Most SEOs and online firms think that high rankings are significant factors to achieve online success. But do high rankings matter anymore? Winston Burton, an SEO analyst, and columnist said, said some sites are ranking well due to high-keyword volumes. The sad thing is they aren’t getting any benefit from it. The keywords they used failed to meet the intent of the users.
Thereby, causing the user to leave the site. However, it is important to note that high search engine rankings are great. But only if the keywords were able to drive traffic to the site, deliver conversations, and help improve ROI. Therefore, rankings matter when they successfully delivered performance and helped in leveraging business performance.
Do You Need to Track Keyword Rankings?
Not all keywords are worth tracking. Tracking the ranking of keywords would only cause you lots of time and effort. It is particularly not ideal for well-established websites with thousands of web pages.
However, all you need to report are those non-branded keywords that generate high rankings on Google search results. You can also report on branded keywords that greatly help the site in achieving its marketing strategies and financial goals.
These are keywords that delivered conversations in the recent months and those that worked well in paid search. Be mindful as well on long-tailed keywords. These might not drive much traffic compared to other keywords. But long-tailed keywords are effective in driving conversations due to the specific intent of the users.
Does Keyword Still Matter to Rank?
Marketers and SEO service providers firmly believed that keywords are of great help for a site to rank in striking distance. But, does keyword still matter to achieve higher ranking on Google search results page?
According to Burton, the need for keywords to achieve high ranking will depend on upon your domain. If you are a high-quality site with high-quality outbound links and useful content relevant to a given keyword, you can still rank will in Google search results page even if you are not using the exact keywords on your content.
In fact, Google is now becoming smarter today. Even if you don’t place the exact keywords on that page and used a relevant term instead, Google can still identify you. This technical process is called ‘Query Expansion.’
For instance, your web page is about ‘cycling’, yet it ranked for ‘biking’ in Google search paid results. Google is now smarter in understanding that both terms are similar.
Keywords are significant elements for search engine optimization and search engine rankings. It is of great help to achieve high rankings, but these are not enough assurance for your online success. You need to make these keywords relevant and useful to your target market to ensure high rankings and marketing success.
Thus, useful and relevant keywords matter for online success, particularly those that deliver traffic and conversations and improve ROI. You can also seek professional help and avail SEO services to ensure your success online.