situation

But wait… what’s

this??!?

No keywords in the

title? And no

“blonde hair” phrase

anywhere??

The ‘Blond Hair’ Situation

This keyword

phrase does

not appear

anywhere on

the page. (If

you scroll to

allow

comments to

load, you’ll

find it in one

comment.)

The ‘Blonde Hair’ Situation

What could have possibly made this content rank without the keywords?

Tweets? Hidden text? A handful inbound links with the word ‘blonde’?

This Tells Us a

Few Things...

Google is much

smarter than the

keyword.

Ranking algorithms

are teaching

themselves how to

improve.

Our ranking

strategies just might

need a facelift.

Or a new hair color?

Keyword Ranking Factors Declining

“For on-page SEO, the keyword is still vital, but the trend is

moving away from a single subject/keyword towards entire

topics. Almost all keyword factors diminish slightly [in

2014].”Marcus Tober, Dr. Leonhard Hennig, Daniel Furch

Sources: http://moz.com/blog/searchmetrics-ranking-factors-2014

and http://www.searchmetrics.com/en/knowledge-base/ranking-factors/

New SEO Paradigm

Sources:

http://moz.com/blog/searchmetrics-

Updated Keyword Strategy

Keyword strategies based on topics.

It Seems to Work

Topical keyword strategies’ impact over

time.

Get the checklist!

Available now:

http://propecta.com/resources/ultimate-

Implications for

Marketers

#1 Think user intent / don’t think

‘keyword’

Do you

really understand

your target audience?

#1 Think user intent / don’t think

‘keyword’

What users want

What users want

#1 Think user intent / don’t think

‘keyword’

What users wantWikipedia! Knowledge & definitions

Zoho & Salesforce

Looking to purchase (or free trial)

Another encyclopedia-style resource

#1 Think user intent / don’t think

‘keyword’

What users want“nice kids”

“well-rounded kids”

local help, advice and community

“a moral child”

#1 Think user intent / don’t think

‘keyword’

What users wantResults are all research/learn oriented.

Only 1 commercial results on the page in

position #10!

#2 Nuke thin, low-quality ‘keyword

optimized’ content

#3 Align content with user intent

#4 Create authoritative, long-lasting

content

Google already told us how!

See the complete list at http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-

guidance-on-building-high-quality.html

#5 Study SEO’s impact on your

entire sales funnel

Google Analytics: Conversions > Multi-

Channel Funnels

Share your Success

& Challenges!Tweet @propecta or @seonate (that’s me).

Reach out: nate@propecta.com or

312-870-0056 (mobile).