The way that search engines interpret web copy has changed a lot over the last few years. Today, Google in particular is very good at understanding context. It won’t ignore a singular version of a word because the person searched for the plural, and it can tell the difference between “jaguar” the animal and “Jaguar” the car based on other words in the surrounding text.
Because of this, you don’t need to worry too much about the keywords you use in your copy – at least not to the point of using awkward phrasing and trying to shoehorn the right words into your content.
Semantic Focus
One interesting change in SEO lately is the movement towards the Semantic Web. The search engines are trying to integrate information from multiple services to make it easier to compare, understand and share data. Search for your reservations in Google, and the search engine will show you bookings that are in your Google calendar. Search a tracking number, and Google will give you information about the package. Linked data is becoming incredibly important, even if there are still a lot of limitations with it.
If you run a Gloucester SEO agency, you can just write about your services and make sure your address is on each page. Stuffing your copy with references to how you do SEO in Gloucester would be unnecessary.
Presenting Your Data
Rather than focusing on keywords these days, you would do well to focus on presenting your data clearly and concisely. Keywords are not dead in the water, but placement and context are more important than sheer volume of mentions.
By having a well-laid-out page, a clear structure and rich, informative articles, you will empower the search engines to understand your pages better, and you will also make your articles far easier for end users to understand as well. A good structure makes for clear, informative and entertaining articles – and that’s what you need to offer if you want to bring visitors back to your website.
So forget everything that you think you know about keywords and SEO. Present your pages carefully, and make sure that you are using the right semantic markup. The key to ranking well today is all in the way that you present your content.