Keyword Love, Do Search Engines Still have the Commitment?

Keyword Variation

Or has is all changed just like in every other relationship. Keywords, Long-Tail, Short-Tail, Keyword Variation, Keyword Backlinks, Keyword Recency, Keyword Density, Meta-Tag Keywords, Keyword Linking, Keyword Correlation, Yada yada yada. We use keywords for everything online and offline. From search engine optimization, social media marketing and direct mail to print publications like newspapers.

WE also know search engines love keywords as they describe products and services as well point to relevant content that may be important to a search query. Have search engines lost the love they once had for Keywords? or are they shaking up the relationship and introducing some new ways of spicing up their love life for fear of a 3rd wheel (black Hat) messing up a good long term commitment?.

 Keeping up with the latest updates on search engines is very time consuming and can hurt your relationship as well but can greatly help your online business. After all is it not the new thing to do in online marketing relationship building? Promoting your expertise on niches you are an expert in, Answering questions, solving problems and spreading the word through social networks, mobile apps local forums and blogs.

So if relationship building, social sharing and signals are new ways of search engines adding some spice to the relationship then what are keywords doing to add into the mix? Keywords have been the easily manipulative one,  the one who has been stuffed in headers, Body, and Footer, the one who as been re-spun so many times that they become confusing and lead search engines astray from producing relevant search queries. Keywords have endured color changing as to hide their true intent on a web-page and have been known to participate in a ménage à trois of link wheels and has added so much more negative influence on a delicate marriage that seems to be fracturing.

I give search engines credit for hanging in there and proving that love really does last and that keywords are still a founding principal of what search engines are based on. Over the years search engines have added in ways of breathing in new life to keywords by changing the ways they can be easily manipulated and pushing away the negative seducers and seductresses. Search Engines and Keywords still have it going on and they are proving it to us and laying it down write in front of our eyes.

The latest mix-up in the ongoing relationship between search engines and keywords has to do with keyword variation. Why do i like variation? well just like in any physical relationship things tend to get a little repetitive, then become boring and after doing the same thing over and over again you look to renew and spice things up a bit, you know add a little variation to it, rekindle that spark that was there but now has faded to a shimmer.

SO what about Keyword variation, How is it adding to the relationship with search engines by producing the most relevant results for search queries? I'm not an engineer for any search engine, I don't know the chemistry of algorithms that determine the best results and I did not stay at a holiday inn so I'm no expert on the subject however after years of marketing and reading, keeping up with the latest updates and changes, constantly testing and modifying websites for users and search engines you can see what works and what does not.

It is as simple as this; keyword variation is a pheromone to search engines, we all have pheromones to attract one another and our pheromones vary and are unique to every individual. websites that have unique content and are authorities in their niche tend to rank higher in search engines because they give off certain signals. These signals include:

• Keyword Variation
  
• Social Signals
  
• Click-Through Rates
  

Keyword variations are descriptive and for good on page optimization its a good practice to include 3 to five variations of a keyword in the content of a web page. Keyword Variation can include long-tails that are descriptive, Linked within the context pointing to another relevant page or website with each variation used once. No need to overdue it, search engines will think it's a little spammy and it tends to tell your visitors all you care about is rankings and getting your page in front of the most people as possible. The goal of any website is to produce useful content that is easy to navigate and lead to conversions.

Social Signals are an added spice to the relationship with keyword variation, as the more mentions, shares, pluses, likes, pins, tweets, etc have those keyword variations in them and search engines say "hey lookey here" (Si Robertson) <--Duck Dynasty any one! anyways not to get off track search engines conclude this must be important information as many people are talking about it, leaving citations, sharing, and linking to it with various keywords. Search engines say look here, this is important and rank pages accordingly.

Now with Click-Through Rates added as a signal, you have to make those keyword variations very likable with a good descriptive text. People are searching for relevant results in their queries and your keywords need to be eye catching as they skim the serps. Adding in Authorship greatly increases the click through rates, you just have to make sure your content will keep them on your site. Search engines keep track of these signals and are including them as a ranking factor, look at news sites with big stories and prominent Authors that write about their expertise, they consistently rank high because people know about them, people like them, share their content and engage.

Search Engines and keywords go hand-in-hand, I do not think search engines have lost the commitment they only ask that their partners work with them, add value to the relationship,build on a better result that will endure the struggles and survive together, Just like most other love affairs you eventually spice things up a bit and you would only hope your partner joins in and adds to it, after-all it does take two to Tango!

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